This story was originally published by Real Clear Wire
By David Fridovich & Kim Cole, Jacob Olidort
Real Clear Wire
Although colleges are closed for the summer, anti-Israel protesters continue to provide fodder for terrorist groups and leaders, including Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei who praised the protesters as a “branch of the Resistance Front” that is “on the right side of history.”
The encampment – which spread to more than 40 campuses in less than a week at the end of April and aims to remove US universities from Israel – has been a key propaganda tool for the global jihadist radicalization campaign since it emerged.
In early May, UK-based al-Qaeda preacher Hani al-Siba’i hailed the university protests as a “university intifada” – referring to the wave of Palestinian terrorists in the late 1990s and early 2000s – and called on followers to support their efforts against the United States. The state, which he described as “based on terrorism” and “founded on murder and blood.”
Hezbollah’s deputy head Naim Qassam also praised the protesters in an interview earlier in May, noting not only how they helped change US policy but could aid terrorist recruitment. “The Israelis and the Americans will find that with this type of aggression, they have laid the foundation for the continued resistance of children and fetuses at an earlier age than the age fighters were capable of in the past,” he said. “He will have an impact on the American position,” he said, “Even if Biden says he will not be affected by this, he will like it or not.”
Terror sympathizers and supporters of the Iranian regime on social media have seized on footage of protesters’ responses as evidence of the United States’ oppression of Muslims. Among the graphics circulating on this social media platform is one that says it all. It features Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Houthi chief Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and the Qassam Brigades and Quds Force fighters, against a red and green background – the colors of the Palestinian flag – with words. “The Good Guys Win.”
All of this shows that what is happening on college campuses is far from a campus security issue, but homeland security and foreign policy that the United States must implement and respond to.
Indeed, these terrorist groups have exploited the war in Gaza as a way to plan their next attack.
In early March, the Intelligence Community released its Annual Threat Assessment. In his opening testimony to Congress, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines warned that “the Gaza conflict is likely to have a generational impact on terrorism. Al-Qa’ida and ISIS, inspired by HAMAS (sic), have directed their supporters to carry out attacks against Israeli interests and ACE.
After the ISIS attack on a concert hall in Moscow earlier that month, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Christopher Wray noted that the potential for a “coordinated attack in the homeland” similar to the one in Moscow, “is very concerning now. .”
What should the United States do?
Einstein is credited with saying “if I have an hour to solve a problem, I spend the first 55 minutes thinking about the problem and the next five minutes thinking about the solution.”
How the leaders of the United States describe what is happening on campus is the key to the solution. That means President Biden is right, but not completely, to condemn the rise of antisemitism on campus, as he did in early May. However, they must point out that terrorists want to exploit this rhetoric to harm the American people and that what we see on campus is the product of planning by organizations with ties to terrorist groups rather than student expression of their first amendment rights.
Second, the United States should highlight the consequences of such actions, that rhetoric that promotes violence – any violence, but certainly directed at racial and ethnic categories, including antisemitic rhetoric – should lead to disciplinary action by the university. To date, many have been arrested for trespassing, assault, or property damage.
Finally, the United States must combine this response with a coherent and constructive foreign policy toward Israel, which is the main foil for these campus agitators. Whatever the waffling, in either rhetoric or action, the administration has completed in the new day in terms of support for Israel, there is clearly a new urgency to demonstrate “no cloud” with Israel – the theme of the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA). ) has advanced in recent years – because immediate US homeland security risks will not be tolerated.
That message must be reflected in our foreign policy when it comes to making it clear that Israel must deal with Hamas – the group that held six Americans hostage – and that the Rafah operation is essential to that end.
Supporters of Hamas’ actions – whether their camps are on US campuses or in the Syrian desert – should hear the same message of “don’t” from October 8.Th version of President Biden.
Lieutenant General David Fridovich(US Army, ret.) is the former Deputy Commander, US Special Forces Command (USSOCOM) and a 2013 JINSA participant in the Generals & Admirals trip to Israel. Sheriff Kim Cole is the sheriff of Mason County, Michigan, and is a 2024 participant in the JINSA Homeland Security Program trip to Israel. Dr. Jacob Olidort is the former Research Director of JINSA’s Gemunder Center for Defense & Strategy.
This article was originally published by RealClearDefense and is available via RealClearWire.
