BaShaar’s Position:
On Campuses Around the World, October 7 Is Being Celebrated
as “Palestinian Resistance” –
Academic Leaders Must Draw a Clear Moral Line
Ahead of October 7, events, demonstrations, and rallies are being planned on university campuses around the world that portray this day as one of “resistance,” “liberation,” and “Palestinian struggle.” One poster proclaims, “Glory to the martyrs / Victory to the resistance”; an invitation to a university rally refers to “3 years of resistance of our people in Gaza”; and there are other examples.
On October 7, 2023, Hamas and other armed Palestinian groups attacked Israeli communities and civilians, murdering approximately 1,200 people and abducting more than 250, most of them civilians. Entire families were murdered in their homes, young people were murdered at a music festival, and acts of sexual violence and brutal abuse were committed. These are documented facts, and any public or academic discussion of the meaning of October 7 must begin with these facts and their gravity, regardless of disagreements over the broader context of the conflict.
Universities must allow vigorous debate about Israel, the Palestinians, and the war in Gaza. People may protest, criticize, demand investigations into acts committed during the war, and call for changes of policy. All of these are part of freedom of speech and academic discourse.
Presenting October 7 as a “day of resistance” is not part of that debate. It detaches this day from the planned attack carried out by the terrorist organization Hamas, during which many civilians were deliberately murdered, abducted, and harmed, and assigns a positive meaning to the massacre – as if the very fact that the victims were Israelis makes harming them permissible. No political struggle justifies celebrating the murder of civilians, and one need not agree on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in order to affirm this principle.
For Israeli and Jewish students and faculty members, and especially for those who lost family members and friends, such events on the anniversary of the massacre are not an abstract academic discussion. They turn their tragedy and trauma into a symbol of victory for the perpetrators of the massacre and their supporters.
We call on the leaders of academic institutions to state clearly where the line must be drawn. They are not required to ban protest. They are required to protect freedom of speech and the right to protest, and at the same time to unequivocally condemn the massacre and make clear that celebrating or justifying it is not a legitimate form of protest. Presenting October 7 as “resistance” while erasing the massacre that took place that day is incompatible with academia’s commitment to truth, evidence, and intellectual integrity; silence in the face of such portrayals lends them legitimacy.
October 6, 2026
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"BaShaar – Academic Community for Israeli Society” is a registered non-profit and non-governmental organization, established in 1999 by academic leaders. BaShaar lists over 2,500 senior faculty members from all institutions of higher education in Israel, including former presidents and rectors, Nobel Laureates, laurates of the Israel Prize and other prestige awards.
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PDF file of the position paper: BaShaars Position_Academic Leaders must draw a clear moral line_October 7 Is Being Celebrated as Palestinian Resistance 6.10.26