SJP’s ‘Rage’ Isn’t Working

Last week, the Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) wrapped up their “Week of Rage,” a week-long series of programs intended to intimidate and threaten those unsupportive of their cause. Despite their best efforts, SJP has quite the uphill battle; the student group’s views about Hamas and Israel are simply not in line with the rest of the nation at all. Since their reactivation coincidentally on the very day Hamas committed the greatest act of terror against Jews since the Holocaust, SJP has completely failed to build a coalition around their views and appears to have actually turned off the younger Americans who were initially the most supportive of their dangerous and deranged cause.

In the almost 18 months since over 1,200 Jews were murdered and over 250 hostages were brutally captured by Hamas, data from the March 2025 Harris-CAPS Poll reveals trivially low favorability rates for Hamas among the American electorate. Just 9 percent of American voters hold a “very favorable” or “favorable” view of Hamas. This is not a partisan issue either; only 10 percent of Republicans and Democrats, respectively, hold favorable views of Hamas. Those across the income and educational spectrum also agree; they do not support Hamas.

Weeks after the October 7^th massacre, about 32 percent of 18 to 24-year-olds held a positive view of Hamas. Fast forward to today, and the support among young Americans has diminished to 16 percent. Notably, only 5 percent of those between 45 and 55, and 6 percent of those 55 to 64, hold a favorable view of Hamas. Public support for Hamas has dwindled in just under a year and a half.

In the time since October 7^th, the numerous “rage weeks” and student protests and acts of extreme violence to garner attention have had little impact on public support for the cause of Hamas, despite heavy outside support, counsel, and coordinated social media work. From Barnard and Columbia to Northwestern and UC Berkeley, these SJP groups have had strongly coordinated and seemingly unending messaging on social platforms, along with endless protests and demonstrations on campuses that sent out constant streams of images and posts of support for Hamas, and calling Israel’s self-defense an act of genocide.

Even with SJP’s impressive coordination, their attempts to show that their repugnant views have widespread support on our college and university campuses has managed to fool very few; Americans see that the SJP messages are disgusting, dangerous, illiberal, anti-American, and anti-Semitic and these efforts are not creating much positive feelings or care for Hamas among younger Americans or Americans collectively whatsoever.

It is in keeping then that Americans overwhelmingly support Israel over Hamas by a ratio of 77 percent to 23 percent. While progressive Democrats gain attention in the press and on social media, that is a misrepresentation of the Democratic party, where a majority of Democrats stand – 72 percent – still support Israel over Hamas. Eighty-three percent of Republicans and 77 percent of Independents support Israel over Hamas as well. Even younger Americans – those whom campus protestors typically reach out to through their social media channels – do not support Hamas over Israel. A majority of 18 to 24-year-olds (52 percent) and 25 to 34-year-olds (65 percent) now support Israel over Hamas, and the number climbs to over 9 in 10 among those over 65 years old.

It is also the case that Americans want the hostages who are in captivity and being tortured released – a fact that is routinely ignored by protestors who support Hamas and continuously paint Israel as a genocidal, colonial aggressor. About 80 percent of Americans support Hamas releasing all remaining hostages without any conditions or face serious consequences, with 78 percent of Democrats and 87 percent of Republicans agreeing. Again, majorities of all age groups support this statement, with 65 percent of 18 to 24-year-olds and 72 percent of 25 to 34-year-olds in agreement, and the number climbs with age.

While it is true that the “Justice for Palestine” allied coalition of groups has been unsuccessful in swaying public opinion in the United States toward their deeply unbalanced view of Israel and Zionism, this does not mean that the deep anti-Semitism on campus and the dangers it poses to Jewish and Zionist students, faculty, and community members is trivial.

From repeated violence and trespass to preventing Jewish and Zionist students from partaking in regular collegiate life, these groups create trouble and need to be held accountable for their unethical and often illegal behavior. When it comes to changing hearts and minds, college education has failed these SJP-aligned groups and their student members; none of them have learned anything about civility, debate, and persuasion based on ideas. Instead, SJP members think that threats, screaming at and harassing others, and playing the victim card will move policy and promote action, and it has now done just that with increased scrutiny of higher education now from Congress and the White House, which is changing the tune and behavior of many schools nationwide. But SJC has been utterly unsuccessful in having any real impact in changing public opinion in support of their views.