'October 7 is about to be every day:' Columbia rally sees Hamas support

• Published date: 21 April 2024
• Author: MICHAEL STARR
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

"Remember the 7th of October!" shouted a man with a red keffiyeh over his face in a video published by Columbia Sundial editor-in-chief Jonas Du on social media on Friday. "That will happen not one more time, not five more times, not 10 more times, not 100 more times, not 1000 more times, but 10,000 times!"

Calling for "October 7 everyday"

"Never forget the 7th of October," said another masked man wearing a Palestinian flag, standing outside the campus gates on Thursday night. "Are you ready? 7th of October is about to be every day. Every day. 7th of October is going to be every day for you."

Florida Senator Rick Scott condemned the activists in the video as "antisemitic terrorist sympathizers" and warned that their support for Hamas would not be forgotten.

"You don't want a ceasefire or peace. You want violence, terrorism, and to support thugs who hate America and our great friend Israel," Scott wrote on X on Friday. "If action is not taken immediately, we must revoke all federal funding and hold these ignorant 'protestors' and the university, enabling them accountable for this violent, evil rhetoric."

A woman in a Keffiyeh shouted at a pro-Israel activist, "We are Hamas," outside Columbia on Wednesday, according to a video published by Freedom News on Youtube.

"We're all Hamas," she said at the counter-protesters that had rallied outside the New York City university.

Students were also seen holding a sign with the face of Walid Daqqah, who died from cancer on April 7 in Israeli prison. Daqqah was commander of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine cell that kidnapped, tortured, and executed IDF soldier Moshe Tamam in 1984.

Response to the protest

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was questioned about students proclaiming that they are "all Hamas" at a press briefing on Friday.

"Let's not forget what we saw — the antisemitism, the bigotry, the hate that we saw in the street of Charlottesville, which, as I just stated, was one of the reasons that he decided to run. And no president has taken more action to combat antisemitism than this president," responded Jean-Pierre. "In our national strategy, we made clear that when Jews are targeted because of their beliefs, because of their identity, or when Israel is singled out because of anti-Jewish hate —...