Harvard for Hamas? Something is very twisted on America's university campuses

It’s hard to wrap your mind around: The social justice warriors on college campuses around America have come out in support of terrorists who last weekend raped and murdered and beheaded innocent people (including children, women and the elderly) in Israel.

These are the same students who need safe spaces from those who may talk about race or gender in a way they find offensive, or who will shout down and demand the cancellation of speakers with whom they disagree.

Yet, some of them seem perfectly OK with defending the atrocities committed when Hamas invaded Israel in a surprise attack in which the terrorists murdered at least 1,200 Israelis; 27 Americans also died and more than a dozen are missing.

It seems the higher ed bubble has decided it’s “woke” to support Hamas and to shun Israel, regardless of how horrific the situation.

And even though many of these students believe “words are violence,” they defend real violence.

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Student groups stand in support of terrorism

Student organizations at more than a dozen prominent U.S. universities have issued statements pointing the full blame of the Hamas attack on the back of Israel. Those include Columbia University, the University of Michigan Law School and Northwestern University.

And on Thursday, local university chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine are planning a “day of resistance” and “protest for Palestine.” In other words, they are standing in solidarity with Hamas terrorists who just slaughtered innocents in the name of “resistance.”

Sickeningly, posters advertising the events highlight a paraglider. Hamas terrorists used paragliders to descend into Israel and proceeded to murder hundreds of young people at a music festival.

Perhaps the worst offenders – or at least the ones who have received the most attention – are the more than 30 student groups at Harvard University who signed on to a letter stating they “hold the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence.”

“Today’s events did not occur in a vacuum,” the students state. “For the last two decades, millions of Palestinians in Gaza have been forced to live in an open-air prison. Israeli officials promise to ‘open the gates of hell,’ and the massacres in Gaza have already commenced.

“In the coming days, Palestinians will be forced to bear the full brunt of Israel’s violence. The apartheid regime is the only one to blame.”

The statement has unsurprisingly attracted backlash, and the Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee has since hidden the names of the other groups that signed on to the misguided missive.

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The students haven’t apologized per se, however. They simply seem taken aback that their outrageous views aren’t being welcomed with open arms.

For instance, some major CEOs and investors are calling on Harvard to release the names of the students who signed the statement – so that they can make sure they never employ these people.

Harsh? Maybe. Deserved? Yes.

‘What the hell is wrong with Harvard?’

As Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz (and Harvard Law grad) posited on X, formerly Twitter: “What the hell is wrong with Harvard?”

Former Harvard President Lawrence Summers has also publicly called out the student statement: “Harvard is being defined by the morally unconscionable statement apparently coming from two dozen student groups blaming all the violence on Israel. I am sickened. I cannot fathom the Administration’s failure to disassociate the University and condemn this statement.”

As of this writing, the Harvard administration has refrained from directly condemning the student statement.

I’m a firm supporter of free speech, and I think the lack of open debate on college campuses is a huge problem. While one can argue that these student groups have the right to say whatever they want, it’s certainly worth questioning why so many "top" institutions are defending such awful acts.

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It’s not just students who are to blame here. They are learning this behavior from somewhere.

Yale associate professor Zareena Grewal, for example, has come out openly in support of Hamas terrorism, stating that “settlers are not civilians" after Saturday's attacks. And college administrations that like to issue statements on pretty much everything else have been noticeably silent now.

Greg Lukianoff, CEO of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, recently put it this way: “If you find yourself, you know, cheering the people who are raping, murdering, kidnapping … shouldn’t that be a point for reflection?”

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It should.

For students and administrators who remain puzzled about how to respond to the attack on Israel, Ben Sasse, the president of the University of Florida (and former GOP U.S. senator), offered an excellent example:

“Our educational mission here begins with the recognition and explicit acknowledgment of human dignity – the same human dignity that Hamas’ terrorists openly scorn. Every single human life matters. We are committed to that truth. We will tell that truth.”

Ingrid Jacques is a columnist at USA TODAY. Contact her at [email protected] or on X, formerly Twitter: @Ingrid_Jacques

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Why do Harvard students support Hamas and blame Israel?