Anti-Israel encampments share common traits with Marxist revolutionaries, BLM and the KKK

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Israeli, American flag display vandalized at Harvard University

A Jewish student who assisted local Young America's Foundation members to plant over 1,000 Israeli and American flags in honor of Oct. 7 victims shows how their display was vandalized. (Credit: @ShabbosK/X)

College encampments spreading across the country in recent weeks share a common theme with Black Lives Matter and Mao’s Cultural Revolution in China.

"These protesters have been indoctrinated by these culturally Marxist professors," Heritage Foundation senior fellow Mike Gonzalez told Fox News Digital.

The comments come as anti-Israel demonstrations have taken over several of America’s most prominent college campuses, resulting in unrest that has resulted in over 2,400 arrests in just a few weeks.

The demonstrations, which typically feature large encampments of students staked out in prominent areas of campus, have drawn comparisons to the Occupy Wall Street protests of 2011, though Gonzalez believes the current movement shares more in common with Black Lives Matter and Mao’s Cultural Revolution.

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Anti-Israel protesters rally outside New York University’s campus in New York May 3, 2024. (Rashid Umar Abbasi for Fox News Digital)

"To me, this resembles much more Ferguson," Gonzalez Said, referring to the riots that sprung out of the fatal shooting of Michael Brown by police in Ferguson, Missouri.

The Ferguson shooting and riots brought newfound national attention to the Black Lives Matter movement, which led to similar protests in the aftermath of other high-profile deaths, such as the 2020 killing of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer.

Gonzalez argued that, unlike Occupy Wall Street, Black Lives Matter and the current anti-Israel demonstrations spreading across the country have a "coherent set of demands."

"It was just generally anti-Western, anti-capitalist," Gonzalez said of the Occupy movement. "This group is also anti-Western, anti-capitalist — these protesters — but they do have demands."

"They want to wipe out American culture. Because if we have systemic racism, and if racism is structural, then the only logical conclusion is we must get rid of all the systems and all the structures."

Gonzalez, who wrote a book on the Black Lives Matter movement, "The Making of a New Marxist Revolution," said most of those demands can be traced back to the cultural Marxism of the 1960s and 1970s, arguing that the current demonstrations "hide behind" the current events in Gaza as a way to push the Marxist agenda.

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"They want to dismantle American society," Gonzalez said.

For Gonzalez, both the Black Lives Matter and current campus movements tie closely to Mao’s Cultural Revolution, a Chinese sociopolitical movement led by Mao Zedong between the mid 1960s and mid 1970s that sought to strip China of its traditional society.

A protester holds a sign during a march on Columbia University's campus in support of a protest encampment supporting Palestinians. (REUTERS/David Dee Delgado)

"The Cultural Revolution did the same thing and tried to get rid of everything that was traditional," Gonzalez said. "They were very persistent about getting rid of all Chinese traditions and norms and everything from the past."

Gonzalez argued that the same type of movement is happening in the U.S., led by groups who he believes are attempting to "commit cultural genocide."

"They want to wipe out American culture. Because if we have systemic racism, and if racism is structural, then the only logical conclusion is we must get rid of all the systems and all the structures," Gonzalez said.

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The foundation for such a movement, Gonzalez argued, is firmly rooted in Marxist teaching.

"If you go to the ‘Communist Manifesto’ … the first page Marx says that all of history can be boiled down to this epic struggle between the oppressor and the oppressed," Gonzalez said. "This is the oppressor versus oppressed paradigm through which these kids put everything."

While supporters of the encampments have touted that they have remained mostly peaceful in nature, the demonstrations have at times been disruptive enough to require intervention from law enforcement.

Hans von Spakovsky, a senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation, told Fox News Digital there is potential for more violence to spread from the current demonstrations. 

"This is the first time I can remember in a long time that you have protesters out there directly supporting a terrorist group," von Spakovsky said. "They both verbally and with sins express their support for Hamas, which has been a designated terrorist organization — for what? — like three decades."

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Like Gonzalez, von Spakovsky compared today’s campus movement to Black Lives Matter, noting that many of the protests associated with that movement became violent or destructive.

"The Black Lives Matter movement and its protest did result in violence … arson, destruction of buildings, vandalism," von Spakovsky said.

With the current encampments, von Spakovsky believes there could be similar or even worse outcomes.

"I expect violence from these protesters because of the fact that they are supporting a terrorist organization and have voiced their approval for that massacre that occurred on Oct. 7," von Spakovsky said.

He also noted the demonstrations have displayed widespread antisemitism, while the tactics those in attendance have used remind him of the days of the Ku Klux Klan.

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"I don’t see any difference between these protesters and individuals who have been members of the Ku Klux Klan, particularly when you look at the fact that there’s a federal statute that makes it a criminal violation of the law to wear a mask on public highways or on private premises to deny rights to other Americans," von Spakovsky said. "And what are we seeing on these college campuses? We see these Hamas supporters covering their faces so they can’t be recognized, the same way the Ku Klux Klan did, I don’t see any difference between the two."

Students demonstrate against the war in Gaza. (Jay Janner/American-Statesman)

Given the potential for violence, von Spakovsky believes more should be done to break up the current encampments and demonstrations.

"I find it shocking and alarming that steps aren’t being taken to immediately stop this," von Spakovsky said. "For example, any of the students who are participating in these protests … this support for a terrorist group, they are not U.S. citizens, their visas ought to be revoked immediately. And they should be expelled from the country. … I just don’t see any other way."

Gonzalez expressed a similar sentiment, arguing the potential for violence should be enough for the FBI to investigate the groups on campuses.

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"Could we see another summer like 2020?" Gonzalez asked, referring to the riots in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death. "Yeah … this is why I think the FBI should be getting involved and why Congress should be getting involved."