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Of the more than 200 Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) Instagram accounts that the Antisemitism Research Center (ARC) by CAM has regularly monitored since July, the one belonging to the John Jay College of Criminal Justice SJP chapter has proven one of the most unambiguously supportive of terrorism.
In the last two months, the ARC has documented content promoted by the chapter that glorifies, or presents sympathetically, U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations Hamas, Hezbollah, and Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), as well as Hamas’ murderous October 7 attack in Israel and other violent acts.
While dozens of SJP chapters in the United States have supported terrorism (including the October 7 attack) in some capacity, the John Jay chapter stands out in its brazenness. Some chapters, for instance, might attempt to maintain plausible deniability by euphemistically expressing support for “resistance” against Israel while avoiding explicit praise for Hamas. John Jay SJP has no such misgivings, indicating a disturbing level of radicalization.
Given the commitment of Hamas, Hezbollah, and the PFLP to killing Jewish civilians in Israel, expressions of support for those terrorist groups is antisemitic per the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance Working Definition of Antisemitism, which includes “Calling for, aiding, or justifying the killing or harming of Jews in the name of a radical ideology or an extremist view of religion” as a contemporary example of antisemitism.
Glorifying terrorism also violates Meta’s community standards, and CAM has diligently reported such content from John Jay SJP to Meta. Like that of Columbia SJP, Meta should permanently suspend John Jay SJP’s Instagram account due to its serial violations of Meta’s own policies.
As of August 28, the SJP chapter is listed as a student organization on John Jay College’s website. According to a university document, all John Jay students are charged a student activity fee that helps fund, in part, “registered student organizations,” begging the question of whether the school’s administration directly finances a group that supports terrorism.
If so, is the administration aware? If it is not aware and believes that SJP’s behavior is unacceptable, the university should sever all funding to the group and strip its status as a student organization. If the administration is aware and has not changed course, it owes those who pay tuition an explanation of why their money should buttress an organization that promotes violence and hatred.
Below is a compilation of the pro-terror content shared by John Jay SJP on Instagram that the ARC has documented.
Propaganda from Hamas’ Al Qassam Brigades that John Jay SJP shared on its Instagram story. The image features an inverted red triangle, a symbol that Hamas uses in videos to mark Israeli targets.
Images of flags of the terrorist groups Hezbollah and Lions’ Den that John Jay SJP shared on its Instagram story. The first image displays the text, “For Lebanon,” and the second displays two hearts, indicating expressions of terrorism support and glorification.
An image of the cartoon cat Garfield wearing a Hamas headband and overlayed with an image of bullets. The imagery, along with the text, “I’ll do anything for some Freedom,” indicates support for violent acts committed by Hamas.
Screenshots from a post that John Jay SJP shared on October 8 glorifying Hamas’ October 7 attack in Israel. Expressions of support for the attack, during which Hamas murdered 1,139 people, committed sexual violence, and took 251 hostages, include, “the Palestinian people have fought back against colonization, occupation, and decimation,” and “Palestine has the right to fight back against their occupiers!”
An image that John Jay SJP shared on its Instagram story of demonstrators displaying a banner that says, “Bring the war home,” directly underneath the image of a rifle, indicating a violent threat.
A post that John Jay SJP shared on its Instagram story that sympathetically describes the PFLP as a group that “seeks the complete liberation of Palestine from Zionist settler-colonialism.” The PFLP has orchestrated numerous suicide bombings targeting Israeli civilians.
Several screenshots from a post that John Jay SJP shared on its Instagram story that glorifies Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. Sinwar was the architect of Hamas’ October 7 attack in Israel. In 2015, the U.S. State Department designated Sinwar a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT). Statements that glorify Sinwar in the above post include:
“[Sinwar’s] appointment not only sends a clear message of defiance to the apartheid regime but also proves Hamas’s cohesion and swift ability to reorganize after the assassination of its leaders.”
“Oct 7’s Operation Al-Aqsa Flood was not about achieving short-term military gains but disrupting the status quo, as peaceful resistance and diplomatic efforts proved to be futile against Israel’s intensifying brutality.”
“With Sinwar operating in Gaza, actively involved with resistance fighters, Gaza’s place has been cemented at the forefront of Hamas’s strategic decisions, defying post-genocide US plans.”
“By choosing to operate independently from within Gaza, Hamas underscores its determination to pursue liberation on its own terms, free from external influences.”
