Ministry for Diaspora Affairs | The State of Affairs at U.S. Universities

The State of Affairs at U.S. Universities from October 7, 2023, to May 2024: Protests Against the U.S. and Israel, Supporting Hamas and Antisemitic Intimidation on Campus

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מסרים מרכזיים

Key Findings

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Protest Analysis: This report examines 1,454 protests that occurred across the United States starting on October 7, 2023. The analysis includes detailed data collection and information production on each protest, utilizing web intelligence (WEBINT) and artificial intelligence with language models.

Organizational Involvement: The protests are organized in waves by various groups, some of which are linked to Palestinian terrorist organizations, including Students

for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM).

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Connections to Terrorist Organizations: Founded in the 1990s, SJP is directly connected to American Muslims for Palestine (AMP). Certain members of SJP have previously held positions in organizations designated by the U.S. as connected to Hamas. SJP operates covertly to effectively promote anti-Zionist, anti Semitic, and occasionally anti-American ideologies.

Violence at Protests: An analysis indicates that the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) leads in terms of violence at its organized protests (approximately 20%), followed by PYM (15%), Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) (12%), Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) (8%), Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) (6%), and SJP (5%).

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Geographic Concentration: The majority of protests occur in New York and California. These states also serve as central hubs for organizations that, while presenting as civil society groups, in practice promote a new form of anti Semitism.

Impact on Jewish Students The protests' nature and intensity have adversely affected the personal security of Jewish students on campuses. As a result, some Jewish students have resorted to completing the semester through remote learning due to the escalating campus violence.

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Strategic Planning by Organizers: The organizers of these protests and harassment incidents are actively planning future strategies to continue campus disruptions. This includes a scheduled conference in Detroit from May 24 to 26.

Call to Action: It is imperative that all academic institutions and relevant authorities condemn and take decisive action to halt the activities of these organizations.

*We would like to express our gratitude to the Intelligence center for consciousness for their assistance and the diverse technological capabilities they provided, which significantly contributed to this research. 2

Summary and Analysis of Protests by State and Number of Protesters

From October 8, 2023, to May 3, 2024, a total of 1,454 pro-Palestinian protests occurred in the U.S. California (170) and New York (154) had the highest number of protests and participants, followed by Massachusetts (111) , Pennsylvania (85) , Illinois (80) , Minnesota (54) , Michigan (53) , and North Carolina (48) .

Analysis of Protest Numbers and Participant Trends Over Time

The majority of protests had participant counts in the hundreds, whereas 93 protests drew thousands of participants. Notably, there was a significant increase in protests with thousands of participants during October, early March, and from mid April onwards.

dozens

hundreds

Thousands

Khaled Mashal calls on Palestinians to protest in the streets

The bombing of Al-Ahli Hospital

The current wave of protests

Percentage of Violent Protests by Organizing Group

CAIR 20%

PYM 15%

DEM 12%

DSA 11%

JVP 8%

PSL 6%

SJP 5%

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Universities with the Highest Levels of Violence

University of Arizona : Incidents of violence primarily involve trespassing and frequent police interventions, often resulting in protester arrests (e.g., 72 arrests during a single protest on April 27). California State Polytechnic University: Violent occurrences include attempts to forcibly enter campus buildings, referred to as "building occupations," with notable involvement from faculty members and non-student protesters (e.g., January 23). Additionally, there were physical altercations with law enforcement, including the hurling of objects at officers and displays of police force. Columbia University: Instances of violence include student-on student assaults, physical clashes with law enforcement , an assault on an Israeli student on January 18, 2024, and numerous arrests stemming from threats, harassment, and violent actions by pro-Palestinian demonstrators against pro-Israeli protesters. University of Arizona and University of Washington: Both institutions witness frequent incidents of trespassing, forcible dismantling of encampments, and disruptions, often leading to multiple arrests by law enforcement. At the University of Washington, a confrontation between police and protesters resulted in a faculty member being hospitalized with nine broken ribs and requiring hand surgery.

CAIR

PYM

DEM

DSA

JVP

PDL SJP

הפגנות לא אלימות

הפגנות אלימות

Columbia University

Arizona State University

California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt

Washington University

University of Utah

Timeline of Violent Incidents Since October 8, 2023, there has been a consistent average of one violent incident per week during campus protests. However, from April 22 to May 1, 2024, there was a notable increase in violent incidents across the United States.

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Triggers for the Outburst of Protests

17% Claims of 'genocide' in Gaza

25% IDF operations

3% Censorship of pro-Palestinian activism

2%

Pro-Israel protests and others

28% Solidarity with Palestinian students

25% US support for Israel

Primary Causes of Protest Outbreaks Over Time Numerous factors, often overlapping, contribute to the onset of protests. Through an AI-driven analysis of protest data, key reasons for their occurrence thus far include U.S. support for Israel, solidarity with students at other universities, and activities of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF).

US support for Israel

Genocide and massacres" in Gaza"

IDF operations

Solidarity with Palestinian students and other universities

Furthermore, a review spanning several months reveals that the primary motivation behind the protests has progressively

shifted towards demonstrating solidarity with

Palestinian students at other universities.

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The Organizing Groups

SJP – STUDENTS FOR JUSTICE IN PALESTINE

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Today, the connection between SJP and AMP persists through funding, personnel, and shared ideology. Despite not being registered as a nonprofit and not filing tax reports that would necessitate disclosing its funding sources, here are some details on its funding method: SJP is directly connected to American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), and some of its members have held positions in organizations that were designated by the U.S. as linked to Hamas and subsequently shut down. Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) was established in the 1990s by Professor Hatem Bazian at the University of California, Berkeley. Currently, it operates under the name National SJP (NSJP) and boasts over 200 chapters across the United States. The organization has numerous offshoots and a reputation that reaches internationally.

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Screenshot of a Document from the Testimony of Jonathan Schanzer from the FDD

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From WESPAC report on the Colven project

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The Hamas Massacre on October 7,2023: SJP supports and glorifies the Hamas massacre. Five days after the massacre, October 12th, NSJP published a toolkit for its chapters to organize a "National Day of Resistance." Following this, the organization led activities across universities in the U.S., including the intimidation of Jewish students, promoting boycotts by pressuring university administrations, and fostering violent protests. Additionally, the organization used motifs from the October 7 massacre, such as drones, and even led campus protests against U.S. policy towards the Houthis in Yemen. The Houthis, known to be proxies of the Iranian regime, have acted against Israel since the massacre.

It should be noted that the organization has a history of using anti-Semitism and violence prior to October 7. SJP promotes chants with genocidal implications such as “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” As a result of SJP's activities on campuses, together with other organizations, the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce and the Oversight Committee announced (on May 14) the opening of an investigation into entities suspected of providing resources for the anti-Israel and anti-Semitic protests on U.S. campuses in recent weeks. They requested reports on the suspicious activities of 20 entities, with SJP being the primary focus.

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From the website of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).

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JVP - Jewish Voice for Peace

Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) describes itself as "the largest Jewish anti-Zionist progressive organization in the world." The organization prioritizes activities such as political actions, protests, and rallies against the State of Israel. It has been suggested that these activities have a negative impact on Jewish communities in the United States. Immediately following the Hamas attack on October 7, JVP expressed its support for Hamas and released a statement claiming that "the root of all this violence" is "Israeli apartheid and occupation, and the United States' partnership in oppression." On 22 May 2021, a speaker at a Free Palestine Coalition (which

includes organizations such as JVP, SJP and YDSA) rally in Philadelphia states about Hamas: "We have to be willing to do anything for Palestine, not just in words. We have to be like our brothers, our soldiers of Gaza, our soldiers of the resistance. When you start to understand those words you will start becoming less afraid of saying the H word, [Hamas] what is the H word? They are the only ones that’s fighting for Palestinians". Due to JVP's activities on campuses, Columbia University banned both JVP and Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) from holding events on its campuses.

The activities of JVP and SJP chapters were prohibited from Columbia University's campuses in November 2023. However, on November 19, 2024, both organizations held an unofficial protest on campus named “Hands Off Gaza and Yemen.” SJP openly celebrated the Hamas massacre on October 7, leading to their activities being banned on campuses in several states in the U.S.. Columbia University stated that both clubs violated university policy and expressed "threatening rhetoric and intimidation."

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On October 25, 2023, JVP activists gathered at a rally in Atlanta, Georgia, and recited Kaddish (a Jewish prayer recited in mourning) for Hamas terrorists. It is estimated that more than 200 JVP members attended the rally, where slogans like "From the river to the sea" were heard. The Kaddish recitation was performed cynically in front of a counter-protest by pro-Israel activists, including Israeli families whose loved ones were injured or killed by Hamas terrorists during the October 7 massacre. In an interview, the organization's CEO, Stephanie Fox, and the Political Action Director, Beth Miller, both stated that Israel is the "root of the problem" of the violence. As early as 2022, a JVP activist named Ariel Koren remarked that Hamas activities align with the "Palestinian right to resistance."

A leaflet calling for an emergency protest titled "Hands off Yemen and Gaza."

The annual report on anti-Semitism by AMCHA in 2022 examined whether campuses in the U.S. are safe for Jewish students, including evidence of "efforts to detach Zionism from Judaism and present Zionism as opposed to progressive values, to blame Zionist Jews for excessive rights, power, and undue influence, and reflects a desire to cleanse Zionism and Zionists from campus life." The report also found that institutions with activity by organizations like JVP or similar anti Jewish and anti-Zionist groups such as SJP were at twice to three times the risk of experiencing threatening incidents directly related to Jewish identity, compared to universities with only SJP or similar organization activity. Anti-Zionist Jewish individuals and student groups like JVP were involved in more than 10% of the incidents targeting Jewish identity.

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PYM - Palestinian Youth Movement

PYM is a anti-Zionist Palestinian activist organization, primarily active in the United States and Canada. In recent years, it has also expanded its presence into Europe. The organization holds protests against the existence and actions of the State of Israel, alongside extensive engagement on social media platforms. Over the years, and particularly after the events of October 7, the movement has publicly expressed support for terrorism, with anti-Semitic, anti-Zionist chants heard at its protests as well as calls for violence and intifada. PYM organized, together with partners, a conference called the "PEOPLE’S CONFERENCE FOR PALESTINE" (24-26.5) in Detroit. Strategies for continued action were discussed among other things.

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Main Page and Participating Organizations (Screenshots from the Conference's Dedicated Website)

The movement maintains close ties with the terror organization The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and its branches abroad, including joint activities, expressions of support, and meetings with designated terrorists. The organization has close ties with SJP - Students for Justice in Palestine and its founder, Hatem Bazian. Like SJP, the movement is financially supported by the WESPAC Foundation and raises funds through the GoodBricks platform, which is used by Islamic organizations in the U.S.

The key actors in the movement are educated academics with advanced degrees, most of whom are current or former SJP activists. International initiatives are led by several organizations, NSJP and PYM being the most prominent, aiming for widespread disruptions and protests. Actions taken under this initiative include shop closures, disruptions on roads and train stations, petitions to stop the war, takeovers of news centers, and more. These various disruptions are coordinated for specific days and occur simultaneously in numerous locations in what is called a "Day of Action." The day after the massacre, PYM and SJP, in collaboration with other organizations, organized a support protest in San Diego, with a background photo of the celebrations in Gaza following the massacre.

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Found at UCLA

A set of messages for SJP protests five days after the massacre