Noura Erakat is a professor and activist who has repeatedly justified terrorism, spread anti-Semitism, and openly supported individuals and organizations tied to violence against Israelis. She has defended Hamas’ atrocities, glorified Palestinian intifadas, and advanced the delegitimization of Israel through the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.

Erakat is currently an associate professor at Rutgers University and has held positions at Georgetown University. She is a longtime affiliate of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), co-founding the extremist group’s first chapter in 2001 at the University of California, Berkeley. Erakat is also a co-founding editor of Jadaliyya, an anti-Israel propaganda outlet.

Noura Erekat’s Justification of Hamas Terrorism

On October 7, 2023, the day Hamas massacred approximately 1,200 Israelis, Erakat posted multiple statements rationalizing the attacks. She described Hamas’ brutal invasion as a “multi-scalar attack” and claimed that condemning Hamas was “vapid” unless it also included denunciations of Israel. She further argued that taking civilians hostage was simply a “military tactic,” echoing Hamas propaganda.

Hamas’ October 7 atrocities included mass murder, beheadings, rape, torture, and the kidnapping of children and elderly civilians. Yet, Erakat sought to justify these war crimes, framing Israel as the true aggressor and portraying Hamas terrorists as resistance fighters.

Anti-Semitism and Delegitimizing Israel

Erakat has a long history of promoting anti-Semitic rhetoric and conspiracy theories:

• Demonizing Zionism: She has repeatedly called Zionism “racism” and “fascism,” attacking the fundamental belief in Jewish self-determination.
• Comparing Israel to Nazis: In 2024, she suggested that Jews were only considered “innocent” during the Holocaust, but Palestinians are not, due to “racist logics” that supposedly fuel genocide.
• Promoting the “Right of Return”: She supports the Palestinian demand to flood Israel with millions of descendants of refugees, a strategy intended to dismantle the Jewish state demographically.

Her rhetoric aligns with the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) working definition of anti-Semitism, which includes denying Jews their right to self-determination and equating Israel with Nazi Germany.

Support for Terrorists

Erakat has expressed admiration for multiple convicted terrorists and terrorist organizations:

• Khader Adnan (Palestinian Islamic Jihad – PIJ): She praised Adnan, a senior PIJ member who called for suicide bombings, as a figure of “compassion and resistance.”
• Khalida Jarrar (Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – PFLP): Erakat defended Jarrar, a leader in the PFLP, an organization responsible for deadly attacks, including bombings and kidnappings.
• Leila Khaled (PFLP): She condemned Zoom and other platforms for blocking an event featuring Khaled, a convicted terrorist involved in airplane hijackings.
• Rasmea Odeh (PFLP): Erakat celebrated Odeh, the mastermind of a 1969 supermarket bombing that killed two college students, calling her an “icon.”

Erakat consistently uses the term “resistance” to glorify acts of terror, aligning herself with violent extremists who openly seek Israel’s destruction.

Glorifying Intifada and Violence

Erakat has repeatedly celebrated Palestinian uprisings (intifadas), which were marked by suicide bombings, shootings, and stabbings targeting Israeli civilians. She has praised the so-called “Knife Intifada” of 2015–2016, during which dozens of Israelis were murdered in brutal stabbing attacks.

She has also incited violence by falsely portraying Palestinian riots, such as those in Sheikh Jarrah and Lod, as justified resistance, despite their connection to deadly anti-Jewish attacks.

A Pillar of Hate at Rutgers

Noura Erakat is not just a professor—she is an apologist for terror, a spreader of anti-Semitism, and a vocal supporter of violent extremists. Her words embolden those who seek to harm Jews and Israelis, and her platform in academia allows her to spread this dangerous ideology to students.