Several leaders of prominent universities on Monday said they believe the anti-Israel and anti-Semitic demonstrations that broke out on campuses across the United States during the Jewish state’s war against Hamas were not organic, instead telling a panel audience they believe “organized networks,” and even foreign governments, may have driven the unrest.
Leaders of notable U.S. universities had not offered many thoughts on the connections between campus protests and outside groups before Monday’s discussion on combating anti-Semitism. During the event, though, Syracuse University chancellor Kent Syverud brought up Iran in particular.
“I really believe [the demonstrations] were encouraged from Iran,” Syverud said. “It did not have the involvement of very many—if any—of our own students.”
Vanderbilt University chancellor Daniel Diermeier agreed, saying the anti-Israel movement on his campus seemed to have been coordinated by outside forces and followed a “playbook” that “was imported” from other universities.
“There was, not a large group, maybe 30-plus students or something, but they were using the playbook that they had seen at Columbia and other places,” he said. “It was the same messaging. So, it’s more than a social contagion. I think they’re organized networks as well.”
Congress has investigated the role of outside non-governmental organizations and foreign entities in campus protests, and former director of national intelligence Avril Haines announced in July 2024 the Iranian government encouraged the demonstrations and provided financial support to protesters.
Hamas members themselves have indicated the terror group has worked with U.S. activists. Three Israelis who had been held captive in Gaza alleged in a May lawsuit that one of their Hamas captors told them that “Hamas in Gaza was coordinating with its allies, including its allies in the media and on college campuses, to foment hatred against Israel and Jews.”
Victims of Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack filed a separate lawsuit against anti-Israel activists at Columbia University in March, alleging protest ringleaders acted as “Hamas’ propaganda arm” and provided support to the terror group.
Documents in the suit show activists promoted Hamas materials and distributed a “Day of Resistance Toolkit” on Oct. 8, 2023, just a day after the massacres. The toolkit, which gave instructions on organizing pro-Hamas activities on campus, said “all Palestinian factions in Gaza appear to be participating under unified command” and called on activists to be “PART of this movement” and “continue the work and resistance of Palestinians on the ground.”
Diermeier discussed the ongoing lawsuit against Columbia activists and said he would like to see further inquiries into protesters’ coordination with outside entities.
“I think we will know much more whether there was third-party influence on that, and how that worked,” he said. “It would be very, very good to understand this in more detail. I don’t think we have a full picture of that yet.”
The event, sponsored by campus anti-Semitism watchdog Alums for Campus Fairness, recognized administrators who “showed strong leadership” in the fight against anti-Semitism. Though the group—which also included Washington University in St. Louis chancellor Andrew D. Martin—acknowledged anti-Semitism remains a problem on their campuses, the administrators said they have taken steps to counter its spread. Those remedies include opposing boycotts and speaking out against pro-terrorist speech, such as calls to “globalize the intifada” and eradicate Israel “from the river to the sea.”
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