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A Shift in U.S. Policy toward Campus Protests

(Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs) Aviram Bellaishe - Are the protest movements in U.S. academic institutions following the October 7, 2023, massacre and the Gaza war conducting legitimate human rights advocacy or coordinated subversive activity? There are reports of possible links to extremist groups, use of encrypted platforms to coordinate violent activities, and dissemination of advice on disturbing the peace and physically attacking law-enforcement personnel, alongside anti-American messages. Reports from the Counter Extremism Project (CEP) and the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) indicate that Telegram has been used by extremist groups and conspiracy networks for propaganda dissemination, recruitment, and coordination, taking advantage of the platform's encryption and relative anonymity. According to published data, 50% of people in Russia use Telegram, while in the U.S. only 2% do. Yet, in the U.S., the university and college tent encampments are coordinated primarily via Telegram. A 2017 study by the Jerusalem Center showed that Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) is not an independent student organization but, rather, a network linked to Hamas. American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) provides financial and logistical support to SJP and AMP's leaders apparently have links to actors involved in funding Hamas. Jonathan Schanzer, an investigator of terror funding in the U.S. Treasury Department, testified to Congress in 2016 that AMP was "arguably the most important sponsor and organizer for Students for Justice in Palestine." Schanzer explained that "at least seven individuals who work for or on behalf of AMP have worked for or on behalf of organizations previously shut down or held civilly liable in the United States for providing financial support to Hamas." Research suggests the potential existence of a well-coordinated infrastructure leveraging encrypted technologies, concealing financial channels, and disseminating inflammatory messages aimed at disrupting public order in the United States. If these organizations' activities go beyond legitimate democratic protest and constitute orchestrated subversive action, the U.S. should consider responding decisively, both legally and economically, to safeguard itself against those who seek to undermine it while exploiting the very freedoms designed to protect them. The writer, Senior Director for Security, Diplomacy, and Communications at the Jerusalem Center, has served in senior government positions for over 25 years.
2025-04-10 00:00:00
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