The Inverted Red Triangle Symbol, Identified With Hamas And Seen In U.S. Student Protests, Is An Open Call For Attacks On Israeli Targets.

Pro-Hamas expressions, slogans, and symbols are part of the widespread pro-Palestine protests currently taking place at universities across the United States.

An inverted red triangle marking an Israeli tank as a target (Source: Echoroukonline.com, November 14, 2023)

Among these symbols is the inverted red triangle, which first appeared in Hamas videos of the fighting in Gaza, where it is used to mark an Israeli target about to be attacked. This red triangle now appears on posters and signs at the protests, and a photo published a few days ago even shows a protester making a triangle hand sign at a group of Jewish students.

A poster published by a pro-Palestine student group at NYU shows the red triangle symbol (Source: Twitter.com/nyupscoalition/status/1782335700945232365, April 22, 2022)

The red triangle symbol has been identified with Hamas from the beginning of the Gaza war. Since the October 7, 2023 Hamas massacres in southern Israel, in which approximately 1,200 Israelis were killed and 240 were taken hostage, Hamas's military wing, the Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam Brigades, has been regularly publishing videos from the fighting in Gaza in which Israeli military forces about to be attacked are marked with a moving inverted red triangle.

Thanks to the impact and wide circulation of these videos, in the recent months the red triangle has come to symbolize Hamas' war against Israel, and has become a popular anti-Israel symbol expressing open support for Hamas and its terrorist activities. It is often called the "Abu Obaida triangle," after the spokesman of Hamas' military wing.

Following its use in Hamas videos documenting the fighting in Gaza, the triangle soon spread to videos produced in the West Bank as well. It also gained popularity on social media, and now  frequently appears in posts, videos, graphics, usernames and profile pictures.

It also features in cartoons published in recent months in the Arab world, especially in the Qatari media, which regularly publishes inciteful anti-Israel content,[1] and can even be seen on clothing and fashion accessories sold online.

This report presents examples of the widespread use of this symbol in cartoons and on social media.

The Symbol's Origin: Hamas Videos Of The Fighting In Gaza

As stated, the inverted red triangle, also called the "red arrow," first appeared in videos of the fighting in Gaza published by Hamas's military wing, where it is used to mark Israeli military targets, such as soldiers, tanks and bulldozers, about to be attacked. Below are several examples:

According to online videos and reports, the triangle originates in the Palestinian flag. This is explained in a video posted on the X account of the Qatari Al-Jazeera channel that calls the triangle "an icon of the resistance's victory."

This is also evident from a video posted on Hamas' Telegram channel, where the triangle serves to identify Israeli targets and then unites with the red triangle of the Palestinian flag. A caption beneath it reads "The arrow that is closest to our hearts."

On December 4, 2023, Hamas in the West Bank published on its Telegram channel a graphic depicting an armed and uniformed Hamas operative stepping on an Israeli tank as an Israeli soldier tries to crawl away, with a flaming red triangle in the background. The caption reads: "At Allah's command, we will cut you down and shatter the illusion of your state."

The Red Triangle As A Fashion Statement

In light of the red triangle's popularity, some people online have begun selling clothing and fashion accessories based on it, as shown in the following examples:

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