By Ross Beroff, editorial columnist

When it came out that a former Northeastern student was working with ISIS to develop its social media presence, there was obvious outrage and curiosity amongst the student body as to how this could occur. This is a sad story, but in no way can Northeastern University be blamed

However, when I first started applying for co-op and was searching for available opportunities, I was again struck by moral outrage when I saw a position listed for Code Pink.

This organization bills itself as a women-initiated grassroots social justice movement. In reality, it is a radical anti-Israel group that supports many anti-Semitic movements. It claims to fight for social justice and tries to hold Israel accountable for supposed violations of international law, yet it ignores the women and LGBTQ communities that are actually oppressed throughout much of the Middle East. It holds Israel to a double standard and focuses its efforts of delegitimization and demonization of it only because it is the Jewish state.

Furthermore, it has focused on boycotts that our university’s administration has come out strongly against, stating: “Academic boycotts are antithetical to the core values of educational institutions, which are committed to the free exchange of ideas. Political differences indeed heighten, not diminish, the importance of unfettered discourse among scholars. At Northeastern, we are proud of our research and experiential learning collaborations with universities around the world. Currently, faculty at Northeastern have strong research partnerships with Israeli universities. These collaborations will continue unabated.”

Signs at protests held by Code Pink include sayings such as “Facist Zionists commit genocide against Semitic peoples of Palestine” and “Say no to Israel’s war crimes.”

Chants at the protests have included vile slogans such as: “We support the intifada,” “Go Back to Germany” and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”

Calls for the complete destruction of the Jewish state, the Jewish people and increased violence against the Jews are reminiscent of the Holocaust.

Apart from its anti-Israel activities, Code Pink also bills itself as anti-war, but it might as well just come out and say that it is anti-America. The leaders of this organization have been tied to $600,000 in cash and supplies that were delivered to insurgents fighting against US Marines in Iraq. Via the hateful protests that Code Pink often holds, it has intimidated the families of our servicemen, disrespecting the sacrifices they have made.

In this respect, it is not very different from the well-known hate group, the Westboro Baptist Church. If Northeastern actively promoted a co-op position for the KKK, there would be intense backlash against the school. For good reason, hate speech and racism are considered unacceptable, but why is it that this is not considered true when it is against the Jews?

Code Pink funds terror, supports hatred and disrespects our troops, yet Northeastern continues to promote and provide the organization with a pipeline for cheap labor to continue carrying out its hatred. Those in support of the organization have the constitutional right to their free speech, as disgusting as it is, but Northeastern does not need to support them and should not continue to do so.

Code Pink’s activities can be followed on Twitter at @codepink.