Last month, we witnessed a peak in the already volatile reality between Israelis and Palestinians. On January 26, Israeli forces raided the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank, reportedly in order to thwart an imminent terror attack against Israelis by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorist group. Nine Palestinians, including PIJ members and at least one civilian, were killed and others wounded.
The following day, a Palestinian terrorist murdered seven Israeli civilians near a synagogue in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Neve Ya’akov, in the deadliest terror attack Israel has experienced in recent years. Less than 12 hours later, a second attack took place when a 13-year-old Palestinian shot and injured two Israelis outside the Old City of Jerusalem.
Much of the reaction to these events focused on Jenin and ignored the Jerusalem attacks. Sadly, as with prior terrorist incidents, some Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank celebrated the attack against Israeli civilians with sweets and fireworks. In contrast, some regional governments, like the United Arab Emirates, harshly condemned the attack, demonstrating once more how the Abraham Accords have led to better ties between Israel and its Arab neighbors.
The attack also reverberated here in the United States, with segments of the anti-Israel movement using the tragic events to double down on their villainizing of Zionism, demonizing of Israel, and support for violence, a tactic they have employed during similar periods of Israeli-Palestinian violence.
The anti-Israel rhetoric included re-committing to “a world without Zionism,” describing Zionism as a “death cult” and other language vilifying the vast majority of Jews around the world for whom a connection to Israel is part of their religious, social, or cultural identities.
The following are examples of hateful social media posts from anti-Zionist groups and activists reacting to recent violence:
Vilification of Zionism and Demonization of Israel
The Detroit chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) assailed the “soulless Zionist forces” and vowed to continue to fight for “a world without Zionism.” [Instagram post]
Zionism was further demonized by the Palestinian Feminist Collective (PFC) — a self-described “US-based body of Palestinian and Arab women and feminists committed to Palestinian social and political liberation.” The group posted to “reiterate our inalienable right to resist the cruelty of Zionism and imperialism, and to fight for a liberated homeland and people.” [thread]
Poet and activist Mohammed El-Kurd continued to demonize Zionism, describing it as a genocidal cult, saying that “Zionism is genocidal—Yet no matter its crime, the ‘International community’ would still fund & defend this indefensible death cult.” [tweet]. He doubled down on this rhetoric in a subsequent thread, again describing Zionism as a “death cult.” [thread]
New York-based anti-Zionist group Within Our Lifetime – Palestine participated in a rally “to honor the martyrs of Jenin and all of Palestine.” [Instagram post] The group accused Israel of genocide: “In response [to the death of 35 Palestinians since the beginning of 2023] Palestinians in Palestine and around the world continue to resist the genocidal zionist entity by any means necessary.” Notably, the group’s leader, Nerdeen Kiswani, assailed Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis outside of her office and urged participants to say “this Zionist does not represent me.” [Instagram post]
Mondoweiss correspondent Mariam Barghouti described Israel as “a state of serial killers using religion and politics to feed that sick need.” [tweet] In a subsequent tweet, she went on to assert that “Israel is a threat to humanity.” [tweet]
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Calls to Eliminate the Jewish State by Any Means
The NY/NJ chapter of transnational group Samidoun – a Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network – expressed support for the “fight to avenge all Palestinian martyrs and reclaim Palestine, from the river to the sea!,” meaning the elimination of Israel proper. [Instagram post]
The Palestinian Youth Movement affirmed its support for violence, or as the group termed it, “the right of the occupied to resist the colonizer by any means necessary.” Furthermore, the group similarly alluded to its support for the elimination of the Jewish state by saying, “From the river to the sea, the resistance lives on in the hearts and minds of every Palestinian, and will continue to live on until the hour of liberation.” [Instagram post]
