ADVERTISEMENT

Hamas Holds Military Rally at Al Quds University

Palestinian school partners with U.S. institutions

Hamas protest at Al Quds University / Source: Facebook
March 25, 2014

Militant Hamas members held yet another pro-terror rally on the campus of Al Quds University, a Palestinian school that has come under fire in the past for allowing terror groups to hold anti-Israel demonstrations on its campus.

Scores of masked Hamas activists were captured on film parading on the university’s campus carrying mock missiles and other propaganda associated with the terror group, according to photos first published by reporter Tom Gross.

Al Quds, which reportedly receives funding from liberal billionaire George Soros, has found itself in hot water before for hosting terrorist entities on its campus, which is located in Palestinian-controlled territory near Israel.

A similar demonstration by Islamic Jihad late last year on the school’s campus garnered national headlines and condemnation. The backlash over the event led Brandeis University, one of Al Quds’ closest partners, to sever its ties with the institution after it insufficiently responded to the event.

The latest Hamas demonstration occurred on Sunday and featured scores of masked men and women in hijabs marching across the campus with jihadist propaganda and fake rockets similar in design to those used to attack Israel, according to Gross’s photos.

The ongoing terrorist demonstrations could prove problematic for the many Western organizations that fund and partner with Al Quds.

"I think we need to ask ourselves the general question as to why Western universities—and also Western government agencies and programs—are funding Palestinian—or indeed any other—universities without making clear that they should not allow the promotion of violence or terrorism among students," Gross told the Washington Free Beacon.

Gross noted in his original dispatch on the demonstration that Al Quds has claimed that the school does not sanction the rallies.

"The Al Quds university authorities have consistently misled everyone (and some gullible journalists have repeated their assertions without question) that last November’s Fascist-style rally on the university campus (organized with the full cooperation of the university authorities) was a one off-event, when in fact there were several such rallies last year," he wrote.

Moderate Palestinian students on the campus told Gross that they are outraged by what is taking place.

"Palestinian students at the university whom I spoke to yesterday, who say they are sick and tired of the university authorities allowing terrorist groups to hold military parades around campus, tell me the rally lasted for about two hours and involved hundreds of students," Gross reported.

One of Soros’s assistants told Gross that the billionaire "has already threatened to cut his funding" for Al Quds in reaction to the event.

The Hamas demonstration comes at a sensitive time for the region. The peace process led by Secretary of State John Kerry is believed to have collapsed under the weight of Palestinian rejection and demands that Israel release more imprisoned terrorists.

Hamas-aligned terror groups fired scores of rockets into Israel earlier this month, prompting a fierce response from the Israeli military.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was in Washington, D.C., last week to meet with President Barack Obama, who claimed Abbas has "consistently renounced violence."

Abbas demanded during a press conference with Obama at the White House that Israel release more imprisoned terrorists before he considers rejoining the American-led peace process.

Al Quds University did not immediately respond to a request for comment.