Defending Hamas Weaponizes Free Speech

Hamas, the Iran-backed terrorist organization that has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007, has been silencing its own people through violence, particularly those who have dared to protest its rule. In March, six individuals were executed; and others have been beaten publicly in Gaza amidst a brutal fear campaign designed to quell dissent.

Among the victims was 22-year-old Odai Al-Rubai from Gaza City, who called for peaceful demonstrations and criticized Hamas on social media. Witnesses say Hamas operatives abducted Al-Rubai; tortured him for hours; and returned him to his family, barely clinging to life. He died shortly thereafter from his injuries. His only crime was calling for a better future for his people, free from Hamas’s tyranny.

Hamas’s actions reveal its true face. Yet, many around the world, including on American college campuses, defend these terrorists in the name of “resistance” or “liberation.” But resistance against what, exactly? Liberation for whom? The truth is, Hamas doesn’t liberate; it dominates. It doesn’t defend Palestinians; it sacrifices them.

This fact brings us to the curious case of Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University student deported by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for inciting violence and promoting pro-Hamas rhetoric on campus. Critics of ICE’s decision argue that Khalil’s First Amendment right to free speech was violated. But why should someone who champions Hamas, an entity that crushes resistance and free speech using murder and torture, enjoy the protections of a system that values free speech above nearly all else?

Ironically, Khalil glorifies Hamas’s ideology in the safety of an American university—an institution supposedly built on open dialogue and the free exchange of ideas—while promoting the very group that murders young Arabs for exercising those same freedoms in Gaza. Evidently, he wants to enjoy the fruits of liberal democracy while defending a regime that quashes them.

Many nations, including the United States and those in the European Union, designate Hamas as a terrorist organization. Its charter openly calls for Israel’s destruction and glorifies jihad. It has fired tens of thousands of rockets at Israeli civilians and embedded its military infrastructure in schools, hospitals, and densely populated neighborhoods, effectively using its own people as human shields. And now, it is executing and torturing Palestinians who seek reform or protest its corruption and cruelty.

In their selective outrage, Western activists and academics often decry Israel’s defensive actions while ignoring the routine abuse, repression, and bloodshed Hamas perpetrates against those it claims to represent. The international silence concerning Al-Rubai’s murder is deafening. Where are the campus protests for him? Where are the candlelight vigils for the Palestinians Hamas tortures?

Free speech is the bedrock of our democracy. But when someone uses that right to advocate for a group that tramples the very freedoms they’re invoking, it raises serious questions not only about legality, but also about moral consistency.

No one is saying we should criminalize dissent or suppress debate. But let’s not pretend supporting Hamas is merely voicing a political opinion. It’s a dangerous moral stance that aligns a person not with the oppressed, but with the oppressor—not with justice, but with brutality.

If Mahmoud Khalil wants to champion Hamas, he should be honest about what that endorsement means. It means supporting the torture of young men like Odai Al-Rubai. It means backing a regime that kills its critics. And it means standing against the liberties that make America unique and special.

The world must face the truth: Hamas does not speak for the Palestinian people; it threatens their future. Those who support it from the comfort of democratic societies should understand that to truly “free Palestine” means to resist Hamas.