An anti-Israel protester displays a photograph of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in New York, NY, on October 18, 2024, two days after he was killed by Israeli military forces in Gaza. (Source: X)
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After Israeli military forces killed Hamas leader and October 7 architect Yahya Sinwar in Gaza on October 16, 2024, U.S. anti-Israel activists quickly responded with praise and veneration for the terrorist who masterminded the deaths of approximately 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals and the abduction of some 250 people just over one year ago. Student groups, including numerous chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), were among the loudest voices memorializing Sinwar with sympathetic, pro-Hamas statements and social media posts.
These openly pro-terror responses fit into a pattern of behavior from many in the anti-Israel movement who have repeatedly glorified and celebrated notorious terrorists, both online and on the ground since the October 7 attack. In recent months, in particular, similar responses have followed the assassinations of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in September 2024 and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in July 2024.
This most recent wave of support for infamous terror group leaders demonstrates how, as ADL has frequently documented, many activist groups that claim to be simply “anti-Israel” or “anti-Zionist” in fact openly revel in violence against and the murder of civilians — and Jews in particular — in Israel.
Anti-Israel Activists Memorialize Sinwar
Student Groups
Dozens of chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and other campus groups were among those explicitly supportive of Sinwar after his death, reposting hagiographies, obituaries, and images of him with captions like “glory to our martyrs” or “rest in power.” Some of these posts also incorporated additional violent rhetoric and imagery, including of weapons and inverted red triangles (a symbol popularized by Hamas to mark targets).
Upon the news of Sinwar’s death, students in the City University of New York (CUNY) system praised the terror chief and shared other pro-terror content in a recently launched, self-described “unapologetically pro-resistance, anonymous telegram channel,” titled “CunyResists.” The first two posts on the channel featured photographs of Sinwar and a lengthy message memorializing him and other recently killed terrorist group leaders. It read, in part:
“The news regarding the great commander has left our hearts heavy and out [sic] chests breathless. Today, we mourn the loss and celebrate the martyrdom of the lion of Al Quds, the beloved Commander, President, Fighter, his eminence, Yahya Sinwar…Every kuffiyeh drawn on the neck of a CUNY student is tied to the neck of the great commander who woke up the world from their deep daze. We tell the Zionist entity that your assassinations have never worked in the past and they will not work today. From Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah to Sheikh Ahmed Yassin [Hamas founder, killed in 2004] to Sheikh Ismael Haniyah. Hundreds more will rise to take their place…Indeed it is a Jihad of victory or martyrdom.”
University of Washington SJP-affiliate Students United for Palestinian Equality & Return (SUPER) reposted a pro-Hamas statement about Sinwar from Samidoun — an anti-Israel organization recently sanctioned by the U.S. government for acting as an “international fundraiser” for the U.S.-designated terror group Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) — with the message “Glory to the martyr Yahya Sinwar.”
Examples of social media posts published by anti-Israel student groups at U.S. colleges memorializing Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in the hours after his death was announced. Left: Cal Poly Pomona SJP. Right: Philadelphia SJP Coalition (consisting of students from seven area colleges and universities). (Source: Instagram)
The Philadelphia SJP coalition — which consists of anti-Israel student groups from Bryn Mawr College, Drexel University, Haverford College, Swarthmore College, Temple University, the University of Pennsylvania and Villanova University — reposted a biography of Sinwar and added the caption: “We will honor all our martyrs. It is right to resist.” Central Florida SJP, which is active at but not officially recognized by the University of Central Florida, shared a Sinwar interview clip with the added caption: “Glory to our martyrs.”
SJP at the University of Virginia posted a photograph of Sinwar pulling a pistol from his waistband, overlaid with the text: “Peace be upon you, a prisoner, a leader, a fighter, a martyr.” At the University of California, Berkeley, the school’s SJP chapter also posted the image of Sinwar with the pistol and other messages glorifying Sinwar, while Bears for Palestine, another anti-Israel student group, posted an image of Sinwar kneeling with a rifle.
The SJP chapter at California State University, Los Angeles, reposted a tweet reading, “One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.” At Cal Poly Pomona, the campus SJP reposted an interview of Sinwar, captioning it: “The face of the resistance. Martyred while fighting for our liberation. Rest in power” alongside an inverted red triangle.
Social media posts published by anti-Israel student groups at U.S. colleges memorializing Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in the hours after his death was announced. Left: University of California, Berkeley, SJP. Right: Central Florida SJP. (Source: Instagram)
The SJP chapter at California State University, Northridge, reposted a video of Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades (Hamas’s military wing) spokesperson Abu Obaida’s speech from a few days earlier, on the anniversary of October 7, speaking about how assassinations will not deter Hamas. The SJP at California State University, Long Beach, reposted a well-known photograph of Sinwar taken amid the 2021 escalation between Israel and Hamas, showing him sitting in an armchair in Gaza with the ruins of his former house in the background, and added a burning heart emoji over the image.
Multiple Columbia University student groups, including SJP and Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD), posted about Sinwar, including sharing a digital copy of his book and posting various quotations and video clips of him outlining Hamas’s decision “to defend our people with whatever weapons we have.” Wellesley SJP also made a series of Sinwar-related posts, including sharing photographs, interview content and messages declaring, “No matter how many leaders they take, new ones will rise; The resistance will never die.”
Community Groups and Other Activists
Numerous other anti-Israel groups shared similar praise for Sinwar. New York-based extreme anti-Zionist group Within Our Lifetime (WOL) published an obituary for the Hamas leader that was further shared by many community and campus groups. The WOL statement praised Sinwar as “a fierce leader who did not waver, but advanced the struggle until his very last breath” and who “was a key figure who united the fields against zionism [sic].” The statement declared that Sinwar’s “legacy will live on in the hearts of every revolutionary” and that “these enduring ideas, deeply rooted in the people of Palestine, will drive the struggle forward until the zionist [sic] entity is dismantled.”
An obituary honoring Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was posted by the anti-Zionist group Within Our Lifetime (WOL) on October 18, 2024, and subsequently shared by various other community and campus groups, including the NY-based Bay Ridge Solidarity (pictured). (Source: Instagram)
Another NY-based anti-Zionist group, PAL-Awda NY/NJ (a merger of the Palestinian Assembly for Liberation and Al-Awda NY/NJ), also shared a statement in honor of the “martyrdom” of Sinwar, declaring that he “lived a hero and died a legend” and that his “name will go down in history as a symbol of resistance and liberation.” It characterized his death as marking both a “moment of mourning” and “a moment to recognize the dismantling tentacles of the zionist [sic] entity,” adding that, “the legacy of Yahya Sinwar is a powerful testament to resilience and resistance, destined to birth millions of Sinwars.”
Individual activists and influencers also weighed in with praise for Sinwar. Daniel Haqiqatjou, an antisemitic conspiracy theorist who founded the online publication Muslim Skeptic, shared the popular photograph of Sinwar holding a pistol and wrote: “When Sinwar accepted leadership, he accepted inevitable martyrdom. O Muslims, that is the necessary quality any leader worth following must have.” Jackson Hinkle, a far-right commentator and influencer who posts extensive antisemitic and anti-Israel content, posted a photograph of Sinwar on X and wrote: “Yahya Sinwar put death before dishonor” alongside broken heart and Palestinian flag emojis.
Anti-Zionist Rutgers University professor Noura Erakat shared several posts on X and Instagram lionizing Sinwar, including one calling him an “immortal legend.” Ali Abunimah, co-founder and executive director of the anti-Zionist publication Electronic Intifada, wrote on X: “Sinwar died as he would wish, fighting honorably with and for his people, against the evils of Zionism, colonialism and genocide.” He added in another post: “Sinwar already defeated ‘Israel’ on 7 October, destroying forever its myth of invincibility, and changing history. He set Palestine on the road to liberation from the evil of Zionism and generations yet unborn will thank him.”
On-the-Ground Activities
In addition to the countless posts memorializing Sinwar online after his death, anti-Israel protesters and vandals also marked Sinwar’s passing with offline actions. At an anti-Israel protest in New York City on October 18, for example, multiple protesters held up photographs of Sinwar.
On the campus of the University of Pennsylvania, graffiti was reportedly drawn on multiple wayfinding signs with the message “SINWAR LIVES” alongside an inverted triangle. At least one instance of this graffiti was reportedly in close proximity to the campus Hillel building.
Examples of anti-Israel protesters honoring Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar on banners, signs, and flags displayed at protests in the months preceding his death, including in Brooklyn, NY, on May 18, 2024 (left); in New York, NY, on June 21, 2024 (center); and in New York, NY, on September 2, 2024 (right). (Source: YouTube / X / Instagram)
These recent manifestations of pro-Sinwar sentiment were unsurprising, as even before his death, Sinwar was often honored by anti-Israel protesters. For example, at two Nakba Day protests in New York earlier in the year — in Queens on May 15 and in Brooklyn on May 18 — protesters carried a Samidoun-branded banner featuring an image of Sinwar alongside depictions of Mohammed Deif (Al-Qassam Brigades leader) and Abu Obaida (Al-Qassam Brigades spokesperson). At an anti-Israel protest at Hunter College in New York on June 21, a protester carried a photograph of Sinwar.
Pattern of Pro-Terror Behavior
The veneration of Sinwar follows a predictable pattern of disturbing activity from significant portions of the U.S. anti-Israel movement that have made explicit support for terror a defining characteristic of their activism over the past year. While glorifying individual terrorists — like PFLP-affiliated Leila Khaled, Ahmad Sa’adat and Walid Daqqa — is a regular feature of online and on-the-ground anti-Israel demonstrations, the past few months have seen particularly egregious examples of this following the deaths of some of the most prominent terror group leaders in Hamas’s Haniyeh and Hezbollah’s Nasrallah.
Following Haniyeh’s Death
After Haniyeh’s death in Iran on July 31, anti-Israel activists quickly memorialized him online. Among student groups, the UCSD Divest Coalition at the University of California, San Diego, shared a post “commemorating the martyrdom” of Haniyeh. The post was originally shared by Masar Badil (also known as the Palestinian Alternative Revolutionary Path Movement), an extreme anti-Zionist international organization that hosts programs with members of U.S.-designated terror organizations and whose leadership includes PFLP and Samidoun-linked Khaled Barakat.
The International Committee of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) published — and later deleted — a statement in support of Haniyeh that read, in part: “We mourn and honor the martyrs of Lebanon and Palestine and express our unwavering solidarity with their popular resistance movements…The contributions of these figures to the cause of freedom and justice will not be forgotten and their victories will not be reversed.”
Zahra Billoo, Executive Director of the San Francisco Bay Area chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), wrote on Instagram and X: “Tonight, we mourn Ismail himself but know his martyrdom is not in vain. From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” Lamis Deek, an anti-Zionist attorney and leader with the organization Al-Awda wrote on X: “If only the western [sic] world knew him as we and all who dealt with him did. He was love and humility and sacrifice incarnate....too good for this world.”
Social media posts made by anti-Zionist organizer Lamis Deek in remembrance of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh after his death on July 31, 2024 in Iran. (Source: X)
PAL-Awda NY/NJ also memorialized Haniyeh in a statement on social media: “All glory to the martyrs of Palestinian liberation and return! We salute the resistance, their leadership, and unwavering resilience which has shown no peace for the Zionist aggressors.”
PAL-Awda NY/NJ also hosted a vigil to honor Haniyeh on July 31 in Brooklyn, NY, alongside representatives from groups including Neturei Karta, Bay Ridge Solidarity and Mamas 4 A Free Palestine. At the demonstration, protesters held illustrations of Haniyeh and shared remarks honoring him, with one speaker stating: “It’s either victory or martyrdom…We salute and honor the Axis of Resistance as the vanguard of the movement for Palestinian liberation. We welcome whatever path it chooses to dismantle the Zionist State.
Anti-Israel demonstrators hold a vigil on July 31, 2024, in Brooklyn, NY, to honor Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh after he was killed in Iran earlier in the day. (Source: Instagram)
Protesters displaying imagery or photographs of terrorists — both dead and living — has become commonplace at protests, and in New York City in particular. At another NYC protest that same day sponsored by WOL in Times Square, a protester held up photographs of Haniyeh and Nasrallah.
Following Nasrallah’s Death
When Nasrallah was killed in Lebanon on September 27, another wave of memorialization and glorification followed.
Within Our Lifetime (WOL) published a statement on Telegram, mourning “the martyrdom of Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, leader of the Lebanese resistance and a symbol of the steadfast struggle to liberate Palestine.” The statement further read: “Even after [Nasrallah’s] martyrdom, his ideas and legacy will remain a beacon of hope for thousands to honor after him.” Other groups, including the SJP chapter at St. John’s University in Queens, NY, shared the WOL statement on their own social media pages.
Student groups at Stony Brook University in New York, including Stony Brook SJP (also known as Stony Brook for Palestine) and Graduate Students for Palestine, posted a joint statement on Instagram on September 28 titled, “IN SOLIDARITY WITH LEBANON AGAINST ZIONIST-FASCIST BRUTALITY.” In the statement, the groups commemorated Nasrallah as “a beacon of light in resistance efforts against the Zionist entity” and praised how, “under his leadership, Hezbollah has risen to prominence as a major threat to ‘israel’s’ [sic] occupation of Palestine.”
A statement published by anti-Zionist student groups at Stony Brook University in Stony Brook, NY, in remembrance of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah after his death on September 27, 2024. (Source: Instagram)
The Stony Brook SJP statement concluded by affirming: “As we have supported the Palestinians in their resistance against the Amerikkkan-backed Zionist entity, SB4Palestine affirms the same support for the people of Lebanon in their fight. We honor the martyrs and stand with the resistance against the imperialist regimes of ‘israel’ and Amerikkka.’”
The Bronx Anti-War Coalition, a NY-based anti-Israel group, also published a statement on its website mourning Nasrallah: “The path of resistance is arduous but paved with sacrifices, like Nasrallah's, for justice and liberation. His martyrdom stands as a testament to the enduring spirit of resistance…While we feel the pain of losing a prominent figure, we take pride in his legacy.”
Anti-Israel protesters displayed messages honoring both Nasrallah and Haniyeh at some of the October 5–6 nationwide “Day of Action” protests to mark the first anniversary of Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack. In Washington, DC, on October 5, a protester displayed a sign depicting Haniyeh and Nasrallah alongside the caption: “Killing our leaders only makes us stronger.”
In Houston, TX, on October 5, a protester held a sign that read: “Resistance is necessary. Peace be upon Sayyed Hassan [Nasrallah] & Ismail Haniyeh.” In Minneapolis, MN, on October 6, a protester displayed a sign featuring photographs of Nasrallah and the message: “Rest in Power Hassan Nasrallah!” A Seattle, WA, protest on October 13, also featured multiple explicit pro-terror signs, including one that read, “Glory to the Martyr Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah,” alongside a photograph of Nasrallah.
Examples of anti-Israel protesters honoring Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on signs displayed at protests in the U.S. on October 5–6, 2024, including in Washington, DC (left); Houston, TX (center); and Minneapolis, MN (right). (Source: Instagram)