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I buy the claim that Hamas is an antisemitic organization. Their 1988 charter is quite explicitly antisemitic and although their more recent charter attempts to

I buy the claim that Hamas is an antisemitic organization. Their 1988 charter is quite explicitly antisemitic and although their more recent charter attempts to walk that back, it’s not clear how much sway the members who wrote it actually have within the organization or whether it was just written for Western consumption. I already said that antisemitism is one reason one might not support Israel, so of course I don’t dispute that some anti-Israel organizations are indeed antisemitic. But we’re not talking about Hamas; we’re talking about Colombia students. Is there any evidence that they openly supported Hamas? If not, why is it relevant?

settrans 2y ago
The Columbia protests were plainly and unabashedly pro-Hamas, e.g. the chant "يا حماس يا حبيب اضرب اضرب تل ابيب" (Oh Hamas, oh beloved, strike strike Tel Aviv), or the protestors exclaiming "We are Hamas", or any of the other explicit pro-Hamas statements that have been caught on camera. But I'm not sure what other pro-Palestinian protests have occurred since 2023 other than pro-Hamas protests. Have there been any explicitly pro-Palestinian protests that have advocated against Hamas, or for any other political entity?
jfengel 2y ago
Ah, I was addressing the first sentence in particular, about the conflation of anti-Israel sentiment and antisemitism. As for Columbia... no, there's zero reason to think they supported Hamas. There might well be antisemitism in the roots of this somewhere -- left-wing antisemitism is a real thing and didn't appear in response to Israel's treatment of Palestinians. But there is zero reason to think that the people being harassed are antisemitic. That is a right-wing belief that all Muslims are terrorists. Just to be clear about my perceptions: Israel does face serious terrorism from Muslim countries, and I think that this reaches American young people by being "washed" through anti-semitic (white) intellectuals. But attacking university students for their sincere and non-violent beliefs is horrific (even if I think that some of their beliefs are wrong).

settrans 2y ago

The Columbia protests were plainly and unabashedly pro-Hamas, e.g. the chant "يا حماس يا حبيب اضرب اضرب تل ابيب" (Oh Hamas, oh beloved, strike strike Tel Aviv), or the protestors exclaiming "We are Hamas", or any of the other explicit pro-Hamas statements that have been caught on camera. But I'm not sure what other pro-Palestinian protests have occurred since 2023 other than pro-Hamas protests. Have there been any explicitly pro-Palestinian protests that have advocated against Hamas, or for any other political entity?

jfengel 2y ago

Ah, I was addressing the first sentence in particular, about the conflation of anti-Israel sentiment and antisemitism. As for Columbia... no, there's zero reason to think they supported Hamas. There might well be antisemitism in the roots of this somewhere -- left-wing antisemitism is a real thing and didn't appear in response to Israel's treatment of Palestinians. But there is zero reason to think that the people being harassed are antisemitic. That is a right-wing belief that all Muslims are terrorists. Just to be clear about my perceptions: Israel does face serious terrorism from Muslim countries, and I think that this reaches American young people by being "washed" through anti-semitic (white) intellectuals. But attacking university students for their sincere and non-violent beliefs is horrific (even if I think that some of their beliefs are wrong).