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This week, on the first anniversary of the October 7th massacre, the Antisemitism Research Center (ARC) by CAM documented posts from Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine (FJP) chapters on dozens of campuses across the America that violated Meta’s community standards prohibiting the glorification of U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOS).
CAM urged Meta to diligently examine the documented posts and take down these appalling materials, and it appears some have since been removed.
Over the past three months, the ARC has rigorously monitored content promoted by SJP chapters that glorifies, or presents sympathetically, Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), as well as the October 7th slaughter orchestrated by Hamas and other horrific acts of violence.
The problematic items of content documented this week included:
1. In their Story, National SJP, Tufts SJP, Louisville SJP, NYU Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine, and City University of New York Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine shared a post that depicts a newspaper parodying The New York Times displaying the words “One Year Since Al-Aqsa Flood” and “Revolution Until Victory!”
“Al-Aqsa Flood” was Hamas’ name for the October 7th attack. The “revolution until victory” language signifies glorification.
2. In its Story, SJP at California Institute for the Arts shared a post displaying an image saying “Victory to the Resistance” alongside an image of people running through a fence. Given the context, the image is almost certainly meant to depict Palestinians breaching the Israel-Gaza border during the October 7th attack.
3. In their Story, Humboldt for Palestine at California State Polytechnic University (Cal Poly) Humboldt, Cal Poly Pomona SJP, Huskies for Palestine at Northeastern University, School of the Art Institute of Chicago Students for Palestinian Liberation, University of Detroit Mercy SJP, and University of San Francisco Students for Palestine shared a post glorifying Hamas’ October 7 attack, describing its perpetrators as “natives breaking free.”
4. In its Story, Columbia Law Students for Palestine shared an image displaying the same fake newspaper page as in item 1 above.
5. In its Story, Cornell SJP shared a post that directly quoted Leila Khaled, a member of the terrorist organization PFLP. Meta forbids “directly quoting a designated entity without caption that condemns, neutrally discusses, or is a part of news reporting.”
6. Via its new Instagram page, John Jay SJP wrote “We making it happen again” over an image that displayed the words, “10/7 must never happen again.” This is a chilling violent threat that “References to historical or fictional incidents of violence (e.g., content that threatens others by referring to known historical incidents of violence that have been committed throughout history or in fictional settings).”
7. In its Story, Lehigh 4 Palestine at Lehigh University posted an image displaying rifles, the phrase “7 October … Palestine liberates the world,” and the logo of the PFLP terrorist organization. The image is likely propaganda produced by the PFLP.
8. In its Story, SJP at Loyola Marymount University shared an image of a quote justifying “the breaking down of colonial structures” alongside an image from the October 7th attack.
9. In their Story, Students for Gaza at San Francisco State University, Stanford SJP, and Stanford Against Apartheid in Palestine shared a post promoting an event titled “From Beirut to Khan Younis: The Resistance Will be Victorious.” The imagery features an inverted red triangle, which Hamas uses in its propaganda videos to mark targets, as well as a picture from the October 7th attack.
10. In its Story, Seattle University SJP posted an image of a woman wearing a t-shirt that adorned images of Leila Khaled and Ghassan Kanafani, members of the PFLP terrorist organization. The shirt displays the words, “Resistance Until Liberation & Return.”
11. In its Story, Swarthmore SJP posted, “Happy October 7th everyone!” and called it a “glorious day.”
12. In its Story, Bears for Palestine at UC Berkeley shared a post praising the October 7th attack, calling it “a revolutionary moment in Palestinian resistance.”
13. In its Story, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign SJP shared a post glorifying Hamas’ October 7 attack, saying that on that day, “Palestinian armed groups tore down walls … the Zionist entity had raised around Gaza … representing a significant moment in the ongoing Palestinian struggle for liberation.” The post also called the attack “a success for the movement.”
14. In its Story, UMass SJP shared a different image of the same fake newspaper as mentioned in item 1 above.
15. In its Story, Students Allied for Freedom and Equality (SAFE) at University of Michigan shared a post praising Hamas’ October 7 attack, saying, “the Al-Aqsa Flood stands as a landmark victory for the Palestinian people … the resistance reignited and globalized the movement for Palestinian liberation.”
16. In its Story, Students United for Palestinian Equality and Return at University of Washington posted an image of a flyer that said, “A decisive people’s victory took place on October 7th, 2023 when the Palestinian people and their resistance took historic anti-colonial action for a free Palestine.”
17. In its Story, SJP at University of Wisconsin Madison shared a post that said in the caption, “Join community members in solidarity on the anniversary of the Gaza uprising and the Al Aqsa flood resistance operation against the illegal occupation,” thus glorifying the October 7th attack by framing it as a righteous act.
18. In its Story, Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine at University of Michigan shared SAFE’s post described in item 15 above.
19. In its story, National SJP shared a post by several Harvard student groups justifying the October 7th massacre, saying, “One year ago today, Gaza broke through Israel’s blockade, showing the world that the ongoing Nakba and apartheid cannot stand.”
20. Bard SJP posted a celebration of the October 7th attack, describing it as “the historic Palestinian reclamation of ancestral homelands that took place one year ago today.”
21. In its story, Boston University SJP shared a post glorifying the October 7th attack, describing it as “a historic turning point in our struggle” and a “heroic battle.”
22. In its story, SJP at California Institute of the Arts shared an image of the newspaper that says, “one year since Al-Aqsa Flood” and “Revolution Until Victory!,” thus glorifying the October 7th attack.
23. In its story, SJP at California State University, Long Beach shared a post glorifying the October 7th attack, saying, “Today marks one year since the Al-Aqsa flood, when the Palestinian liberation movement struck a blow to the apartheid walls in Palestine, thus dealing a blow to the occupying Israeli regime.”
24. In their story, SJP at California State University, Northridge and George Washington University SJP shared a post that says, “The Meaning of October 7,” and “An Oppressed People Will Always Find a Way to Resist Oppression,” thus glorifying the terrorist attack by framing it as righteous.
25. In its story, Cal State Northridge SJP also shared a post that glorifies a figure who appears to be a depiction of Hamas spokesperson Abu Obeida. The green headband that the figure is wearing is typical garb of Hamas terrorists. The original post contains a caption that says, “beautiful artwork,” and the post itself says “we are Gaza,” signifying glorification.
26. In its story, Cal State Northridge SJP also promoted a post that quite sickeningly praises the October 7th attack, alongside several images of terrorists from that day, calling October 7th “the … greatest day,” according to Instagram’s translation feature.
27. Once again, Cal State Northridge SJP shared in its story a post glorifying Hamas’ October 7 attack that said, “1 Year Since the October 7th Al Aqsa Flood,” and “we will always support the Palestinian people in their struggle,” signifying glorification.
28. In its story, Case Western Reserve University SJP shared a post glorifying the October 7th attack. The post said, “One year ago today, the Palestinian resistance broke through the border of Gaza’s open air prison and overwhelmed the occupation’s IOF forces.”
29. In its story, Central Connecticut State University SJP shared the same post that several other chapters did recently glorifying Hamas’ October 7 attack as “natives breaking free.”
30. In its story, Columbia Social Workers for Palestine posted an image of demonstrators waving a flag that appears to depict Hamas spokesperson Abu Obeida. The group added watermelon emojis, which anti-Israel activists commonly use in support of the Palestinian cause. Alongside the image of Obeida, the emojis signify that posting the image is meant to glorify him.
31. In its story, Lehman College SJP posted an image of a demonstrator draped in a flag that appears to display text from one of Hamas’ logos. The previous slide in the story said, “Some of our favs from yesterday,” signifying glorification.
32. In its story, Drexel Palestine Coalition shared an image of a picture with the text, “Victory to the Resistance” above an image depicting Palestinians entering Israel during the October 7th attack.
33. In its story, Bears for Palestine at UC Berkeley shared a post glorifying the October 7th attack, calling it “another recent historic marker of resistance to 75+ years of genocide.”
34. In its story, Emerson College SJP shared a post with the caption “One year since Al-Aqsa Flood” that said, “Glory to the resistance in Palestine, Glory to the resistance in Yemen, Lebanon, Turtle Island – because we, too, must resist. This imperial regime will kill us all if we do not do everything we can to stop it.” Given the context, this is a clear reference to Hamas, the Houthis, and Hezbollah, all terrorist organizations, and Meta forbids glorifying terrorism. In addition, the phrase “we, too, must resist” is a coded statement that is “Shared in a retaliatory context (e.g., expressions of desire to engage in violence against others in response to a grievance or threat that may be real, perceived or anticipated),” which Meta forbids.
35. In its story, Lewis and Clark College SJP shared a post that says, “It’s not simply a year of genocide. It’s a year of resistance” alongside a picture from the October 7th attack.
The pervasive spread of glorification of and blatant support for terrorism on college campuses throughout the United States is an urgent threat requiring quick and concrete action from university administrations, law enforcement authorities, and executive and legislative bodies at the national, state, and local levels.
