by Anthony Gockowski
The University of Minnesota’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) called Hamas’ terrorist attacks on Israel the “only option left for the oppressed and colonized.”
The registered student organization objected to the description of “Palestinian resistance” as “terrorism,” calling this an “unfair” label.
“The events of resistance that transpired on Saturday, October 7th, are a result of the brutal settler-colonial ethno-state,” SJP wrote on Instagram. “We condemn violence, yet acknowledge that it is the only option left for the oppressed and colonized.”
Hamas, a designated terrorist organization that governs the Gaza Strip, launched a surprise attack on Israel Saturday, killing civilian women and children and taking others hostage. At least 1,200 people were killed, including 27 Americans and 260 people who were massacred at a music festival, according to reports.
“This uprising is a response to the decades of colonization, apartheid, siege, and occupation. We stand united and in solidarity with Palestinian resistance and all those seeking liberation from their oppressors,” the University of Minnesota’s SJP chapter said.
According to a description on the University of Minnesota’s website, SJP is “dedicated to the struggle for self-determination and liberation for the Palestinian people and all other indigenous, occupied, and dispossessed people, globally.”
SJP’s national arm has scheduled a “day of resistance” for Thursday, praising Hamas’ attack as a “historic win for the Palestinian resistance,” according to the Daily Caller.
“Catching the enemy completely by surprise, the Palestinian resistance has captured over a dozen settlements surrounding Gaza along with many occupation soldiers and military vehicles. This is what it means to Free Palestine: not just slogans and rallies, but armed confrontation with the oppressors,” SJP national wrote on Instagram.
The national group provided students with a toolkit with instructions on “messaging and framing,” the Daily Caller reported. This toolkit instructs students to “normalize the resistance” and use the phrase “struggle for national liberation” instead of “war” or “conflict.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the formation of a wartime government Wednesday in a televised address, according to the Associated Press.
“Every Hamas member is a dead man,” he said. “We will crush and destroy it.”
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Anthony Gockowski is Editor-in-Chief of Alpha News. He previously worked as an editor for The Minnesota Sun and Campus Reform, and reported for The Daily Caller.
Photo “University of Minnesota Campus” by University of Minnesota.
