A prominent local grassroots activist group, the Colorado Palestine Coalition is a collection of left-wing organizations joined together in support of Hamas. The Coalition has a history of shutting down the streets of Denver and obstructing traffic while yelling incendiary phrases like “down with occupation!” in reference to Israel and “free Palestine!”
A consortium of left-wing advocacy groups, Ready to Escalate Network exists to organize pro-Hamas encampment protests and move them beyond college campuses. Their website is “a clearing house for reports and reflections from encampments and beyond, a place to share resources produced by and for the unfolding movement.” They also state their goal is use the pro-Palestine movement as a tool to “paralyze the economy” of America. Ready to escalate asserts that there is no such thing as a “safe protest” and that the “genocide unfolding in occupied Palestine must be stopped by any means necessary.”
A grassroots activist group favoring pro-Palestinian causes, Within Our Lifetime (WOL) is accused of sympathizing with Hamas terrorists and being a primary organizer of pro-Hamas protests in New York City following the October 7 terrorist attack in Israel that left more than 1,200 civilians dead. The group has allegedly promoted calls for violence against Israel and its citizens. Another stated goal of WOL is to “globalize the intifada.” In April 2024 Within Our Lifetime posted a video of one of their members, Harvard student Abdullah Akl, chanting “Strike, strike, Tel Aviv. Abu Obeida, our beloved.” They took down the video soon afterward.
Known as a voice in discussions around Islam in the United States, the Yaqeen Institute is a Texas-based think tank specializing in religious apologism for the Muslim faith. Immediately following the October 7 terrorist attack on Israel which left more than 1,200 civilians dead, Yaqeen Institute president Omar Suleiman wrote an article in which he defended Hamas’s behavior as a consequence of “the current escalation of Israeli aggression and Palestinian resistance.” The Research Director of Islam and Society at the Yaqeen Institute, Imam Tom Facchine, proclaimed unequivocal support for the terror attacks, stating “We are with the Palestinian resistance 100%, no ifs, no ands, no buts, no equivocations, no apologies, no condemnations.”
A special interest organization purportedly founded to promote Islamic jurisprudence, the Assembly of Muslim Jurists of America (AMJA) claims to “lead the Muslim community into a better understanding of the practice of the religion of Islam in Western societies.” The organization refuses to condemn Hamas. In 2009, AMJA issued a fatwa which urged the reader not to criticize Hamas, saying it “is not the time to discuss the errors of Hamas or any other Palestinian groups.” AMJA member Waleed Basyouni taught that Hamas is not a terrorist group.
The Research Director of Islam and Society at the Yaqeen Institute and an active writer within Islamic circles within the United States, in an interview conducted three days after the October 7 Hamas attack that left more than 1,200 Israeli civilians dead, Facchine proclaimed unequivocal support for the terrorist assault, stating, “We are with the Palestinian resistance 100%, no ifs no ands, no buts, no equivocations, no apologies, no condemnations.”
An offshoot of the Southeast Asian Islamist group Jamaat-e-Islami, the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) has been described by the Investigative Project on Terrorism as an “ideological cousin” of the Muslim Brotherhood. Following the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack that left more than 1,200 Israeli civilians dead, ICNA blamed Israel for the violence while omitting mention of Hamas entirely. In 2010, ICNA published a handbook that quotes the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood and endorses violent jihad against so-called “occupiers” of Muslim land, as well as the institution of Sharia law. The handbook has since been removed from ICNA’s website.
A prominent pro-Hamas advocacy group, Abdalah Justice Project (AJP) has elicited controversy for its extremist positions. Following the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack that left more than 1,200 Israeli civilians dead, AJP posted an image of a bulldozer breaking through the border fence with the caption “No cage goes unchallenged.” AJP executive director Sandra Tamari supported the October 7 attacks on the grounds that it demonstrated “the oppressed rising up.”
A known Islamic apologist group, the Alasna Institute purports to be an academic resource for Muslim research with the goal of providing Muslims “exactly the information and skills they need to be empowered in their faith and dawah.” Following the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack that left more than 1,200 Israeli civilians dead, Alasna Institute founder Daniel Haqiqatiou wrote, “The recent actions by Hamas are not acts of terrorism; they are acts of resistance.”
The executive director of the Adalah Justice Project, Tamari described the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack that killed more than 1,200 Israeli civilians as an example of “the oppressed rising up,” and said that that “Hamas’s attack was resistance to an intolerable situation that has been taking place in the Gaza Strip.”
