Southern Poverty Law Center refused to tell The Federalist whether it plans to designate as hate groups the left-wing organizations that responded to the murders of more than 1,200 Israelis and 22 Americans at the hands of Hamas by excusing or blatantly ‘standing with’ the terrorists.
The SPLC claims to “monitor hate groups and other extremists throughout the United States,” including many of which it says are “far right” antisemitic organizations. In years past, SPLC largely focused its efforts on tarnishing organizations with Christian missions or conservative ties.
These partisan designations, decried by Republicans and the organizations as smears, were then used by the FBI, Democrats, Big Tech, and woke corporations to investigate and censor the left’s political opponents.
Missing from SPLC’s list of more than 1,200 “hate groups,” however, are the several U.S.-based left-wing organizations invoking language and imagery publicly shrugging off the deadliest assault on Jewish civilians since the Holocaust to stand with the people who perpetrated the attack.
The scenes emanating from Israel over the weekend were brutal. Music festival attendees were either dragged into Gaza as hostages or shot to death at point-blank range. Babies and young children were brutally beheaded, butchered, and burned in their beds. One grandmother’s murder was live-streamed by the terrorists on her Facebook page.
The Democratic Socialists of America, which is affiliated with at least six Democrat U.S. lawmakers, released a statement claiming it was “steadfast in expressing our solidarity with Palestine.” The organization deemed Israel an “apartheid regime” and suggested that Israel should not receive funding for its retaliation.
“We unequivocally condemn the killing of all civilians. It is imperative for international human rights law to be respected,” the DSA continued. “But we cannot forget that the Israeli state has systematically denied Palestinians the right to self-determination for decades. … As socialists, we must act.”
Only one freshman DSA representative condemned the declaration.
Black Lives Matter Chicago did away with the formalities of releasing a statement and instead opted to post a graphic of a Palestine flag affixed to a paraglider, much like the ones Hamas used to enter Israel and begin its massacre.
After facing backlash, BLMChicago deleted the post. In a statement posted to X, the organization claimed “we aren’t proud” of the deleted post but doubled down on supporting “Palestine & the people who will do what they must to live free.”
Black Lives Matter Los Angeles similarly posted a statement to Instagram justifying Hamas’ actions.
“When a people have been subject to decades of apartheid and unimaginable violence, their resistance must not be condemned, but understood as a desperate act of self-defense,” the activists argued.
The organization urged its members to view the assault on Israel “as an attempt to tear down the gates of the world’s largest open air prison.”
Several Ivy League and other college students joined in the left’s blaming Israel for Hamas’ brutalism.
The remorselessness shown by these activists should have captured the SPLC’s attention, but The Federalist’s repeated requests for comment on whether these organizations would receive a “hate group” designation were ignored.
The SPLC has classified right-leaning and religious organizations as “hate groups” over far less than statements attempting to absolve Hamas of culpability. Organizations like The Heritage Foundation, the Catholic Medical Association, Alliance Defending Freedom, Focus on the Family, the Family Research Council, Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, Liberty Counsel, and the Homeschool Legal Defense Association have all been maligned by the SPLC for simply advancing pro-family, Christian, and freedom forward agendas.
