Unity of Fields: This is What the Columbia Extremists Believe

There’s an anonymous account on X called Unity of Fields which is associated with the left-wing activists at Columbia University. In fact the pinned post for the last several days has been this video of the takeover of Hamilton Hall which happened last spring.

BREAKING: Columbia has issued its first expulsion for alleged involvement in the occupation of Hind’s Hall.

In response, we are releasing never before seen footage of the Battle of Hind’s Hall–which was smuggled out in a militant’s bra–with a message to the Student Intifada: pic.twitter.com/j0YFBvvvYU

— Unity of Fields (@unityoffields) March 4, 2025

This was obviously shot by someone on the inside which gives you an idea how close the two groups are. At a minimum they have close connections behind the scenes. And when the same Columbia activists (CUAD) took over the Barnard library recently, they distributed literature from Unity of Fields along with a pamphlet from the Hamas media office.

Protesters moved a table into the Milstein entrance, displaying pamphlets written by Unity of Fields and the Red Army Faction, as well as the “Operation Al-Aqsa Flood” statement from the Hamas media office.

Unity of Fields was previously called Palestine Action US and under that name they carried out a bunch of vandalism aimed at Elbit Systems, a defense company based in Israel. Here’s a list provided by Wikipedia:

On October 12, activists from the group attempted to shut down an Elbit office in Cambridge, Massachusetts, according to Mondoweiss.[7]

On October 20, activists in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, protested General Dynamics. General Dynamics did not respond to questions about its involvement in the war, but said it supported activists’ rights to protest.[8]

On October 25, activists protested Elbit at the Wentworth Institute of Technology.[2]

On October 30, activists vandalized and protested at the Boston office of Elbit, stating they shut it down. The group said 9 arrests were made by the Cambridge police.[1][2]

On November 6, activists vandalized the Virginia office of Elbit.[9]

On November 17, activists blocked entrances to BNY Mellon, targeted for its investments in Elbit. The NYPD broke up the protests and took 20 people into custody.[10]

In October 2024 Unity of Fields publicized acts of vandalism at Harvard and other universities, without claiming responsibility.[11]

But last August Palestine Action US decided that wasn’t radical enough and renamed themselves Unity of Fields. They explained that they had been inspired by the Hamas attack on Israel on 10/7:

Palestine Action changed its name to Unity of Fields on Wednesday and explained that “passive solidarity” with Palestinians wasn’t enough, and taking inspiration from the October 7 massacre, it was necessary “to open a new front against the US empire” and “to build the international popular cradle of resistance.”

“Empires do not just collapse on their own,” said the newly rechristened Unity of Fields. “If victory over imperialism is possible, it will be because struggles against it have erupted all across the world, including here in the core.”

Recently the group has been disseminating a manual on vandalism which has circulated at Columbia University.

The chilling 14-page “underground manual” provides excruciatingly detailed tips to help commit destructive criminal acts, with advice such as always buy sledgehammers with cash and consider blocking a targeted building’s water or sewer pipes with concrete “for a messy surprise” — while taking a slew of steps to evade law enforcement.

Some Jewish Columbia students recently spotted the sick guide on the notorious radical website Unity of Fields, formerly known as Palestine Action US.

The group has a whole reading list on their website (no link) including multiple selections from Lenin, Mao, Che Guevara and of course Yahya Sinwar, the mastermind of the 10/7 attack on Israel. Today the group’s X account posted this explainer of their goals and actions. It’s a short thread and worth reading. First the denounce standard protests which they suggest don’t accomplish anything.

“Something” is pimping peace, while vainly bemoaning the slaughter. “Something” is talking solidarity, but sacrificing nothing and imposing no costs on the enemy. “Something” is gearing up for the next election while women are being smuggled across state lines to get abortions.

— Unity of Fields (@unityoffields) March 18, 2025

The only solution is to burn it all down.

Internalize and commit to the absolute necessity of destroying imperialism as a precondition for the flourishing of humanity and the survival of life on the planet. And then act on this through materially impactful resistance, including support to those on the front lines.

— Unity of Fields (@unityoffields) March 18, 2025

They acknowledge some on the left aren’t there yet, but they are. 

But some of us are already here. We support resistance. We support armed resistance. We support islamic resistance. There are more of us everyday. Get in.

— Unity of Fields (@unityoffields) March 18, 2025

They support “armed resistance,” i.e. violence and terrorism here and abroad. They support “Islamic resistance,” i.e. Hamas’ terrorism. I don’t know that Mahmoud Khalil is a member of this group but he might be. He almost certainly is connected to this group in some way. They support CUAD, the group he speaks for, and he has never said anything contrary to what Unity of Fields is saying.

And yet, you don’t get the impression of just how extreme these “activists” are when you read about them in the media. Most of the media still can’t bring themselves to admit the Columbia students support Hamas, which is undeniable, much less that they Maoists who want to destroy America too. We can’t have a real national conversation about this until Unity of Fields is part of the conversation. 

The old saying goes: when someone tells you who they are you should believe them. We should believe them.