Executive Summary

Amid the proliferation of antisemitism, anti-Americanism and extremism that disseminated across America after Hamas’ October 7, 2023 massacre of Israelis, Philadelphia stands out as a major center of concern.

In this report, Canary Mission uncovers and analyzes the deeper reasons for the anti-Israel fervor that overtook the city.

Our extensive research focused on events between October 2023 and December 2024. What we discovered was a disturbing strategy conceived by activists to turn the city into a hub of antisemitism, where support for terror was normalized.

This report carries with it great urgency, as this strategy is now being implemented throughout the state.

The plan used by Philadelphia’s anti-Israel/antisemitic activists involved activating three areas of civil society:

• Community groups and political actors
• University students and professors
• K-12 students and educators

By concentrating on these three demographics, they effectively spread their extremist ideology to the next generation. These cohorts provided masses for anti-Israel rallies and backing for the various anti-Israel initiatives implemented across the city. Local politicians showed support for the movement, as well.

This report focuses on three main arenas:

1. The coalition and alliance building strategy, facilitated largely by Philly Palestine Coalition, successfully recruited intersectional, political and interfaith partners to spread support for terrorism and promote an anti-Israel agenda disguised as “social and racial justice.”
2. The university ecosystem, comprised of the University of Pennsylvania, Drexel University and Temple University, where students and professors worked together for maximum impact.
3. Promotion of anti-Israel education by activist teachers, administrators and parents in the K-12 school system, which led to the indoctrination of children and harassment of Jewish students and teachers.

The report further explains how this radical network impacted Philadelphia’s Jewish community, which experienced an unprecedented number of antisemitic incidents during the evaluated time period.

The appendices—available exclusively in the downloadable PDF version of this report—contain detailed profiles of nearly 700 activists and documentation of 77 anti-Israel events that took place in the city.

• Appendix I: Profiles
• Appendix II: Suspected Foreign Citizens
• Appendix III: Documented Events
• Appendix IV: Antisemitic Incidents

Key Findings

Introduction

Following the October 7 Hamas massacre of 1,200 Israeli civilians, Philadelphia's streets overflowed with hateful rhetoric at mass rallies and protests. Disruptive marches featuring pro-Hamas speeches and anti-Israel posters and graffiti littered the city.

The speed at which the city transformed into a frontline of hate-filled activism revealed how years of ideological groundwork had primed Philadelphia for an uprising.

In this report, we examine how numerous coalitions exploited intersectional language and progressive causes to mask virulent bigotry and support for terrorism. With backing from aligned politicians, institutions and media, these groups normalized incitement and disrupted civic life.

Drawing on social media, original protest footage and public statements, Canary Mission has identified the individuals and organizations that orchestrated the massive anti-Israel movement, enabling alarming antisemitic and anti-American trends to proliferate without check.

The report focuses on uncovering the three-point plan to spread anti-Israel hatred in Philadelphia: coalition building in the community, student activism at multiple universities and infiltration of the K-12 education system. The result is a comprehensive map of Philadelphia’s anti-Israel organizations and their role in spreading antisemitism across the city, its communities, college campuses and public spaces.

Philadelphia’s story is a warning. The convergence of revolutionary ideology, religious radicalism and political legitimization created a combustible environment in which terrorism is celebrated as social justice and hate is paraded as freedom of speech.

This report is an urgent call to recognize the threat and confront it with accountability.

Methodology

This report examines antisemitic, anti-Israel and anti-American activity in Philadelphia from October 7, 2023 through December 31, 2024. In this time period, Canary Mission documented 77 anti-Israel events, including rallies, demonstrations and public actions, with a focus on activities led or supported by Philly Palestine Coalition (PPC).

Event inclusion was based on:

• Organization or endorsement by PPC
• Occurrence at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn), Temple University (Temple) or Drexel University (Drexel)

Canary Mission also documented nearly 700 individuals linked to this insidious network. Individuals were included if they:

• Attended PPC-led events
• Participated in anti-Israel activism at targeted universities, including pro-Hamas encampments
• Signed public anti-Israel statements
• Wielded influence in relevant institutions (education, media, government, etc.) and were linked to antisemitic activity

Our research draws on social media data, media coverage, protest footage, academic materials and original profiles collected and analyzed by our team.

Why Philadelphia?

Although antisemitism spread across much of the U.S. after the October 7, 2023 Hamas terror attack, Philadelphia was particularly fertile ground for the proliferation of antisemitic ideas for several cultural, demographic and religious reasons.

Historically, the city has been home to groups representing denominations of Islam that regularly espouse antisemitism, including the Nation of Islam (NOI) and the Muslim Brotherhood. For decades sermons in a number of the city’s mosques have been cited for extreme antisemitic rhetoric and support for terror causes.

In addition, Philadelphia is the home of the Quaker community, dating back to its founding by William Penn, himself a Quaker. The influential Quaker social justice organization, the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), has emerged as a leading voice in the anti-Israel, pro-BDS movement since the 1970s, when it aligned itself with the Palestinian cause.

Activists from these organizations had already been employed in Philadelphia's K-12 school system and universities when Hamas’ horrific October 7, 2023 terror attack sparked a pro-Hamas movement and anti-Israel activism in the city.

The Nation of Islam

The Nation of Islam (NOI) is an antisemitic religious group led today by Louis Farrakhan, who often refers to Jews as “satanic.” He has called Hitler “a very great man” and described Judaism as “a dirty religion.”

Although NOI’s headquarters are in Chicago, Philadelphia became an important city for the group in 1954 when Malcolm X, a charismatic NOI activist, established Temple #12, the first NOI temple in the city. Five additional temples were opened in Philadelphia over the next decade.

In 2020, the minister of the NOI Mosque #12 and then Philadelphia National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) president Rodney Muhammad shared an antisemitic social media post. Media reports on the incident uncovered Muhammad’s history of sharing antisemitic content on both his personal and the mosque’s social media accounts.

Philadelphia native and former Temple University professor Marc Lamont Hill, who was fired from CNN for calling for the destruction of Israel, met with Louis Farrakhan in 2016 and expressed his support for the leader.

Just two weeks after the October 7, 2023 terror attack, Hill was a featured speaker at an anti-Israel rally in Philadelphia. “The truth is that history didn’t start on October 7,” Hill said. “…For 100 years, there’s been a settler-colonial project. For 75 years, there’s been ethnic cleansing…We demand a ceasefire now! But the work doesn’t stop there. We demand decolonization. We demand an end to the occupation!”

Other community and student activists who have expressed support for NOI leader Louis Farrakhan include:

In 1964, when Malcolm X formally left NOI, many community members integrated into the mainstream Islamic community in Philadelphia, which was mostly comprised of immigrants from the Eastern Hemisphere.

Today, Philadelphia is home to more than three dozen mosques. Estimates place its Muslim population at around 300,000, or one-fifth of the city’s population.

According to a 2017 Washington Post article, “...some say [NOI leader] W.D. Mohammed’s teachings are no longer relevant [in Philadelphia]. But the legacy lives on in the city’s culture and politics and has helped define a modern-day Philadelphia that Muslim leaders say remains a magnet for Muslim immigrants and new converts.”

Muslim Brotherhood

One such Muslim immigrant to Philadelphia was Ismail al-Faruqi, a Palestinian-American professor of Islamic studies and founder of Temple University's Islamic studies program. In 1980, he opened the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT), a registered non-profit organization in Pennsylvania.

Faruqi established the institute at the behest of the Muslim Brotherhood as part of its plan to spread its style of Islam throughout the U.S. and Europe.

To date, IIIT is considered to be the leading Muslim Brotherhood research institute in the West.

In his article “The Brotherhood's Westward Expansion,” reporter Ian Johnson explained how the Muslim Brotherhood embraced antisemitism, as well as general support for Islamic terrorist groups.

American Friends Service Committee

Philadelphia is also home to a historic religious Quaker community. Although the Quaker population is only around 10,000-15,000 today, the central office of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), a Quaker organization and prominent social justice organization since its founding in 1917, is located in the city.

AFSC is a leader in the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement and regularly promotes false claims about Israel’s actions, including accusations of “genocide” and “ethnic cleansing.”

According to Alex Joffe and Asaf Romirowsky in an article titled, “The religious group known as the Quakers has sacrificed its founding religious principles at the altar of anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism”: AFSC’s views on Israel have “evolved from a nominally neutral, though not particularly sympathetic, point of view to a violently hostile stance. The group now engages in apologetics for anti-Israel terrorism, accuses Israel of crimes against humanity, and seeks to cripple Israel’s economy and security.”

In December 2024, the New York Times refused to run an ad from AFSC, which accused Israel of “genocide.”

As a leader of the BDS movement, AFSC urges universities, cities and unions to divest from Israel and provides resources and tools for doing so. It also works closely with extremist anti-Israel student groups, such as Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), to pass divestment resolutions on U.S. college campuses.

Several student activists affiliated with SJP also work at AFSC, including:

• Zoe Jannuzi, Palestine Activism Program coordinator, who was also an SJP student organizer
• Roua Daas is active with AFSC and also affiliated with SJP and the pro-terror activist group Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM)
• Eliana Atienza
• Olivia Katbi-Smith

AFSC runs a U.S. Palestine Activism Program that “provides resources, mentorship, and training to activists in the U.S.”

It also leads “national educational and advocacy campaigns,” engages “directly with decision-makers” and builds “connections between communities in the U.S. and Palestine.” Its resources are highly biased and extremely one-sided screeds against Israel.

Joyce Ajlouny, a Palestinian-American Quaker, is the general secretary of AFSC. Before joining AFSC, Joyce was the director of the Ramallah Friends School, a K-12 Quaker school in Ramallah, West Bank, for 13 years.

Ajlouney promotes “the right of return,” a coded concept for the destruction of Israel as a Jewish state, and contends that Israel is perpetrating “genocide” against Palestinians on a daily basis. Her social media posts show support for well-known antisemites like Ali Abunimah and Mohammed El-Kurd.

AFSC employs other fierce anti-Israel advocates, such as Dalit Baum, who wrote a divestment resolution for SJP at Loyola University, and Jennifer Bing.

AFSC is a large part of Philadelphia's anti-Israel, antisemitic network. Not coincidentally, AFSC and the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) in Philadelphia share the same address: 1501 Cherry St, Philadelphia, PA 19102.

Key Drivers of Radicalization in Philadelphia

Utilizing both a top-down and a bottom-up approach, activists in Philadelphia radicalized a significant segment of the population long before October 7, 2023. Philadelphia was rife with anti-American, intersectional, anti-racist and socialist ideologies for several decades, leading up to the eruption of hate towards Jews and Israel supporters that followed the Hamas massacre on October 7.

The Philly Palestine Coalition (PPC) was the driving force behind the anti-Israel element of the radicalization.

PPC succeeded in spreading its message through the community by cooperating with other anti-Israel groups in Philadelphia and forging intersectional alliances.

This section will delve into PPC, other anti-Israel and intersectional groups in the network, as well as sympathetic local politicians they have partnered with, to show how they worked together to spread record levels of antisemitism and anti-Israel sentiment throughout the city and across the state.

Philly Palestine Coalition: The Engine of Mobilization

Philly Palestine Coalition (PPC) describes itself as a “Philly-based Alliance of Palestinian, Black & Indigenous communities working to uplift Palestinian liberation.”

Immediately after the October 7 Hamas massacre of Israelis, PPC emerged as the unifying force that ignited the pro-terror movement in Philadelphia. PPC justified Hamas' terror immediately after the attack and accelerated its protest activity, organizing large rallies, die-ins and direct actions.

PPC’s Precursor: Philadelphia Free Palestine Coalition

PPC includes former Philadelphia Free Palestine Coalition (PFPC) members. PFPC described itself as “a united socialist alliance of activist organizations and political parties, dedicated to advancing the cause of Palestinian liberation from imperialism, settler colonialism and zionism.” The group was active in Philadelphia from 2020.

PFPC’s original member organizations included many of the organizations that have been active with the PPC following October 7, 2023, specifically:

• Philadelphia Socialist Alternative
• Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA)
• Philly Earth Alliance
• Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP)
• Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP)
• The League for the Fourth International
• Defund Temple University Police Department
• Sunrise Movement Philadelphia
• Black and Brown Coalition NJ

The group demanded “the recognition of the rightful, sovereign Palestinian state” in accordance with the Palestinian Declaration of Independence as proclaimed in November 1988 during the First Intifada by Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) chairman Yasser Arafat.

In this declaration, the Palestinian National Council (PNC), the PLO’s legislative body, proclaimed the establishment of the “State of Palestine” in Israel, with Jerusalem as its capital, and called for the continuation of the intifada against Israel.

PFPC and PPC’s History of Terror Support

In May 2021, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorists fired over 4,300 rockets from Gaza at major population centers in Israel. Israel responded by launching “Operation Guardian of the Walls (OGW),” carrying out targeted military strikes in Gaza.

During the operation, PFPC expressed solidarity with the “International Movement to Liberate Palestine,” mobilized around “the energy of the first intifada” and declared the onset of a “Third Intifada.”

Following a ceasefire that came into effect on May 21, 2021, the group’s messaging became more intersectional, explicitly linking Palestinian liberation to Black, Indigenous and other global struggles against racism and colonialism.

PFPC declared, “A ceasefire from Israel is NOT a Ceasefire for our CAUSE !!!!!” and called for members to “Join the Fight to Liberate Palestine!”

In October 2022, PFPC was renamed PPC following an internal scandal that included a PFPC member.

In May 2023, PPC promoted a Nakba Day rally on Instagram as a “march for Palestinian liberation, honor Palestinian martyrs, & say ZIONISM IS NOT WELCOME IN PHILLY!!!”

In September 2023, PPC promoted the Palestine Writes Literature Festival led by anti-Israel activist Susan Abulhawa. Many PPC members were affiliated with the event, which featured openly antisemitic speakers, including singer Roger Waters and two convicted Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terrorists. The event was held at the University of Pennsylvania despite concerns voiced by the Jewish students.

Read more about the Palestine Writes Festival here

The Coalition Strategy and Mass Mobilization

By October 2023, PPC had expanded its member organizations to include SJP chapters (or the equivalent) from Pennsylvania’s most prominent universities – Temple, Drexel, Penn, Swarthmore, Brynmawr and Haverford – and began working with local chapters of national organizations, including the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM), Black Alliance for Peace (BAP), Workers World Party (WWP), Black Lives Matter (BLM) and others.

PPC was positioned to mobilize immediately after October 7, 2023, adopting a similar model to that of the New York-based pro-terror activist group Within Our Lifetime (WOL). The plan brought intersectional allies on college campuses and community spaces into mass mob protests against Israel on the streets, while bringing “the streets” onto college campuses.

At Columbia University, WOL activated “comrades” in anti-Israel campus groups to gain legitimacy and power in both arenas and achieve economies of scale in branding, social media presence, protest numbers and pro-terror messaging.

PPC mimicked this strategy. By increasing collaboration between on-campus and off-campus anti-Israel organizations under an umbrella coalition, PPC was able to mobilize vast numbers of pro-terror supporters who attended the group’s demonstrations on Philadelphia’s streets and campuses.

PPC’s Reaction to the October 7, 2023 Massacre

Immediately following October 7, 2023, PPC declared solidarity with Hamas in a statement that read:

“We are witnessing the consequences of 75 years of Zionist settler colonial rule, 56 years of a violent, illegal, military occupation and 16 years of a brutal blockade that has suffocated the Gaza Strip and the 2.3 million Palestinians who inhabit it.

“As the dominant military and occupying power, Israel is solely responsible for the violence that has occurred since and long before October 7. Unwavering diplomatic and financial allies to Israel, particularly the United States and the $3.8 billion dollars in military aid it provides annually (and additional funding now being contemplated), are equally to blame.”

The statement continued: “The anticolonial, armed resistance out of the Gaza Strip was provoked by decades of Israeli state-sanctioned violence…As people living under a 56-year occupation, Palestinians have every right to defend themselves, their land, their families, and to oppose the colonial violence they face from their occupier.”

Philadelphia rapidly became engulfed in anti-Israel hate–in the streets, classrooms, city council meetings and interfaith community spaces. PPC organized more than 20 protests in Philadelphia in the first two months following the Hamas attacks. It mobilized high-profile anti-Israel activists to speak, including Susan Abulhawa and university professors, such as Marc Lamont Hill.

The group activated its intersectional network, including Muslim groups, charitable organizations and racial justice organizations.

PPC carried out a multi-layered plan to attack Israel, Jewish people and Jewish institutions in Philadelphia. Its tactics included:

• Successfully infiltrating educational institutions from K-12 to universities, promoting student walkouts on college campuses citywide and in high schools, promoting teach-ins (co-sponsored by Samidoun, a front organization for the PFLP, a designated terrorist entity) and supporting the 2024 pro-Hamas encampments on college campuses.
• Blocking transportation centers, protesting on subways and hanging anti-Israel banners on highways.
• Promoting pro-Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) campaigns as an “effective way to support Palestinian Resistance, no matter where you are in the world” and encouraging Philadelphians to boycott “Zionist establishments” and companies selling Israeli products. PPC also advocated for BDS in commercial centers and entertainment events, targeted Israeli-owned businesses and hijacked cultural events and institutions.
• Co-organizing a December 3, 2023 rally titled: “Flood Philly For Gaza,” where participants chanted in support of terrorism and called for Israel’s destruction. Protesters joined speakers in denying Hamas war crimes, as they gathered outside Goldie, an Israeli-owned falafel shop, chanting: “Goldie, Goldie, you can’t hide, we charge you with genocide!”
• Advocating against Israel in the political sphere, capitalizing on the 2024 presidential election by endorsing the “Uncommitted PA” campaign and protesting Pennsylvania’s investments in Israeli bonds.
• Organizing protests outside the offices of U.S. senators John Fetterman and Bob Casey, urging activists to call their state representatives and promoting statewide capitol protests against Pennsylvania's investment in Israel. PPC endorsed anti-Israel politicians and called on Philadelphians to “jam” the phone lines of council members.
• Sending organizers to speak at the October 19, 2023 Philadelphia City Council public comment session to denounce a resolution condemning the Hamas terrorist attacks. In April 2024, PPC proposed a draft for a ceasefire resolution, which they later withdrew from consideration because the final version of the resolution failed to accuse Israel of “genocide.”
• Organizing a December 11, 2023 rally in Philadelphia’s Washington Square Park and condemning politicians who expressed support for Israel in its war against Hamas. The rally took place during then-U.S. president Joe Biden’s visit to the city. Protesters referred to Biden as “Genocide Joe.”

Social Media and the Normalization of Terror

PPC also led a multi-front war against Israel on social media. It accused Israel of “ethnic cleansing” and “genocide,” spread and amplified false narratives, shared Hamas propaganda and demonized Israeli leaders.

On its Instagram page, PPC expressed solidarity with Palestinian “martyrs” (i.e., terrorists), promoted action calls from Palestinian groups in Gaza and endorsed terrorist groups like the Houthis and PFLP. In August 2024, PPC quoted a statement by now-deceased Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh promoting “a national global day in solidarity in Gaza and the prisoners.”

PPC promoted a community fundraiser, “Raising Funds for Direct, Material Support for Palestinian Liberation,” advocated against investment in Israel and denounced U.S. weapons sales to Israel.

Notable PPC Activists: Nour Qutyan, Jordan Vaughan and Nada Abuasi

On October 8, 2023, PPC co-organized an “Emergency Solidarity Rally” in support of Hamas atrocities against Israeli civilians that had occurred the previous day. Chants during the march leading up to the rally featured various calls for Israel’s destruction and celebrations of Hamas terrorism labeled euphemistically as “resistance.”

At the rally, PPC member and spokesperson Nour Qutyan defended the previous day’s massacre, saying to the crowd: “Hamas…they will call an Islamic terrorist group. Hamas, what they are is they’re the resistance front…what they’re doing is defending their land, defending their people and defending their right to live.”

Qutyan continued: “Indigenous people have a right to resist occupation…and that includes violent resistance…”

As the rally ended in front of Philadelphia’s City Hall, Qutyan said: “What’s happening in Palestine is history…it’s going to inspire people…all around the world to also rise up.”

Qutyan later said: “We have to defend the resistance, because it’s freedom by any means necessary…by any means necessary.”

On October 12, 2023, PPC organized another pro-Hamas march titled: “Rally Against Philly Media Suppression of Palestinian Resistance,” outside the WHYY news outlet offices in Philadelphia to protest what it claimed was a “biased pro-Israeli narrative which subverts necessary context for the ongoing resistance to the Zionist occupation of Palestine.”

Jordan Vaughan, an organizer with PPC, addressed the crowd, saying: “Long live the resistance! And land back by any means necessary!” The crowd cheered in support. The crowd again cheered when Nada Abuasi, another PPC organizer, said that over “the last few days, the people of Gaza have broken out and reminded us of our right to resist!”

Nada Abuasi read PPC’s post-October 7 solidarity statement, including the group's list of demands, which called for “the right of return for all Palestinians globally” and for “the United States to halt its complicity in enabling and financially funding” Israel.

Abuasi said that until PPC’s demands were met, “We offer our unequivocal support to the Palestinian people and the right to resist occupation and oppression by any means necessary.”

Other Notable Activists Include:

The Revolutionary Network in Philadelphia

PPC is deeply interconnected with a nexus of local and national activist groups that claim to advocate for social justice. In reality, they share pro-terror, anti-Israel and anti-American agendas.

The coalition worked together in Philadelphia following October 7 to coordinate public protests against Israel and Jewish institutions.

The Heritage Foundation described PPC as part of a “revolutionary ecosystem” which includes a network of organizations endorsing “extremist messaging and action” with funding from left-leaning sources.

This “ecosystem” is characterized by mutual endorsement of activities, coordinated protests and shared resources among groups advocating for causes like Palestinian liberation, racial justice, labor rights and anti-colonialism.

The Capital Research Center’s 2024 report, “Marching Toward Violence,” presents an extensive investigation into the organizational structure, ideology and tactics of anti-Israel protest movements in the U.S. following the October 7, 2023 terror attack.

The report lists PPC as one of over 150 groups it characterizes as “pro-terrorism,” revolutionary and increasingly militant, and states they are part of a coordinated national protest network fueled by anti-Israel and anti-American ideologies.

The report also lists multiple national organizations and their local satellites with whom PPC aligned following the October 7, 2023 terror attack to support Hamas terrorist activity and “bring the war home” (a term used to refer to the destruction of the U.S. government and institutions).

Read more about this in our report “Bringing the War Home: The Palestinian War on America” here

Palestinian Youth Movement

Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM) is a pro-terror activist group that spreads incitement, expresses support for terrorists, celebrates intifada violence and targets Zionists and Israel supporters. PYM also demonizes Israel, supports violent protests and promotes the BDS movement.

PYM was a central organizer of the Shut It Down for Palestine coalition, which planned anti-Israel rallies and mobilized crowds for pro-Hamas protests, walkouts and direct actions across the U.S. and internationally after the October 7, 2023 terror attack.

PPC endorsed, promoted and participated in Shut It Down actions, including the National March on Washington on October 29, 2023.

American Muslims for Palestine

American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) is a national, nonprofit organization founded in 2006 by anti-Israel professor Hatem Bazian. It is headquartered in Illinois and has numerous chapters across the U.S.

On October 7, 2023, AMP released a statement that blamed the Hamas terror attack on Israel.

AMP claims that its “sole purpose is to educate the American public and media about issues related to Palestine and its rich cultural and historical heritage.” However, AMP has been embroiled in many controversies related to its history of antisemitism and links to terror organizations and terror financiers.

See our blog “American Muslims for Palestine Sued for Terror Financing”

In 2010, AMP and the US Palestinian Community Network (USPCN) actively assisted SJP activists in founding the umbrella organization National Students for Justice in Palestine (NSJP), which coordinates campus SJP chapters across North America.

In May 2024, a lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia by American and Israeli victims of the October 7, 2023 Hamas terror attack against AMP and NSJP seeking compensatory damages.

The complaint alleged that both groups “work in the United States as collaborators and propagandists for Hamas.”

The lawsuit also notes that “AMP and NSJP are merely the current version of several prior entities that were already determined by the U.S. government to be supporters of Hamas.”

As the sponsor and facilitator of SJP on college campuses, AMP has been implicated in the planning, organizing and funding of pro-terror demonstrations in Philadelphia following October 7, 2023.

AMP was an official endorser of the Shut It Down for Palestine coalition and worked with PPC and CAIR-Philadelphia, a branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a Muslim Brotherhood front group, to organize protests.

On May 2, 2024, Hatem Bazian, AMP and SJP founder, spoke at the pro-Hamas encampment at Penn.

National Students for Justice in Palestine

In 2024, NSJP was the central organizer of the nationwide student encampment movement and mass protests demanding university divestment from Israel and declaring solidarity with Hamas and other terror organizations.

In April 2024, SJP chapters in Philadelphia-area universities organized or played a leading role in pro-Hamas encampments and protests.

• On April 25, 2024, the “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” at Penn was organized by anti-Israel student activists with Penn Against the Occupation (PAO), Penn’s SJP chapter. PPC organized a protest which began at City Hall and ended at Penn. SJP members from Drexel and Temple universities joined marches and actions at Penn’s encampment.
• On May 18, 2024, the Drexel Palestine Coalition, which included Drexel SJP, launched an encampment at Drexel.

Samidoun and Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine

On October 19, 2024, PPC issued a solidarity statement with Samidoun condemning Samidoun’s designation as a terrorist entity and “sham charity” four days earlier by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).

The designation stated that Samidoun serves as an international fundraiser for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a designated foreign terrorist organization (FTO).

PPC further defended the PFLP as a “legitimate political force within Palestinian society at large” and claimed its military wing exists within a “framework of lawful and just resistance.”

On January 15, 2024, anti-Israel activist groups, including PPC and the New Jersey chapter of Samidoun, held a pro-terror rally in Philadelphia. The flyer for the event featured the logo of the PFLP. Rally speakers repeatedly promoted hatred of America and the Jews, while praising terrorists.

Jewish Voice for Peace

Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), the largest anti-Zionist Jewish organization in the U.S., works to weaken U.S. support for Israel. The group’s goal is to create a “wedge” within the American Jewish community by opposing the idea of a Jewish state as central to Jewish identity.

JVP joined with other anti-Israel groups in blaming Israel for the Hamas October 7, 2023 terror attack.

Philadelphia’s local branch, JVP Philly, describes itself as “Anti-Zionist Jews in Philadelphia organizing for Palestinian liberation.” Following the October 7, 2023 terror attack, JVP Philly outlined its program for the group:

• “Priority 1: Stopping the flow of material and financial support, especially from the Jewish community, that upholds Israel's apartheid, occupation, and genocide.”
• “Priority 2: Defending the Palestinian liberation movement (especially Black, Brown, and Arab allies) from false accusations of antisemitism.”
• “Priority 3: Building up JVP Philly as an alternative to mainstream Jewish Zionist spaces, to provide a cultural, religious, and spiritual home for Philadelphia Jews who support Palestinian freedom and collective liberation.”

JVP became an “active member” of PPC and joined forces with CAIR Philly to end U.S. financial support for Israel’s war against Hamas and spread hatred of Israel throughout Philadelphia’s streets.

JVP’s tactics, in collaboration with PPC, included:

• Pro-BDS activities
• Advocating for a U.S. weapons embargo against Israel
• Anti-Israel protests
• Anti-American protests
• Political disturbances
• K-12 anti-Israel education
• Disruption of the city’s public transit system

JVP also targeted university campuses and partnered with SJP to foster antisemitism and spread hatred of Israel. JVP and SJP can be found fundraising, promoting, attending and co-hosting each other's events, sharing student activists’ content and defending one another.

In fall 2024, students at Penn launched a JVP chapter to provide “a space for anti-Zionist Jewish students at Penn to come together.” JVP UPenn, touted as “a political home on campus,” proceeded to co-opt Jewish holidays for anti-Israel events and support Penn’s SJP chapter (PAO) and Penn Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine (PennFSJP). JVP UPenn accused Israel of “ethnic cleansing,” “terrorism” and “genocide” and promoted BDS on campus.

Council on American Islamic Relations

The Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) describes itself as a “nonprofit, grassroots civil rights and advocacy organization” and “America’s largest Muslim civil liberties organization.”

CAIR has its national headquarters in Washington, D.C., with over 30 regional chapters across the U.S., including CAIR-Philadelphia.

While the group’s stated mission is to “enhance understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice, and empower American Muslims,” in reality, the group lobbies on national, state and local levels for various anti-Israel initiatives.

In November 2023, CAIR co-founder and executive director Nihad Awad spoke at the annual AMP convention in Chicago, where he publicly celebrated Hamas’s October 7, 2023 terror attacks on Israel.

CAIR-Philadelphia participated in joint actions and public statements alongside PPC and JVP, including a rally at the Pennsylvania State Capitol calling for divestment from Israel bonds.

CAIR Philadelphia also provided legal support for student protesters arrested at anti-Israel demonstrations on campus, held press conferences defending pro-terror activists and distributed “Know Your Rights” materials to advise community members on legal protections during protests.

Additional tactics used by CAIR, often in conjunction with PPC, include:

• Advocating for BDS and fighting anti-BDS laws in Pennsylvania
• Anti-Israel protests
• Political disruptions to advocate against Israel
• Fighting the IHRA definition of antisemitism
• Advocating for change in K-12 education
• Supporting pro-Hamas encampments

Health Workers for Palestine

Health Workers 4 Palestine (HW4P) was founded in the UK in October 2023 by doctors to establish a global network of health professionals and advocates who campaign against Israel.

HW4P is now active in over 70 cities worldwide, including Philadelphia (hcw4palphilly), where it collaborated with PPC, JVP Philly and other activist groups, including labor unions and student groups, to amplify its message and coordinate events.

HW4P Philadelphia have used the following tactics:

• Advocating for an arms embargo against Israel
• Staging “die-ins” at Philadelphia’s City Hall and other anti-Israel protests
• Co-sponsoring protests “in solidarity with the resistance and demanding an end to all US support of Zionism”
• Political disruption
• Spreading anti-Israel propaganda
• Attempting to influence K-12 education

Writers Against the War on Gaza

Writers Against the War on Gaza (WAWOG) is a coalition formed in October 2023 by writers, academics, artists, journalists and cultural workers “who are committed to the horizon of liberation for the Palestinian people, and who organize against Zionism and American empire from within the imperial core.”

On Instagram, WAWOG Philadelphia advocates “organizing for liberation from the river to the sea 🍉.”

WAWOG’s principles of unity support “armed resistance” (i.e., Hamas terror) and the “right of return,” which would be “secured through the complete dismantling of ‘Israel.’”

WAWOG claims BDS is a “moral necessity” and endorses “autonomous action against the police, the state, the empire” in the U.S.

In July 2024, Philly WAWOG announced their Movement School, which offered workshops promoting the terror organization PFLP.

In addition, Philly WAWOG:

• Advocated in Philadelphia for the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI)
• Promoted anti-American rhetoric and political disruptions
• Participated in anti-Israel protests and events
• Pushed for the boycott of local businesses owned by Jews or Israelis
• Promoted terrorism, spread propaganda and chalkings that demonized Israel in Philadelphia
• Supported campus activism and pro-Hamas encampments

Al-Bustan Seeds of Culture

Al-Bustan Seeds of Culture is a nonprofit organization in Philadelphia dedicated to presenting and teaching Arab culture through arts, language and community engagement. Qatar Foundation International is listed as a past contributor.

Al-Bustan was founded by Hazami Sayed in July 2002. Prominent anti-Israel activist Susan Abulhawa served as a founding board member. Al-Bustan’s current executive director is Lisa Volta Zalloum, a former elementary school teacher.

In September 2023, Al-Bustan served as a community partner and co-sponsor for the Palestine Writes Festival, an antisemitic hate event held at the University of Pennsylvania. Several of its members, including Banah Khamis, were listed among the “Staff & Volunteers.”

After October 7, 2023, the “Al-Bustan News Service” played a crucial role in shaping the anti-Israel narrative around the Hamas terror attack and in amplifying and documenting the pro-terror protests in Philadelphia.

An undated news release from Al-Bustan reporting on PPC’s October 8, 2023 protest read: “On October 7, Palestinian resistance fighters affiliated with Gaza’s Hamas government broke through the Israeli constructed border wall, which prevents Gazans from coming in or out of Gaza.”

The release continued: “Hamas says its October 7 operation, named Al-Aqsa Flood, was launched in response to years of ongoing Israeli aggression against Palestinians: including settler violence, the blockade of the Gaza Strip, and the desecration of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.”

Al-Bustan coordinated projects with anti-Israel Penn professors Huda Fakhreddine and Ahmad Almallah. Recent Temple University graduate Johara Shamaa works with Al-Bustan as a workshop instructor.

Local Organizations, Community Groups and Cultural Spaces

PPC collaborated with a wide range of local organizations, unions, community groups and cultural spaces in Philadelphia to build solidarity networks, organize joint actions and foster mutual aid among diverse groups.

These extensive partnerships united parents, teachers, artists, religious groups and institutions to ensure that in virtually every aspect of daily life, an individual would encounter anti-Israel messaging and that pro-terror activists would be given a platform from which to spread hatred of Israel.

Across demographics and faiths, community activists mobilized against Israel. Families for Ceasefire organized “family-friendly” marches and educational events to integrate children, caregivers and families in anti-Israel activism. Local educational and sporting events, film screenings, public libraries and online forums all featured anti-Israel activists who demonized Israel.

Batikh Batikh Collective

The Batikh Batikh Collective (BB) is a pop-up cinema and gallery in Philadelphia that organizes screenings and exhibitions of South-West Asian and North African (SWANA) women and queer artists.

The collective was founded in 2022 by Sarah Trad, who spoke at a Philadelphia City Council meeting in October 2023 in opposition to a resolution condemning the Hamas terror attack.

Al-Bustan News quoted Trad as saying:, “At Batikh Batikh, when we say ‘Free Palestine,’ we say ‘by any means necessary,’” adding: “So, even though we're showing films about a bunch of corny love stories, we're also showing documentaries about Leila Khaled.”

The collective does not accept submissions with Zionist content.

On October 10, 2023, the collective posted on Instagram that the group “proudly practices BDS in its programming and operations.”

In January 2024, Batikh organized a Palestine film series. Rather than having individuals purchase tickets, they asked attendees to show proof that they've contacted their elected officials to demand a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.

The programming included a documentary about the Palestinian Revolution and the history of the armed struggle of the PFLP and PLO to demonstrate “the power of documenting Palestinian resistance as a successful tool to oppose propaganda and continue the revolution.”

Making Worlds Bookstore and Social Center

The Making Worlds Bookstore and Social Center is a nonprofit, worker-cooperative bookstore and community space located in West Philadelphia. It hosts cultural and educational events, including panels, teach-ins and fundraisers featuring prominent Philadelphia-based anti-Israel activists such as Susan Abulhawa, Eliana Atienza and Hannah Gann.

La La Lil Jidar Collective

The La La Lil Jidar Collective is an artist and activist collective that works in partnership with PPC and uses exhibitions, public art, street media and cultural events to spread hatred of Israel in Philadelphia.

The collective’s programming and messaging are designed to “elicit an emotional response” and attempt “to draw parallels between the violence in Israel and the structural violence faced by marginalized communities in Philadelphia, fostering a sense of shared resistance and solidarity.”

Intersectional Alliances

Collective Advocacy and Collaborative Resistance

In Philadelphia, a wide range of intersectional alliances formed around anti-Israel advocacy, bringing together groups from various social and racial justice movements. The groups uniformly cast Israel as the offender for each “injustice” as characterized by the lens of their cause célèbre.

These alliances connect struggles against racism, colonialism, sexism, anti-Blackness, and other forms of neo-Marxist “oppression” to the Israel-Palestine conflict, designating Israel as the perpetrator and Palestinians as the victims.

Following the October 7 Hamas attack, Philadelphia saw the emergence and strengthening of intersectional alliances among activist groups engaged in anti-Israel and pro-terror activism.

On October 13, 2023, PPC issued a solidarity statement justifying the Hamas terror attack that local groups across the intersectional landscape endorsed. PPC spoke to each group in the language of their rallying cry, but the message uniformly placed Israel and the U.S. as the common enemy.

PPC united these intersectional groups in Philadelphia, with multiple groups co-organizing and participating in joint anti-Israel protests. The groups shared organizing strategies and messaging, made and shared social media posts and public statements and provided tactical support and legal defense to student activists.

Racial justice and Black liberation groups in Philadelphia, such as the Racial Justice Organizing Committee (ROJC) and the Black Philly Radical Collective (BPRC), which includes the Philadelphia chapter of Black Lives Matter and Malcolm X Grassworks Movement, responded to the October 7 attacks by framing them as acts of “resistance” against what they described as Israeli “occupation,” “apartheid” and “systemic oppression.”

Rather than condemning Hamas’s terror attacks, these groups justified or rationalized them by drawing parallels between the “systemic power imbalances” they claim exist in their own communities and Israel’s alleged treatment of Palestinians.

For example, PPC advocated against “police aggression,” enlisting abolitionist groups like Philly Muslim Freedom Fund by drawing parallels between the treatment of black and brown communities by Philadelphia police and Israel’s alleged treatment of Palestinian terrorists.

Housing justice organizers drew explicit connections between their fight against displacement and gentrification in West Philadelphia and the plight of Palestinians in Gaza. The Coalition to Save UC Townhomes and Save Chinatown Coalition joined PPC’s anti-Israel activism, co-organized anti-Israel rallies and mobilized residents and community members.

Communist and Socialist Groups

Many socialist and communist/Marxist groups in Philadelphia criticize the role of the U.S. and Western countries in funding and arming Israel, viewing the conflict as intertwined with capitalist interests and military-industrial profits.

These groups advocate for ending U.S. support for Israel and call for an arms embargo as part of their opposition to “capitalist exploitation” and “imperialist wars.” These groups also demand the “dismantlement” of America’s “colonialist,” “imperialist,” and “capitalist” system, often calling for the U.S. (“the empire”) to be abolished as a country.

Communist and socialist groups in Philadelphia, like Philly Socialists, acted as PPC foot soldiers and organized “Door-Knocking” initiatives designed to “educate” Philadelphians on the conflict in Gaza. These socialist groups also issued public statements, organized educational events and mobilized their base to support PPC.

The Party for Socialism and Liberation

The Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) is a communist political party in the U.S. with an active branch in Philadelphia. Founded in 2004, it stands “in solidarity with working-class and oppressed people around the world who are resisting capitalist exploitation and imperialist domination.”

PSL identifies as a Marxist-Leninist party and seeks the revolutionary overthrow of capitalism and the establishment of socialism in the U.S.

PSL calls for an immediate end to U.S. military aid to Israel and supports the Palestinian right to resist occupation “by any means necessary,” which includes endorsing armed resistance against Israel and explicitly rejecting the labeling of such resistance/violence as terrorism.

On October 7, 2023, following the Hamas attack, PSL published a statement expressing strong support for Hamas’ actions. The statement read:

“Resistance to apartheid and fascist-type oppression is not a crime! It is the inevitable outcome for all people who demand self-determination rather than living with the boot-heel of the oppressors on their necks…The actions of the resistance over the course of the last day is a morally and legally legitimate response to occupation.”

The statement applauded the actions taken by “Palestinian resistance forces” and rejected the notion that the attack against Israeli civilians constituted “terrorism.”

The Philadelphia chapter of the party, PSL Philly, engaged in anti-Israel activism, including:

• Anti-Israel protests and Shut It Down events
• BDS and calls to abolish the Philadelphia Israel Chamber of Commerce
• Political advocacy
• Glorifying convicted terrorist Leila Khaled
• Traffic disruptions, including blocking traffic on Ben Franklin Bridge (a major thoroughfare), a shutdown of Comcast headquarters in Philadelphia and disruptions at the King of Prussia shopping mall
• Support for SJP and pro-Hamas encampments
• Rallying for more Palestine (i.e., anti-Israel) education in K-12 education

Naheda Dahleh is a key activist for PSL Philly.

ANSWER Coalition

Act Now to Stop War and End Racism (ANSWER Coalition) is an anti-war movement in the U.S. founded after the September 11, 2001 terror attacks that has organized campaigns against American foreign policy and Israel.

ANSWER Coalition, often considered a “front group” for PSL, was a central organizer of the Shut It Down for Palestine coalition, which planned and mobilized protests, walkouts and direct actions across the U.S. and internationally.

Following the October 7 attack, ANSWER Coalition Philadelphia worked with PPC and Philly PSL and co-organized events and demonstrations.

Democratic Socialists of America

Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is the largest socialist organization in the U.S., with 80,000 members and 250 chapters and organizing committees as of 2023. Since 2016, DSA has espoused the view that Zionism is a form of racism, imperialism and settler-colonialism.

Following October 7, DSA issued statements supporting Palestinian liberation and the right to resist, organized protests and circulated toolkits calling for the end of all U.S. aid to Israel and decolonization “from the river to the sea.”

In January 2025, DSA released a statement that said: “DSA will continue to fight for the end of apartheid, for a free Palestine from the river to the sea and for an end to US imperialism. We will stand in unconditional, unwavering solidarity with the Palestinian people until liberation, and Israeli and US war criminals are brought to justice for all the atrocities they have committed, from the Nakba to today.”

Philadelphia DSA (Philly DSA) spearheaded the Uncommitted PA movement in Philadelphia with Palestinian-American advocacy groups and other Pennsylvania DSA chapters, urging voters to cast “uncommitted” ballots in the 2024 Democratic primary to protest U.S. support for Israel and demand a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.

Philly DSA launched the DSA’s No Appetite for Apartheid campaign in the Philadelphia region, “with the goal of engaging local establishments to offer ethically-sourced alternatives and commit to a boycott of products complicit in Israel’s occupation and apartheid against Palestinians.”

Philly DSA’s key activists include: James Ray, Duncan Gromko, Austin Binns, Anlin Wang and Luke Mills.

Young Democratic Socialists of America

Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA) is DSA’s youth and student wing, “organizing in our universities, colleges, and high schools to fight for the immediate needs of workers and students while building our capacity to fight for more radical and structural changes.”

In July 2024, YDSA formally defined Zionism as “a racist, imperialist, settler-colonial project.”

YDSA has over 100 campus chapters, including Penn YDSA, whose members joined the “Collective Walkout for Palestine” on October 16, 2023, and collaborated with anti-Israel campus groups in calling for divestment from Israel.

Key activist: Katie Miernicki

World Workers Party

World Workers Party (WWP) is a Marxist–Leninist communist party in the U.S. founded in 1959 by former members of the Socialist Workers Party. WWP defines itself as “a revolutionary Marxist-Leninist party inside the belly of the imperialist beast” that “not only aims to abolish capitalism, but to build a socialist society.”

The WWP has framed the Israel-Palestine conflict within the “struggles of workers and oppressed peoples everywhere” and calls for "workers of the world to unite."

WWP signed a declaration of the Committee of Anti-Imperialists in Solidarity with Iran (CASI) that backed Iran’s ballistic attack on Israel in April 2024.

In its newspaper, Workers World, edited by Betsey Piette, WWP openly endorses terrorism as “resistance” and supports terror organizations and terrorist leaders. Hamas and other foreign terror organizations are characterized as “resistance forces” in the “Axis of Resistance” and Israel’s allies as the “Axis of Evil.”

Following the October 7 terror attack, WWP frequently published statements made by Hamas leaders, including statements made by terror groups on Telegram’s Resistance News Network channel. The group glorified Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and eulogized terror leaders as Israel eliminated them.

Workers World also published the PFLP statement of support for the student intifada and amplified the calls of Gaza unions to U.S. workers to take action against Israel.

On October 8, 2023, WWP published an official statement in “solidarity with Palestine,” celebrating the Hamas terror attack as “a heroic example for people longing for liberation from imperialism around the world.” The statement blamed the “white supremacist Zionist state for the Hamas attack.”

The statement declared.

“The Israeli regime’s murders, seizures of territories, illegal settlements and occupation made a response from the Palestinian people and their liberation organizations as inevitable as it was justifiable…The Palestinian movement and people have every right to strike back in whatever way they choose…”

Workers World Philadelphia (WWP Philly) mobilized rapidly to support PPC after the October 7 attack and was directly involved in PPC protests, co-sponsoring events and distributing posters for protesters to use.

On October 7, 2023, WWP Philly posted on Instagram a photo of signs for a pro-Hamas rally the following day, one of which read: “Resistance is JUSTIFIED.”

On October 8, 2023, WWP Philly members spoke at an anti-Israel rally and march organized by PPC, praising the Hamas attack as a “job well done” and advocating for violence against Israelis.

The following are examples of WWP Philly activism:

• Amplified anti-Israel protests and actions in Philadelphia on social media and in the Workers World publication
• Supported and promoted the college encampments
• Endorsed PPC’s statement that justified the Hamas attack
• Promoted divestment campaigns in Pennsylvania

Key Activists: Michael Wilson, Brice Patterson, Betsey Piette

Philadelphia Young Communist League

Philadelphia Young Communist League (YCL) is the local branch of the Young Communist League USA. This radical-left, youth-led political organization advocates for communism and for transforming the U.S. into a socialist society through democratic struggle.

YCL endorsed PPC’s statement that justified the Hamas attack.

Philly Socialists

Philly Socialists is a “political organization dedicated to building a more just, democratic, & sustainable future.” Philly Socialists promoted PPC rallies with “door-knocking” initiatives in West Philadelphia. In 2025, the group launched a “Philly Is No Sister to Genocide” campaign to remove Tel Aviv from the city’s sister city program.

The group also promotes BDS and was a key organizational backer of the "Uncommitted PA" campaign, which called for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and an end to U.S. military aid to Israel.

Racial Justice and Black Liberation Groups

Many racial justice advocates cast the Israel-Palestine conflict as deeply connected to global fights against racism, colonialism and state-sanctioned violence. These groups justified and endorsed the Hamas attack and called to free Palestinian terrorists held in Israeli jails. PPC joined together with several local racial justice groups to spread their message and circle of activism.

Black Alliance for Peace

Black Alliance for Peace (BAP) purports to be a “human rights project against war” that “seeks to recapture and redevelop the historic anti-war, anti-imperialist, and pro-peace positions of the radical Black movement.”

Ironically, BAP is virulently anti-Israel and, in practice, pro-terror.

On October 11, 2023, BAP released a statement in support of the Hamas terror attack and called on Black and African communities to join anti-Israel protests and initiatives.

The statement declared: “We say that a colonized people have a right to resist occupation and fight for self-determination by any means necessary!”

The statement also said: “The Black Alliance for Peace stands in solidarity with the people of Gaza and all Palestinians under occupation in the racist, apartheid settler state of Israel. We recognize the right of Palestine to exist and the right of the Palestinian people to resist occupation. We call on African/Black people to remember our long tradition of solidarity with Palestine.

On October 7, 2024, a year after the attack, BAP wrote a statement titled: “The Meaning of October 7th: An Oppressed People Will Always Find a Way to Resist Oppression,” declaring “Black Alliance for Peace will never abandon the Rights of Palestinian People to Resist Zionist Colonialism ‘By Any Means Necessary.’”

BAP-Philadelphia engaged in anti-Israel protests alongside PPC.

Key activists: Asantewaa Nkrumah-Ture, YahNe Ndgo, Joshua Reaves

Black Lives Matter

Black Lives Matter (BLM) attempts to draw parallels between the experiences of Black Americans claiming to face police brutality, surveillance and incarceration and that of the Palestinians.

BLM Philly is a local chapter of the BLM Global Network and part of the Black Philly Radical Collective (BPRC). BLM Philly joined in and promoted PPC anti-Israel activism.

At an October 8, 2023 PPC rally, Rutgers professor Krystal Strong, a speaker for BLM, said:

"We gotta make sure our so-called progressives who stand for justice except for when it comes to Palestine are more afraid of the people, are more afraid of us, than they’re afraid of AIPAC [American Israel Public Affairs Committee] and their funders…”

Strong continued, invoking the “Deadly Exchange” conspiracy theory invented by JVP in 2017, which blames Israel for police brutality in America:

“The same police who are willing to kill you and me here in the streets of Philadelphia are going over to Palestine to learn the best methods to do so. The same people who are gentrifying our communities and sit comfortable stealing their land and creating these bullshit settlements in Palestine.”

BLM Philly co-organized anti-Israel protests with PPC. On January 15, 2024, anti-Israel activist groups held a pro-terror rally in Philadelphia. Flyers for the rally featured the logo and slogan (“No to Zionism and Racism”) of the PFLP terror group, a designated foreign terrorist organization. Rally speakers repeatedly promoted hatred of America, praised terrorists and spread antisemitism.

Key Activists: Krystal Strong, YahNé Ndgo

Malcolm X Grassroots Movement

Malcolm X Grassroots Movement is a national organization dedicated to Black liberation and “the struggle to free political prisoners, prisoners of war, and political exiles and Black resistance in and outside the U.S. Empire.”

The group expressed solidarity with Gaza and accused Israel of “genocide,” advocated for “resistance” and condemned U.S. support for Israel.

The Philadelphia chapter of the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement promoted anti-Israel protests with PPC and supported students at the pro-Hamas encampments.

Indigenous Rights and Global Liberation-Focused Struggles

Pro-Palestinian rights groups claim that “Israel is connected to the oppression of Indigenous people world-wide.” Following October 7, PPC coordinated with local Black, Puerto Rican and Filipino youth and student groups to advocate against Israel.

PPC positioned Israel and the U.S. as the “common enemy to Black and Indigenous liberation and autonomy across the world.”

Anakbayan USA

Anakbayan USA is a Filipino communist group that actively encouraged Filipino youth and students to join and support NSJP’s “Student Movement for Palestinian Liberation” pro-Hamas campus encampments and demonstrations.

The organization called for students to “seize our universities and force the administration to divest, for the people of Gaza” and to join the “Popular University” movement that demands university divestment from Israel.

Anakbayan endorsed the October 7 attacks and signed a declaration of the Committee of Anti-Imperialists in Solidarity with Iran (CASI) that backed Iran’s ballistic missile attack on Israel in April 2024.

Anakbayan Philadelphia, the local chapter, posted on October 12, 2023: “Anakbayan Philadelphia stands with the people of Palestine in their fight for liberation and condemns Israel’s Zionist campaign of displacement, ethnic cleansing, and genocide…As Palestine fights back, Anakbayan Philadelphia calls on fellow Filipinos and our partner organizations to support this cause and to reject our common enemy of U.S. imperialism which fuels the Zionist Israeli state.”

Anakbayan Philadelphia engaged in anti-Israel protests, workshops and events.

Philly Boricuas

Philly Boricuas is a self-described “grassroots organization of Puerto Ricans organizing the diasporic community in Philadelphia.” The alliance between Puerto Ricans and Palestinians is based on the perception that both groups are resisting imperial powers – Puerto Ricans under U.S. colonial rule and Palestinians under Israeli occupation.

Following October 7, Philly Boricuas actively collaborated with PPC and helped organize rallies and prepare educational materials.

In April 2024, Philly Boricuas issued a “Palestine Solidarity Statement” that accused Israel of “genocide” and “apartheid” and wrote: “Philly Boricuas uphold Palestinian right to resist occupation and to protect their right to indigenous lands by any means necessary.”

Key Activist: Justin Roig

The Queer Intifada: Gender Rights and LGBTQ

Queers 4 Palestinian Liberation

In their Instagram profile, Queers 4 Palestinian Liberation (Q4P PHL) describes itself as “Philly(Lënapehòkink)~based, Palestinian, Black & Indigenous-led, anti-imperialist direct action collective 4 the liberation of colonized land🔻”

The inverted red triangle in their profile is a symbol of support for Hamas.

On December 1, 2023, the group published a statement that “affirmed” the group’s goals, including “the abolition of the Zionist state,” a one-state solution, the Palestinian “right of return” and the “right to resist by any and all means necessary.”

Q4P PHL said it organizes direct actions and protests “for the amplification of Queer Palestinian liberation from Zionist occupation.”

On March 16, 2024, Q4P PHL led a march at Philadelphia’s City Hall. The Instagram post advertising the event said: “...We at Q4P continue to assert that Queerness is a radical politic that has never been and never will be compatible with z*onism!...”

On March 22, 2024, Q4P PHL, PPC and JVP Philly organized a protest at the Brooklyn Bowl event hall in Philadelphia against a concert scheduled that day by Jewish-American reggae singer Matisyahu. At the event, protesters hung a sign that read: “Israel is a Terrorist Organization.” Matisyahu gave the performance despite the protest.

On June 1, 2024, at the beginning of “Pride Month,” the group disrupted a gay pride parade in Philadelphia, with protesters chanting: “PPP, KKK, IOF they are all the same.”

“IOF” stands for “Israeli Occupation Forces,” a derogatory name used by anti-Israel activists to demonize Israel’s army in place of its official name, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

The same day, the group posted an anti-pride statement on Instagram which called on “Queer & Trans people to denounce capitalism, colonialism & empire as anti-queer & organize to bring about an end to the Zionist occupation & to all systems & entities which enable & normalize genocide.”

The statement began: “We write this as Queers located within the rotting imperial core of the so called ‘United States’...”

The post stated: “We call on queer people of conscience to ignite a global intifada against colonizers and capitalists who seek to use our identities, our beauty, our brilliance as justification for unimaginable violence. We reject all celebrations of pride if they are not grounded in the struggle to end genocide.”

The term “intifada,” which translates from Arabic as “uprising” or “insurrection,” carries the connotation of violence.

The post further said: “We write this anti-pride statement as an honoring of the history of queer militant struggle against imperialism.”

The statement went on to accuse Israel of committing a “Holocaust” and “crimes against humanity” and “American pigs” of “raping & killing the unhoused & Black Trans youth.”

The statement declared: “Resistance is for us” and “There is only one solution: intifada, revolution! The only route to a free world is through the destruction of the Zionist state.”

“QUEER AS IN D34TH 2 AMERIKA.

QUEER AS IN D34TH 2 ISRAEL.

QUEER AS IN OFF THE PIGS.

LONG LIVE THE QUEER INTIFADA.”

Key activist: Jordan Vaughan

Local Politicians

Legitimizing Extremism Through Politics

Philadelphia’s transformation into a hub of radical anti-Israel activism has also been enabled by a cadre of local politicians who have repeatedly offered legitimacy, protection and political cover to extremist movements.

These officials did not merely sympathize with protestors; they visited encampments, amplified slogans, dismissed antisemitism concerns and publicly pressured institutions to reward activists who violated policy and disrupted civic life.

The actions of the politicians listed below reveal a coordinated, ideological alignment with protest movements that traffic in antisemitic, anti-American, socialist and anti-Israel rhetoric.

Chris Rabb

Pennsylvania State Representative Chris Rabb has used his political position to defend radical educators, promote anti-Israel narratives and attack institutional responses to antisemitism.

Rabb has aligned himself with and actively promoted virulently anti-Israel groups in the region, including CAIR-Philadelphia, JVP, If Not Now and Adalah Justice Project. Rabb has regularly appeared at events and rallies alongside organizations that glorify intifada, call for the elimination of Israel and excuse or enable antisemitic activism under the guise of social justice.

Rabb publicly supported CAIR-Philadelphia, praising its “unapologetic fight” and promoting its annual fundraiser despite CAIR’s documented history of supporting the October 7 Hamas attack.

Rabb participated in an interfaith iftar event organized by a coalition of anti-Israel groups, including CAIR Philly, JVP Philly, Adalah Justice Project, Rabbis For Ceasefire, Families for Ceasefire Philly, Philly for Palestine and others. The event was held against a backdrop of posters calling to “Free Gaza,” endorse “Intifada” and demand a “Free Palestine from the River to the Sea.”

Rabb joined anti-Israel protests in Philadelphia and declared his full solidarity with the movement. At a protest at City Hall on June 5, 2024, Rabb addressed the crowd, saying:

“...When we come together, we are more powerful than any empire. They can't destroy us. They will continue to try, but they will fail. Because we are in solidarity…This is all of our fight, and I will continue to do what I can in my position because you all keep showing up…And I will do all I can to support you however I can. Power to the people. Free Palestine!”

Rabb's support for street-level activism has extended into the education sphere, where he has consistently defended teachers who promote anti-Israel messages in the classroom, including Keziah Ridgeway.

In an Instagram post, Rabb stated that discomfort in the classroom should not be mistaken for harm and that addressing global issues requires “intentionality and thoughtfulness.” Rabb tagged a range of activist organizations in his post, many of which have promoted anti-Israel rhetoric or organized protests.

Rick Krajewski

State Representative Rick Krajewski, whose district includes the University of Pennsylvania (Penn), has supported radical anti-Israel activists.

On November 2, 2023, just three weeks after Hamas terrorists murdered 1,200 Israelis and kidnapped 251 more, Krajewski participated in a ceasefire sit-in at Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station alongside State Senator Nikil Saval and interfaith activists.

The organizers and participants, even in the immediate aftermath of mass atrocities, focused their outrage solely on Israel.

Between November 2023 and January 2024, Krajewski signed multiple public letters pressuring U.S. officials to call for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

On March 19, 2024, Krajewski joined forces with Rep. Rabb and groups like Families for Ceasefire Philly and Harrisburg Palestine Coalition to demand divestment from Israeli bonds and denounce Israel’s response to Hamas atrocities as an “unjust war.”

On February 5, 2024, Krajewski joined activists from CAIR, JVP and PPC at an unauthorized protest inside the Pennsylvania Capitol, where he led chants of “Ceasefire now!” in support of the “Divest from Genocide” campaign. The event featured calls for Israel’s destruction and support for violence in both Arabic and English and resulted in multiple arrests.

Krajewski expressed his solidarity with the pro-terror organization CAIR, claiming: “Many of the groups I joined, like CAIR - Philadelphia Chapter, are doing powerful work bringing our community together and organizing for Muslim and interfaith safety, despite enormous threats and hate.”

Jamie Gauthier

Philadelphia City Councilmember Jamie Gauthier has consistently positioned herself as an ally of anti-Israel activism in the city.

In November 2021, Gauthier publicly supported the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, which was officially recognized in Philadelphia for the first time.

In April 2024, Gauthier posted a public thank you to Imam Kenneth Nurideen for delivering the invocation at a Philadelphia City Council meeting. Just months earlier, Nurideen had spoken at the “Stand Up for Gaza” rally, an anti-Israel protest organized by JVP, CAIR Philly and PPC, where participants repeatedly chanted for Israel’s destruction.

Nicolas O'Rourke

Philadelphia Councilmember Nicolas O’Rourke is another prominent voice at anti-Israel protests. He spoke at Philadelphia Palestine Day in December 2024 and has attended several street protests alongside members of radical groups.

O’Rourke introduced a City Council resolution calling for a Gaza ceasefire that ultimately failed. He has invoked slogans like “From West Philly to the West Bank,” aligning local social justice struggles with the global anti-Israel cause.

In June 2024, O’Rourke introduced a resolution honoring Gaza aid workers and reiterated his opposition to Israel and the U.S., stating: “The theology of and against empire is critical teaching in Israel and America, to me.”

O’Rourke co-opted the Jewish holiday of Passover to advance an anti-Israel narrative during a “Passover seder” held at the pro-Hamas encampment at Penn. Invoking the festival’s themes of liberation, he framed Israel as an “oppressor” and Passover as a time of “deliverance from a destructive way of life.”

At the “seder,” O’Rourke lamented celebrating “amidst ethnic cleansing in the Holy Land.”

Madinah Wilson-Anton

Delaware State Representative Madinah Wilson-Anton, though not based in Philadelphia, spoke at a pro-Hamas rally in Philadelphia on October 12, 2023, just five days after the October 7 massacre. She appeared alongside PPC organizers who led chants, including: “There is only one solution–intifada, revolution!” and praised the “resistance” as justified.

Wilson-Anton has roots in radical campus activism. She previously co-founded and was president of the University of Delaware (UD) chapters of SJP and the UD Muslim Student Association (MSA). She continues to align herself with anti-Israel protest movements.

Wilson-Anton’s trajectory from campus activist to elected representative exemplifies the long-term institutional impact of radical ideologies incubating in the university system.

Local Politicians Support University Activism

While Jewish students at Pennsylvania universities faced chants of “intifada,” glorification of terror and antisemitic harassment, representatives Rabb, Krajewski, Gauthier and other local elected officials chose not to defend them. Instead, they rallied behind the anti-Israel protestors, assisting the pro-Hamas encampments and anti-Israel student protesters in various ways.

These politicians not only visited encampments and praised the organizers but also placed public pressure on school administrations to tolerate or even support protests that included open endorsement of terrorist violence and harassment of Jewish students.

Following weeks of national scrutiny over Penn's mishandling of antisemitism on campus, Pennsylvania Republicans in the state House voted against funding the university’s veterinary school, citing Penn’s refusal to condemn antisemitic campus activity.

When the measure failed to reach the required two-thirds majority, Rabb mocked them as disingenuous political theater, posting on X on December 13, 2023:

“More bluntly, #PAHouse Rs used #antisemitism as an excuse not to fund an #IvyLeague institution that’s populated by ‘liberal elites’ (& #AmyWax) despite it being invaluable to PA’s many rural communities.

Maybe they thought #PennVet is vaccinating animals w/ #CRT microchips.”

Rabb visited pro-Hamas encampments at several schools, including Dickinson College, where he encouraged fellow lawmakers to do the same.

Rabb told student protestors that he came to show support, stating: “I have deep concerns with our president [Joe Biden], on this issue in particular.” He emphasized that he was there not as a Democrat, but simply as someone who supports their cause.

Krajewski echoed Rabb’s support of the pro-terror protesters. On April 20, 2024, Krajewski wrote an official statement opposing the revocation of PAO as a registered student group at Penn, despite the fact that PAO had been deregistered after promoting support for Hamas and repeatedly violating university policies.

“This decision will not combat antisemitism or improve public safety. It will only serve to reinforce the culture of repression that we are seeing take root in campuses across the nation when it comes to the genocide in Gaza,” Krajewski stated.

Krajewski was a regular visitor to the pro-Hamas encampment at Penn. Speaking at the encampment and posting on X, he said: “Students have always risen up against apartheid and genocide. Today that legacy continues at Penn, Temple and Drexel. Free Palestine!”

Krajewski, Rabb, Gauthier, O’Rourke and other elected officials joined the Penn chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) in a joint statement urging Penn not to arrest or discipline any of the student protestors regardless of violations of campus policy or city code.

The statement praised the students' activism as “thoughtful, caring, and essential” and made no mention of the harassment, antisemitic chants, or threatening conduct against Jewish and Zionist students on campus.

Gauthier extended support to the students, encouraging them to contact her office with any safety concerns, even as the university had already declared the encampment unauthorized and in violation of university policies.

As the university began to crack down on the encampment, Krajewski reportedly warned members of the Penn encampment of a “credible threat” for a police sweep on May 10, 2024, “within the next 24 hours.” This allowed encampment members to attempt to reinforce and defend the encampment.

During the encampment, on May 4, 2024, Rabb, Krajewski, Gauthier and O’Rourke were among eight Philadelphia-area politicians who signed a public letter calling on Penn to refrain from disciplining student protestors.
On May 1, 2024, Gauthier visited the encampment at Penn’s campus alongside District Attorney Larry Krasner. While Krasner claimed his visit was a fact-finding mission, Gauthier said: “I came here to support the students…They have a right to protest, they have a right to free speech, and I’m hoping that Penn recognizes that. And they also have the right to do that without penalty.”

On X, Gauthier revealed that she was in “constant contact” with Philadelphia Police Department leadership to ensure student safety. These statements were made after Penn’s administration had already declared the encampment illegal and posted warnings that participants were violating university policies and state and federal law, including Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.
When police tore down the encampment on May 10, 2024, Krajewski immediately posted his opposition. He and Gauthier subsequently released a joint statement calling for amnesty for student protestors and calling on Penn to drop disciplinary charges against any students.

Days after the Penn encampment was dismantled, approximately 75 anti-Israel activists established a new encampment at nearby Drexel University. Rabb was photographed making a solidarity visit to the encampment on May 19.

Despite generic condemnations of antisemitism, such as Gauthier’s April 2024 statement that “antisemitism and all forms of hate have no place in our community,” these elected officials helped enable a climate of radicalism on campus by lending political support and rhetorical cover to encampments filled with pro-terror messaging, inflammatory slogans and the intimidation of Jewish students.

Coalition Building Across Pennsylvania

PPC utilized its coalition-building strategy, which proved successful in Philadelphia, and applied it outside the city to spread its influence and mission throughout the state.

PPC collaborated with other regional Palestine coalitions, including the Harrisburg Palestine Coalition (HPC) in central Pennsylvania, the Lancaster Palestine Coalition (LPC) and the Pittsburgh Palestine Coalition (PittPalCoalition).

These coalitions emerged in the wake of the October 7 Hamas terror attack.

On November 9, 2023, HPC held its first event as an official endorser of the Shut It Down for Palestine coalition that planned and mobilized protests, walkouts and direct actions across the U.S. and internationally. All three coalitions promoted Shut It Down protests in their respective regions.

HPC defined its mission as “a coalition of Palestinians and allies of diverse backgrounds and ethnicities, joined towards a common goal of a free and liberated Palestine-from the river to the sea. We call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza, a lift of the siege, and a full end to the Israeli occupation of Palestine.”

The key HPC activists are: Omar Mussa, Hadeel Salameh, Nabila Taha

These coalitions united in statewide actions and BDS campaigns, coordinated social media campaigns and action calls and promoted anti-Israel events in each other’s local communities. The groups participated in global actions “to escalate” pro-terror activism through economic boycotts and general strikes in Pennsylvania.

They also collaborated with national anti-Israel organizations, such as CAIR, JVP and NSJP on statewide political advocacy campaigns and campus protests.

CAIR chapters in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, as well as DSA chapters in those locations, were the leading drivers of the Uncommitted PA initiative, which encouraged voters to cast “uncommitted” ballots in the 2024 Democratic primary to protest U.S. support for Israel’s military actions.

To assist the coalitions, CAIR offered free legal services to anti-Israel protesters; shared “Know Your Rights” protest guides and primers on avoiding police; template letters to Pennsylvania lawmakers, universities and workplaces; and education materials on “Anti-BDS Laws in PA.”

The groups joined together to oppose proposed legislation in support of Israel and to endorse anti-Israel politicians and policies.

On October 7, 2024, the anniversary of the Hamas attack, the Pennsylvania-based Palestine Coalitions reposted a post that said: “October 7th was native breaking free” and denied the Hamas atrocities, claiming, “The Israeli settler colony lied about what actually happened on October 7th to manufacture consent for the genocide it was going to punish native Palestinians with, for daring to break free.”

Joint Protest at Pennsylvania State Senate

In February 2024, anti-Israel coalitions and organizations came together at the State Capitol in Harrisburg to call for divestment from Israeli bonds.

Omar Mussa, a leading organizer in Harrisburg, spoke at the event, which was intended to disrupt the Pennsylvania Senate’s first day of its session. He condemned the Pennsylvania state treasurer for increasing investment in Israeli bonds after the October 7 attack.

At the event, protesters unlawfully entered the main rotunda steps inside the building, resulting in the arrest of many. At the same protest, activists held a banner that read: “Israel is a Terrorist Organization.”

PPC organizer Natalie Abulhawa also participated in the demonstration and attempted to enter the building “to speak to our senators.” Abulhawa was denied entrance by security guards.

Interfaith Coalitions and Faith-Based Organizing

Since the October 7 attack, Pennsylvania has seen the emergence and strengthening of interfaith coalitions comprised of mosques, synagogues, churches and other faith-based organizations. Hundreds of faith leaders, activists, artists and community members have joined anti-Israel protests across the state.

These groups include Jewish anti-Zionist organizations (e.g.: IfNotNow, Rabbis for Ceasefire), Christian groups (e.g., Friends of Sabeel North America (FOSNA) and Mennonite Action), as well as Muslim (e.g.: CAIR, Al-Hidaya and Philadelphia Palestinian Americans) and Quaker organizations (e.g.: AFSC) – all actively advocating against Israel.

Events included responses to “calls from Gaza.” For instance, on October 13, 2023, Philadelphia groups organized a “Jummah Prayer in Solidarity with Palestine” because “the people of Gaza have asked everybody to stand in solidarity with them on this day.”

On November 16, 2023, anti-Israel activist groups mobilized outside the First Unitarian Church on 2125 Chestnut Street. The crowd chanted multiple times for Israel’s destruction and marched to the office of U.S. Senator Bob Casey.

In February 2024, these same activists organized the "Pilgrimage For Peace,” an eight-day, multi-faith, multi-racial march from Independence Hall in Philadelphia to the White House in Washington, D.C., held from February 14 to February 21, 2024.

Anti-Israel activist and antisemite Linda Sarsour spoke at the kickoff rally for the Pilgrimage for Peace at Mother Bethel AME Church in Philadelphia.

These interfaith groups use faith-rooted appeals to humanity, collective mourning and public pressure for political change. They often include historical and biblical revisionism, charge Israel with committing a holocaust and advocate against Christian Zionism.

Clergy and lay leaders across Pennsylvania led prayers, songs and moments of silence for “victims” in Gaza, but not for the victims of the Hamas terror attack. Their solidarity is directed towards Palestinians, not Jews or Israelis.

These groups urged religious groups across Pennsylvania to organize vigils and public prayers and promote BDS. They issued public statements that demonized Israel and reframed the narrative of the Israel-Hamas war.

Faith-based activists also visited churches and other houses of worship to distribute materials, encourage prayers for Gaza and invite congregations to join advocacy for a ceasefire, further amplifying their anti-Israel message within local communities.

These groups accused Israel of genocide, ethnic cleansing and apartheid. They petitioned elected officials and mobilized supporters to oppose U.S. financial and diplomatic support for Israeli military actions in Gaza.

In November 2023, a coalition of Jews and Palestinians called Prayers for Peace Alliance was formed with support from the anti-Israel organization Nonviolence International. The group organized interfaith vigils, prayer events, “peaceful” direct actions and public advocacy against Israel.

While Prayers for Peace declares its mission is “dedicated to the causes of peace and justice” for all faiths, interfaith initiatives in Pennsylvania have been decidedly anti-Israel. Faith leaders, including rabbis, pastors and imams, have emphasized a shared duty to honor all lives lost, but in reality, they have mourned only Palestinian “victims.”

Christian Groups

Friends of Sabeel North America (FOSNA) is a U.S.-based Christian advocacy organization and a major force behind BDS campaigns in the U.S. The group frequently partners with JVP and SJP. It is affiliated with the Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center, a Palestinian Christian movement founded in Jerusalem by Reverend Naim Ateek.

FOSNA renounces violence, but many of its members justified and defended the Hamas atrocities and called for continued violence against Israel.

While not headquartered in Pennsylvania, FOSNA regularly partners with local churches and activists for anti-Israel educational events, advocacy and public prayer events.

FOSNA, along with other Christian groups, encouraged students to protest with SJP and supported student protests and encampments.

As of April 2024, anti-Israel professor Cornel West was a member of FOSNA’s advisory board. West made a solidarity visit to the University of Pittsburgh encampment.

FOSNA participated in an anti-Israel delegation to Israel called: “Zionism is a force of destruction.”

A statement published by FOSNA on October 7, 2023, read: “Today’s violence was the inevitable outcome of Israel’s persistent and systemic violation of the rights of Palestinians.”

Another Christian group, Mennonite Action, participated in and organized anti-Israel protests. In April 2024, Mennonite Action signed an open letter in support of student anti-Israel protests and offered a Campus Occupation Support Toolkit.

Jewish Groups

On November 2, 2023, PPC, INN Philly and JVP Philly organized an act of “civil disobedience” during a sit-in and rally at 30th Street Station, disrupting commuters during rush-hour traffic. It was reported that 500 faith leaders and supporters were in attendance. Around 350 people were arrested for blocking access to trains.

Alissa Wise is the former co-executive director of JVP and a prominent Jewish faith leader in Philadelphia’s anti-Zionist network. In 2023, Wise founded Rabbis For Ceasefire, a group that advocates for an end to fighting in Gaza and has partnered with antisemite and political activist Linda Sarsour.

Wise wrote: “The greatest obstacle to peace in the Middle East is Israel.” Wise was barred in 2017 from traveling to Israel as per an Israeli law that prevents entry for activists whose objective is to “harm the state.”

Read more about Alissa Wise here

JVP strategically seeks to place a “wedge” in the Jewish community, creating disagreement and discord among Jews over their support for Israel. The group partners with antisemitic Palestinian groups, both for ideological reasons and as a way to provide cover for those groups whose goal is to destroy the state of Israel.

Key activists: Linda Holtzman

Muslim Groups

Muslim groups active in the interfaith coalition include CAIR, Al-Hidaya, Philadelphia Palestinian Americans and Philly for Palestine.

These groups have openly called for the dismantlement of Israel, promoted pro-terror protests and employed violent rhetoric toward Jewish Americans, in one case writing: “We are going to stop them with every force we have!”

Anti-Israel activist Ray Mustafa, who was affiliated with CAIR Philly and the Philadelphia Palestinian Americans community activist group, spoke at a pro-terror rally on October 15, 2023, titled: “Philly Stands with Gaza.”

At the rally, Mustafa said: “[Israel] had to invent the fake story about Hamas beheading children so they could prepare the world for what they’re going to do to the people in the Gaza Strip.”

Key activists: Sam Kuttab, Jonathan Kuttab, Ray Mustafa

National Protests in Washington, D.C.

The Pennsylvania-based Palestine Coalitions coordinated and sent delegates to national protests in Washington, D.C., using their influence to try to impact national policy.

National March on Washington: Free Palestine – November 4, 2023

The National March on Washington: Free Palestine was held on November 4, 2023. It wasd organized by anti-Israel organizations, including PYM, ANSWER Coalition, NSJP, American Muslim Alliance, The People’s Forum, Al-Awda: The Palestine Right to Return Coalition, U.S. Palestinian Community Network (USPCN) and U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USCPR).

Pennsylvania Palestine coalitions organized buses and mobilized activists to attend the march. Pittsburgh Palestine Coalition coordinated travel from western Pennsylvania. The Harrisburg Palestine Coalition sent delegates and promoted the event locally. Lancaster Palestine Coalition organized local turnout and joined statewide efforts.

Local chapters of SJP, a national co-sponsor of the march, participated, including SJP chapters from universities in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and other Pennsylvania cities.

Pennsylvania chapters of JVP joined national contingents at the march.

Labor and faith-based groups also sent delegations.

Asantewaa Nkrumah-Ture, an anti-Israel activist from Philadelphia, spoke as an organizer for Black Alliance for Peace, saying: “We from the Black Alliance for Peace stand firm in solidarity with the Palestinian people and all of their resistance forces…We say yes…end all U.S. funding for racist Zionist Israel.”

Nkrumah-Ture also called for the Palestinian “right of return” (a euphemism for the destruction of Israel as a Jewish state) and claimed that black civil rights leaders standing in solidarity with Israel were “getting paid by somebody, by AIPAC [American Israel Public Affairs Committee] or some members of Congress…”

National March on Washington for Gaza – January 13, 2024

The National March on Washington for Gaza was held on January 13, 2024, in Washington, D.C. It was organized by the American Muslim Task Force for Palestine, a coalition of groups including American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), Muslim American Society (MAS), Muslim Student Association-National (MSA), Muslim Legal Fund of America (MLFA), Muslim Ummah of North America (MUNA), Young Muslims (YM) and ANSWER Coalition.

Speakers included Noura Erakat and Omar Suleiman.

The groups demanded:

• An immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza
• An end to U.S. funding of Israel’s “genocide” in Gaza and the occupation of Palestine
• Accountability for Israeli leaders for alleged war crimes, including calls for the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate and charge Israeli officials
• A halt to all U.S. weapons transfers to Israel

The Pittsburgh Palestine Coalition, along with other interfaith groups in Pennsylvania, was an official endorser of the march. HPC organized transportation for members to attend.

National March on Washington – April 5, 2025

The National March on Washington was held on April 5, 2025, with activists demanding a ceasefire in Gaza, an arms embargo on Israel and an end to U.S. support for Israel.

Initial sponsoring organizations of the march included the Palestinian Youth Movement, The People’s Forum, ANSWER Coalition, American Muslims for Palestine, Democratic Socialists of America, Jewish Voice for Peace, U.S. Palestinian Community Network, U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights, Palestinian Feminist Collective, AROC Action and Al-Awda.

Transportation was organized to send multiple buses of activists from Philadelphia to Washington, D.C.

Overlap with NYC Pro-Terror Network–“Travel By Any Means Necessary”

PPC and other Pennsylvania Palestine groups endorsed and, at times, participated in events in different locations, particularly, Within Our Lifetime (WOL) events in New York City. They also used their organizing power and social media followers to bolster activism in neighboring states.

Examples of this interstate activism include:

• A combination of Palestine coalitions and student groups, including Pittsburgh SJP, endorsed and promoted an NYC event organized by WOL, “Flood New York City for Gaza,” on September 2, 2024
• HPC promoted a fundraising event with Nerdeen Kiswani, the leader of WOL
• SJP chapters, including Drexel Palestine Coalition, supported the pro-Hamas encampments at Columbia and criticized Columbia’s administration for taking disciplinary action against pro-terror students
• Philly for Palestine joined NYC PYM in Brooklyn and participated in a WOL in Teaneck, New Jersey, “protest and prayer”
• HPC advertised an event in NYC on the Columbia campus called “Prayer and Protest for Palestine” in support of arrested student Mahmoud Khalil

The University Ecosystem: Penn, Temple and Drexel

Following the October 7 Hamas terror attack on Israel, Philadelphia’s nexus of anti-Israel university institutions, student activists, pro-terror faculty and local community groups – with the guidance of national pro-terror organizations – built a formidable alliance to advocate against Israel.

Located within just a few miles of each other in West and North Philadelphia, the University of Pennsylvania, Drexel University and Temple University form a tightly connected academic ecosystem with significant overlap in student activism and organizing.

Drexel and Penn are especially intertwined. With campuses that sit side-by-side, they share physical space, infrastructure and often student engagement.

While each university hosts its own Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter or similarly aligned anti-Israel student organization, these groups do not operate in isolation. They work in close coordination, hold joint protests, share resources and messaging, and amplify each other’s campaigns.

This inter-campus collaboration has transformed what was once localized anti-Israel activism into a unified front that draws strength from its geographic proximity and shared ideological framework.

The university ecosystem in Philadelphia supported the goals of the student protest movement, i.e., the “student intifada,” and the pro-terror, anti-American agenda of anti-Israel activists, both on campus and on a state/national level.

A goal of the student activists was to have university officials “validate their cause” by protecting their pro-terror activism from disciplinary measures, even though it destabilized the campus environment and alienated Jewish and pro-Israel students.

University presidents who condemned the Hamas attack were viciously criticized and called upon to give equal air time to a “both sides” narrative that placed a moral equivalence between Hamas terrorists and their Israeli victims.

SJP groups demanded that university leaders make public statements acknowledging that Israel was perpetrating a “genocide” and intentionally targeting healthcare facilities, schools and mosques in Gaza.

Support for Terror

Support for terror (euphemistically referred to as “resistance”) was a feature of the student protest movement beginning from the October 7 attack. This was a driving principle of the movement.

Student and faculty groups justified the terror organization’s actions as “a necessary step towards the liberation of a colonized people.”

They accused the universities of being “active collaborators in the ongoing colonization, complicit in the machinery of apartheid and genocide,” framing their activism as a response to institutional involvement in or benefit from the Israeli “occupation.”

Divestment and Boycott

Student groups tried to pressure their institutions to divest from Israel and called upon supporters to “disrupt business as usual at the university and of its administrators, trustees and board members.”

University alumni were called upon to “withhold any and all financial donations” from the university, and institutions were urged to boycott research and educational partnerships with Israeli institutions.

Other objectives of the student activists included:

• Gaining the university’s assistance, endorsement and protection to amplify calls for Israel’s destruction to heighten political pressure against Israel
• Impacting fellow students who might be manipulated into joining anti-Israel student activism
• Creating two-way access and flow of resources between the “revolutionary ecosystem” and the “university ecosystem” to open university gates to the Philly Palestinian Coalition (PCC), anti-Israel activists across the city’s educational institutions and public schools, legislative bodies and activist organizations spanning the intersectional landscape

Community Coordination

As was seen throughout the city, the student and faculty activists cooperated with the community to broaden their reach.

Anti-Israel activists like Susan Abulhawa, Marc Lamont Hill and Noura Erakat, gained access to Philadelphia’s campuses and their students.

Student groups called on faculty, alumni and community members to participate in, promote and contribute to all campus events.

SJP chapters at Temple, Penn and Drexel sent student contingents to PPC rallies. They promoted “Shut It Down for Palestine” events, which were organized by national anti-Israel organizations like PYM and NSJP.

By aligning with student groups, Philadelphia’s anti-Israel activists leveraged their power, resources and impact exponentially and vice versa.

This section of the report will lay out the main players who influenced the university ecosystem, the coordination tactics used to optimize impact, the contribution of faculty and administration to the protest movement and a review of the pro-terror encampment of April-May 2024.

Main Players in the University Ecosystem

Penn Students Against the Occupation of Palestine

Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) was the central organizer of the “student intifada” across the U.S. The SJP chapter at the University of Pennsylvania is called Penn Students Against the Occupation of Palestine (PAO).

Many SJP groups operate under different names across North American campuses, for example, the Palestine Solidarity Committee (PSC) at Harvard University and Students United for Palestinian Equal Rights (SUPER) at Washington University.

These groups are considered part of the SJP network or its “informal affiliates,” sharing common “points of unity” and participating in similar activism, such as organizing Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) campaigns and campus protests. National SJP (NSJP) recognizes these chapters as autonomous entities that operate independently, but are united by shared principles and goals.

Following the October 7 attack, PAO immediately joined NSJP and SJP chapters at Temple and Drexel in anti-Israel pro-terror activism and was supported by Penn’s Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine (Penn FSJP). In April 2024, following its deregistration as an official student group, PAO declared: “We Are All SJP.”

In late September 2024, PAO joined the Philadelphia Students for Justice in Palestine Coalition (PHL SJP).

History of Incitement

In 2020, PAO launched the chapter to advocate for “influential political action on Penn’s campus and beyond,” including the university’s divestment from Israel. PAO’s activities drew participation from students, faculty and activists across the city and suburbs.

In May 2021, during Israel’s “Operation Guardian of the Walls (OGW),” PAO’s activity increased in frequency and intensity.

On May 19, 2021, PAO released a statement that accused Israel of ethnic cleansing, war crimes and genocidal intent and called on the Penn community to support “Palestinian liberation.”

In March 2023, PAO hosted “Israeli Apartheid Week,” which featured prominent antisemitic speakers, including Mohammed El-Kurd and Noura Erakat.

In the 2022-2023 edition of the Penn Disorientation Guide, PAO wrote: “Israel is a settler colonial state that uses apartheid to further its ethnic cleansing agenda.”

One month before the October 7 attack, PAO hosted and promoted the Palestine Writes Literature Festival, which showcased virulently antisemitic and anti-Israel speakers, including known Nazi-supporter Roger Waters and PFLP terrorist Wisam Rafeedie.

Co-chair and founder of the festival, Susan Abulhawa, was a leader of many anti-Israel rallies across Philadelphia.

Poised for Action on October 8, 2023

Following the October 7 Hamas attack, PAO intensified its activism, organizing high-visibility protests, marches and die-ins and issuing demands for university divestment from companies linked to Israel’s military.

• On October 8, 2023, one day after the massacre, PAO and PPC held an "Emergency Solidarity Rally" at Rittenhouse Square Park.
• On October 11, 2023, PAO issued a “Statement of Solidarity with Palestine” that declared solidarity with the “Palestinian resistance of Israeli genocide and apartheid.”
  The statement was co-signed by 11 student groups, including Police Free Penn, Fossil Free Penn, Radical South Asian Collective and Students for the Preservation of China.
• On November 8, 2023, PAO projected antisemitic messages onto several campus buildings, including the Penn Commons, Huntsman Hall and Irvine Auditorium. The messages stated: “From The River to the Sea, Palestine will be Free,” “Liz Magill: Call For Ceasefire Now,” “From the Sea to the River, Palestine will live Forever,” “Let Gaza Live,” “Zionism Is Racism” and “Penn Funds Palestinian Genocide.”
  Earlier in the day, the campus had been defaced with similar messages written in chalk across the main campus thoroughfare Locust Walk and on banners hung on campus property.

Continued Activity Despite Revoked Status

On April 19, 2024, Penn’s Office of Student Affairs (OSA) revoked PAO’s status as a registered student group, stating a failure “to comply with policies that govern student organizations at Penn, despite repeated efforts to engage with the group and to provide opportunities to resolve noncompliance.”

The revocation removed their authorization to host events on Penn’s campus or declare any affiliation with the university.

Its members hid under the PFSJP group activism. On April 24, 2024, over 40 Penn and local community organizations, including PPC, signed a statement of solidarity with PAO. Penn-affiliated groups that signed the letter included: the Freedom School for Palestine, Fossil Free Penn, Queer Muslims at Penn, Natives at Penn, Penn Reproductive Justice, and Police Free Penn. The letter said that the groups "will not rest until our universities cease repression, disclose and divest."

On April 23, 2024, Penn FJP, PPC and Penn Alumni for Palestine released a solidarity statement with PAO’s mission and less than a week after PAO’s deregistration, the groups launched a pro-Hamas encampment on campus.

On April 25, 2024, a coalition of Penn students, staff and faculty, along with Philadelphia community members and students from Temple, Drexel and other universities, launched the “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” on Penn’s College Green. (Read more in the Encampments section here).

On September 12, 2024, PAO posted in support of the vandalism by an “autonomous group” of a statue on campus that had been defaced with red paint. PAO called the statue “a symbol of imperial violence and colonialism.”

On September 28, 2024, PAO reposted a statement on their Instagram story referring to the death of Hassan Nasrallah, head of the Lebanese terrorist organization Hezbollah:

The statement read: “When a leader departs, another rises. His soul departed to join his fellow martyrs, resisting until the last moment. While we today feel the bitterness of loss, we stand tall in facing this enemy who thought that targeting the leaders would break the will of the resistance and people. On the contrary, the ranks of the resistance in Lebanon and everywhere will increase in insistence on continuing the confrontation with this tyrannical enemy who understands only the language of force. The blood of these martyrs will form new fuel for the fire of resistance, which will not die down until the liberation of Palestine and all occupied Arab lands.”

PAO collaborated with PPC to hold anti-Israel events as late as March 2025.

On March 21, 2025, PAO participated in a protest alongside alumni, community members and individuals from other schools outside the home of the university's president.

On March 31, 2025, PPC and PAO held an “All Out for Palestine Rally” outside Penn’s Hillel, which is located on campus. The rally was in response to a speaking event of Noa Tishbi and two survivors of the October 7 massacre. PAO wrote on their social media: “Noa Tishbi and her zionist ghouls out of Philly!...join us…to affirm that nazi zionists have no place in our city…”

Temple SJP

Disclaimer: As of May 2025, Temple SJP’s Instagram account was no longer active.

Temple SJP was founded in the mid-2000s. After October 7, 2023, Temple SJP mobilized immediately. During October, they organized the following anti-Israel actions:

• On October 11, 2023, they issued an “Official Solidarity Statement” in response to “the call of action for all Arabs and Palestinians in the diaspora…to unite in support of the liberation movement.” The statement said: “We believe that the Palestinian People have a right to stand up for their freedom and resist oppression” and held “the Zionist entity [Israel] responsible for the conditions that gave rise to the ongoing violence.”
• On October 18, 2023, they posted an open letter to the university that identified themselves as “representing the Palestinian students and our partners in joint struggle.”
• On October 20, 2023, Temple SJP members plastered the campus with signs accusing Israel of “genocide” and slogans such as “Long Live The Resistance!” “ethnic cleansing” and “Resistance until return within our lifetime.”
• On October 25, 2023, they organized a “Collective Walkout for Palestine” to “protest to the ethnic cleansing and genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, and to honor our martyrs.” Their goal was clearly stated: “We stand in full solidarity with Palestine, and we need the university to join us in that stance…” At the walkout, Susan Abulhawa, Omar Mussa, and PPC organizer Nour Qutyan, a Temple alum and former leader of Temple SJP, spoke. A sign at the rally said: “Zionism is genocide.”
• On February 9, 2024, they held a walkout and rally, where pro-terror demonstrators held up signs calling for “INTIFADA ‘TIL VICTORY!” and bearing the inverted red triangle, a symbol showing support for Hamas and Palestinian terrorism. Another sign accused Israel of “genocide.”
• On February 17, 2024, Temple SJP held a “die-in” outside the main entrance of Charles Library on campus. Activists obstructed entry into the library in support of Rafah, a city in Gaza on the border with Egypt. Rafah was targeted by the IDF as a Hamas stronghold and the site of numerous arms smuggling routes from Egypt into Gaza.
• In March 2024, Temple SJP organized a series of campus events for “Israel Apartheid Week” held from March 22-29. Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) is presented as “an international series of events that seek to raise awareness of…Israel’s settler-colonial project and apartheid system over the Palestinian people” and build support for the BDS movement.

On April 23, 2024, Temple SJP issued three demands to the university, which included financial divestment from Israel, “an academic boycott by Temple administration of the state of Israel” and an acknowledgment by the university that Israel was committing “genocide.”

On April 25, 2024, Temple SJP joined the pro-Hamas encampment at Penn. Temple SJP’s president, Rishi Arun, served as an organizer of the encampment. (Read more in the section about the encampment).

In an open act of antisemitism, on August 29, 2024, Temple SJP organized a march “demanding the university condemn Israel and divest in monetary support.” The march began at Charles Library on campus and ended at the Hillel Center for Jewish Life, where protesters harassed Jewish students.

Temple SJP Placed on Interim Suspension

On September 26, 2024, Temple SJP organized a protest at a College of Engineering career fair and targeted the presence of weapons manufacturers. The disruption led to student arrests and prompted the university to place SJP on interim suspension starting October 2, 2024.

Following the suspension, SJP was explicitly barred from holding any meetings, activities, socials, or philanthropic events on campus pending the outcome of the conduct process. (Temple LSJP picked up some of the slack.)

After its suspension in October 2024, Temple SJP continued its anti-Israel activism primarily through off-campus organizing, social media advocacy and collaboration with SJP chapters at other universities.

While suspended, Temple SJP continued to advocate for Temple to divest from companies profiting from the Israeli military and to publicly condemn Israeli actions in Gaza, using digital platforms and coalition statements to advance these demands.

Community Collaboration

SJP members participated in citywide and regional protests and rallies alongside other Philadelphia anti-Israel organizations.

Temple SJP collaborated with groups, such as PPC and JVP Philly. They solicited funds for SJP and joined larger demonstrations in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.

Temple SJP maintained an active presence on platforms like Instagram until May 2025, where it continued to issue statements condemning university partnerships with weapons manufacturers and amplifying calls for a ceasefire and divestment.

The group used social media to mobilize supporters, promote PPC protests, share news, and coordinate actions not directly tied to the university.

Activism Continues into 2025

In January 2025, Temple SJP reinstated teach-in educational events on campus, with a full schedule of events through April 2025. In March 2025, the JVP chapter at Temple (JVP Temple) stepped up to offer a “Zionism 101” teach-in.

As of May 2025, SJP is still not recognized as a student organization at Temple and is prohibited from organizing events using Temple’s name, branding, or resources.

Key Activists: Rishi Arun, Besan Zeidan, Justin Roig, Alia Amanpour Trapp

Drexel SJP

Like its counterparts at Penn and Temple, Drexel SJP immediately spurred into action after October 7, joining with PPC in anti-Israel protests, fundraising efforts and political initiatives. The coordination was further facilitated by Nada Abuasi, a graduate student and prominent leader and spokesperson for Drexel SJP, who was an organizer for PPC.

Five days after the massacre, on October 12, 2023, Drexel SJP released an open letter condemning the university president John Fry’s failure to “acknowledge the context for these tragic events [Oct. 7] and violence.”

On January 24, 2024, Drexel SJP posted on Instagram that the group “is frozen and unable to host any events” and directed supporters to join the Drexel Palestine Coalition (DPC) and Drexel Medical Students for Palestine (DUCOM for Palestine). The details of what happened are not public, but Drexel did not officially suspend the chapter, rather Drexel SJP reported being hamstrung.

On May 18, 2024, following the arrest of anti-Israel activists who attempted to start a second encampment at Penn and occupy Fisher Bennett Hall, the Drexel Coalition established a Gaza Solidarity Encampment on Drexel’s Korman Quad.

The protesters gathered at City Hall and marched to campus as part of Philly Palestine Coalition’s Nakba Day march to call for a ceasefire in Gaza.

The Drexel Palestine Coalition said in a statement that the Gaza Solidarity Encampment demands “divestment from genocide and redistribution of funds toward investment in Palestine, disclosure of material and financial expenses and profits, defense against repression and censorship, and an explicit declaration that we are witnessing a genocide.”

On May 23, 2024, Drexel president John Fry ordered the dismantling of the encampment.

Key Activists: Nada Abuasi, Banah Khamis

SJP Activism Connected to Community Organizing

SJP chapters at Temple, Drexel and Penn have engaged in coalition building on campus by allying themselves with anti-Israel student groups like the Muslim Student Association (MSA) and intersectional allies like Fossil Free Penn.

SJP has linked its activism to local issues, such as opposing Temple’s proposed stadium and highlighting connections between settler-colonialism in Palestine and displacement in North Philly.

Drexel SJP supported residents of the UC Townhomes, while “drawing lines of parallelism about displacement in the West Bank and West Philly.”

By connecting anti-Israel activism with local struggles, such as racial and economic justice, combating gender or racial discrimination, and resisting gentrification in North Philadelphia, SJP mobilized community activists and leveraged the resources of various community organizations.

A 2016 interview in Jadaliyya.com with an unnamed Temple SJP leader summarized the alliance between SJP and community organizations:

“We believe student power is not possible without serving the people and the community. Students must join forces with the people if we wish to effect real political change instead of stagnating in feel-good echo chambers. While hosting discussions and raising campus awareness is the first step, it is crucial we connect and work with oppressed communities on the ground. As students, we are strategically located within the university and our access to education and power should be channeled into doing work for the movement. Our privilege and access should be utilized to benefit the people. The movement is made by the people, and for that reason, student leaders are accountable to the people. As a result, student organizers must join the people and become part of them.”

During the encampments, student protesters “put out a call to our community and you all showed up from every corner of this city.”

PAO wrote: “The power of this encampment is in our coalitional nature…We will refuse any attempt to splinter our movement into student or non-student, Penn or non-Penn that would seek to enforce false separation between the university and the rest of the city on Penn’s terms.”

PAO mobilized support to “protect each other and our movements” from legal enforcement. PAO called for “collective security practices as an expression of love and solidarity” and pled for jail support following arrests.

Coordination, Shared Strategy and Messaging

Cross-Campus Coalitions

In the year after the October 7 attack, the federal government began to investigate a number of universities for Title VI violations stemming from rampant antisemitism on their campuses.

Many universities responded by investigating, suspending or deregistering their SJP chapters and other anti-Israel student groups. These organizations, in turn, formed coalitions as a means to avoid responsibility and carry on their pro-terror activities.

The coalitions enabled student activists from multiple universities to amplify their message by organizing protests, issuing collective statements and making demands with unified messaging.

By pooling resources and supporters, these coalitions were able to stage larger, more visible demonstrations, which served to increase public attention and media coverage. This, in turn, put more pressure on university administrations and policymakers.

Philadelphia SJP Coalition

The Philadelphia SJP Coalition (PHL SJP) was formed on September 27, 2024, just days before the first anniversary of the October 7 massacre.

The coalition described itself as a “cross-campus coalition of students from academic institutions throughout the greater Philadelphia area, in solidarity with the Palestinian people and their resistance against the Zionist entity.”

The stated purpose was to “unite and escalate the student intifada.” The coalition included Temple SJP, PAO, and SJP at Swarthmore, Bryn Mawr and Haverford colleges.

On October 12, 2024, PHL SJP posted on Instagram that it had launched its first action on “the anniversary of Operation: Al-Aqsa Flood,” the name Hamas assigned to its deadly attacks on Israeli communities, on October 7, to remember “our martyrs and our resistance.”

The group also posted a statement in support of the October 7 massacre, “The breaching of the literal prison walls that were imposed to subjugate and break the spirit of the Palestinian people was not merely a symbolic gesture of revolution, but a necessary step towards the liberation of a colonized people.”

The statement was replete with images of Hamas triangles that alleged an ongoing genocide in “Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen” and reaffirmed Philadelphia students’ commitment to “a liberated Palestine within our lifetime.”

Anti-American Propaganda

With increased disciplinary measures enacted on Penn, Drexel and Temple campuses, the coalitions turned against Philadelphia police and the “US Empire” as a whole. PHL SJP shared resources on how to act if stopped by the police.

On June 5, 2024, the Drexel Palestine Coalition posted: “DUPD, KKK, IOF THEY’RE ALL THE SAME!!”

A social media post shared by PHL SJP read: “We will not be silent about the violence committed repeatedly against our comrades, at UPenn, Columbia, Temple, and universities across Turtle Island [America]...We refuse to let the empires dilute our resolve through fear…Long live the Student Intifada…We will not rest until the US Empire falls.”

On July 4, 2024, PPC organized a protest in Philadelphia to “stand with the resistance and support Palestine, not AmeriKKKA! We don’t celebrate the legacy of genocide, colonialism, and slavery that July 4th symbolizes, but struggle for true LIBERATION for all.”

Activists at the protest chanted: “Empire will fall” and “Long live the intifada!” as they set American and Israeli flags and Independence Day banners on fire.

On July 5, 2024, PPC released a statement on the protest that read: “July 4 is an imperialist holiday, where the US seeks to shove its red, white and blue Stars and Stripes down the throats of every US citizen. We have every right to protest this empire, and those who chose to burn the Stars and Stripes have every right to do so.”

PPC then commented: “Empire will fall🔻”

On October 7, 2024, PHL SJP and the Drexel Palestine Coalition organized a rally on Drexel’s campus to mark the anniversary of the October 7 attack. Protesters at the rally held a sign that read: “Amerika is the Head of the Snake.”

Faculty and Administration Normalize Anti-Israel Activism and Antisemitism

On December 5, 2023, then-Penn president Liz Magill, along with the presidents of Harvard and MIT, was questioned by the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce. Each was asked if calling for the genocide of Jews constituted a violation of their university’s code of conduct.

In testimony that has now become iconic, Magill, along with both of her colleagues, answered that it was “context-dependent.” Each tried to use the principle of free speech to justify her answer; each failed due to the sheer absurdity of America’s most elite institutions supporting such a concept.

Four days later, Magill resigned as president of Penn.

Yet, Magill’s departure did nothing to stem the complicity of the administration in permitting, tolerating and even condoning the months-long onslaught of antisemitic activity at Penn that began before October 7, 2023 and continued afterward.

Palestine Writes Literature Festival

In September 2023, Penn’s faculty and administration stood behind the Palestine Writes Literature Festival, an event sponsored by Penn’s Wolf Humanities Center that featured a veritable who’s who of virulent antisemitic Israel haters. The festival was promoted by numerous academic departments and prominently featured on class syllabi.

Even though the administration was aware of the nature of the event, they declined to shut it down. They opted instead to release a statement voicing their apprehension about the speakers’ “documented and troubling history of engaging in antisemitism by speaking and acting in ways that denigrate Jewish people.”

Even this milquetoast response elicited outrage from Penn’s faculty, who immediately pushed back, claiming the statement was Islamophobic and an example of “bigotry on the part of those who are hostile to Palestinian rights.”

Ultimately, in the words of a lawsuit subsequently brought against the university by Jewish students Eyal Yakoby and Jordan Davis, Penn’s “refusal to heed the pleas of Jewish students and organizations to distance itself from [the Festival] heightened the already dangerous and hostile anti-Jewish environment, and primed the pump for the torrent of anti-Jewish harassment and violence that would flood Penn’s campus days later, following October 7.”

A ‘New Low’ for Penn

By October 11, 2023, Penn’s SJP chapter, Penn Students Against the Occupation of Palestine (PAO), along with other student groups, had already released a statement in support of Hamas. PAO praised “the Palestinian resistance” and put the “sole responsibility for the violence” on Israel.

The same day, Penn issued its own statement—a weak condemnation of the attack, which mainly concentrated on students studying abroad. It would take until October 15, 2023, and mounting pressure from donors horrified by the response’s “moral relativism,” for Magill to issue a forceful statement condemning the attack.

In an email to Magill obtained by The Daily Pennsylvanian, a student newspaper at the university, Jon Huntsman, Jr., a former trustee, governor of Utah and U.S. ambassador whose family has donated tens of millions to Penn, wrote: “The University’s silence in the face of reprehensible and historic Hamas evil against the people of Israel (when the only response should be outright condemnation) is a new low.”

Vowing to cut off any further donations, Huntsman said the university had become “almost unrecognizable” due to its failed response to rampant antisemitism.

‘Freedom School for Palestine’

On November 14, 2023, dozens of Penn “community members” occupied the Reading Room of Houston Hall, the university’s student union, claiming to have set up a “Freedom School for Palestine,” which they billed as a week-long teach-in.

The group issued three demands to the administration:

1. A ceasefire in Gaza
2. Freedom of speech protection at Penn
3. Instituting “critical thought on Palestine” across campus

The administration’s initial response was to state: “We always work to balance open expression and university operations.”

When a number of students refused to leave the building when it closed at night, a clear violation of university rules, representatives from Penn’s police and the provost’s office first told them that if they chose to stay, they would be arrested. Shortly afterward, the administration relented, telling the students they could show their “PennCards” and remain in the building for only one night.

That night turned into weeks until the fall semester ended on December 21, 2023.

The students faced no disciplinary action except a “referral” to the university’s Center for Community Standards and Accountability (CSA), which oversees the resolution of misconduct complaints.

Penn Faculty: Instigators and Activists

Penn’s faculty were not disinterested academic observers of the violent, antisemitic atmosphere that raged at the university. They played an instrumental role in the classroom and on the campus and streets, where they justified terrorism, initiated protests and even used their bodies to block police when, after two weeks, the university finally instructed authorities to shut down Penn’s unlawful and disruptive encampment.

Faculty were at the forefront of the post-October 7 disruptions, spewing false claims about Israel and Jews at protests and in the classrooms.

• On October 16, 2023, Penn English Professor Ahmad Almallah organized a campus-wide protest called: “Collective Walkout for Palestine.”

Speaking at the protest, Almallah denigrated the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), claiming: “When for 17 years, a piece of earth was removed from the world, only to sustain the slow murder of its jailed population…its mothers who have been giving birth to human animals, according to the other side. SHAME!”

Also at the protest, Almallah led the chant: “There is only one solution, intifada revolution!” a call for the violent killing of Israelis.

• Political science professor Anne Norton also spoke at the walkout, claiming that the Gaza Strip, an area Israel completely withdrew from in 2005, was an “open-air prison” without self-government.

On October 7, 2023, Norton posted on social media: “Palestinians have the right to defend themselves.” On December 3, 2023, she posted: “There is nothing in ‘intifada, revolution’ that entails genocide.”
At the “Freedom School,” Norton gave a talk titled: “Islamophobia & Muslim Political Thought.”

On December 9, 2023, Norton was the subject of a Change.org petition demanding her dismissal by Penn. The petition stated: “We believe that her actions and statements contribute to a hostile environment for Jewish students, which is unacceptable in any educational institution.”

• History and Africana studies professor Eve Troutt Powell participated in and spoke at the October 16 walkout as well, saying: “...Governments cannot make peace with a genocidal government like the government in Israel right now.” She then accused Israel of not learning “the lessons of the Holocaust,” shouting: “That was the lesson! Never again!”

At the “Freedom School,” Troutt Powell opined about the “Nakba,” the Arabic word meaning “catastrophe,” which is how Palestinians refer to the establishment of the State of Israel.

Penn Faculty for Justice in Palestine

On January 18, 2024, a group of Penn faculty, staff and graduate students formed Penn Faculty for Justice in Palestine (PFJP), saying they were “in solidarity with the ongoing and ever-urgent struggles of Palestinians resisting occupation…”

They decried that the university had aligned itself with the definition of antisemitism of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), which has been adopted by 46 countries (as of May 2025), including the U.S.

• Professor Margo Natalie Crawford, chair of the Department of English and director of the Center for Africana Studies, promoted the group’s formation on social media. Crawford also participated in and spoke at the October walkout.

On November 1, 2023, Crawford tweeted, quoting Edward Said:, “‘...what the Israelis are now doing on the West Bank and Gaza is really repeating the experience of apartheid and what the United States did to the Native Americans.’”

Eleven days after its formation, PFJP staged a “die-in” in front of College Hall, a historic building on campus that houses the offices of the president and the provost, as well as academic departments and classrooms. Eighty-six faculty members were involved in the protest; twenty blocked the entrance to the building for hours.

• Bassil Kublaoui, a clinical pediatrics professor at Penn Medicine and the spokesman for the group, said the die-in was to draw attention to “the inaction of the university towards the Palestinian community and the racist, hate speech directed towards faculty, staff and students calling for Palestinian justice.”

Despite the fact that the protesters were in direct violation of university rules, which forbid demonstrators from interfering “with unimpeded movement in a University location” and “unreasonably with the activities of other persons,” the professors faced no consequences from the administration.

Two campus police officers were placed behind the entrance to the building throughout the demonstration, but took no action.

Most of the PFJP members who participated in the die-in wore masks, hats and hoods to avoid being identified.

• On March 9, 2024, PFJP, along with two of its members, Arabic literature professor Huda Fakhreddine and history and Africana studies professor Eve Troutt Powell, filed a lawsuit against Penn, seeking an emergency injunction to block the transfer of information about antisemitism at the university requested by the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. The lawsuit called the request “a new form of McCarthyism” and likened the inquiry to a “tool of oppression in the 1950’s.”

Fakhreddine spoke at an anti-Israel rally on October 18, just 11 days after Hamas’ massacre of 1,200 Israelis, saying: “We are here to mourn the victims of the monstrous Israeli attack on Gaza.”

Faculty Participation in the Encampment

Faculty were also front and center at Penn’s 16-day pro-Hamas encampment, which took place from April 25 to May 10, 2024.

• English professor and PFJP member Chi Ming Yang spoke at the encampment, claiming that the students illegally occupying the university and hurling antisemitic insults at Jews were the victims. “We condemn Penn’s administration for failing to demonstrate accountability or care towards our campus community to honor the university’s guidelines on open expression, now used as an instrument of suppression,” Yang said.
• History professor Eve Troutt Powell railed against Penn’s supposed involvement with Israeli investments, specifically Ghost Robotics, which she called “scholasticide.” Powell urged Penn to stop using the university’s resources to “make killer robots.”

Professors who spoke out after making solidarity visits to the encampment waxed poetic about the encampment’s educational value, deliberately whitewashing its outright support for a genocidal terror organization whose stated goal is to wipe out all Jews.

• Graduate education professor Ed Brockenbrough reported, “Characterizations of encampments as violent depend on invisible lines that erase the beautiful and pedagogical nature of the space.”
• Communication professor Sarah Jackson called the encampment a lively space for “education, debate, community, and politics.”
• Social work professor Amy Hillier said she regularly visited the encampment and described it as a place of “beautiful conversations.”
• Cinema and media studies professor Karen Redrobe, who is also a member of PFJP, said the administration’s opposition to the encampment is reminiscent of 1930s fascist governments that targeted free speech and creative expression and the artists and scholars who studied them.

On May 10, 2024, when the administration finally called in police to clear the illegal encampment, Yang and four other Penn professors used their bodies to block Philadelphia police vehicles from leaving and entering campus.

Police escorted away all five faculty members with no arrests. Two were initially told they were under arrest, but they were not placed in zip-tie handcuffs or formally detained. Police officers merely pushed them away from the scene, possibly at the request of the administration.

In the end, their actions would have made no difference. All 33 people arrested at the encampment (of which only nine were students) were only given “code violations” (a civil citation) with no indications of an accompanying fine. None was charged criminally, and all were “released quickly.”

• Even though the protesters were calmly led or, in some cases, carried away by police, Arabic literature Huda Fakhreddine likened the arrests to the “invasion” of the IDF into the Lebanese village of her youth. “To see my colleagues and my students brutalized today was just as harrowing,” Fakhreddine said.

The same day, political science professor Tulia Falleti, chairwoman of Penn’s faculty senate, announced her resignation from the position in response to Penn's disbandment of the encampment. (Falleti’s term was set to end in less than two months on June 30, 2024.)

• Six days earlier, Falleti published an op-ed in the Daily Pennsylvanian, alleging that the pro-Israel billboard trucks parked near campus were part of a “concerted, external political campaign against higher education institutions” and a stand against “academic freedom…and, in the case of our University, against a peaceful protest of students, staff, faculty, and local community members.” The trucks played a four-minute video loop of the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel.

Penn’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), led by president Amy Offner, held a press conference condemning the encampment arrests, calling them a suppression of “nonviolent anti-war protest.”

Sanctions Demanded Against Faculty

On March 28, 2024, 149 Penn alumni and students sent a letter to interim president Larry Jameson, calling for an investigation and sanctions against eight Penn professors for their antisemitic behavior.

The group stated that the professors were “in dereliction of their scholarly responsibilities” through their conduct and recommended a list of sanctions allowed by the Faculty Handbook. They also asked for additional consequences due to the “seriousness” of the professors’ actions.

“[The professors] are fostering an environment and a worldview that not only puts our children and community at risk, but one that encapsulates the antithesis of the very values and ideals that are the foundation of this university, this country, and a free society,” the signatories wrote.

The professors named in the letter were:

• Anne Norton, who responded to the letter in an April 20, 2024 tweet, saying: “Those who accuse me of antisemitism rely on — and perpetuate — a complete erasure of Palestinians…”
• Eve Troutt Powell, who was a featured speaker at the Palestine Writes Literature Festival.
• Huda Fakhreddine, who reportedly posted on October 7: “While we were asleep, Palestine invented a new way of life,” and clapped at a protest after the speaker told Jewish students to ‘‘...go back to Moscow and Brooklyn and Gstaad, and f**king Berlin where you came from…”
• Fatemeh Shams (Persian literature), who spoke at rallies supporting Hamas and circulated a petition on October 19, 2023, that declared: “At this critical moment, while Israel wages a genocidal war against our people in Gaza, using terrorism as a pretext that no longer fools anyone…”
• Mohammed Alghamdi (medicine), who was filmed helping to rip down posters of Israelis kidnapped by Hamas.
• Ania Loomba (English), a decades-long BDS supporter who spoke at the October 16 walkout and blocked a Jewish student from participating in the protest.
• Dwayne Booth (lecturer in communications), who created antisemitic cartoons filled with blood libels. The website where he shares his cartoons is promoted on his official Penn biography page.
• Ahmad Almallah (lecturer in English), whose profile picture on X is terrorist Ghassan Kanafani, a deceased member and spokesperson for the terror organization Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). Almallah organized and spoke at numerous pro-Hamas protests, where he also led genocidal chants against Israelis.
• Christopher Browne (history) who showed support for the pro-Hamas encampment at Columbia in April 2024.

Penn's “Gaza Solidarity Encampment”

On April 25, 2024, students and faculty at Penn, Temple and Drexel universities joined forces and set up a pro-Hamas encampment on Penn’s College Green, an open space located in the heart of Penn’s campus.

The encampment was launched with a citywide march organized by the Philadelphia Palestine Coalition (PPC). It began at City Hall and merged with a “Faculty & Staff Walkout” on Penn’s campus led by Penn Faculty for Justice in Palestine (PFJP).

The encampment issued three demands of Penn, which protesters billed as “disclose, divest, defend”:

1. Disclose all individual and active financial holdings
2. Divest from corporations that “profit from Israel’s war on Gaza and occupation in Palestine” and all Israeli academic institutions
3. Defend Palestinian students and their allies by granting “amnesty” to all those involved in anti-Israel protests and reinstate Penn Students Against the Occupation (PAO), (a student group banned by Penn on April 19, 2024)

For the next 16 days, as high-profile activists visited the encampment in solidarity, protesters became more and more extreme in their calls for violence, harassment of Jews and incitement of antisemitic religious fervor.

Protesters welcomed speakers representing groups whose expressed purpose is to overthrow America.

During the encampment, protesters expressed support for terrorist organizations, chanted for intifada, vandalized university property and harassed Jewish students.

Encampment Highlights

Day 1 – April 25, 2024

The encampment began with Chi-Ming Yang, a Penn professor, accusing Israel of “ethnic cleansing” and “war crimes” and calling for the Palestinian “right of return” (a euphemism that refers to the destruction of Israel as a Jewish state).

Yang was followed by Penn professor Sukaina Hirji, who encouraged faculty to use their “power and privilege” to support the students.