Written by Jack Elbaum

What’s happening: Posters intended to spread awareness for the 200 people Hamas kidnapped on October 7 are being ripped down in cities across the U.S. and the West.

Where: Videos have emerged of people ripping down hostage flyers on college campuses such as New York University, Boston University, Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, and the London School of Economics. Videos have also surfaced showing people in New York, Los Angeles, Boston, and Miami ripping down or vandalizing the posters.

• Consequences: A number of people have been identified and have lost their jobs.

No answers: When confronted for ripping down posters of civilians who have been kidnapped, most either have no answer, respond with profanity, deny the Hamas atrocities took place, or say it's because of Israel’s response.

Surprising? Polls show that 51 percent of Americans 18-24 believe Hamas’s brutal terrorist attack was justified and 64 percent believe Israel and Hamas have equally just causes. Massive pro-Hamas rallies have been organized across the country where people chant slogans such as “There is only one solution, intifada revolution” and “Glory to our martyrs.”

Why it matters: A certain portion of American society has been explicitly pro-Hamas since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war. The act of ripping down awareness posters for those innocents who have been kidnapped — including babies and children — is the embodiment of what that means in practice.