Campus Activists Spreading Hamas Propaganda, Increasing Risk to Jewish Communities, Study Finds

College campuses across the United States, including several in New York City, have become distribution hubs for Hamas propaganda that explicitly encourages violence against Jewish people, according to a troubling new report from the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism.

The study, titled “Digital Couriers: How U.S. Anti-Israel Activists Amplify Terror Propaganda on Mainstream Platforms,” reveals that activists are not merely expressing support for terrorist organizations but actively sharing official propaganda materials on widely-used social media platforms such as Telegram, X (formerly Twitter), and Instagram.

“Protestors and activists are not merely praising the activity of terror groups; they are actively sharing their official propaganda, disseminating communiqués, videos, and other materials directly onto mainstream platforms,” the report states.

This proliferation of extremist content has surged since Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel, which killed approximately 1,200 people and saw over 200 taken hostage. The report indicates a concerning “normalization of rhetoric and messaging from terror organizations” that explicitly encourages violence against Israelis and Jewish people globally.

The propaganda pipeline typically begins with official terrorist group channels, where content is translated into English and distributed through intermediary platforms. One prominent distributor is Resistance News Network, a radical anti-Zionist Telegram channel with more than 150,000 subscribers that regularly promotes violence against Israel.

The ADL researchers emphasize that this trend coincides with “an unprecedentedly high threat landscape” for American Jews, who have experienced record levels of antisemitic incidents nationwide since October 2023.

Specific examples cited in the report include multiple instances of college activist groups directly sharing terrorist content:

The Bronx Anti-War Coalition reposted Hamas propaganda in March, including material that stated, “The day Israel is wiped off the face of the planet, we will sing, cheer, rejoice and dance the night away,” accompanied by hashtags including #WeAreAllHamas. The same group also shared violent posts from Hamas’ military wing celebrating a Houthi missile attack on Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport that injured several people.

At Barnard College in Manhattan, protesters distributed a physical document in English that was written by Hamas’ media office explicitly justifying the October 7 attacks.

CUNY’s John Jay College chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine shared an Instagram post featuring graphics from Hamas’ Al Qassam Brigades with text translating to “We are coming like thunder, making a time of glory.”

The University of Illinois Students for Palestine chapter posted a video appearing to show a Hamas fighter filming from inside an Israeli family’s home during the October 7 attack.

At the University of California at Davis, the SJP chapter shared a quote from a deceased Hamas representative celebrating the October 7 attack as “the most successful and professional commando operation of the modern era.”

The distribution of terrorist propaganda extends beyond digital spaces. The report notes that physical merchandise featuring terrorist imagery has appeared in some locations, including shirts sold at a Los Angeles bookstore featuring propaganda poster imagery.

To combat this growing threat, the ADL is calling for social media companies to more rigorously enforce their existing policies prohibiting content from designated terrorist organizations. The organization also urges Congress to pass the Stopping Terrorists Online Presence and Holding Accountable Tech Entities Act, which would compel platforms to better monitor and remove terrorist content.

For educational institutions, the ADL recommends clearer enforcement of campus policies for student organizations, with explicit guidelines about when distributing terrorist propaganda violates school rules or potentially state and federal laws.

“More broadly, it is incumbent upon the general public to engage in due diligence when consuming and sharing content online and associating with activist groups and individuals,” the report concludes.

As antisemitic incidents continue to surge nationwide, the normalization of extremist rhetoric on college campuses presents a growing challenge for university administrators, law enforcement, and community safety advocates.