By: Fern Sidman

A chilling new report has concluded that segments of America’s campus protest movement have evolved from vocal political advocacy into something far darker: an online courier service for terrorist propaganda. According to the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism, anti-Israel activists at colleges across the United States are now routinely disseminating official material produced by Hamas and other jihadist organizations—content that explicitly glorifies violence and, in some cases, openly calls for attacks on Jews.

The findings, which have already triggered alarm among Jewish organizations and security analysts, were outlined in a detailed study released this week and exclusively reported on Tuesday by The New York Post. The report, titled “Digital Couriers: How U.S. Anti-Israel Activists Amplify Terror Propaganda on Mainstream Platforms,” paints a disturbing portrait of a protest culture that has crossed the line from ideological opposition to Israel into direct collaboration with entities designated by the U.S. government as terrorist organizations.

“Protesters and activists are not merely praising the activity of terror groups,” the ADL researchers wrote. “They are actively sharing their official propaganda, disseminating communiqués, videos, and other materials directly onto mainstream platforms.”

The New York Post, which has closely covered the rise of radical campus activism since the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel, described the report as one of the most comprehensive examinations yet of how extremist messaging migrates from terrorist channels into the American digital mainstream. What begins on encrypted Telegram feeds or obscure jihadist forums, the ADL found, is rapidly laundered into English and repackaged for Instagram, X, and TikTok—often by college-based groups that present themselves as human-rights advocates.

At the heart of the ADL’s analysis is what it calls a “terror propaganda pipeline.” Hamas and allied groups release official statements, videos, and posters celebrating rocket attacks, suicide bombings, and the murder of Israeli civilians. Those materials are then translated and reposted by intermediary accounts, many of them explicitly pro-Hamas, before being picked up by American activists who circulate them to large domestic audiences.

One such intermediary highlighted in the report is the Telegram channel “Resistance News Network,” an English-language account boasting more than 150,000 subscribers. According to the ADL and the exclusive report by The New York Post, the channel regularly promotes violent content and serves as a hub for pro-terror messaging that is later echoed by student groups and community organizations across the United States.

The consequences of this digital ecosystem are profound. “The distribution of such hate on Telegram and other social-media platforms… shows the increased normalization of rhetoric and messaging from terror organizations that overtly encourage acts of violence against Israel and Jewish people,” the ADL warned.

A new study from the @ADL Center on Extremism highlights how antisemitic activists are pushing propaganda directly from Hamas, inciting violence against Jews.

Students for Justice in Palestine chapters are among those amplifying pro-terrorism propaganda from US-designated terror…

— Israel War Room (@IsraelWarRoom) January 20, 2026

The timing of this surge in online extremism, the report noted, could not be more dangerous. “This shared material, which openly praises violent actions and actors, comes at a time of heightened danger for Jews worldwide with increased incidents of deadly antisemitic attacks,” the researchers said. “American Jews specifically have been navigating an unprecedentedly high threat landscape, marked by record levels of antisemitic incidents across the U.S.”

The New York Post has reported extensively on how anti-Israel demonstrations on elite campuses have increasingly taken on the tone and symbolism of militant movements. The ADL report provides concrete documentation of how that radicalization now plays out online.

Among the most striking examples cited in the study involves the Bronx Anti-War Coalition, a New York-based activist group. In March 2025, the organization reposted a Hamas-produced poster that had been circulated by antisemitic rapper Jonathan Azaziah on the Global Resistance News channel. The accompanying caption declared, “The day Israel is wiped off the face of the planet, we will sing, cheer, rejoice and dance the night away,” and included hashtags such as #LongLiveTheFlood and #WeAreAllHamas.

According to the information provided in The New York Post report, the Bronx Anti-War Coalition shared the message in full, effectively transforming an American activist account into a megaphone for explicit genocidal rhetoric.

The same organization also reshared a post originally published by Hamas’ military wing celebrating a Houthi missile attack on Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport—an assault that injured several civilians. Rather than condemning the violence, the group amplified it as an act of “resistance.”

Such incidents are not isolated. The ADL report catalogs a pattern of similar behavior at institutions from coast to coast.

At Barnard College in Manhattan, protesters distributed an English-language document produced by Hamas’ own “media office” that sought to justify the atrocities of October 7, according to earlier reporting by The New York Post. Rather than treating the material as extremist propaganda, activists handed it out as though it were a legitimate political analysis.

In July 2024, the Students for Justice in Palestine chapter at John Jay College—part of the City University of New York system—shared a graphic from Hamas’ Al-Qassam Brigades on Instagram. The message, written in Arabic, translated to: “We are coming like thunder, making a time of glory.” The chapter, which has nearly 1,000 followers, offered no disclaimer or context, effectively promoting the imagery of an armed terrorist faction.

At the University of Illinois, a campus group posted a video appearing to show a Hamas terrorist filming himself inside an Israeli family’s home during the October 7 massacre. The caption read, “Under the feet of the Mujahideen, on this day,” a phrase that the ADL interpreted as glorifying jihadist violence.

Perhaps most chillingly, on the first anniversary of the October 7 attacks, the Students for Justice in Palestine chapter at the University of California, Davis shared a quote from Abu Obaida, the now-deceased Hamas spokesman. The post hailed the massacre as “the most successful and professional commando operation of the modern era.”

For many Jewish students and families, the normalization of such rhetoric has created an atmosphere of fear and alienation on campuses that once prided themselves on inclusivity.

The New York Post has chronicled numerous incidents in which Jewish students reported being harassed, excluded from clubs, or intimidated by peers who openly celebrated Hamas violence. The ADL study suggests that these real-world tensions are fueled in part by an online culture that treats terrorist messaging as legitimate political expression.

Legal experts quoted by The New York Post have warned that the line between protected speech and material support for terrorism is becoming increasingly blurred. While criticizing Israeli policy is constitutionally protected, distributing official propaganda from a designated terrorist organization may violate federal law—especially when it encourages violence.

The ADL called on social-media companies to enforce their own rules more aggressively. Most major platforms formally prohibit content produced by terrorist groups, yet enforcement has been inconsistent at best.

“To disrupt the terror propaganda pipeline, social-media companies must rigorously enforce their existing policies,” the report urged.

The organization also called on Congress to pass the Stopping Terrorists Online Presence and Holding Accountable Tech Entities Act, legislation that would require technology firms to take more proactive steps to remove extremist content.

Perhaps the most pointed criticism in the report was directed at college administrators, many of whom have been reluctant to discipline student organizations even when they flirt with overt extremism.

The ADL urged universities to enforce their own codes of conduct and make clear that distributing terrorist propaganda is not a form of protected activism.

“College officials must enforce campus rules for registered student organizations and faculty groups and clearly spell out when conduct, including distributing terror propaganda, violates campus policies and or state and federal law,” the report stated.

The New York Post has reported that some institutions have begun taking tentative steps in that direction, suspending chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine or investigating faculty who endorse violent rhetoric. But the ADL argued that such measures remain far too rare.

Beyond the legal and institutional questions lies a deeper societal challenge: how to confront a movement that has learned to cloak extremist ideology in the language of social justice.

The ADL warned that ordinary Americans must become more vigilant about the content they consume and share. “It is incumbent upon the general public to engage in due diligence when consuming and sharing content online and associating with activist groups and individuals,” the organization said.

As The New York Post observed, the report amounts to a wake-up call about the evolving nature of antisemitism in the digital age. What once required underground networks and clandestine meetings can now be spread with a few taps on a smartphone—often under the banner of progressive activism.

For Jewish communities already on edge, the implications are sobering. The normalization of Hamas propaganda on American campuses suggests that the battle against antisemitism is no longer confined to the margins of society. It is unfolding in lecture halls, student unions, and online spaces frequented by millions.

And as the ADL study makes clear, the stakes could not be higher. When chants of “resistance” begin to mirror the language of terror organizations, the distance between rhetoric and real-world violence grows perilously thin.