Hamas Tote-Bags on the Main Green
Victoria Zang
On May 13, students representing the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) at Brown were seen on the main green carrying tote bags sporting an upside-down red triangle — a symbol recently used by the al-Qassam Brigades of Hamas to mark civilians for attack — and the phrase “Within Our Lifetime.” In addition to these hateful symbols, the totes also displayed a map of Israel fully shaded in as “Palestine.” Taken together, these symbols do not advocate for coexistence. They call for the erasure of the Jewish state.
The inverted red triangle is not merely abstract; since October 7, 2023, when Hamas murdered over 1,200 innocent civilians and kidnapped a further 251, it has been used in terrorist propaganda videos to mark Israeli homes and civilians as targets. Due to its connotations as a hate symbol, the governments of countries like Germany have banned the inverted red triangle in protests. The phrase “Within Our Lifetime” takes this one step further: it implies urgency, not for a peaceful resolution or coexistence, but for the destruction of the Jewish state under this generation’s watch.
After making Jewish students on campus feel threatened, Brown DPS was notified and asked the PSL students to leave the main green. These same students later took to social media to express outrage at the campus police for removing them from the green in response to their threatening display.
I implore everyone to reflect honestly on the following hypothetical: what if a group of students were carrying tote bags with a map of the U.S. erased and overlaid with ISIS insignia and the phrase “Within Our Lifetime”? Would anyone dismiss that as harmless activism, or would it be immediately recognized as a threatening glorification of terrorism?
Why, then, is Hamas treated differently? Hamas, like ISIS, is a U.S. designated terrorist organization that has openly called for the extermination of an entire people and has carried out countless attacks on civilians. Promoting their cause should not be normalized under the guise of political speech. It is a direct threat to the safety and dignity of students with deep, personal ties to Israel and the Jewish people.
This double standard is exhausting. When Jewish students say we feel unsafe, we are often accused of overreacting or silencing dissent. This is not about dissent: it’s about the line between political protest and targeted intimidation. Brown’s conduct policies affirm that “expression that is dehumanizing, degrading, or grossly offensive on the basis of religion” will not be tolerated. Where is that principle now?
On May 15, Brown publicly acknowledged that a swastika had been carved into a dormitory door on the Pembroke campus. The swastika was swiftly removed, and an investigation was launched. In the university’s own words, this act of antisemitic hate was “deeply troubling” and “antithetical to the University’s mission, values, Code of Conduct, and community expectations.” That statement matters as it shows that Brown can take action when the line between free speech and harassment is crossed.
What happens when we fail to draw that line? What happens when we allow hate symbols to go unchecked, when we brush off incitement as speech, and when we ignore the chilling implications of glorifying groups like Hamas?
Unfortunately, the result is often violence. Just eight days after seeing the tote bags on campus, Elias Rodriguez — also a member of PSL — opened fire outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., murdering two innocent civilians, Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim.
Rodriguez, shouting “free, free palestine,” targeted Lischinsky and Milgrim as they left a peace-focused event. He fired 21 rounds, reloading his weapon to ensure their brutal deaths.
Only weeks later, on June 1, violence struck again, in broad daylight, on the streets of Boulder, Colorado. During a peaceful walk held by Jewish community members in support of the release of hostages held by Hamas, a man named Mohamed Sabry Soliman pulled out Molotov cocktails and a homemade flamethrower, and, screaming “Free Palestine” with a desire to “kill all Zionist people,” unleashed fire on the crowd. Sixteen people were injured, including an 88-year-old Holocaust survivor who had once escaped the horrors in Europe, only to be targeted again, nearly a century later, on American soil.
Soliman admitted he wanted to kill Jews. He said he would do it again.
These acts of terror were not spontaneous: they were the culmination of escalating rhetoric and symbolism that glorifies violence against Jews. The same symbols and slogans displayed by students on our campus are echoed by those who carry out deadly attacks. What may seem like political expression to some becomes a justification for violence to others.
Recently, President Paxson published a thoughtful article in the SAPIR journal where she called on universities to educate student activists, not with the aim of discouraging protest but to shape it into something informed and constructive. She wrote that students must learn how to inspire change “with civility and humanity” and that universities should teach the skills to protest effectively.
Symbols that glorify terrorism and deny an entire people’s right to exist do not belong in on-campus activism. Instead, students should familiarize themselves with the facts, engage with students who hold different opinions, hear new perspectives, and learn how to advocate for their cause respectfully.
All I ask is that students do not wave around symbols that call for the murder of my people. Do not print maps that deny my people’s existence. When asked to leave a campus space due to your hateful symbolism, do not play the victim. Actions, especially those of political protest, have meaning and consequences. You do not get to be misinformed when your actions are fueling hate.
We can no longer afford to ignore the symbols, the words, and the rhetoric that blur the line between protest and incitement. We cannot remain silent when the same hatred that fuels violence and terrorism on the streets is being displayed on our campuses. These aren’t far-reaching threats. This is real. This is happening. It’s happening right in front of our faces.
This is written in memory of Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim. We must say their names. We must honor their lives. And we must confront the reality that hate, when left unopposed, becomes deadly.
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