Anti-Semitic protests in US resemble other extreme social justice movements, experts suggest

Experts suggest that the anti-Israel movement shaking major American cities and college campuses following the outbreak of Israel’s war with Hamas bears a striking resemblance to other movements favored by social justice activists.

Since the October 7 attacks on Israel by Hamas terrorists, a wave of protests Around the world, they have not condemned the terrorist group but rather the Jewish state, which continues to reflect on the loss of more than 1,200 Israelis who died in last month’s massacre.

The most extreme demonstrations by Hamas supporters appear to come from American college campuses. Particularly troubling demonstrations were witnessed at once-prestigious institutions such as Harvard and New York University, among others.

Aside from university campuses, the anti-Israel movement also reached the Democratic National Committee (DNC) headquarters in Washington, DC, where suspected pro-Palestinian protesters turned violent and clashed with police. Other protests took place in front of the State Department, where protesters carried handmade signs with anti-Israel slogans such as “Israel = Middle East Cancer.”

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Those protests, and others like them in recent U.S. history, according to observers who watched the issue unfold and offered their perspectives to Fox News Digital, are part of a much larger problem aimed at “destabilizing this country.”

Brooke Goldstein, a human rights attorney who serves as executive director of The Lawfare Project, said she believes it is time for law enforcement officials to open an investigation to find out how the protests are organized, as well as whether the protests are related to foreign affairs. governments or terrorist organizations.

“We need to call these protesters what they are. They are not pro-Palestinian. There is no Palestinian democratic movement. There is no Palestinian peace movement. They are pro-Hamas,” he said. “We need to take a hard look at how a significant segment of our population has become radicalized. Authorities and lawmakers have for too long turned a blind eye to the operations of foreign governments within our borders, especially Qatar. Ignored the relationship between designated terrorist groups and student groups on campus.

“These protesters are not progressive or non-violent. Their purpose is to destabilize this country and there is an urgent need for authorities to open an investigation into how they are organizing and whether or not they are linked to foreign governments or foreign terrorist groups,” he added.

Another reasoning behind several of those protests, which have been complex and unpredictable in many cases, boils down to the teachings and activism of “leftist academics” who have long supported certain racial divisions and expect others to do the same, according to Christopher F. Rufosenior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and contributing editor of City Journal.

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“The left-wing academics who have been applauding violent ‘decolonization’ against Jews have been pushing the same horrible rhetoric against ‘whiteness’ for years. The same ideology. The same hatred. The same bloodlust,” Rufo said.

Rufo noted that several members of the “academic left treat the Hamas fighter as a noble savage who symbolizes the revolt against the West and through whom the academic can experience the emotion of violence.”

“The combatant is seen as the physical embodiment of the jargon: ‘decolonization,’ ‘resistance,’ ‘power,'” he added. “It’s time to connect the dots and fight together.”

Similarly, Lisa Daftari, editor in chief of The Foreign Desk, said she believes the rise of antisemitism throughout the country represents the “mainstreaming” of social justice movements and other groups that place special emphasis on supporting left-wing ideas.

A protester holds a “White Supremacy” sign during a rally on Wall Street in support of the Palestinians on October 26, 2023. (Michael Nigro/Pacific Press/LightRocket)

“A significant contributor to the rise in anti-Semitism, especially among those under 25 and on college campuses, is the mainstreaming of social justice movements and organizations that say to young people: ‘If you are concerned about various human rights, like gay rights, trans rights, racial issues, then you have to demonize Israel,” he said. “It is now on the social justice ‘checklist’ to condemn Israel.

“Likewise, we are seeing Israel portrayed as a country of white, privileged people, descended from Europeans who immigrated there. This is absolutely false,” Daftari added. “Israel is made up of a diverse mosaic of people from around the world, including those who have been there long before the official founding of the State in 1948. There are black, brown and white people in Israel from Africa, the Middle East, South America and everywhere.”

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Following protests outside the Democratic National Committee headquarters, Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., said during a recent appearance on “Faulkner’s approach” that many anti-Israel protesters are being “tricked” into supporting Hamas terrorism.

“Hamas’ goal was to attack and kill as many Israelis as it could…on October 7, retreat, regroup, and then do it again,” Sherman said at the time. “And it’s not me speaking, it’s senior Hamas leaders. I think some of the protesters support that plan. Others are deluded into the idea that somehow a truce that allows Hamas to regroup and repeat will bring peace, and Obviously that’s not the case.”

Last month, Pastor Dumisani Washington, a black activist and founder of the Institute for Black Solidarity with Israel (IBSI), criticized Black Lives Matter chapters that he believed expressed support for Hamas terrorism against Israeli civilians as embodying an “evil.” beyond all description.” “, in an interview with Fox News Digital.

Experts suggest that the anti-Israel movement bears a striking resemblance to certain movements of social justice activists in the United States. (Getty Images)

“The price paid by organizations like Black Lives Matter to feign concern about Baltimore, Oakland, Ferguson… to feign concern just to use those people and even the deaths there to then demonize Israel some 6,000 miles away, It is an evil beyond description.” Washington said. “People are being destroyed by anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism… How do we defend the people of Gaza by celebrating this kind of blood?”

Instead of expressing sympathy for the more than 1,200 Israelis killed by Hamas terrorists, at least two Black Lives Matter groups They declared their support for the Palestinians. At least 27 American citizens have been killed, an unknown number are held captive by Hamas and others remain unaccounted for. Hamas is believed to have taken about 230 children, women and men hostage, although the number could be higher.

BLM Grassroots released a statement to their instagram page last month that said: “Black Lives Matter Grassroots stands in solidarity with our Palestinian family currently resisting [75] years of settler colonialism and apartheid.

A mural of George Floyd, a black man who died after being handcuffed and restrained by a white police officer in Minneapolis, was painted in Gaza City after his death in 2020. Originally, the mural only showed Floyd’s face , but the words “Black Lives Matter” were later added to show support for the movement in the United States.

Palestinians walk past a mural of George Floyd in Gaza City, June 16, 2020. (Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

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During a 2021 Interview with ViceYahya Sinwar, leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, used the “racist murder of George Floyd” to make a wild comparison about Israel.

“I want to take this opportunity to remember the racist murder of George Floyd. George Floyd was murdered as a result of the racist ideology held by some people,” Sinwar said. “Israel is using the same type of racism that killed George Floyd against Palestinians in Jerusalem, the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood and the West Bank.”

Fox News’ Joseph A. Wulfsohn and Hannah Grossman contributed to this report.