Jewish student defies anti-Israel radicals who 'stalked' him on California campus: Won't be 'silence

What was supposed to be a memorable day of taking photos at USC’s historical spots on campus soon spiraled into a Jewish graduate student confronting antisemitism head-on at the prestigious school that’s been rocked by anti-Israel radicals, the student recounted to Fox News Digital. 

"I was walking around my campus to some of the more historic parts to get a good picture, and I was followed. Two individuals from that encampment, they stalked us, and they harassed us. They followed us for a good 20 minutes, maybe 30 minutes. Really wanted to come up to us to get in our faces," graduate student Mark Rayant told Fox News Digital in an interview this month. 

Rayant is graduating with a master’s degree this year, but like his fellow students, will not enjoy a full graduation ceremony due to the anti-Israel agitators that have run rampant on the school. USC was the first major university in the nation to cancel its main graduation ceremony due to radical protesters, which was soon followed by universities such as Emory and Columbia also canceling ceremonies. 

Los Angeles police clad in riot gear flanked the campus this weekend, removing agitators from an anti-Israel encampment, where students and outside protesters demanded the school cut financial ties with Israel. A student-led group called the USC Divest from Death Coalition detailed a list of six demands, including "no policing on campus," "full amnesty" for those associated with the school who are reprimanded for the protests, and ending study abroad programs in Israel. 

The removal of the encampment on Sunday was the second time police swept the campus and removed protesters since last month. 

"I came to campus to take some graduation photos for my family, you know, for the memories of it. And I came wearing a shirt that I got at one of the Jewish organizations, wearing the dog tags to represent the hostages that are still in captivity, many of them are American citizens," Rayant said. 

He then noticed a pair of anti-Israel agitators following him as he toured campus, he said. 

"Their attempts are to bully us, to intimidate us, and to instill fear in us, to try to silence us. To try to make us disappear. But they won't do it," he continued. 

Rayant said he took matters into his own hands and confronted the agitators, describing that Jews on campus will not be "silenced" by radicals. 

"I walked up to them. And I said, you know, 'If you're going to be brave, if you really want to follow me, why don't you come and take a picture with me?' I told them, I wasn't afraid of them. I wasn't going to let them intimidate us. Because we deserve to be here too. I've worked very hard at this institution, I worked extremely hard to give back to my community, to build organizations that help people in need, and I deserve to celebrate my graduation. Whether these bullies and these aggressors want to intimidate us out of our celebration or not, we deserve that," he said.