Aisha Jitan

Overview

Aisha Jitan whitewashed an anti-Semitic incident while serving as the 2020 co-president of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at the University of North Carolina (UNC).

Jitan attended the 2019 National SJP Conference.

National SJP held their conference at UMN - Twin Cities, from November 1-3, 2019. The conference was themed: “Beyond Struggle: From Roots to Branches Towards Liberation.”

As of October 2020, Jitan’s LinkedIn page said she was a “Digital Communications Associate” at the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USCPR) in Washington, D.C. since May 2020.

Jitan’s LinkedIn also said she was a “Digital Media Fellow” with USCPR from September 2019 - May 2020, where she reportedly helped “design political education curriculums.” She was also a “Communications Intern” with USCPR from May-August 2019.

Jitan stated on LinkedIn that she was a “Publications Intern” with the Middle East Institute (MEI) from January-April 2019, and a “Youth Ambassador” with “Go Palestine” from July-August 2016, in the Palestinian territories.

Jitan also wrote on her LinkedIn that she was studying for her master’s degree at Georgetown University (Georgetown) Walsh School of Foreign Service, slated to graduate in 2022 and that she received a bachelor’s degree in International and Global Studies from UNC-Chapel Hill in 2020.

Whitewashing Anti-Semitism

In September 2019, Jitan whitewashed [00:07:27] an anti-Semitic [00:02:01] incident that occurred at the Duke University (Duke) and UNC’s Consortium for Middle East and Islamic Studies (CMES)’s “Conflict Over Gaza: People, Politics and Possibilities” Conference, held on March 22-24, 2019.

The Conference came under scrutiny after an anti-Semitic performance by Palestinian rapper Tamer Nafar. Nafar performed a controversial song titled “I’m in love with a Jew,” which he introduced [00:02:10] as “my anti-Semitic song.” Nafar also urged [00:02:13] the crowd to “think of [actor] Mel Gibson. Go that anti-Semitic,” while joining him in singing the song’s refrain: “I’m in love with a Jew.”

Hollywood star Mel Gibson is known for making numerous anti-Semitic and racist statements.

On April 12, 2019, UNC’s Interim Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz tweeted: “A performance during a recent conference held on our campus contained some disturbing and hurtful language. I stand steadfast against anti-Semitism and hate in all its forms.”

On April 17, 2019, a complaint was filed with the U.S. Department of Education’s (DOE)Office for Civil Rights (OCR) that accused UNC of discrimination against “students of Jewish descent on the basis of national origin” and creating “a hostile environment” for Jewish students.

The complainant cited the anti-Semitic incident at the Conference, as well as the discovery of swastikas drawn on the University campus and anti-Semitic flyers found in a University library after the conference.

On April 18, 2019, CMES formally apologized for “the hurt caused by” Nafar’s remarks at the Conference. On May 13, 2019, CMES published its “Conflict over Gaza” Conference Report, describing Nafar’s comments as “inappropriate and hurtful and not representative of the purpose of the conference.”

Following the continued controversy surrounding the Conference, the DOE launched another investigation in June 2019, calling into question whether CMES’s programming fulfilled the requirements for federal funding.

CMES reportedly received $235,000 of annual federal funding and allegedly budgeted $5,000 of federal funds for the Conference.

In August 2019, the DOE concluded that CMES had violated the standards of its federally-funded program. The DOE found a lack of focus on “foreign language instruction and area studies advancing the security and economic stability” and that CMES provided biased culture studies programming, with little or no programming focused on religious minorities in the Middle East.

The DOE noted that CMES’s programming indicated “critical shortcomings and impermissible biases” and offered “very few, if any, programs focused on the historic discrimination faced by, and current circumstances of, religious minorities in the Middle East, including Christians, Jews, Baha'is, Yadizis, Kurds, Druze, and others.”

The DOE found “an absolute absence” of any focus “on the positive aspects of any other religion or belief system” in the Middle East except for Islam.

The DOE also noted that teacher-training activities hosted by CMES overemphasized “narrow, particularized views of American social issues” while displaying a “startling lack of focus on geography, geopolitical issues, history, and language of the area, as Congress required in Title VI.”

As a condition for future funding, the DOE required that CMES “provide a revised schedule of activities that it plans to support for the coming year, including a description demonstrating how each activity promotes foreign language learning and advances the national security interests and economic stability.”

On September 25, 2019, Jitan hosted and spoke at a UNC SJP protest, organized “In light of the attack on the Duke-UNC Consortium for Middle East Studies by the Department of Education.” The Facebook event description invited attendees to “advocate against censorship in academia in service of American imperialism.”

On September 26, 2019, Jitan was interviewed by Al Jazeera English, where she denied [00:07:20] that Tamer Nafar’s performance “I’m in Love With a Jew” was anti-Semitic, stating [00:07:30]: 'That is actually not a… that’s debated and it’s kind of an invalid claim and it’s kind of up to controversy right now… Just an important nuance; I don’t think it’s safe to say that it was anti-Semitic.'"

On November 6, 2019, the OCR reached a resolution with UNC before determining whether the university had in fact created a hostile environment for Jewish students.

The resolution noted that UNC had committed to further improvement, and on November 14, 2019, UNC’s Interim Chancellor Kevin M. Guskiewicz signed an OCR Resolution Agreement.

The terms of the agreement obligated UNC to revise its anti-discrimination policy to include “anti-Semitic harassment” and to describe how such anti-Semitism could manifest itself on campus. UNC also agreed to host meetings and training sessions to bring awareness to anti-Semitic harassment.

On December 11, 2019, the New York Times reported that Jitan said her school’s “spineless” agreement with the DOE was a “slap in the face” for Palestinian students, like herself, and other minorities.

Attending the 2019 National NSJP Conference

On November 2, 2019, Jitan featured in a UNC SJP photo posted to their Instagram stories, along with other UNC SJP activists Jacquelyn Hedrick and Fouad Abu-Hijleh, while attending the NSJP 2019 Conference.

On that same day, Jitan posted a video to her Instagram stories of Hedrick and Abu-Hijleh at the Conference, with the caption: “One day palestine will be free and it will be televised.”

On November 3, 2019, Jitan posted a photo of the final panel of the National SJP Conference to her Instagram stories.

The 2019 National SJP Conference was held at the University of Minnesota- Twin Cities (UMN), from November 1-3. The Conference themes centered on support for BDS as well as the rejection of Israel and Zionism.

The Conference partnered with numerous anti-Israel organizations and conducted their event in a clandestine manner.

2019 National SJP - Supporting BDS

The Conference website called to capitalize on shifts in the political climate, represented by the elections to the U.S. Congress of Representatives Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, who both support BDS. National SJP speakers also reportedly drew attention to Rep. Omar’s support for the BDS movement as the Representative for UMN’s Congressional district.

During the Conference, National SJP speakers reportedly “noted the success of past divestment campaigns at the University [UMN], which ultimately resulted in the passing of a campus-wide [BDS] referendum in 2018.”

The UMN resolution passed in 2018 by a margin of 3.4 percent of those students who voted, translating to approval by 6.18% of all eligible voters. Less than 13% of the eligible voters actually voted on UMN’s BDS referendum.

2019 National SJP - Rejecting Israel and Zionism

The 2019 National SJP Conference website indicated that the goal of their “solidarity movement” was to push for policies that “demanded the end of” the state of Israel, referred to as “the Israeli occupation.”

The website clarified that “the Palestinian struggle against Zionism, extends beyond the confines of 1967, and well before the Nakba,” and was based on the rejection of Jewish national self-determination in Israel.

Nakba is an Arabic term for “catastrophe” and refers to the outcome of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. It is a term often used to delegitimize the creation of the State of Israel.

2019 National SJP - Heightened Secrecy

The 2019 National SJP Conference required attendees to be “verified and vouched for” by an SJP chapter to which they belonged and required each chapter to register as a group. The conference also required each group to be verified by a “reference––someone who is NOT going to this conference but who is or has recently been a part of your SJP.”

Members of allied student groups could register only as part of an SJP chapter delegation which, in turn, needed to be “vouched for by their campus’s SJP” for “security culture and accountability reasons.”

The Conference also restricted media access to journalists “registered and confirmed by our Media Committee in advance to attend the conference. Absolutely no exceptions will be made.”

During the Conference, National SJP reportedly covered the windows of the conference hall.

2019 National SJP - Partnering Organizations

National SJP partnered with other anti-Israel organizations to table, sell merchandise and lead workshops, including CODEPINK, Palestine Youth Movement (PYM), Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), US Palestinian Community Network (USPCN), Palestine Legal, Watan Palestine and the Adalah Justice Project.

Keynote speakers included Loubna Qutami, Chair of PYM, as well as Taher Herzallah of American Muslims for Palestine (AMP). Other speakers included Miko Peled, Sandra Tamari, Suhad Katib, Chris Gazaleh, Clarissa Bitar, Tariq Luthun, Maytha Alhassen and Sima Shakhsari.

National SJP held their conference at the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities (UMN), from November 1-3, 2019. The conference was themed: “Beyond Struggle: From Roots to Branches Towards Liberation.”

SJP

SJP is a student organization engaged in anti-Israel activity on North American college and university campuses.

The first chapter of SJP was founded in 2001 at the University of California at Berkeley by Professor Hatem Bazian. Bazian has spread classic anti-Semitism, reportedly promoted religious anti-Semitism and defended the Hamas terror group. In 2004, Bazian called for “intifada” in America.

SJP organizes anti-Israel campaigns, including running annual Israel Apartheid Weeks, often in collaboration with Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) and Muslim Students Association (MSA) campus chapters.

SJP has been a major force in pushing the anti-Semitic Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement on campuses. Chapters have initiated dozens of BDS resolutions in student governments, which have been proposed on or around Jewish holidays, a time when many Jewish students are off-campus.

SJP activists have reportedly physically assaulted, intimidated and harassed Jewish students, disrupted pro-Israel campus events and demonized pro-Israel campus organizations.

Chapters have often endorsed and campaigned for numerous terrorists and whitewashed terrorism.