US Indiana university student threatens Palestinian neighbour on TikTok

A university student in the US state of Indiana has seen her TikTok make-up tutorial video go viral for the wrong reason.

In a minute-long video, Hailey Toch, a sophomore from New York City and a student from the Kelley School of Business, talks about meeting her Palestinian neighbour down the hall from her. She expresses unwarranted concern about him killing her due to his country of origin and concludes by threatening to use pepper spray on him if he comes near her.

"He probably wants to kill me right now," the student says, as she's applying make-up and talking about going to a party. "I wouldn't have even opened the door for him if I'd known he was from Palestine, let alone have a full conversation with him."

She added, "I never would have invited him into the apartment in the first place. He's never allowed back in here ever again."

She concluded her video by smiling and holding up a can of pepper spray customarily used to repel bears or human attackers, saying that she would use it if he came anywhere near her.

The student's shock over her neighbour's nationality appeared to come about after he knocked on her door and introduced himself at the beginning of the school year. 

IU students are calling for the university to take action on the matter, according to a student newsletter. At the national level, the Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) is urging the administration of Indiana University to investigate the threats made by their student to her Palestinian neighbour and to take all necessary steps to protect him. 

Y’ALL this girl Hailey Toch who attends @IndianaUniv just posted a video on TikTok about her Palestinian neighbor who she’s afraid of for the crime of being Palestinian (part 1) pic.twitter.com/1UHSNtg3z3

— سارة (@conservaphobic) September 1, 2023

ADC's national executive director, Abed Ayoub, said in a public statement, "IU must unequivocally condemn the threatening video posted by an Indiana University student targeting another Palestinian student. No student should ever face threats or intimidation due to their heritage or identity." 

He emphasised, "ADC demands that IU take action against hateful anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian rhetoric on campus. Such acts of aggression undermine the very foundation of our educational system, and we expect nothing less than a robust response from the university to ensure the safety and well-being of all its students."

For their part, James Wimbush, IU's vice president for diversity, equity and inclusion, and Lamar Hylton, IU's vice provost for student life, shared a statement with TNA, stating, "Indiana University is committed to ensuring all students, staff, and faculty feel welcomed, valued, safe, and supported. Behavior that involves acts of discrimination, hate, harassment, retaliation, threats, or engagement, has no place in our IU community."

"The Dean of Students Office and IU Bias Response and Education team are aware of the incident and are proceeding in alignment with university policy and procedure. Discrimination, hate, harassment, retaliation, and threats have no place in our community," the statement added.