The massive network of terror tunnels in the Gaza Strip has been described as a “social organization” in a recent social media post by the City University of New York (CUNY) School of Law's Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP).
The post announced an upcoming discussion with Dr. Hadeel Assali on “decolonial land use in Gaza,” and will focus on “land use and social organization in resistance to colonization.”
In October 2024, Assali published an essay titled “Notes on the Underground in Gaza” in the Society for Cultural Anthropology’s “Anthropology in a Time of Genocide: On Nakba and Return.”
“Underground war has been an essential form of resistance in Palestine,” Assali wrote in her essay. “In Gaza, tunnels reveal the subterranean to be a space that evades colonial capture, despite Israel’s claims of military prowess.”
Assali’s essay went on to quote a relative of hers, who said that Israel has “the land, the sea, the sky—they don’t want to leave us the underground?”
ADL reveals pro-Palestinian orgs. take material directly from terror groups
In January, the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism revealed that groups like SJP promote support for the “resistance” by circulating material taken directly from the accounts of Palestinian-designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations such as Hamas and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).
ADL said this exacerbates threats in two ways. Firstly, through active propaganda circulation. The activists are not just praising the activity of terror groups, but also disseminating official propaganda, such as videos and posters, directly onto mainstream platforms. And secondly, through rhetorical normalization. By spreading propaganda, activists are normalizing the goals and tactics of these groups, the ADL said.
The analysts noted that the migration of terror propaganda from extremist channels and networks to the mainstream demonstrates the ways in which terror groups achieve impact and influence in accessible online spaces, extending their reach and ideology into US public discourse.