Rashid Khalidi has spent decades abusing his academic authority to justify terrorism, glorify antisemitic violence, and promote the dismantling of zionism. A longtime figure at Columbia University, Khalidi has actively supported pro-Hamas campus activism, whitewashed terror attacks, and encouraged students to risk arrest and expulsion in the name of extremism. He has defended suicide bombers as “resistance fighters,” denied the horror of Hamas’s October 7 massacre, and spread conspiracies alleging Zionist control over American media and policy. Khalidi is not a neutral academic—he is a lifelong ideologue who legitimizes terrorism, promotes antisemitic rhetoric, and influences the next generation through an unapologetically radical lens.
Defending Terrorism and Glorifying Hamas Violence
Khalidi’s recent behavior during Columbia’s 2024 pro-Hamas encampments makes clear his full embrace of violent resistance. On May 2, 2024, he addressed protestors at the encampment and encouraged them to risk “suspension, expulsion, criminal arrest”—endorsing actions that ultimately included the armed takeover of Hamilton Hall and the taking of campus workers hostage.
In the same speech, he referred to Israel’s war against Hamas as “genocide carried out with American money” and accused the university administration of complicity:
“Shame on the administration of this university! They will go down in infamy…”
Following the October 7, 2023 Hamas terrorist attacks, Khalidi refused to condemn the massacre. Instead, in multiple interviews he implied justification:
“Violence is bred by occupation. Anybody who doesn’t understand that doesn’t understand anything.” (October 18, 2023 – Amanpour & Co.)
“If you can’t go to the ICC or do a BDS… then you pick up a gun…” (October 20, 2023 – El Pais)
His message is clear: when peaceful avenues fail, terror is acceptable.
Longstanding Ties to the PLO and Terrorist Movements
Khalidi has been repeatedly tied to the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)—a group responsible for decades of terrorism, including the 1972 Munich Massacre. Though he denies being a formal spokesperson, he admitted to being “deeply involved in politics in Beirut” in the 1970s. Multiple outlets, including the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, and Washington Times, have reported that Khalidi worked with the PLO, directed its press agency (WAFA), and defended terror under the guise of resistance.
In a 2005 quote to The New York Times, Khalidi declared:
“Under international law, resistance to occupation is legitimate.”
At a 2002 speech, he explicitly drew a line between civilian targets and what he called legitimate violence:
“The ones who are armed, the ones who are soldiers, the ones who are in occupation—that’s different. That’s resistance.”
These statements reflect a consistent record of justifying terror against Israelis, including attacks carried out during the Second Intifada, which involved over 130 suicide bombings and the deaths of more than 1,000 Israeli civilians.
Spreading Antisemitism and Demonizing Zionism
Khalidi’s antisemitic rhetoric has been central to his academic and political messaging:
- He has claimed “Zionists police the American media”, echoing the dangerous conspiracy that Jews control the press.
- On December 20, 2023, he labeled Zionism a “settler-colonial project” and accused Israeli Jews of maintaining “supremacy” at the expense of Palestinians.
- In November 2023, he defended the chant “From the River to the Sea”—a slogan widely understood as a call to eliminate Israel.
- On January 17, 2017, he claimed “a group of people… in Israel and some of them in the United States… [are] going to infest our government.”
Such rhetoric is not political critique—it is textbook antisemitism, couched in academic respectability.
Promoting BDS and Antisemitic Campus Movements
Khalidi is a vocal supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement. In March 2016, he signed a petition alongside 40 Columbia faculty members backing BDS and the now-banned student group Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP)—a group that publicly supported Hamas’s October 7 attacks.
He has actively supported Israel Apartheid Week and organizations like Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), aligning himself with those who seek to dismantle Israel through economic and cultural warfare.
Khalidi also holds senior leadership roles in radical academic institutions, including:
- Editor, Journal of Palestine Studies
- Co-Director, Columbia’s Center for Palestine Studies
- Senior Academic Advisor, Cambridge Centre for Palestine Studies
These platforms have become vehicles for his relentless campaign to delegitimize the Jewish state and normalize anti-Israel extremism in academic settings.
Rashid Khalidi has spent his career transforming Columbia University into a hub for anti-Israel propaganda and campus radicalism. From the PLO to pro-Hamas encampments, his pattern is consistent: justify violence, demonize Jews, and frame terror as liberation.
Through his speeches, articles, and institutional roles, Khalidi continues to embolden extremism, intimidate Jewish students, and betray the values of intellectual inquiry and academic integrity. His continued platform at Columbia is not only a stain on the university’s reputation—it is a direct threat to campus safety.