‘DEATH TO ISRAEL’: Student groups outraged by death of Hezbollah terrorist leader, say Israel should ‘burn to the ground’
‘[D]eath to israel’ is not just a threat. [I]t is a moral imperative and the only acceptable solution. [M]ay the entire colony burn to the ground for good,’ the post shared by the groups said.
The group also praised deceased terrorist leader Hassan Nasrallah, who headed the terror group Hezbollah, which is responsible for the murder of hundreds of Americans and Jews.
Anti-Israel student groups at the University of Michigan (UMich) and the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) recently shared posts on social media advocating the destruction of Israel and mourning the death of Hezbollah terrorist leader Hassan Nasrallah.
The posts were shared on Instagram by UMich’s chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace and UPenn’s group UP Against the Occupation shortly after the announcement of Nasrallah’s death, according to Haaretz.
“‘[D]eath to israel’ is not just a threat,” the first message stated. “[I]t is a moral imperative and the only acceptable solution. [M]ay the entire colony burn to the ground for good.”
So the P purportedly stands for Peace - and yet @JVPumich is calling for #Israel to be “burned to the ground for good.”
Sure does not sound very peaceful to me.
Does an organization advocating for such overwhelming violence belong at @UMich?
Ya, I’d give that a hard no. https://t.co/FR4XsfOWYk— Brad Pomerance (@bradpomerance) September 29, 2024
The two student groups additionally shared a message that spoke well of Nasrallah, who was killed on Saturday in an Israeli airstrike.
“When a leader departs, another rises,” the message stated. “His soul departed to join his fellow martyrs resisting until the last moment. While we today feel the bitterness of loss, we stand tall in facing this enemy who thought that targeting the leaders would break the will of the resistance and people.”
“On the contrary, the ranks of the resistance in Lebanon and everywhere will increase in insistence on continuing the confrontation with this tyrannical enemy who understands only the language of force,” the message continued.
It concluded: “The blood of these martyrs will form new fuel for the fire of resistance, which will not die down until the liberation of Palestine and all occupied Arab lands.”
The White House called Nasrallah’s death a “measure of justice for his many victims, including thousands of Americans, Israelis, and Lebanese civilians.” The U.S. has considered Hezbollah as a Foreign Terrorist Organization since Oct. 8, 1997.
Hezbollah’s previous crimes include a 1994 terrorist bombing of a Jewish community in Buenos Aires, Argentina, an attack that murdered “85 people and [injured] hundreds more.” Hezbollah also attacked the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, in 1983, killing hundreds of American service members.
Instagram has since deleted both posts for going against community guidelines.
UMich President Santa J. Ono wrote in response to the controversy: “We find the post repugnant and support Instagram’s decision to delete the post.”
“JVP has not been a registered student organization at the University of Michigan since 2016 and has no formal affiliation with the University of Michigan,” the statement continued.
UPenn’s UP Against the Occupation group recently praised anti-Israel protesters who defaced a statue of Benjamin Franklin at the university, throwing red paint at the monument in a condemnation of the school’s ties to Israel.
The group posted pictures of the damage, describing the act of vandalism as a “visual reminder of the over 186,000 martyrs and the university’s complicity in genocide.”
“The University has tried to supress [sic] the student intifada, supressing [sic] Palestinian voices, all in the name of ‘campus safety,’” the group wrote. “There are NO Universities left in Gaza. There are NO first days. The education system of Gaza has been systematically destroyed, and the genocide has only expanded.”
On Tuesday, Iran launched a barrage of missiles at Israel in retaliation for Nasrallah’s death.
Campus Reform has contacted the University of Michigan and the University of Pennsylvania for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
