Dan Zeno

On May 10, 2024, WGBH reported that Zeno was arrested and later suspended from MIT for his anti-Israel activism at the university encampment and his refusal to comply with university and state police orders.

At a May 10, 2024 press conference after Zeno’s arrest, WGBH reported that Zeno said: “History will remember today, and history will vindicate the students and workers who spoke truth to power, just as it has for the American invasion of Vietnam and MIT investment’s South African apartheid.”

On April 26, 2024, Zeno spoke to Al Jazeera on behalf of the MIT encampment and said [00:00:01]: “We knew that we were gonna have to mobilize……It’s about time for escalation anyways.”

Zeno also said [00:00:40]: “We got out here Sunday night. I’ve been here every night ever since. We got our campus growing every day. We have people bringing more tents, more people signing up to stay overnight.”

Zeno continued [00:01:24]: “The undergraduate referendum was to call for a ceasefire; to divest from doing research for the IOF...”

“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 encampment was one of over 140 pro-Hamas and anti-Israel college encampments set up in North America, and over 20 more globally, in the spring of 2024. The first began on April 17, 2024, at Columbia University. The encampments were unofficially known as the “student intifada,” borrowing a term associated with terrorist violence.

Protesters harassed Jewish students, blocked Jews from campus facilities and shouted anti-Semitic slogans. They occupied campus grounds, in many cases illegally, caused property damage, violently took over buildings, celebrated terrorism and promoted the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.

Activists set up encampments to oppose Israel’s right to wage war against the Hamas terror group following October 7, 2023, when Hamas murdered approximately 1,200 people, including 32 American and 8 Canadian citizens. Hamas also kidnapped 252 people, including 11 Americans and the bodies of 2 murdered Canadians. As of May 26, 2024, 125 hostages remained in Hamas captivity.

For more information on the October 7, 2023 terror attacks, see the Canary Mission page on Hamas.

On November 1, 2024, Zeno shared [slide 6] on Instagram an image that read: “GLOBALIZE THE INTIFADA…” The text in white on a black background appeared over an image of a red inverted triangle, filled with illegible handwritten lines.

The term “intifada,” which translates from Arabic as “uprising” or “insurrection,” carries the connotation of violence. Palestinian intifadas waged against Israel have been marked since 1987 by hundreds of hijackings, shootings, stabbings, bombings and suicide missions.

The inverted red triangle is a symbol showing support for Hamas and Palestinian terrorism. It first appeared in propaganda videos produced by the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, during its terror attacks of October 7, 2023. The symbol was used by Hamas to signify one of their Israeli targets.

On January 10, 2024, Zeno posted on Instagram: “ Long Live the Resistance … / For over 75 years, Palestinians have been terrorized…They have been faced with genocide, occupation, oppression, hunger, displacement. We will never stop fighting for our land, we will never stop fighting for our people, we will never stop fighting for the oppressed. / We will never stop amplifying the voices of the oppressed. Till the death of us, Free Palestine…”

Zeno’s post included a video of Palestinians, faces covered with masks, hoods,or keffiyehs, slinging rocks to attack Israelis, setting tires on fire, and, as captioned: “running towards the confrontations…”.

Among Palestinians and anti-Israel activists, the term “resistance” is a euphemism for nationalistic terror and is used to glorify and encourage anti-Israel and antisemitic violence.

The modern State of Israel was founded 75 years earlier, in 1948.

Although romanticized as a form of “popular resistance,” rock throwing remains a deadly form of violence.

On October 8, 2023, Zeno posted on Instagram: “Israel is an apartheid state fully funded and backed by U.S. tax dollars…the status quo, for Palestinians, has been a constant state of oppression, death, and destitution…”

Zeno continued: “Just another case of white people deciding what’s best for the world, which is what has this planet so f**ked up, soulless, and backwards in the first place… Palestinians should fight. They have every right to defend themselves against such a cruel regime. I pray for the unquestioned liberation of the Palestinian people.”

Zeno’s post included a video titled: “Timeless interview of Ghassan Kanafani…Who got assassinated by the Israeli secret forces in Lebanon…” Asked: “Why won’t your organization engage in peace talks with the Israelis?” Kanafani responds: “You don’t mean exactly ‘peace talks’; you mean capitulation, surrendering…”

Kanafani was a leading member and spokesperson for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) during the terrorist organization’s early years. Kanafani announced the PFLP’s responsibility for the Lod Airport Massacre of May 1972 and was linked to the airport attackers. The attack killed 26 people and wounded 80 others.

On Saturday, October 7, 2023, approximately 2,900 heavily armed Hamas terrorists breached Israel’s border with Gaza. They executed numerous war crimes on civilians, including mass murder, beheadings of children, rape of men and women, torture, kidnappings and mutilation.

Hamas broadcast videos of their butchery on social media, often to victims’ accounts for families to see. Israel retaliated with a war called “Swords of Iron.” As of November 10, 2023, approximately 1,200 Israelis, the vast majority of them civilians, were murdered during the attacks. Hamas kidnapped 242 Israelis, including at least 30 children. At least 3,500 people were wounded, many severely.

A terrorist detained by Israel admitted he raped an Israeli woman when he broke into a kibbutz house during the October 7, 2023 attack. In March 2024, a former hostage of Hamas publicly stated she was sexually abused and tortured while in captivity.

For more information on the October 7, 2023 terror attacks, see the Canary Mission page on Hamas.

On November 3, 2024, Zeno shared on Instagram: “...channeling spirits… / first totem…/ for my ancestors…” with a graphic of a poem he wrote and illustrated that read: “joe biden a b**ch / kamala a b**ch / that bibi a b**ch…/ that trump is a b**ch / gvir is a b**ch, f**k all Zionists…/ i’m nuking a b**ch / •and zeno don’t miss.”

Zionism is the belief that Jews have the right to self-determination in their own national home, and the right to develop their national culture. Zionism is a core part of the identity of most Jews.

On January 4, 2024, Zeno posted on Instagram: “...This is how zionist get you to work for them. Blackmail, bribery…#israelterrorist #corruption #justice #accountability #zionistterror.” Included in the post was a video interview with Jewish attorney Alan Dershowitz about Jeffrey Epstein and his alleged “Mossad connection…”

On December 30, 2023, Zeno posted on Instagram: “Columbia University Professor…criticized US support and complicity in the mazzacre [sic] of Palestinians by Is Nah Real [Israel]...and spoke about the efficts it will have on world geopolitics… 🍉#🍉🍉#🍉🍉🍉”

The watermelon has been appropriated by terrorists and anti-Israel activists as a symbol of Palestinian "resistance" to "Israeli occupation," as it shares the Pan-Arab colors. It gained widespread popularity and usage following the Hamas terror attacks of October 7, 2023.

On October 2, 2024, Zeno posted on Instagram: “the ruse is up. we know who the real Ts [Terrorists] are. / y’all colonizers are in serious trouble. you should repent while you can.” Included in the post was a video in which political activist Jackie Walker said: “I’m not frightened of Hamas. I’m not frightened of– of Hezbollah. I am absolutely terrified of Israel. Because it’s Israel who is interfering in my politics at home. It is Israel that I’m forbidden to talk about…I might get MI5 or whoever the f**kers are knocking on my door to put me away. Nobody is safe here. What we should actually be doing…is calling Israel America’s proxy…...all that nonsense you get about Israel being the victim…”

Hezbollah has long been known as an anti-Semitic and genocidal terror organization dedicated to destroying Israel.

On October 17, 2024, Zeno posted on Instagram: “…Scholars, academics, and intellectuals have a moral obligation to reframe all of the lies we were told / ‘israel has a right to exist’, their nonsense unfolds…rebuke what we were sold. / For who has the right to steal others’ homes? Delusional privilege with fascist overtones…”

On October 19, 2024, Zeno posted on Instagram a video from a rally held September 30, 2024, in which Zeno led [00:00:10] the chant: “from the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free!” and [00:00:38]: “1, 2, 3 4, occupation no more, 5, 6, 7, 8, Israel is a terrorist state…”

“From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be Free” is a chant used [00:02:47] to call for the elimination of the State of Israel. It has also been employed by Hamas leader Khaled Mashal to call for the replacement of Israel with an Islamic state. In April 2024, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution condemning the chant as antisemitic.

At the same event on October 19, 2024, dressed in the same pink shorts and wrapped in a keffiyeh, Zeno recited one of his poems [00:00:15]: “...it’s about ‘Netanyahu’ – it’s about MIT’s most insidious alumni…”From Benzion’s [sic] venemous womb, a wretched scum emerged / bathed in the blood of Irgun’s terrorist surge / An idiot awoke, made of hubris and lack of courage / In delusion and white privilege, he unleashed a demented scourge / Our valiant Palestinians, he attempts to purge / The lies we’ve seen … the scenes we’ve heard … murderous words… / from a genocideal terrorist state…” “...#liberation #freepalestine #endzionism.”

On November 5, 2023, Zeno posted on Instagram: “~130 MIT students, including myself, bussed down to Washington DC to join the National March on Washington for Palestine…As we went from Freedom Plaza all the way to the White House, we showed the United States government that we demand a #ceasefirenow . Now, we are preparing for a GLOBAL SHUTDOWN this Thursday, November 9th…freepalestine #freegaza #decolonize…”

On August 20, 2024, Zeno posted on Instagram a video and wrote, referring to a pro-BDS protest: “This video was from the first Elbit protest I attended in Central Square - Cambridge, MA, Apr 27th 2023. Elbit Systems is a cornerstone israeli weapons manufacturer. Their drones, surveillance equipment, and various supporting tech are heavily relied upon by the occupation in their genocide of Palestinians…”

The Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement was founded by pro-terror activist Omar Barghouti in 2005 to turn “Israel into a pariah state, as South Africa once was.” Barghouti has also called for Israel's destruction and the BDS movement demands would result in that same goal.

BDS initiatives include calling on institutions and individuals to divest from Israeli-affiliated companies, promoting academic and cultural boycotts of Israel, and organizing anti-Israel rallies, protests and campaigns.

The movement’s most notable achievement has been infiltrating university campuses through lobbying for “BDS resolutions.” In these cases, student governments propose resolutions to boycott or divestment from Israel or Israeli-affiliated entities. BDS activity is often aggressive and disruptive. It has been noted that universities that pass BDS resolutions see a marked increase in anti-Semitic incidents and pro-terror activism on campus.

The True Face of Anti-Israel Activism

May 2024 - Arrested at MIT Anti-Israel Encampment

Support for Terrorism

Hatred of Zionists

Hatred of Israel and Israelis

Anti-Israel Activism

BDS

Social Media and Weblinks