Hani Almadhoun

On October 7, 2023, Hamas murdered approximately 1,200 Israelis, kidnapped hundreds and wounded thousands. War crimes included mass rape and torture. Many Palestinian civilians participated in and supported the attacks, and Gazans working in the targeted Israeli communities gave intelligence to Hamas on where to strike.

For more information, see the Canary Mission page on Hamas.

The term “Nakba” is generally translated as “catastrophe” in Arabic, referring to the outcome of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. It is a term used to delegitimize the creation of the State of Israel by drawing a comparison to the Holocaust, known in Hebrew as the Shoah, meaning “catastrophe.”

The “right of return” is a Palestinian demand discredited as a means to eliminate Israel. International law mandates no absolute right of return and UN Resolution 194, which defined principles for “refugees wishing to return to their homes,” was unanimously rejected by Arab nations following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.

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.

Islamic Relief, also known as Islamic Relief Worldwide (IRW), was declared illegal by Israel for funneling donations to terror group Hamas. In 2019, the German government found “extensive ties” between IRW and the Muslim Brotherhood (MB). In 2020, IRW’s CEO Tayeb Abdoun resigned after he was exposed as having promoted the 2015-2016 “Knife Intifada.”

The “Free Gaza Movement” [Gaza Freedom Movement] has organized boats to Gaza meant to “break the siege,” including a May 2010 “Freedom Flotilla.” The 2011 United Nations’ Palmer Commission report found that the flotilla agitators initiated an organized, violent confrontation with Israeli forces. Moreover, the lead ship, Mavi Marmara, was found to be carrying no humanitarian aid, only weaponry.

In April 2024, another “Freedom Flotilla” attempted to challenge the naval blockade of Gaza during Israel’s war against Hamas, called “Swords of Iron.” However, the mission failed, as the ships of the 2024 flotilla were blocked from leaving the port in Turkey.

The United Nations approved [pp. 39–41] the Israeli-Egyptian blockade of Gaza in 2011 as a security measure to stop Hamas from acquiring sophisticated rockets. Multiple flotillas have attempted to breach the blockade, with at least one initiating a violent confrontation with Israeli forces.

Following Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, the Israeli military discovered that Hamas went around the blockade by smuggling weaponry through tunnels under the Philadelphi corridor separating Gaza from Egypt.

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.