A Catholic university just granted two awards to a radical student group that praised terrorists and jihad on Israel, while promoting false and anti-Semitic propaganda against Israel.
Saint Xavier University (SXU) in Chicago, one of the favorite cities for violent leftist protests, announced its “2024 Scarlet and Gray Awards” on June 5, which included two awards to the university chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP). Only a few days after the Oct. 7 atrocities, SJP had called for “support” for what it termed a “resistance movement,” which would appear to be a direct endorsement of terrorism. Not only that, SJP advertised a literal Islamic terrorist group and held a “vigil” to honor the “martyrs” — i.e., terrorists killed in Israeli airstrikes.
The university claimed that SJP had made “outstanding contributions” to the institution’s community, a stunning assertion in light of SJP’s support for terrorism and genocide of Jews. “The RSO Program of the Year Award is based on the RSO's mission, how it incorporates the core values of SXU, and how the program makes outstanding contributions to the University community,” Saint Xavier University declared. “Award Winners: Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Muslim Students Association (MSA).” Notice they are both Muslim organizations.
But that wasn’t SJP’s only award. “The RSO of the Year Award is presented to an RSO who has made an outstanding contribution to overall campus life, with evidence of successful programming, successful membership development, responsible and creative use of resources, and best campus presence,” SXU said. And yes, the “Award Winner [is] Students for Justice in Palestine.” How absolutely disgusting that an American university, which claims to be Catholic, would give two awards to such an openly pro-jihad group!
Related: UN Blacklists IDF, Ignores Own Agency’s Terrorism
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) has been designated as a terrorist group by the U.S. State Department for decades, but SJP at Saint Xavier University has a Tumblr page that prominently features a poster celebrating PFLP’s founding and bloody work. “The Revolution Continues for the Liberation of Man and Land,” the poster reads. SJP has also chanted genocidal slogans like “from the river to the sea,” a jihadi slogan that expresses Arab determination to wipe Israel off the map. Campus Reform explained:
In January, Saint Xavier Students for Justice in Palestine hosted “Resistance Week,” and wrote in an Instagram post that “Resistance is justified when people are occupied.”
During a November protest, the Students for Justice chapter hosted a protest where chants of “Resistance is justified when people are occupied,” “Palestine is our demand, no peace on stolen land,” “There is only one solution intifada revolution,” and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”
The report from SXU Student Media on a November 2023 vigil at the university reveals just how SJP is only promoting terrorist propaganda to target Israel. For instance, SJP put out candles in honor of the reported 11,000 Gazans killed by Israeli airstrikes. Firstly, SJP called all the Gazans “martyrs” without distinguishing between jihadis and “civilians” or noting that Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will even endanger its own men rather than hit any but military targets if at all possible. Secondly, all such alleged casualty numbers are completely unreliable, as they are issued by Hamas!
At the SXU event, SJP president Jena Kanaan gave a speech chock-full of propaganda that would make Hamas proud. She babbled that the opportunity to mourn the “martyrs” — i.e., Gazan terrorists — is a “privilege,” claiming Israeli “genocide” leaves Palestinians with no time to mourn their dead. “Each of these candles today represents [34] lives. Each candle represents [34] beautiful faces, with beautiful stories, and beautiful aspirations,” Kanaan blathered. The only “aspirations” of most Gazans, children and adults alike, are to kill Jews, based on poll data and video evidence.
SJP’s mention of “upholding [Palestinian] culture” is ironic since there has never been a Palestinian nation and a conglomeration of Arabs only started calling themselves the “Palestinian people” in the 1960s. Nearly three-fourths of Palestinians still support Hamas and the Oct. 7 atrocities. And, of course, there is no Israeli colonizing, as SJP likewise alleged, since ancient Israel existed centuries before Islam was even invented and modern Israel’s rebirth was exceptionally legal and legitimate. Kanaan and SJP are full of garbage.
Where is the mass outrage over Hamas raping, torturing, kidnapping, and murdering over a thousand Israelis on Oct. 7? Where are the vigils on college campi for the victims of Oct. 7, the IDF soldiers killed since then, or the 120 hostages still in Hamas captivity? SXU’s SJP is nothing but a mouthpiece for promoting genocidal Islamic terrorism, and it is unspeakably shameful that SXU rewarded SJP for its condemnable actions.
