“Tell me thy company, and I’ll tell thee what thou art.”

— Miguel de Cervantes

If the reports this week are true that Hamas supplied weapons and other support to ISIS in its assaults that killed dozens in the Egyptian Sinai, then what shreds of moral decency will remain for Palestinian activists who fail to eschew Hamas’ efforts?

We’ll give you a hint: None. And that may help with presenting a more honest and accurate picture of Israel on college campuses and beyond.

But back to that in a bit. There has been some pretty damning evidence linking the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement to Hamas. This spring, Jonathan Schanzer of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies testified to this effect before subcommittees of the United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

Schanzer had previously worked in the terror finance area for the U.S. Treasury. He presented evidence to House members that a number of individuals who had been involved in former organizations that gave millions to Hamas were now associated with a major BDS group, American Muslims for Palestine (AMP).

AMP supports the anti-Israel Students for Justice in Palestine, which provides money, speakers and more for the Israel Apartheid Week activities that permeate college campuses across America. This annual event is not one geared toward promoting peace and understanding; it is instead an effort at building widescale delegitimization of Israel.

Schanzer pointed out issues with public accessibility of information about some of the groups that support anti-Israel efforts.  AMP, for instance, lacked 501c3 federal tax-exempt status, making it difficult to track its financial operations. As Schanzer was quoted in April by the Times of Israel:

“BDS advocates are free to say what they want, true or false, but tax-advantaged organizations are obliged to be transparent,” Schanzer told the panel. “Americans have a right to know who is leading the BDS campaign and so do the students who may not be aware of AMP’s leaders or their goals.”

This latter point is critical in combatting the disinformation campaigns about Israel that are propagated by many leading BDS groups and figures. When young Jews and others on campus are made aware of connections between very bad groups like Hamas and the purportedly nonviolent BDS movement, there’s a far better chance of fending off hardcore anti-Zionism and returning dialogue to a constructive mode that recognizes the need for a peaceful solution.

So now the even broader linkages can be presented in their grim reality. Hamas is already tied to BDS, and now Hamas appears to be linked to ISIS, the two cooperating as partners in violence and terror in the Sinai.

With that in mind, let’s return to the original question: How are those who label Hamas as crusaders for a constructive two-state solution (false to begin with but with true intent often hidden behind a PR smokescreen) going to defend an alliance with ISIS, a group bent on imposing an Islamist caliphate across the Middle East?

They can’t, at least not with any credibility. This is why those who most radically seethe over the right-wing government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have recognized that a Hamas-ISIS link would prove counterproductive to their goals.

In January, for instance, the far-left website Mondoweiss referenced a report in the New York Review of Books by Sarah Helm to support the claim that “In fact, ISIS is starting to emerge in Gaza — but as a sworn enemy of Hamas.”  

Recent events certainly suggest otherwise.  Once Hamas provides weaponry to ISIS, as it did for these recent attacks on Egyptian soil, then it is complicit in advancing the goals of ISIS, which are not legitimate to anyone who opposes an Islamist caliphate in the Middle East.

So now it seems that anti-BDS forces (a camp in which we certainly and proudly stand) have an even more powerful tool to use in combatting Israel hate. It’s very simple: “Hamas is helping ISIS, and Hamas funds BDS. Is this your idea of a roadmap to peace and justice in the Middle East? It’s not ours.”

Let’s by all means have open and constructive dialogue about the future and the prospects for peace, both on and off college campuses. Let’s encourage both sides to generate helpful proposals that could lead to a positive outcome. But let’s have them without the terror, hate and anti-Zionism of collaborators like Hamas and ISIS at the table. And let’s make sure that those who have embraced BDS, thinking they are advocating for peace, are well educated on these monstrous connections.