(Dmytro “Henry” Aleksandrov, Headline USA) Both the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and a senior Hamas leader supported the unsanctioned tent encampments at Columbia University and other far-left universities in the United States.
On Apr. 23, 2024, the Popular Front, a U.S.-designated terror group, released a statement, in which it supported “our students at American universities,” the Washington Free Beacon reported.
Additionally, the terrorist group called for “the escalation of their struggle,” condemned university administrators for implementing “policies biased with the occupation” and praised the protests of the far-left students at both Columbia and Yale University.
The group’s statement coincided with a separate statement from a senior Hamas political leader, Izzat Al-Rishq, published on Apr. 24, 2024, by the Resistance News Network (RNN). In his statement, Al-Rishq likened Israel to Nazi Germany and declared support for American student protesters.
The Anti-Defamation League previously reported that the RNN frequently releases English translations of communiques from U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organizations located in Palestinian-controlled territories.
“Today’s students are tomorrow’s leaders,” Al-Rishq stated.
The support of the terrorists for the student protests came as tensions at Columbia have remained high, with the university administrators struggling to put an end to the unsanctioned tent encampment, the Free Beacon reported.
It was also previously reported that more than 100 students were arrested on campus.
Jewish students at the university have indicated they do not feel safe on their campus due to anti-Semitic chants and at least one pro-Israel individual being assaulted.
Some of the students decided to flee the campus, with a rabbi who heads Columbia’s Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus recommending to Jewish students that they leave campus due to the anti-Israel agitators.
Hamas-supporting students at Yale and other universities have formed similar encampments in solidarity with the protesters at Columbia.
Columbia released a statement on Apr. 24, 2024, indicating it was “making important progress” in its negotiations with student protesters, adding it had “committed to dismantling and removing a significant number of tents.”
