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Guy Christensen: The Gen-Z TikTok Star Inciting His 3.4 Million Followers to Murder ‘Zionists’
Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim who were shot and killed as they left an event at the Capital Jewish Museum, pose for a picture at an unknown location, in this handout image released by Embassy of Israel to the US on May 22, 2025. Photo: Embassy of Israel to the USA via X/Handout via REUTERS
You may not have heard of Guy Christensen — but perhaps you should have. Not because he has anything remotely insightful to offer (he doesn’t), but because millions of Gen Z users do hear him, every day.
And understanding Guy Christensen helps explain why so many American college campuses have become incubators for an anti-Israel movement that is less “progressive” than it is unapologetically pro-Islamist.
Born in 2005, Christensen is part of a growing cohort of American influencers who discovered both their political awakening — and their monetizable moment — in the wake of Hamas’ October 7 massacre. Before then, his Instagram resembled that of any ordinary teenager: fishing trips, photos of his girlfriend, the typical adolescent blend of leisure and self-regard.
But like many others, Christensen sensed an opportunity. The fusion of performative compassion for Palestinians and the algorithmic rewards of antisemitism proved irresistible. And so, in May 2025, he posted a video so brazen and grotesque that it achieved precisely what he seemed to desire: outrage, attention, and media coverage.
In the now-deleted post — eventually taken down by TikTok and Instagram — Christensen, who frequently appears on camera draped in a keffiyeh, openly endorsed the murders of Israeli embassy staffers Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim. The couple was gunned down outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., on May 21.
Guy Christensen on Instagram
We are not reproducing the footage. But Christensen’s words are worth documenting — if only to illustrate the depths to which online “activism” has sunk.
“I do not condemn the elimination of the Zionist officials who worked at the Israeli embassy last night,” he declared. He urged his followers to “support Elias’s actions,” referring to Elias Rodriguez, who has since been charged with two counts of murder. “He is not a terrorist. He’s a resistance fighter,” Christensen insisted. “And the fact is that the fight against Israel’s war machine, against their genocide machine, against their criminality, includes their foreign diplomats in this country.”
Rodriguez reportedly told police at the scene: “I did it for Palestine. I did it for Gaza.” After his arrest, he was witnessed chanting “Free Palestine.” Federal prosecutors are treating the attack as an act of terrorism. Rodriguez could face the death penalty. He also said he supported a genocide against white people.
Christensen, meanwhile, may face some type of investigation, with Department of Justice civil rights attorney Leo Terrell stating that he intends to “review all leads.” But the likelihood of real legal consequences remains low. Christensen is a US citizen — and in today’s climate, incitement to murder “Zionists” online exists, as we have seen, in a murky legal gray zone.
The Christensen saga — from teenage TikTok trends to online advocacy for antisemitic violence — is a textbook example of real-time online radicalization. What began as vague, aestheticized “anti-war” rhetoric swiftly mutated into explicit incitement. And millions of young people watched it happen.
In a November 2024 interview with the World Socialist Web Site, which introduced him as a “pro-Palestinian activist” who has “educated many young people [about the] genocide in Gaza,” Christensen explained how it began.
According to him, he already had a large following “prior to October 7th,” when his feed began to fill with “pro-Israel posts about Gaza and Hamas.” He admits: “I knew absolutely nothing about Israel or Palestine.”
“I was seeing all these videos, and I had no idea what they were talking about,” he said. “The idea I got was that Hamas was terrible, that the Palestinians were terrible human beings — and it was a little weird to hear this because it was borderline hateful.”
Then, he says, a pair of comments appeared on his TikTok feed: “Google Nakba” and “Google open air prison.” He did — and, as he puts it, “What I found took me down a path that changed my whole entire life.”
That path, notably, began not with a book, a class, or a conversation — but with two pieces of highly ideological terminology. The first, Nakba — Arabic for “catastrophe” — is the term used to describe the very existence of the State of Israel. The second, “open-air prison,” is an oft-repeated but absurd phrase for a territory that, prior to the current war, saw Hamas leaders living in opulence, amassing enormous wealth, and building a vast arsenal of rockets to fire at Israeli civilians.
As simplistic as Christensen’s radicalization story may seem, it is instructive. It reveals how uninformed young creators can be swept up — and swiftly weaponized — in a digital ecosystem flooded with bot activity, algorithmic amplification, and moral absolutism.
Pro-Palestinian bot networks have been documented spamming platforms like TikTok and Instagram, mass-reporting pro-Israel content while boosting anti-Israel messaging. It’s not far-fetched to suggest that high-follower Gen-Z influencers like Christensen were both targeted and elevated by such manipulation.
The result is that TikTok stars like Christensen are now promoting a worldview that merges antisemitism, anti-Americanism, and political violence — rebranded as “anti-Zionism,” repackaged for a young social media audience, and delivered at viral scale.
Guy Christensen’s TikTok feed
At a minimum, colleges and universities must stop pretending this is merely youthful dissent. If a student openly glorifies murder, why should they be welcomed on campus and rewarded with a degree?
And employers, take note: do you want your brand associated with someone who advocates violence against Jews?
Most urgently, social media companies must be held to account. The murders of Yaron and Sarah are not abstract tragedies. Their deaths are the irreversible consequence of a culture that rewards incendiary content and enables its spread.
Though Instagram and TikTok eventually removed the specific video in which Christensen applauded the killings, the rest of his content — much of it laced with the same veiled incitement — remains online, racking up likes, shares, and impressions.
Since October 7, content like Christensen’s hasn’t merely persisted — it has flourished. His follower count has soared. Bots flood hashtags. Pro-Israel voices are drowned out. And the platforms, far from restraining this trend, continue to profit from it.
It is not enough to remove a single video after the damage is done.
It’s time to stop rewarding hate with reach. It’s time to stop monetizing murder.
The author is a contributor to HonestReporting, a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.
The post Guy Christensen: The Gen-Z TikTok Star Inciting His 3.4 Million Followers to Murder ‘Zionists’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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US Links $1.9 Billion in State Disaster Funds to Israel Boycott Stance
A resident enters a FEMA’s improvised station to attend claims by local residents affected by floods following the passing of Hurricane Helene, in Marion, North Carolina, US, Oct. 5, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz
US states and cities that boycott Israeli companies will be denied federal aid for natural disaster preparedness, the Trump administration has announced, tying routine federal funding to its political stance.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency stated in grant notices posted on Friday that states must follow its “terms and conditions.” Those conditions require they certify they will not sever “commercial relations specifically with Israeli companies” to qualify for funding.
The requirement applies to at least $1.9 billion that states rely on to cover search-and-rescue equipment, emergency manager salaries, and backup power systems among other expenses, according to 11 agency grant notices reviewed by Reuters.
The requirement is the Trump administration’s latest effort to use federal funding to promote its views on Israel.
The Department of Homeland Security, the agency that oversees FEMA, in April said that boycotting Israel is prohibited for states and cities receiving its grant funds.
FEMA separately said in July that US states will be required to spend part of their federal terrorism prevention funds on helping the government arrest migrants, an administration priority.
The Israel requirement takes aim at BDS, the boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement designed to isolate the world’s lone Jewish state on the international stage as a step toward its eventual elimination.
“DHS will enforce all antidiscrimination laws and policies, including as it relates to the BDS movement, which is expressly grounded in antisemitism,” a spokesperson for Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said in a statement.
The requirement is largely symbolic. At least 34 states already have anti-BDS laws or policies, according to a University of Pennsylvania law journal. The BDS movement did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The American Jewish Committee supports the Trump administration’s policy, said Holly Huffnagle, the group’s director of antisemitism policy. The AJC is an advocacy group that supports Israel.
Under one of the grant notices posted on Friday, FEMA will require major cities to agree to the Israel policy to receive a cut of $553.5 million set aside to prevent terrorism in dense areas.
New York is due to receive $92.2 million from the program, the most of all the recipients. Allocations are based on the agency’s analysis of “relative risk of terrorism,” according to the notice.
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Iran Sets Up New Defense Council in Wake of War With Israel
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian speaks during a meeting in Ilam, Iran, June 12, 2025. Photo: Iran’s Presidential website/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
Iran‘s top security body approved the establishment of a National Defenxe Council on Sunday, according to state media, following a short air war with Israel in June that was Iran‘s most acute military challenge since the 1980s war with Iraq.
“The new defense body will review defense plans and enhance the capabilities of Iran‘s armed forces in a centralized manner,” the Supreme National Security Council‘s Secretariat was quoted as saying by state media.
The defense council will be chaired by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, and consists of the heads of the three government branches, senior armed forces commanders, and relevant ministries.
On Sunday, the commander-in-chief of Iran‘s military, Amir Hatami, warned that threats from Israel persist and should not be underestimated.
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Israel to Decide Next Steps in Gaza After Ceasefire Talks Collapse
Smoke rises from Gaza as the sun sets, as seen from the Israeli side of the Israel-Gaza border. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will convene his security cabinet this week to decide on Israel‘s next steps in Gaza following the collapse of indirect ceasefire talks with Hamas, with one senior Israeli source suggesting more force could be an option.
Last Saturday, during a visit to the country, US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff had said he was working with the Israeli government on a plan that would effectively end the war in Gaza.
But Israeli officials have also floated ideas including expanding the military offensive in Gaza and annexing parts of the shattered enclave.
The failed ceasefire talks in Doha had aimed to clinch agreements on a US-backed proposal for a 60-day truce, during which aid would be flown into Gaza and half of the hostages Hamas is holding would be freed in exchange for Palestinian prisoners jailed in Israel.
After Netanyahu met Witkoff last Thursday, a senior Israeli official said that “an understanding was emerging between Washington and Israel,” of a need to shift from a truce to a comprehensive deal that would “release all the hostages, disarm Hamas, and demilitarize the Gaza Strip,” – Israel‘s key conditions for ending the war.
A source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Sunday that the envoy’s visit was seen in Israel as “very significant.”
But later on Sunday, the Israeli official signaled that pursuit of a deal would be pointless, threatening more force: “An understanding is emerging that Hamas is not interested in a deal and therefore the prime minister is pushing to release the hostages while pressing for military defeat.”
“STRATEGIC CLARITY”
What a “military defeat” might mean, however, is up for debate within the Israeli leadership. Some Israeli officials have suggested that Israel might declare it was annexing parts of Gaza as a means to pressure the Palestinian terrorist group, which has ruled the enclave for nearly two decades.
Others, like Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir want to see Israel impose military rule in Gaza before annexing it and re-establishing the Jewish settlements Israel evicted 20 years ago.
The Israeli military, which has pushed back at such ideas throughout the war, was expected on Tuesday to present alternatives that include extending into areas of Gaza where it has not yet operated, according to two defense officials.
While some in the political leadership are pushing for expanding the offensive, the military is concerned that doing so will endanger the 20 hostages who are still alive, the officials said.
Israeli Army Radio reported on Monday that military chief Eyal Zamir has become increasingly frustrated with what he describes as a lack of strategic clarity by the political leadership, concerned about being dragged into a war of attrition with Hamas terrorists.
A spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) declined to comment on the report but said that the military has plans in store.
“We have different ways to fight the terror organization, and that’s what the army does,” Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani said.
On Tuesday, Qatar and Egypt endorsed a declaration by France and Saudi Arabia outlining steps toward a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which included a call on Hamas to hand over its arms to the Western-backed Palestinian Authority.
Hamas has repeatedly said it won’t lay down arms. But it has told mediators it was willing to quit governance in Gaza for a non-partisan ruling body, according to three Hamas officials.
It insists that the post-war Gaza arrangement must be agreed upon among the Palestinians themselves and not dictated by foreign powers.
Israel‘s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar suggested on Monday that the gaps were still too wide to bridge.
“We would like to have all our hostages back. We would like to see the end of this war. We always prefer to get there by diplomatic means, if possible. But of course, the big question is, what will be the conditions for the end of the war?” he told journalists in Jerusalem.