The Ties That Bind

Campus "anti-Zionist" groups in America are following the orders of Hamas & Co.

Because defending “our democracy” means defending genocidal terrorism

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Because the Resistance Left hates Donald Trump so much, it often doesn’t bother to do its homework.

When the Trump Administration made good on the President’s promise to crack down on the vile campus antisemitism that has plagued American higher education for years, Resistance warriors reacted instinctively: Whatever Trump is doing must be wrong. In this instance, they seized on the First Amendment, denouncing any and all action by the government to defend the civil rights of Jews on campus. To hold universities like Columbia accountable for their toleration of antisemitic, terrorist-supporting groups like Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) was held to be a fascist-style assault on higher education, an attempt to snuff out intellectual freedom and silence voices of dissent.

The Administration also moved to deport resident aliens involved in antisemitic activities on campus, revoking their student visas and green cards. This the Resistance denounced as an outright assault on freedom of speech. These people might be garbage human beings, but the First Amendment protects their right to spew forth hymns of hate and calls for genocide. Supporting a terrorist group like Hamas, which glories in its murderous antisemitism and anti-Americanism, is not a crime. Nor does it provide the government with a valid reason to deport resident aliens. So it was argued.

But this line of argument skates past a few inconvenient facts. One is that many of the resident aliens targeted for deportation have actively engaged in the harassment of Jews on campus, violating their civil rights in the process. Another is that many of the First Amendment absolutists shooting this pious line are of the born-again variety. Where were they when conservative faculty members, students, guest speakers, etc. were harassed, intimidated, and otherwise persecuted by the campus leftists, often in collusion with university officials? Nowhere to be found, of course. Freedom of speech for me, but not for thee: That’s the default position of postmodern progressivism.

But these are secondary considerations. Over and above them looms the fact that “pro-Palestinian,” “anti-Zionist” campus antisemitism constitutes the American branch of foreign Islamofascist terrorist organizations and counties.

You need not take my word for this. The facts are laid out in a lawsuit that has just been filed with the US District Court, Southern District of New York, by relatives of several hostages taken by Hamas during its 10/7/2023 pogrom in southern Israel. Named as defendants are Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), Columbia-Barnhard Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), and a number of individuals associated with these and other antisemitic groups at Columbia University.

The plaintiffs’ complaint is detailed and absolutely damning; it should be read in full. Here I can only provide some excerpts:

On October 8, 2023, AMP/NSJP [American Muslims for Palestine/National Students for Justice in Palestine] distributed a manifesto (“NSJP Toolkit”) that included materials that appear to have been created before October 7. The NSJP Toolkit: (i) identifies AMP/NSJP as “PART of” a “Unity Intifada” governed by Hamas’ “unified command” of terrorist operations in Gaza; (ii) calls on AMP/NSJP’s partners and allies to organize a “Day of Resistance” using specified graphics and marketing materials; and (iii) directed its allies to sign what was, effectively, a loyalty pledge to Hamas. On information and belief, AMP/NSJP sent the NSJP Toolkit to the Associational Defendants, which acted on the AMP/NSJP’s directions.

Associational Defendants followed the NSJP Toolkit to the letter. Since October 7, these organizations have only been more aggressive and more militant in their efforts to, in coordination with Hamas and AMP/NSJP, distribute Hamas-created and affiliated propaganda, incite fear and violence, and attack critical academic, economic, and infrastructure centers in New York City.

In short, groups like Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine were acting under the orders of the “unified command” of Hamas and other terrorist groups.

Then there’s this:

Associational Defendants have distributed pro-terror propaganda produced by and literally stamped with the logo of the “Hamas Media Office.” [Emphasis added.] They also secretly and directly coordinated with Hamas’ terror patron, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (“IRGC”), to institute a blockade of critical infrastructure and institutions in New York City to support Hamas. They have also repeatedly terrorized and assaulted Jews across New York City and on Columbia University’s campus, physically assaulted Columbia University employees, and illegally seized and damaged public and private property.

This evidence of the direct links between antisemitic, terrorist-supporting groups on the campus of Columbia University and foreign terrorist entities is inarguable, and it blows a large hole in the First Amendment-based position of the Resistance. Hamas and the IRGC have been officially designated as terrorist organizations by the United States government; Iran is similarly designated as a terrorist state. And while the First Amendment undoubtedly protects speech in favor of these vile entities, it does not protect groups and individuals who actively collude with them. This is especially true of resident aliens like Mahmoud Khalil. His involvement was not that of an individual speaking his mind; it was that of a member of and spokesman for organizations whose ties to foreign terrorist entities are undeniable. The complaint details these ties:

Defendant Mahmoud Khalil is sued individually and as the representative of CUAD [Columbia University Apartheid Divest], Columbia SJP, and Columbia JVP. Khalil is the public face and de facto president of CUAD. On information and belief, Khalil is also the de facto president of Columbia SJP and Columbia JVP. CUAD was originally founded in 2016 as a collection of Columbia student organizations that supported the Boycott, Divest, and Sanction (“BDS”) movement. CUAD remained largely dormant for years until November 2023 after Columbia SJP and Columbia JVP were suspended and began operating directly through CUAD. Since then, Khalil has been the public-facing leader of CUAD. Khalil (i) was among the spokespeople for the so-called “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” (“Encampment”) at Columbia University, a prolonged pro-Hamas propaganda effort; (ii) threatened “escalation” on behalf of CUAD if its demands were not met; (iii) organized and led the actions of CUAD and Columbia SJP and Columbia JVP, which operate through CUAD; and (iv) on information and belief, directly coordinates with Hamas, AMP/NSJP, and/or other agents and affiliates of Hamas and related foreign terrorist organizations. On March 9, 2025, Khalil was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement pending his removal from the United States of America, upon information and belief, based on many of his actions described in this Complaint.

In short Mahmoud Khalil, Resistance-nominated free speech martyr, is an agent of Hamas.

Let it be noted that among the hostages taken by Hamas on 10/7/23 were a number of American citizens, some of whom the terrorists murdered. Like Jews on American university campuses, those Americans, living and dead, are absent as a factor in the Resistance defense of Khalil and people like him—their existence being an inconvenient reminder of what the Resistance is defending.

I’ll take the charitable view and assume that most members of the Resistance, federal judges included, were unaware of these facts when they rushed to the defense of Khalil and similar people. But now they have no excuse for their absurd claim that his activities are legitimized by the First Amendment. Khalil’s a resident alien who, while a guest of this country, served the cause of a hostile foreign power. The law provides for his removal at the discretion of the Secretary of State—and good riddance to him.

Resisting Trump by defending the indefensible may impart to Resistance warriors a warm, fuzzy glow of virtue, but it seems a strange way of defending “our democracy”—kind of like committing suicide to avoid being murdered.