Boston University College of Arts and Sciences. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

Last week, we began to document a new vile phenomenon of anti-Zionist student groups, namely Students for Justice in Palestine and their supporters, praising Hamas and saying the Israeli women, children, and men who were massacred on October 7 got what they deserved.

Following the Hamas massacre, Israeli artists Dede Bandaid and Nitzan Mintz started “Kidnapped” — a campaign to raise public awareness of the more than 220 known Israeli hostages taken into Gaza by Hamas.

Their call to action? To raise awareness by spreading and sharing posters with the names, photos, and details of hostages in public areas.

Like many pro-Israel groups on campus, Boston University Students for Israel (BUSI), a student group that participates in the CAMERA on Campus Coalition program, took part, posting flyers of the hostages on corkboards, lamp posts, and common areas of the university.

Soon after hanging the posters, BUSI found many of them crumpled in trash heaps.

On Friday, October 13th, members of BUSI spotted a group of students tearing down the posters, which included Noora Lahoud, an active member of Boston University Students for Justice in Palestine, and Anna Epstein, co-president of Politica, a self-identified global affairs club and publication run by Boston University students.

The confrontation was partially captured on video, posted on the CAMERA on Campus Twitter account here and here.

After witnessing Noor Lahoud tear down several posters, a member of BUSI began filming. She then continued to tear away at more posters on video. As Lahoud walked away, she claimed the posters were “spreading propaganda — fake news.” She flagrantly denied well-documented Hamas war crimes that included the kidnapping of more than 220 Israelis.

When a member of Boston University Students for Israel confronted Anna Epstein, she absurdly attempted to justify her actions tearing down the flyers by saying that any support for the Israeli victims was propaganda. She justified this by proudly stating that she was Jewish.

Being Jewish does not absolve someone from being antisemitic, as CAMERA has documented. There are Jewish groups like Jewish Voice for Peace and public figures like cartoonist Eli Valley that identify as Jewish, yet disseminate antisemitic tropes. One can be bigoted toward their own people or ethnic or religious group.

Of course, students can express their opinions, but tearing down posters, effectively silencing the speech of other students, is a violation of the basic tenets of free speech. It is hypocrisy — stating that their speech triumphs someone else’s.

Members of Students for Justice in Palestine at Boston University and their supporters are not satisfied with celebrating the mass murder, rape and kidnapping of Jews, and calling for the elimination of the State of Israel in public rallies.

Instead, they also insist on hiding the atrocities committed by Hamas, including the abhorrent detainment of hundreds of Israeli civilians, including women, children, and the elderly.

Let’s be clear: Jewish and pro-Israel advocates on and off campus must not relent in our efforts to give voice to the voiceless. We must continue to advocate for the innocent people brutally attacked and held hostage at the hands of Hamas. No one, especially terror apologists on campus, will keep us quiet.

The author is the Managing Director for CAMERA on Campus.