‘Denounce the Framing of Israel as a Victim’: Law Students From Berkeley Issue Letter Supporting Hamas

Law students from a student organization at the University of California Berkeley issued a statement showing "solidarity with the Palestinian people."

The Berkeley Law Students for Justice in Palestine (BLSJP) wrote a letter on Wednesday posted to their Instagram page casting blame on Israel for the violence that has occurred in the aftermath of Hamas' surprise attack on Israel on Saturday, in which thousands of rockets were fired and more than 250 people were left dead after Hamas terrorists paraglided in a music festival.

Erwin Chemerinsky, the Dean of the University of California's Berkeley School of Law was also criticized in the letter for a statement condemning "the killing of Israelis without mentioning the recent systemic massacres of Palestinians in Gaza."

"We denounce the framing of Israel as a victim," the group wrote in its letter. "This week's resistance builds on a century-long liberation struggle against the systemic, continuous, and genocidal violence toward Palestinian men, women, and children."

The group continued to write how "Israel has killed over 900 Palestinians, fulfilling its promise to 'open the gate of hell over Gaza.'"

Since Hamas' attack, several student groups from Harvard University issued a letter blaming Israel for the violence that has unfolded. A student group from George Washington University in Washington, D.C. also issued a letter saying that it "maintains unwavering support for Hamas."

The United Nations adopted Resolution 181, otherwise known as the Partition Plan in 1947 which split the British Mandate of Palestine was split into Arab and Jewish states. The State of Israel was created on May 14, 1948, leading to the first war between the Arabs and Jews, according to The Council on Foreign Relations .

After Israel had won this war in 1949, roughly 750,000 Palestinians were left displaced. The territory was then divided into three areas; the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and the State of Israel.

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Years later, in June 1967, Israel preemptively attacked Syrian and Egyptian air forces, thus sparking the Six-Day War. After this, Israel took control of the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem from Jordan, and Golan Heights from Syria.

Hamas, a terrorist organization, has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007. Gaza has been under an Israeli-enforce blockade, supported by Egypt since Hamas came into control. The blockade restricts the importation of certain goods, such as computer parts and electronics.

"In a speech, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered Gazans to leave their homes before Israel turns them 'rubble,'" the group continued in its letter. "What he neglected to mention, however, is that since the 2007 blockade, Palestinians have been trapped in the Gaza Strip, rendering its borders the most militarized in the world and sealing its 2.2 million residents in an open-air prison."

To date, over 1,200 people have been reported dead as a result of the attacks in Israel, including 27 Americans .

During a speech on Wednesday, President Joe Biden addressed the reports that parents had been "butchered" while "trying to protect their children" and cited other reports that babies had been beheaded , families murdered, and women raped .

"On October 10, 2023, Dean Chemerinsky emailed all students describing Palestinian resistance as 'terrorist attacks on Israel' that have 'put so many in danger,'" the group added in its letter.