Maryam Iqbal

Maryam Iqbal’s Arrest at the Pro-Hamas Encampment at Columbia University (Columbia) and Support for Hamas Terrorism

Maryam Iqbal is a Barnard College (Barnard) student who was arrested at the pro-Hamas Columbia encampment in April 2024. Iqbal participated in other events during the encampment, which was also in support of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement. Barnard is part of Columbia.

Maryam Iqbal has also expressed support for Hamas terrorism, denied Hamas war crimes, spread anti-Semitism and glorified terrorism. She has called for Israel’s destruction multiple times as an activist with Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at Columbia (Columbia SJP), in late 2023 and early 2024.

On March 27, 2024, Iqbal tweeted that she “wrote out every single chant for @ColumbiaSJP and consistently have led chants” at their protests. One of these chants Iqbal referred to expresses [slide 3] support for terrorism, while another chant calls [slide 4] for Israel’s destruction.

Iqbal engaged in Columbia SJP activism after Hamas terror atrocities and war crimes against Israeli civilians, including mass murder, torture, rape, beheadings and kidnappings, which were executed on October 7, 2023. The attacks left over 1,200 Israelis dead, hundreds kidnapped and thousands wounded. Israel retaliated with a war called “Swords of Iron.”

Iqbal was affiliated with the pro-terror activist group Within Our Lifetime (WOL) in November 2023.

Iqbal is a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.

In November 2023, Iqbal was featured as a speaker for Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD), a pro-BDS coalition of “over 80 student groups working toward the goal of collective liberation.” CUAD was founded in 2016 but was revived in late 2023.

CUAD’s demands included “a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, divestment from Israel…and to reinstate” Columbia SJP and the Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) chapter at Columbia (Columbia JVP) after the university administration suspended them.

As of March 2024, Iqbal’s LinkedIn profile said she was a student at Columbia’s Barnard College (Barnard), slated to graduate in May 2027.

As of the same date, Iqbal was listed online as offering an English tutoring service. She was also listed as a “journalist with a focus on reporting on the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia.”

As of the same date, Iqbal used the handle “@bluepashminas” and went by the name “مريم [Maryam]” on Twitter.

Support for Hamas Terrorism

As of April 9, 2024, Iqbal’s Instagram and Twitter bio featured an inverted red triangle, which is a symbol showing support for Hamas and the October 7, 2023 terror attacks.

Iqbal’s Instagram bio said: “مريم [Maryam] /

انقلاب زندہ باد [Long Live the revolution] / @sjp.columbia / cuapartheiddivest.org.”

Iqbal’s Twitter bio said: “☭ free kashmir, victory to the intifada

@columbiasjp land & women are not for conquest.”

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 October 9, 2023, Columbia SJP expressed [slide 2] support for Hamas terrorism in an official statement that began: “Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine stands in full solidarity with Palestinian Resistance against over 75 years of Israeli settler-colonialism and apartheid.”

Anti-Israel activists use the term “resistance” to refer to violence and terror perpetrated against Israeli civilians and their allies. It is used to glorify and encourage anti-Israel and anti-Semitic violence. Anti-Israel activists chant slogans such as: “Resistance by any means necessary!” and “Resistance is justified when people are occupied!” in response to terror attacks.

The modern State of Israel was founded 76 years earlier, in 1948.

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.

As of December 25, 2023, Hamas had fired over 10,600 missiles from Gaza at Israeli communities, with Hamas claiming 5,000 the day it launched the attack. While Hamas was the main group involved, members of other terror groups also joined in the atrocities.

Many Palestinian civilians, including women and children, also participated in the attack. In several instances, Gazans who worked in the targeted Israeli communities gave intelligence to Hamas on where to strike.

In a December 2023 poll, 57% of Gazans and 82% of Palestinians in the West Bank supported the terror attacks. 42% of Gazans were supportive of Hamas rule, up from 38% before the attacks, and 44% in the West Bank supported Hamas, up from 12%.

Hamas began by launching thousands of rockets at Israel and using motorized paragliders “to infiltrate Israeli territory and secure terrain.” Terrorist ground forces destroyed parts of the border fence with Gaza, murdering and kidnapping soldiers.

Terrorists then turned their attention to 22 communities around Gaza, where they went house to house to savagely murder, mutilate and kidnap anyone they found. They executed children in front of their parents and parents in front of their children.

Terrorists beheaded children and babies, and massacred entire families, burning some alive who hid in their homes. Hamas terrorists kicked around the heads of beheaded victims like soccer balls. Israelis as young as an infant of nine months and as old as 85 were kidnapped and taken forcibly to Gaza. Hamas has not allowed the Red Cross access to the hostages.

Over 360 unarmed young men and women were surrounded and slaughtered at one music festival alone. Bodies were publicly desecrated, with some dragged through the streets of Gaza, then beheaded.

Women were raped next to the bodies of dead friends. Some were raped and then shot in the head. Others, including young girls, were raped and murdered or mutilated in other ways. Israeli officials opened an unprecedented investigation into the widespread sexual assault. Forensic analysis of corpses showed evidence of torture and rape. Hamas terrorists said they were given explicit orders to carry out the atrocities, including chopping off legs and raping the corpses of murdered victims.

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.

Hamas intentionally targeted youth centers and elementary schools to execute and kidnap children. They also took stimulant drugs to give added energy to murder and maim. Nazis also took drugs during World War II to fuel their anti-Semitic massacres.

The atrocities were acknowledged as the worst single-day massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, including by U.S. President Joe Biden, who also compared Hamas to ISIS. Hamas attacked on the annual holiday of Simchat Torah, which that year was on Shabbat, the weekly Jewish Sabbath.

The Hamas atrocities against Israeli civilians are crimes against humanity according to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

The mass murder generated great sympathy for Israel from many countries but led to countless celebrations among Palestinians and anti-Israel organizations in America that back the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.

Hamas called the October 7, 2023 terror attacks “Al-Aqsa Flood,” a reference to the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. The allegation that Jews “threaten” to destroy the mosque has been a pretext for Arab attacks on Jews long before Israel was founded in 1948. Such propaganda has led to multiple periods of violence against Israeli civilians.

Hamas is a designated terrorist organization founded in 1987 that is dedicated to destroying Israel and killing Jews. Since 2001, Hamas has launched thousands of rockets at Israel and on October 7, 2023, Hamas murdered approximately 1,200 Israelis and kidnapped over 200 hostages, including children and the elderly.

Denying Hamas War Crimes

On March 27, 2024, Iqbal tweeted: “zionists always make up the most egregious lies that anyone with half a brain should be able to see through…‘40 beheaded babies’ yeah right.”

Denial of the Hamas war crimes of October 7, 2023, among anti-Israel activists has been likened to Holocaust denial among neo-Nazis.

Hamas terrorists murdered Israeli Jewish babies during its October 7, 2023, terror attacks. Some of the babies were beheaded and some were murdered in front of their parents.

Iqbal retweeted an April 6, 2024 tweet that said: “This is how white slave owners were crying when they couldn't have slaves anymore.”

The tweet was in response to an April 5, 2024 tweet that said: “is it becoming impossible to be a Jew in England now? To live happily and openly as a Jew?”

Glorifying Terrorism and Calling for Israel’s Destruction

Iqbal retweeted a March 19, 2024 tweet that said: “the american left armed with its postmodern drivel can continue to whine about how Ansarallah [Houthis] and revolutionary groups supporting Palestinian national liberation are not ideologically ‘progressive’, they are still delivering one of the strongest blows to zionism and imperialism.”

The Houthi terror group is officially known as “Ansar Allah” (supporters of God).

Following the outbreak of Israel’s 2023 war against Hamas, Houthi terrorists attacked commercial ships off Yemen’s Red Sea coast and launched missiles into southern Israel. Like Hamas, the Houthi movement is backed by Iran, and is designated as a terror group by the United States, Saudi Arabia and other countries. The Houthi slogan translated into English reads: “God is the Greatest / Death to America / Death to Israel / A Curse Upon the Jews / Victory to Islam.”

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.

Iqbal retweeted a March 20, 2024 tweet that said: “‘Revolutionary suicide does not mean that I and my comrades have a death wish; it means just the opposite. We have such a strong desire to live with hope and human dignity that existence without them is impossible.’...”

On March 27, 2024, Iqbal tweeted that she “wrote out every single chant for @ColumbiaSJP and consistently have led chants” at their protests.

Among the chants Iqbal referred to included [slide 3]: “Intifada, intifada! Globalize the intifada!”

Another one of the chants that Iqbal referred to included [slide 4]: “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free! From the Sea to the River, Palestine will live forever!”

“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.

11/15/2023 - Calling for Israel’s Destruction at a WOL Rally

On November 15, 2023, Iqbal called [00:52:01] for Israel’s destruction at a WOL rally titled: “All Out for Gaza at Columbia University.” She stood alongside Columbia SJP activist Maryam Alwan and WOL leaders Nerdeen Kiswani and Abdullah Akl. Iqbal appeared in a video wearing a blue long-sleeve shirt.

At the rally, Iqbal joined [00:52:01] in the chant: “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free!”

Also at the rally, Iqbal chanted [00:02:37]: “Shut it down! Shut it down!” and [00:20:32]: “Free, free Palestine! Free, free Palestine!”

At the same rally, Iqbal was a featured speaker where she said [00:00:02]: “In an attempt to shut us down, you have only made us stronger! The student groups on campus have mobilized at unprecedented levels to support us in the struggle for Palestinian liberation that they all fully see as their own struggle, too!”

Iqbal also said [00:00:26]: “At our protest yesterday, we formally announced our coalition - CU Apartheid Divest, which almost 50 student organizations have signed on to within 48 hours and it’s constantly growing! Columbia University Apartheid Divest is a coalition of student organizations that see Palestine as the vanguard for collective liberation.”

Iqbal concluded by saying [00:02:13]: “We urge SJPs across the nation to mobilize and create coalitions with student groups within their own universities...We need to organize with the power of the people!”

After marching alongside WOL activists, Iqbal chanted [01:24:28]: “Columbia, you can’t hide! You’re supporting genocide!” She appeared [01:24:25] on the left side of the screen, holding a banner.

11/14/2023 - Speaking at an Anti-Israel Protest

On November 14, 2023, Iqbal was featured as a speaker at an anti-Israel protest at Columbia in response to the university’s suspension of its SJP and JVP chapters.

The demonstration was held on behalf of CUAD and organized by DAR Palestine at Columbia University (Dar at Columbia), Columbia’s Palestinian student union.

At the protest, Iqbal reportedly said: “To shut us down, you have only made us stronger. The student groups on campus have mobilized at unprecedented levels to support us in the public Palestinian liberation struggle that they all fully see as their own struggle.”

10/12/2023 - Leading a Chant for Israel’s Destruction

On October 12, 2023, Iqbal led [00:00:02] a chant calling [photo 1] for Israel’s destruction at a protest organized by Columbia SJP.

Iqbal led [00:00:02] the chant: “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free!”

During the protest, Jewish students locked themselves inside a building and were advised by security officers to “remain inside” for their own safety.

Arrested at Pro-Hamas Encampment at Columbia

On April 19, 2024, The New York Post reported that Iqbal had been arrested at the Columbia encampment in April 2024, and subsequently suspended from Barnard for her involvement in the encampment.

Iqbal reportedly posted on her since-deleted X account: “‘Just got out of jail after Columbia called NYPD to mass arrest 100+ students. I have been suspended and evicted from housing by Barnard.’”

Participation in Pro-Hamas Encampment at Columbia

On April 17, 2024, FreedomNewsTV uploaded a video to YouTube featuring Iqbal participating [00:02:43] at the Columbia encampment while anti-Israel activist Catherine Curran-Groome spoke to the crowd.

On April 17, 2024, Columbia students and anti-Israel activists set up a pro-Hamas “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” on the university's main lawn. Many participants were arrested and the encampment featured multiple violent incidents, including taking over a campus building and taking a university worker hostage.

Activists protested Israel’s war against Hamas and demanded that Columbia “divest from companies and institutions that profit from Israeli apartheid, genocide and occupation…”

The action had reportedly been planned for months and was organized by the Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD) coalition. The encampment was also organized by Columbia’s banned pro-Hamas activist group Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and the university chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP). Activists reportedly received training from National SJP and other anti-Israel organizations.