In the week following Hamas’s surprise October 7, 2023, invasion of Israel, during which hundreds of Israelis were killed and at least 100 were kidnapped to Gaza, anti-Israel activist organizations held approximately 150 rallies across the U.S.
Rhetoric at these events explicitly or implicitly voiced support for the Hamas terror attack , including in Philadelphia, where one speaker said: “What happened was freedom fighters fighting for freedom… every person who died yesterday wasn’t innocent. Every Israeli Settler by default is a terrorist.” In other cases, rally-goers strongly suggested support for the Hamas attack, sometimes arguing that “resistance is not terrorism.”
A protestor in New York City held up a phone with an image of a swastika on it. In other instances, activists denigrated or called for the exclusion of Zionism and Zionists from public life and promoted antisemitic tropes. Rally-goers cast Zionists as fascists and bigots and referred to Zionists as “colonizers” who should be removed from American cities. One activist in Anaheim, CA, carried a sign that read: “Congress is Israeli occupied territory,” amplifying an historic antisemitic trope about Jews and power.
Primary rally organizers included ANSWER, Party for Socialism and Liberation, Students for Justice in Palestine and the Palestinian Youth Movement. Rallies took place in cities including Atlanta; New York City; Chicago; New Mexico; Philadelphia; Providence; Salt Lake City and Washington, D.C., with attendance ranging from a few dozen to a few hundred, with Chicago, Philadelphia, D.C. and New York City in the upper range and Atlanta and Albuquerque on the lower end.
Antisemitism and explicit expressions of support for Hamas terror
- Bangor, ME:
- On Saturday, October 14, an anti-Israel protester openly carried the flag of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). PFLP is a US-designated terrorist group that is responsible for numerous terror attacks against Israeli civilians in Israel and the West Bank, including a bomb attack that killed 17-year-old Israeli Rina Shnerb in 2019 and a shooting and meat cleaver attack that claimed the lives of four worshippers in a Jerusalem synagogue in 2014.
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(Source: Instagram)
- Washington, D.C.:
- As Shabbat was ending on Saturday evening, October 14, anti-Israel activists who had apparently been participating in a nearby rally parked their car outside synagogue and yelled “Free Palestine” at arriving congregants while holding a Palestinian flag. They waited outside during prayers, and then reportedly followed a group of congregants as they walked home from services, chanting “Free Palestine!”
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- Dearborn, MI:
- On Friday, October 13, a speaker named Tarek Bazzi at an anti-Israel rally said the quiet part out loud: “We’re not here to condemn the killing of innocent civilians on both sides. We’re not here to chant empty slogans, because when we say ‘Free Palestine,’ and when we say ‘From the river to the sea,’ we understand what that means….The only hope that Palestine has is its armed resistance…If you’re pro-Palestine, then you’re pro-armed resistance.”
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(Source: YouTube)
- UNC Chapel Hill, North Carolina:
- A woman at an anti-Israel rally on Thursday, October 12 openly identified with Hamas, the perpetrators of the massacre, shouting “All of us [are] Hamas!”
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(Source: Twitter)
- Portland, ME:
- A protester was seen carrying a sign bearing the logo of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), which is a U.S. State Department designated terror group, on October 11.
- A protester was seen carrying a sign bearing the logo of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), which is a U.S. State Department designated terror group, on October 11.
- Cambridge, MA:
- The Boston and Tufts Universities’ SJP chapters held a demonstration in Cambridge, MA, on October 9, 2023, where a protester held a flag for the U.S. State Department designated terror group Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). Another protester held a sign that said, “Israel! You are reaping what you sowed.” A speaker told the crowd, “Liberation logic is something else altogether. Liberation logic tells us what we all know in our hearts to be true. That our lives, families, communities are precious and sacred. That our dignity is invaluable. That settlers are not civilians and that they have no right to security.”
- The Boston and Tufts Universities’ SJP chapters held a demonstration in Cambridge, MA, on October 9, 2023, where a protester held a flag for the U.S. State Department designated terror group Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). Another protester held a sign that said, “Israel! You are reaping what you sowed.” A speaker told the crowd, “Liberation logic is something else altogether. Liberation logic tells us what we all know in our hearts to be true. That our lives, families, communities are precious and sacred. That our dignity is invaluable. That settlers are not civilians and that they have no right to security.”
- New York City:
- An attendee at the October 9 rally wore a Hezbollah flag.
- New York City (continued):
- The crowd cheered after a speaker mentioned 5,000 rockets fired at Israel.
- A rally attendee displayed his phone to onlookers with an image of a swastika on it, and another held a sign celebrating the attack as a “Zionist nightmare.”
- Anaheim, CA:
- Speaker: “This is a moment where Hamas is taking control, they’re resisting. But we need to show our solidarity right here in the US. And how do we do that? We mobilize just like we're doing right here. We're out in the streets, we're marching, we're showing up.”
- Speaker: “This is a moment where Hamas is taking control, they’re resisting. But we need to show our solidarity right here in the US. And how do we do that? We mobilize just like we're doing right here. We're out in the streets, we're marching, we're showing up.”
- Washington, D.C.:
- Referencing the Hamas attack, one speaker said: "make no mistake, we are in celebration"
- Referencing the Hamas attack, one speaker said: "make no mistake, we are in celebration"
- Philadelphia, PA:
- Speaker: “The Palestinians yesterday through the waters of the sea, through the land and through the air with and with parachutes, stood up for dignity, stood up for human rights.”
- Speaker: “What happened was freedom fighters fighting for freedom.”
- San Francisco, CA:
- Flags for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a recognized terrorist group, were seen at protests in San Francisco, CA on October 8.
Implicit Support for Hamas Terror
Protesters at events across the country shared the sentiment that "resistance is justified, when people are occupied" in chants and on signs.
Speakers and attendees at many protests justified the violent Hamas attacks on Israel by proclaiming, in chants and on signs, "resistance is not terrorism." Many events saw protesters glorify the intifada, with chants like "there is only one solution, intifada revolution" and "intifada, intifada, long live the intifada." There were also signs reading "globalize the intifada" at multiple protests.
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Syracuse, NY:
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Signs and banners claiming that “Resistance is not Terrorism,” including this one seen on Friday, October 13, have been seen at rallies across the country, despite the fact that Hamas’s “resistance” last week amounted to the massacre over 1,300 people, most of them civilians.
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(Source: Instagram)
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New Haven, CT:
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A speaker from the Palestinian Museum spoke at a rally in New Haven on Monday, October 9, spreading antisemitic tropes about Jewish control of the media and refusing to call Hamas a terrorist organization. They said, “whatever CNN is told by Israel, CNN says word for word” and called Israel the “real terrorists.”
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Chicago, IL:
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On Sunday, October 8, UPSCN Chicago, SJP Chicago, AMP Chicago and the Palestinian American Community Center held a joint rally, where a speaker implied that Israel is at fault for Hamas’s attack, stating, “The operation, called Al Aksa Flood, by the resistance, in response to over 100 years of colonialism, 56 years of legal military occupation, and 90 years of terrorism from Israeli settlers.... What do you expect the Palestinian people will do...”
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Washington, D.C.:
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On Sunday, October 8, the Palestinian Youth Movement, Maryland2Palestine, the ANSWER Coalition and the Party for Socialism and Liberation held a rally where speakers showed support for Hamas’s terrorism and suggested the terror group’s actions should be exported to the West. A speaker for the Palestinian Youth Movement said, “take the fight to Zionist institutions in the west” and “duty calls us to fulfill this war,” while an unknown speaker said, “they’ve got tanks; we’ve got hang gliders [used by Hamas to invade Israel]. Glory to all the resistance fighters.”
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Denver, CO:
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At a rally on Saturday, October 7, in Denver, members of the Colorado Palestine Coalition expressed support for Hamas by telling attendees that if “you’re having a bad day” to “Google pictures” of kidnapping victims being taken from “homes that they stole.” They added, “They’ll put a smile on your face.”
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- New York City:
- Speakers representing the Palestinian Youth Movement and other co-sponsors justified Palestinian resistance “by any means necessary” and stated that “resistance is not terrorism.”
Chant: “1, 2, 3, 4; Occupation no more; 5, 6, 7, 8, smash the settler Zionist state!”
- Speakers representing the Palestinian Youth Movement and other co-sponsors justified Palestinian resistance “by any means necessary” and stated that “resistance is not terrorism.”
- Tampa Bay, FL:
- Sign: “Resistance against occupation is a human right.”
- Speaker: “The events of last weekend will reverberate throughout history and throughout the world, once again showing that against impossible odds, oppressed people can resist and win.”
- Washington, DC:
- Sign: “Resistance is not terrorism.”
- Sign: “Resistance is not terrorism.”
- Tucson, AZ:
- Sign: “Victory to the Palestinian Resistance!”
- Sign: “Victory to the Palestinian Resistance!”
- Anaheim, CA:
- “This is an event without precedent in our lifetime. We are returning to... entering and resisting beyond the 1967 borders that were imposed by the Zionist entity of European powers.”
- “Our fighters have started to fight back again. Does that mean that we kick our feet back and act like we're gonna celebrate and be happy at this moment? No, we continue the struggle because... people in Gaza right now are fighting so hard. Their lives are at risk and we're right here in the United States fighting this battle with them, right?”
- Columbus, OH:
- Speaker: “There has never been an opposition like this in Palestine and Israel to date.... your messaging needs to be airtight. You need to stop being apologetic about Palestinian liberation.”
- Speaker: “There has never been an opposition like this in Palestine and Israel to date.... your messaging needs to be airtight. You need to stop being apologetic about Palestinian liberation.”
- San Francisco, CA:
- Speaker: “The intifada lives and Palestine lives!”
Denigrating and Calling for Ostracization of “Zionists”
- New York City
- During a Sunday, October 15 rally, CUNY professor Danny Shaw shouted, “Zionism is a trap. Go back to your true history. Go back to Yiddish land!” …. This is not Israel vs. Hamas. This is a Zionist extermination campaign that began in 1948.”
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(Source: Twitter)
- Tampa Bay, FL:
- A speaker said, “The Zionists have shown that there are no limits to their bloodthirst.”
- A speaker said, “The Zionists have shown that there are no limits to their bloodthirst.”
- Columbus, OH:
- Sign: “media is controlled by Zionists”
- New York City:
- Chants: “Zionism has got to go!” and “Zionism is genocide!”
- Speaker: ““The people running this city are Zionist. Are we ok with that? No!”
- Washington, D.C.:
- Sign: “Zionism is fascism. Colonizers out of D.C.”
- Speaker: “Zionism is deeply ingrained into our education systems, and we must do everything we can to combat it.”
- Chicago:
- Chant: “No Zionism in our town!”