The growing threat of SJP on college campuses

IMMEDIATE RELEASE – This article was first shared by the Washington Examiner
February 3, 2025
Contact: Avi D. Gordon, Executive Director Alums for Campus Fairness
[email protected]

The growing threat of SJP on college campuses

For Jena and Noor Chanaa, sisters who led George Mason University’s Students for Justice in Palestine chapter, calls for intifada were not mere protest slogans. They were exhortations to antisemitic violence. 

Law enforcement discovered the Chanaa sisters’ apparently lethal intent after an investigation into acts of antisemitic vandalism on campus led police to search their family home. There, alongside Hamas and Hezbollah flags and signs proclaiming “Death to America” and “Death to Jews,” police found an arsenal of weapons and ammunition.

It was not an isolated incident for the public institution in Fairfax, Virginia. Just a few days later, Abdullah Ezzeldin Taha Mohamed Hassan, another George Mason University student, was arrested by the FBI for allegedly plotting a mass casualty attack on the Israeli Consulate in New York. The arrest followed an anonymous tip to the Fairfax County Police Department that Hassan was active in “radical and terrorist-leaning behavior” online.

These cases, at a university in our own backyard, are shocking. But they point to a national phenomenon of antisemitic hate on campuses that has reached a crisis level. In the aftermath of the October 7, 2023 Hamas terrorist attacks, our leading institutions of higher learning, which should be sanctuaries of safety and inclusivity, are transforming instead into incubators for extremist violence. 

Chilling incidents at George Mason University underscore a disturbing reality — college campuses across the United States are becoming battlegrounds for antisemitic hostility, with Jewish students bearing the brunt of this rising trend. Students for Justice in Palestine, a group claiming to advocate for Palestinian rights, has repeatedly shown itself to be an incubator of hate, glorifying terrorism and spreading antisemitism.

From October 7, 2023, to September 24, 2024, over 10,000 antisemitic incidents were reported across the United States — a 360% increase from prior years. A survey by Alums for Campus Fairness revealed that 44% of Jewish students report never or rarely feeling safe identifying their Jewish identity on campus—a sharp rise from 21% in 2021.

SJP chapters have consistently crossed the line from advocacy to incitement. Many chapters openly glorify terrorism, intimidate Jewish students, and promote hate speech. The Anti-Defamation League has documented SJP chapters calling for the exclusion of “Zionists” from campus spaces, with some advocating to ban mainstream Jewish religious and cultural organizations like Hillel and Chabad.

Similar incidents nationwide underscore the gravity of the threat. Tufts University suspended its SJP chapter after it used images of weapons to promote a rally advocating for a student intifada. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s SJP chapter called for armed rebellion and resistance by any means necessaryColumbia, Brown, Brandeis, Rutgers, Tufts, and George Washington University all suspended local SJP chapters after repeated policy violations.

If the national data is a warning, the situation at George Mason should be a flashing siren. Governor Glenn Youngkin (R-VA) showed strong leadership with a quick and clear-eyed condemnation, stating, “[t]hese blatant and dangerous antisemitic acts pose a clear and present threat to Jewish students and the Jewish community in Virginia.”

Youngkin provides a model for action. His decisive response—including antisemitism training for law enforcement—sends a clear message: violence, hatred, and fear have no place on college campuses. Other states and universities must follow this example.

Universities must act. School administrators must unequivocally condemn and remove chapters that incite violence, glorify terrorism, or intimidate Jewish students. Universities ought to implement antisemitism training for campus administrators, law enforcement, and faculty to help them recognize and effectively respond to these hate-fueled incidents.

The George Mason incidents are a wake-up call. Allowing SJP’s actions to go unchecked endangers Jewish students and undermines the integrity of academic institutions. It is time to confront this growing threat and ensure that campuses remain places of learning, not hate.

Avi Gordon is the executive director of Alums for Campus Fairness