California college groups back US and Israel in Iran war, call for ‘free Iran’
Dozens of student groups on college campuses across California have supported joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran – despite Gov. Gavin Newsom criticized the project as “unlawful” and “without justification.”
“We express our deep gratitude and support to the US and Israeli service members who are working under extraordinary conditions,” reads the letter, signed by groups of 120 students. “We stand in solidarity with these brave men and women, and their families, as they work to disrupt terrorist organizations and protect the security of their nations.”
At least 26 student organizations are based in California, including many schools within the public University of California system, as well as the California State University system – the largest public four-year university system in the United States – and private schools.
“For 47 years, the ruling Iranian regime has prioritized regional decline and proxy wars over the welfare and aspirations of its citizens,” the organizations wrote.
Signatories include a variety of groups, from chapters of national organizations such as Students Supporting Israel at UC Berkeley and San Diego State, to campus-specific advocacy clubs such as Bruins for Israel at UCLA, Tritons for Israel at UC San Diego, and Trojans for Israel at USC.
Participation also extends to cultural and heritage groups, including the Persian Community Hillel at UCLA and UC San Diego, Missionaries at UC Santa Barbara, and the Jewish Student Union at UC Santa Cruz. Prominent institutions from across the region are well represented, with additional support from teams at Stanford University, UC Davis, and several California State University campuses, including Northridge and Long Beach.
“President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu’s air campaign against the government is necessary and long overdue. A democratic Iran is essential to the freedom and security of a free country,” Delilah Hirshland, a student at UCLA, told The Post. “I wholeheartedly support a free Iran,” he added.
The war began when a joint US-Israel operation killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on February 28 in a strike aimed at a coup, according to US and Israeli officials. The US and Israel launched the most powerful airstrikes ever against Iran on Tuesday, pushing the conflict into a third week. Earlier this month, President Trump said the U.S. has already caused significant damage and expects the fighting to end sooner than the four-week timeline he originally set.
There were casualties in this war, including a primary school for girls in Minab, Iran, which is suspected to have been hit by American missiles, a number of children were killed, and members of the American army were also killed in the conflict.
“We honor and remember the lives of the six brave members of the US who lost their lives in this war,” the group of students said in their statement. “We also see the huge impact of this war on the Gulf countries and their citizens.”
Signatories outside of California include chapters at Ivy League and elite schools, such as Princeton’s B’Artzeinu, MIT Israel Alliance, Duke’s Israel Public Affairs Committee, and Johns Hopkins’ Christians United for Israel, among others.
Many of these institutions, including NYU, the University of Michigan, the University of Texas, and UC Berkeley, were previously the sites of large-scale anti-Israel protests during Israel’s war on Gaza in 2024.
“A free Iran will make the world safer by ending a regime that supports terrorism and instability. It will allow the Iranian people to finally live with freedom and basic rights,” Maya Gerassi, a senior at San Diego State University, told The Post. “It will also reduce threats to Israel and the United States by weakening Iran’s network of terrorist proxies.”
The American public is strongly opposed to a US war in Iran, according to several political analysts.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll found that only 27% of Americans support the conflict.
The New York Times reported on Sunday that about 41% of Americans approve of US intervention in Iran, which is a historic low compared to previous conflicts – 97% during World War II, 92% during the war in Afghanistan, and 76% during the Iraq War.
