Suspended pro-Hamas student group holds ‘teach in’ to educate UW students on ‘scientific necessity’ of violence in activism

The teach-in featured a sympathetic profiling of three armed groups central to the Palestinian resistance: the Al-Qassam Brigades (Hamas’ armed wing), the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades (PFLP’s military wing), and Saraya al-Quds (Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s armed wing). SUPER UW portrayed these groups not as extremists but as diverse actors united in “the fight for Palestinian liberation through armed resistance.”

Rather than condemning these groups for decades of terrorism—including suicide bombings, rocket attacks on civilians, and hostage-taking—SUPER UW portrayed them as freedom fighters “united in the fight for Palestinian liberation through armed resistance.”

Each group’s ideological differences were downplayed, with the speaker emphasizing their unity in armed struggle and opposition to Israel. Israel’s depiction of them as monolithic terrorists was dismissed as “dehumanization,” despite their documented civilian targeting and designation as terrorist organizations by the US, EU, and others.

• Hamas’s Al-Qassam Brigades were celebrated as “the elected government of Gaza,” with a platform based on Islamic resistance, rejection of any two-state solution, and normalized armed conflict.
• The PFLP’s Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades were praised for their Marxist-Leninist roots and anti-capitalist stance, again linked explicitly to violent revolution.
• Saraya al-Quds was positioned as Iran-aligned and committed exclusively to military resistance, unconcerned with governance or diplomacy.

The teach-in’s agenda was steeped in violent rhetoric, with a session titled “Armed Resistance as a Scientific Necessity.” SUPER UW celebrated the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack—referred to as the “Al-Aqsa Flood”—as a “day of decolonization and liberation” and a “fundamental turning point within the world’s history.”

Brandy Shufutinsky, Director of Education and National Security at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, attended the teach-in to document and expose its contents. Speaking on The Ari Hoffman Show on Talk Radio 570 KVI, Shufutinsky said: “They were pretty explicit in their support and what it means to escalate."

"They were justifying armed struggle, saying it was a necessity, and expressing support for the Al-Aqsa Flood, which is what Hamas and other terrorist groups called the October 7 massacre in Israel. They even presented a diagram of the scientific method and relabeled it to justify armed resistance as the ‘scientific method to throw off oppression.’”

Shufutinsky noted that SUPER UW framed violence as empirical and inevitable, claiming that history proves all successful liberation movements relied on armed resistance. The group argued that nonviolent resistance results in “capitulation” and “concession,” citing revolutions in Vietnam, Cuba, and Zimbabwe as proof points. The event, she said, “was one of the worst instances I’ve seen of explicit support for terrorism on a US college campus.”

The speaker described the slaughter, which left over 1,200 Israelis dead, in reverent detail, declaring: “On that day, we saw Palestinians walking onto their land, some for the first time in decades, with the mythical Zionist entity burning.”

Citing Frantz Fanon and Fidel Castro, they asserted that violence is not just justified, but required. “Revolutionaries didn’t choose armed struggle as the best path,” they said. “It’s the path that oppressors imposed on the people.”

SUPER UW attempted to redefine Israeli civilians as legitimate targets. “Settlers,” they claimed, “do not play the typical role of civilians,” because their lives are “dependent on the subjugation and killing of the native.”

Empathy for Israeli civilian deaths was actively discouraged. One speaker even minimized the 36 children killed on October 7, falsely asserting there’s “no evidence whatsoever” that militants targeted them, ignoring widely documented atrocities including the abduction of the Bibas children and verified execution-style killings. Instead, the speaker falsely accused Israel of the killings.

One particularly vile moment came during a scripted reading aimed at Israelis: “Oh fighters, the house is yours and under your command... As for you, the children of pigs, you will have only death, and your demise is just around the corner.” Audience members clapped in agreement.

SUPER UW did not attempt to distance itself from Hamas. Speakers lauded its leaders, quoting political chief Yahya Sinwar and military commander Mohammed Deif in glowing terms. Sinwar was framed as a reluctant warrior forced into violence, while Deif was portrayed as a poetic visionary defending Gaza.

The group explicitly rejected a two-state solution, calling it “permanent colonization” and instead advocating for a “unified people and their revolutionary armed forces.” They quoted former Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh calling for the liberation of all of “our land, our holy sites,” through bloodshed and fire.

SUPER UW’s presentation falsely claimed Israel fabricated reports of Oct. 7 atrocities—including beheaded babies and mass rape—to dehumanize Palestinians. This directly contradicts video live-streamed by Hamas, international investigations, and survivor accounts.

The group also attempted to foster solidarity between domestic radicals like Antifa and foreign terror groups, to gain sympathy with the far-left radicals. Even the label “terrorist” was dismissed as US “imperialism,” with the speaker accusing the US of listing groups like Hamas and Hezbollah simply because they oppose Western hegemony.

The teach-in concluded by glorifying the Iran-backed “Axis of Resistance”—a coalition that includes Iran, Hezbollah, and the Houthis. Iran’s material support for Hamas was lauded, with the speaker drawing a line from the 1979 Islamic Revolution to Hamas’s October 7 attack. The Houthis were praised for their Red Sea attacks, which “threw a wrench in international capitalism.” Hezbollah’s war in 2006 was called a “victory” that “shattered Zionist plans for Greater Israel.”

Charlotte Kates, infamous for shouting “Long live October 7th” at Columbia University, closed the event by declaring: “Yes, with their guns, with their missiles, and with their rockets… October 7th changed the world.” The attendees responded with cheers.