Video by Palestinian Group at George Mason Stirs Discord

A pro-Palestinian student group at George Mason University posted a terrorist-style recruitment video online shortly after being reinstated following a suspension last year.

The video, posted on the Instagram page of the Students for Justice in Palestine chapter at George Mason, was released Aug. 24, the night before the fall semester began. It has since been deleted. The clip showed a speaker using a voice modifier and wearing a keffiyeh that concealed everything but their eyes.

"The spirit of resistance will not be quenched until we see full liberation of Palestine from the river to the sea," the speaker vowed, according to the Washington Free Beacon, calling on students to join their cause. "We have a moral obligation to carry on the legacy of our noble people, our steadfast prisoners and our honorable martyrs."

The phrase "from the river to the sea" is regarded by some as a call to eliminate Israel. The Free Beacon reported a song accompanying the video praised Mohammed Deif, the head of Hamas' military wing who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in the southern Gaza Strip on July 13, 2024.

The speaker referred to the U.S. as the "belly of the beast" and "occupied Turtle Island," an indigenous term for North America. The person accused academic institutions, including George Mason, of "serving the U.S. war machine" and repressing pro-Palestinian student activism.

Following Iranian-backed Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack in southern Israel and Israel's military response in Gaza, nearly 20 law professors asked George Mason President Gregory Washington to denounce antisemitism, the Free Beacon reported. At the time, anti-Israel activism was gaining traction on the Fairfax, Virginia, campus, about 20 miles west of Washington, D.C. Washington declined the request.

The release of the video came at a sensitive time for George Mason, which is under investigation by the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights over allegations that Jewish students and faculty have faced a hostile environment on campus. The Civil Rights division also ruled Friday that the university violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, citing its use of race in hiring and promotion decisions under its diversity, equity, and inclusion policies.

The university suspended the SJP chapter in November 2024 after police found weapons and terrorist group flags at the home of two student members, sisters Jena and Noor Chanaa, Jewish News Syndicate reported. The search of their family home on Nov. 7, 2024, followed an investigation into an Aug. 28, 2024, vandalism incident. The sisters were suspected of leading a group of radicals who defaced Wilkins Plaza outside the student center with spray-painted messages warning of an impending "student intifada."

In addition to suspending the SJP chapter, the university issued a trespass order barring the Chanaa sisters from campus for four years. The suspension terms allowed SJP to re-register as a student organization for the fall 2025 semester.

Newsmax reached out to George Mason for comment, but university spokesman John Hollis told the Free Beacon the university was aware of the video and referred it to Republican Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares. Hollis also said school officials will meet with the SJP chapter to deter violations of school policy.

Newsmax also reached out to the Department of Education and Miyares' office for comment.

SJP has been sanctioned by several universities over its anti-Israel activities, Israel National News reported. In May, George Washington University barred SJP from campus activities through at least May 18, 2026. In November 2023, Columbia University suspended SJP and Jewish Voice for Peace, citing "repeatedly violated University policies related to holding campus events" by the two groups. Previously, Brandeis University announced it is revoking recognition of the campus chapter of SJP, saying the group "openly supports Hamas."

Last year, the University of Maryland revoked a permit it had given to SJP to hold an anti-Israel vigil on the anniversary of Hamas' terrorist attack. SJP filed a federal lawsuit against the school. More recently, Adelphi University in Garden City, New York, placed its SJP chapter on disciplinary probation for one year, following concerns that social media posts from the group created a hostile environment for Jewish students.