Many pro-Hamas demonstrations that have been taking place on US campuses since Hamas launched its war on Israel on October 7, when more than 3,000 Hamas terrorists invaded and raped, pillaged, murdered and kidnapped their way through the small communities of southern Israel, have reportedly been led by a radical organization known as National Students for Justice in Palestine (NSJP), which, according to a report in The Atlantic, announced a "national day of resistance".
"The National Students for Justice in Palestine released a 'toolkit' which refers to Operation Al-Aqsa Flood as 'the resistance' and unequivocally states: 'Palestinian students in exile are PART of this movement, not in solidarity with this movement.'"
The "Day of Resistance Toolkit" document describes the October 7 massacre, in which more than 1,200 defenseless Israeli women, children and men were brutally murdered, many of them raped, beheaded and burned alive, thusly:
"[T]he Palestinian resistance stormed the illegitimate border fence, gaining control of the Gaza checkpoint at Erez, and re-entering 1948 Palestine... Fearlessly, our people struggle for complete liberation and return...
Today, we witness a historic win for the Palestinian resistance: across land, air, and sea, our people have broken down the artificial barriers of the Zionist entity, taking with it the facade of an impenetrable settler colony and reminding each of us that total return and liberation to Palestine is near. As the Palestinian student movement, we have an unshakable responsibility to join the call for mass mobilization. National liberation is near— glory to our resistance, to our martyrs, and to our steadfast people...
The document states that the Israelis murdered on October 7, overwhelmingly civilian women, children and men, were not really "civilians" and therefore not deserving of protection:
"Settlers are not 'civilians' in the sense of international law, because they are military assets used to ensure continued control over stolen Palestinian land."
Hamas routinely refers to all Israelis, wherever they live in Israel, as "settlers." To many Palestinians, Israel is just one big "settlement."
The toolkit document also provided students with guidance for organizing a local protest on October 12, talking points, and advice on how to handle media, complete with graphics to print out for banners: a photograph of Hamas terrorists celebrating October 7 on a captured Israeli tank and a drawing of the paragliders used by terrorists to invade Israel.
The document continues:
"Palestine will be liberated from the river to the sea, and our resistance, through their bravery and love for land, continue to bring dignity and honor to the Palestinian people. As the diaspora-based student movement for Palestine liberation, our responsibility is to not only support, but struggle alongside our people back home."
Hmm. It sounds as if NSJP has exactly the same goals as Hamas: the eradication of Israel and all its Jewish inhabitants. A coincidence? Not quite.
According to a 2018 monograph published to the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, NSJP was founded in 2010 by leaders of American Muslims for Palestine and the US Palestinian Community Network, two organizations linked to US-designated terror organizations.
"In 2010, National Students for Justice in Palestine, a national network of affiliate SJP groups, was formed by the terror-affiliated American Muslims for Palestine and US Palestinian Community Network (USPCN) at a conference sponsored by the Boycott National Committee (BNC). American Muslims for Palestine, USPCN, and the BNC are tied to Palestinian and Islamic terror organizations.
"American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) was founded in 2005, after three organizations, KindHearts, the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP), and the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development were implicated by the federal government between 2001 and 2011 for financing Hamas. Leaders and top donors of these organizations were jailed or deported for terror connections. Several members who remained in the United States, who were not imprisoned, have since migrated to AMP.
"SJP founder Professor Hatem Bazian also chairs American Muslims for Palestine and is listed on the 2013-2015 990 tax forms for AMP's fiscal sponsor Americans for Justice in Palestine Educational Foundations' as the organization's president. Bazian also receives a yearly salary from AMP.
"Prior to and since founding the first SJP chapter at UC Berkeley in 2001, Bazian perpetrated a number of subversive, anti-American, anti-Semitic and terror-supporting acts. He has called for violent subversion of the United States, declaring, 'It's about time that we have an Intifada in this country [USA], We've been watching Intifada [violent uprising] in Palestine, we've been watching an uprising in Iraq [against US soldiers] and the question is that: what are we doing? How come we don't have an Intifada in this country?' The only language the [Israeli] slave master understands is the language of violence.'"
It is doubtful that the majority of the students marching with Students for Justice in Palestine on campuses are aware of the NSJP's ties to Hamas, but the universities and colleges themselves should have an interest in investigating any illegal ties that student organizations on their campuses have. If not, state or federal authorities should: Since 1997, Hamas has been a designated by the US foreign terrorist organization, which it is forbidden to support. Thousands of university students across the US, however, now seem to be doing exactly that, by carrying Hamas slogans and shouting "from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free." That is most likely constitutionally protected free speech, but it is nevertheless a call for genocidal violence.
The Anti-Defamation League and the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law sent a letter on October 25 to nearly 200 university presidents, which argued that SJP "provides vocal and potentially material support to Hamas, a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization," and requested:
"We write to you today... with an urgent request that your university investigate the activities of your campus chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) for potential violations of 18 USC 2339A and B, and its state equivalents, that is, for potential violations of the prohibition against materially supporting a foreign terrorist organization."
The letter added:
"Many of the [SJP] organization's campus chapters have explicitly endorsed the actions of Hamas and their armed attacks on Israeli civilians, voicing an increasingly radical call for confronting and 'dismantling' Zionism on U.S. college campuses. Some SJP chapters have issued pro-Hamas messaging and/or promoted violent anti-Israel messaging channels. SJP chapters are not advocating for Palestinian rights; they are celebrating terrorism."
The letter cites the NSJP toolkit document:
"The toolkit refers to the Hamas-led terrorist attack in Israel as 'the resistance.' This was followed by statements at campus events where students proudly declared 'We are Hamas,' and 'We echo Hamas.'"
Despite the massive demonstrations and support for Hamas on campuses, very few universities have acted to address or rebut SJP.
Material support for a terrorist organization is a serious matter, too dangerous to leave for university presidents to solve. They frequently appear more concerned about placating the radical elements on their campuses. Florida is the only state to have ordered state universities to ban SJP for supporting Hamas. The US as a whole, however, has a huge problem on its hands.
Many of these academic institutions receive federal funding. However, Title IV of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 "prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, and national origin in programs and activities receiving federal financial assistance." Title IV also covers "violations based on religion."
If a university allows material support for a terrorist organization, or discrimination against Jews, its federal financial assistance should be cancelled at once.
Robert Williams is a researcher based in the United States.
Edward C. Stengel