The Sconi

Ahead of their Day of Resistance rallies across the country, the Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) issued a "toolkit" document that refers to Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, Hamas’ brutal terrorist attack in Israel that left over 1200 dead, as "the resistance," and it further stated that student activities are part of the movement and not just in solidarity. While the document has led some schools to move to deactivate the group, the SJP currently operates on the campus of UW-Madison and has been regularly holding rallies and walkouts. 

SJP's toolkit document refers frequently to Hamas as "the resistance" and frames Israel as "the Zionist enemy" and "a violent settler state." According to National SJP, Operation Al-Aqsa Flood is part of the Palestinian people's "struggle for complete liberation and return." The toolkit proclaims that "National liberation is near— glory to our resistance, to our martyrs, and to our steadfast people," and emphasizes that "We as Palestinian students in exile are PART of this movement, not in solidarity with this movement."

According to the American Jewish Coalition, the death toll from Hamas' Operation Al-Aqsa Flood currently stands at 1210, and of the 240 taken hostage, about 137 are believed to remain in Gaza. The report also notes that hostages have been treated very badly under Hamas captivity and shares an account of two teenage boys who were branded with a motorcycle exhaust pipe so that they could be identified if they escaped.

According to an Oct. 10 social media post on X, formerly Twitter, pro-Hamas students at UW-Wisconsin gathered in front of Memorial Library for an anti-Israel rally, waving Palestinian flags and chanting "Glory to the martyrs! Glory to the resistance!" and "We will liberate the land by any means necessary."

On its Instagram page, the UW-Madison chapter of the SJP is promoting several events, including two rallies at the State Capitol on Saturday as well as a class walkout and rally planned for Monday on the school's campus.

On the first day of classes in the fall of 2022, antisemitic messages written in chalk appeared around the campus. While UW-Madison's chapter of SJP denied responsibility for the chalkings, they did issue a statement defending them. Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin denounced the chalkings and announced that the administration would be speaking to SJP about the incident, according to the Daily Cardinal.

Additionally, on Oct. 11, following Hamas' attack on Israel, Mnookin issued a statement "condemning the vicious terrorist attacks by Hamas on Israeli civilians last weekend." However, Mnookin did not condemn, nor reference, the SJP demonstration on Oct. 10 or the content of their chants, according to the UW-Madison's website.

According to a report from the Florida Record, Chancellor Ray Rodrigues of the University of Florida system took steps to deactivate the SJP chapters at the University of Florida and the University of South Florida in light of the SJP toolkit and its "support of terrorism." A lawsuit was filed against the university seeking to block the shutdown of the groups.