Who are the Palestinian and Jewish-led groups in the US leading protests against Israel's actions in Gaza?

All is not well at US universities and college campuses. Students and even faculty members are seen as divided, engaged in heated debates, rallies, and sometimes in physical clashes since the Israel-Hamas war started last month. As the Israel-Hamas war rages in Gaza, there’s a bitter battle for public opinion flaring in the United States, with angry rallies on many college campuses and disruptive protests at prominent venues in several major cities. Among the catalysts are Palestinian and Jewish-led groups that have been active for years in opposing Israeli policies toward the Palestinians and who now demand a cease-fire in Gaza. They have clashed with pro-Israel groups in the past, and are again now. Columbia University, last week, suspended two student groups that organised protests on the Israel-Hamas war that “included threatening rhetoric and intimidation.” Hundreds of Columbia students had walked out of lectures to attend the protests calling the school to label Israel’s assault on Gaza a “genocide,” and demanded the university boycott and divest from Israeli institutions. The groups have roots in a movement known as BDS, which calls for the boycott, divestment and sanction of Israel. Bitter conflicts have also been observed at Harvard, Stanford, and New York University, where professors and administrators have gotten involved into social media arguments gone viral and accusations of Islamophobia, antisemitism, and threats against free speech. That campaign generated heated rhetoric long before Hamas militants attacked Israel on 7 October and Israel launched its counteroffensive. Advocates wrote op-eds for campus newspapers with appeals to protect Palestinian human rights, often accusing Israel of colonialism and racism. Now groups involved in those earlier efforts are playing a key role protesting the latest fighting, with actions on campuses and beyond. Protests have led to disruptions on Capitol Hill, at a major train station in Chicago and New York City’s Grand Central Station. They also helped organise a demonstration Wednesday night outside Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington which led to clashes between police and protesters. Who are the groups involved? Jewish voice for peace Jewish Voice for Peace, founded in 1996, describes itself as “the largest progressive Jewish anti-Zionist organisation in the world.” “We’re organising grassroots, multiracial, cross-class, intergenerational movement of US Jews in solidarity with the Palestinian freedom struggle, guided by a vision of justice, equality, and dignity for all people,” the group says on its website. **Also Read: In Numbers | The staggering toll of the Israel-Hamas war** It claims more than 300,000 supporters, has one million followers on X, formerly known as Twitter, and maintains chapters on many US college campuses. Its Columbia University chapter was suspended Friday for allegedly violating university policies on holding campus events. After the 7 October Hamas attack on Israel, Chicago-based Rabbi Brant Rosen, co-founder of JVP’s Rabbinical Council, said he grieved for fellow Jews who were killed, yet maintained solidarity with Palestinians. [caption id=“attachment_13396132” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Thousands of protesters rally during a pro-Palestinian demonstration at Freedom Plaza in Washington. AP[/caption] The Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish advocacy group that frequently speaks out against antisemitism and extremism, assails JVP as “a radical anti-Israel and anti-Zionist activist group that advocates for the boycott of Israel and eradication of Zionism.” In its 2021 federal tax returns, JVP reported revenue of nearly $2.9 million (Rs 24.13 core); it says the vast bulk of its income is from individual contributions. IfNotNow IfNotNow was founded during the 2014 Israel-Hamas war, when more than 2,000 Palestinians were killed as Israeli forces launched airstrikes and a ground invasion in response to rocket attacks from Gaza into Israel. “Young Jews angered by the overwhelmingly hawkish response of American Jewish institutions came together under the banner of IfNotNow,” the group says on its website. Its stated goal: “Organising our community to end US support for Israel’s apartheid system and demand equality, justice, and a thriving future for all Palestinians and Israelis.” **Also Read: Al-Shifa Hospital raid: What has Israel military found? Are patients safe?** In the early days of the current Israel-Hamas war, IfNotNow condemned the killings of civilians on both sides, while reiterating its criticisms of Israeli policy. “We cannot and will not say today’s actions by Palestinian militants are unprovoked,” the group said on 7 October. “The strangling siege on Gaza is a provocation. Settlers terrorising entire Palestinian villages, soldiers raiding and demolishing Palestinian homes. … These are the provocations of the most extreme right-wing government in Israel’s history.” Eva Borgwardt, IfNotNow’s political director, said the group organised prayer services in some cities for Jews who wanted to mourn both Jews and Palestinians killed in the conflict. The Anti-Defamation League has accused IfNotNow of “extreme” criticism of the Israeli government and “divisive rhetoric, some of which may be offensive to members of the mainstream Jewish community.” IfNotNow claims tens of thousands of members and supporters. According to tax forms, its total revenue in 2021 was just under $397,000 (Rs 3.30 crore). Students for Justice in Palestine Students for Justice in Palestine has been on US campuses for decades, with frequent protests urging the liberation of Palestinians and boycotts against Israel. The loosely connected network, known as SJP, says it has more than 200 chapters across the US and Canada. On its website it says its mission is “to empower, unify, and support student organisers as they push forward demands for Palestinian liberation & self-determination on their campuses.” Last month, it joined calls for a national student walkout on college campuses. [caption id=“attachment_13396142” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Protests have led to disruptions on Capitol Hill, at a major train station in Chicago and New York City’s Grand Central Station. AP[/caption] The Anti-Defamation League accuses it of anti-Israel propaganda “laced with inflammatory and at times combative rhetoric.” Increasingly SJP has run afoul of college administrators, including at George Washington University, Arizona State University and Brandeis University. Brandeis president Ron Liebowitz said last week that the secular college, founded by the American Jewish community in 1948, no longer recognised SJP’s chapter because of its support for Hamas and “call for the violent elimination of Israel and the Jewish people.” Several student were arrested during an ensuing protest, leading to a walkout on Monday. In a statement after Hamas attacked Israel, SJP said it was a “moral imperative” to support the resilience of the Palestinian people who “have endured 75 years of oppression, displacement, and the denial of their basic rights,” and said that includes “armed resistance.” The Brandeis move came after Florida governor Ron DeSantis’s administration ordered state universities to ban the group, saying it illegally backs Hamas militants who attacked Israel. That effort is stalled amid legal wrangling. **Also Read: Why are Yemen’s Houthis attacking Israel? What threat do they pose in the war in Gaza?** Paul Moore, a former US Department of Education official from the Trump administration, wrote an op-ed this week calling on all colleges to ban the group. Meanwhile, attorneys general from 20 states wrote a letter this month mentioning SJP and calling on federal officials to investigate and remove foreign students who have “espoused terrorist activity.” Other groups Multiple offshoots also are involved in protests. American Muslims for Palestine, which has coordinated protest activities over the years with IfNotNow, organised a “die-in” over the weekend in downtown Toledo, Ohio. Last month, the Virginia Attorney General’s office announced an investigation into the group over allegations it used funds raised for “impermissible purposes under state law, including benefitting or providing support to terrorist organisations.” Queens College in Brooklyn is investigating the Muslim Student Association over some of its social media posts. At Brown University this month, 20 students with the group BrownU Jews for Ceasefire Now were arrested after refusing to leave a campus building during a sit-in. The group posted on X that they were calling on the university to promote an “immediate cease-fire and a lasting peace” as well as the divestment of its endowment from companies that “enable war crimes in Gaza.” **Also Read: Babies dying, bodies rotting: Inside Gaza’s largest hospital which has stopped functioning** Even groups like UNICEF and Amnesty International have faced scrutiny. In Scottsdale, Arizona, a presentation by a high school student group about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza prompted state public education chief Tom Horne to urge schools to kick the two international groups off campus. California governor Gavin Newsom demanded in a letter this month that university leaders do more to protect students. And the Louis D Brandeis Centre for Human Rights Under Law, a Jewish legal rights advocacy group, filed federal complaints alleging the University of Pennsylvania and Wellesley College failed to keep Jewish students safe. With inputs from AP