51 Student Organizations in US Sign Letter Pledging Support for Hamas ‘Resistance’ in Palestine

More than 50 student groups across the U.S. have expressed their support for Palestine and the actions of the militant group Hamas in a letter published on social media.

A letter expressing "unwavering support of the resistance in Gaza and the broader occupied Palestinian lands" was signed by 51 groups representing students at colleges around the country, according to Bears for Palestine, an organization affiliated with students at the University of California, Berkeley.

"We call to attention that the Israeli occupation has created a multi-generational diaspora that is inextricably linked to the insurmountable destruction of the Palestinian way of life," the group wrote in the public letter.

They continued, in part: "Hence, Israel, as a settler colonial state, renders Palestinian existence inherently an act of resistance. We invariably reject Israel's framing as a victim. Whereas to demonize and condemn indigenous resistance is to overshadow the decades of oppression, ethnic cleansing, and destruction of the Palestinian people."

"We support the resistance, we support the liberation movement, and we indisputably support the Uprising."

Student groups supporting the letter include the Students Allied for Freedom and Equality at the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor, Students of Justice in Palestine at the University of Illinois Chicago, and the Muslim Student Association at UCLA.

The group's Instagram post had more than 2,000 likes as of Tuesday afternoon.

During the early morning hours of Saturday, militants from Hamas began a multi-front assault on Israel that included firing over 2,000 rockets and an invasion using land vehicles, boats, and paragliders.

Hundreds of Hamas fighters then crossed Israel’s border and attacked multiple sites, including the Supernova Sukkot music festival, where 260 concertgoers were killed.

The militants also made their way into southern Israeli towns, killing at least 1,000 people, according to estimates.

Video footage on social media showed Hamas fighters dragging Israeli citizens, including children, women, and the elderly, across the Gaza border.

Hamas claims to have at least 100 hostages, which they threatened to execute if Israel continues to conduct airstrikes without warning.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared war on Hamas hours after the attack and vowed a “mighty vengeance” for what he called a “wicked day.”

On Monday, Israel’s defense minister, Yoav Gallant, declared a “complete siege” on Gaza as Hamas rockets fell on Israeli cities.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said Monday that at least 560 people have been killed and nearly 3,000 others injured in retaliatory airstrikes by Israel in the days since the attacks, per ABC News.

The Saturday invasion is considered the worst attack on Israeli territory since the 1973 Yom Kippur War.

“It’s heart-wrenching,” President Biden said on Monday, announcing that around a dozen American citizens were killed in the attacks. “These families have been torn apart by inexcusable hatred and violence.”

“This is not some distant tragedy,” Biden continued, in part. “The ties between Israel and the United States run deep. It is personal for so many American families who are feeling the pain of this attack as well as the scars inflicted through millennia of antisemitism and persecution of Jewish people.”