Alex Shams
Overview
Shams is a member of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at the University of Chicago (SJP U of C) and supports the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.On October 29, 2017, Shams participated in a Skype session at the 2017 National SJP Conference (NSJP). Shams announced on Facebook that he would be talking “about combating attacks on Palestine activists... and resisting the far-right's attacks on free speech on campuses.”
NSJP 2017 was held October 27-29, 2017 at the University of Houston (UH). The conference was themed “A Reimagined World: Dismantling Walls from Palestine to the Rio Grande.” Per the 2017 National SJP Conference website, the conference aimed to strengthen “collaborative efforts within all regions to pass BDS” and envision “pathways to achieving sanctions in the future.”
Shams worked as an Editor for the Palestinian Ma’an News Agency (Ma’an) from September 2013 to June 2015. As of December 2011, he was associated with the Ajam Media Collective, where he later became Co-Editor-in-Chief.
Alex Shams is a Ph.D. student of Anthropology at the University of Chicago (U of C). Shams graduated from Harvard University in 2013, with an M.A. in Middle East studies. He received his B.A. in International Relations from the University of California, in 2010.
Demonizing Israel
On April 19, 2016, Shams tweeted that Israel has "a culture that celebrates death."On December 27, 2015, Shams tweeted — “#Israel is a racist state, pure and simple, with diff rights afforded based on racial status - 1 law for Jews, other laws for #Palestinians.”
On November 20, 2015, Shams attended a meeting of Anthropologists for the Boycott of Israeli Academic Institutions to promote an academic boycott of Israel resolution. Shams tweeted numerous times from the event and falsely accused Israel of Apartheid. He tweeted — “#Israeli institutions are complicit in apartheid. I think of Palestinian students denied right study abroad while TelAvivU supported bombing.”
On November 27, 2014, Shams misappropriated the struggle of Native North Americans to libel Israel. In the comment feed of his Facebook, Shams quoted from an article in Jadaliyya that said — “the United States and Israel are at different stages of settlement and genocide."
On November 20, 2014, Shams posted on Facebook a malicious mischaracterization of Israel’s Operation Protective Edge (OPE) as “one of the bloodiest massacres perpetrated by the state in recent memory.”
Israel commenced Operation Protective Edge (OPE) in July 2014, to stop rocket fire targeting Israeli civilians and to destroy Hamas attack tunnels.
In the same post, Shams misrepresented Hamas propaganda as fact, writing that — “nearly 2,200 Palestinians -- overwhelmingly civilians.-- were killed by Israel.”
Shams went on to lie that the conflict was about “settler colonialism, not a war with two sides” and of “continued colonization of Palestinian land, the strangling of the Palestinian economy, and the periodic slaughter of innocents in the world's biggest prison, Gaza.”
Shams then demonized “80-90% of Jewish Israelis” for their support for OPE — libeling them as supporting “slaughter with no reservations, even demanding the state kill more.”
In the conclusion of his status, Shams falsely blamed Israel for motivating “murderers like those involved in the synagogue attack [Har Nof Massacre] ...” In the 2014 Har Nof Massacre, two Palestinian terrorists murdered six people using a gun, axes and a butcher knife, during morning prayers in a West Jerusalem synagogue. Hani Thawbta, a Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) leader in Gaza praised the massacre as “heroic.”
On October 2, 2014, Shams tweeted fraudulently: “During and after 1948 war, #Israel maintained at least 22 concentration camps for #Palestinian men.”
Shams has frequently tweets=ed disinformation falsely blaming Israel exclusively for the creation and continuation of the Palestinian refugee problem. On April 20, 2014, Shams tweeted the libel that “Nakba did not start after ‘Arabs lost,’ it began prior as part of plan for majority-Jewish Israel.”
Cheering The Bullying of Pro-Israel LGBT Group Members
On January 22, 2016, Shams, with other protesters at a major U.S. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) conference in Chicago, disrupted and shut down a talk about LGBT life in Israel. The talk featured a Jerusalem LGBT group and an American pro-Israel LGBT group. Shams displayed a sign that read: “You can’t dialogue with Apartheid.”That same day, Shams tweeted “Hey hey ho ho Zionism's gotta go” — and images of the protesters. The agitators explicitly aimed at shutting down the talk — screaming: “Shut it down!” and “Racists go home!” Three protesters eventually broke into the event room and shouted down the scheduled speakers.
Other radicals created an openly hostile environment, pushing and shoving and shouting outside the lecture hall. Shams tweeted footage of fellow student Sara Rubinstein and others chanting “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free!” — a call for Israel’s destruction.
Some protesters reportedly used the anti-Semitic slur “kike” against Jewish conference participants. One protester shouted: “we’re going to stay here and we’re going to challenge these Zionist racist motherf***ers.” Some attendees of the talk had to leave through side entrances — blocked from leaving the main entrance by protesters.
Eventually the police were called in to intervene.
The raucous, anti-Semitic shut-down of pro-Israel voices was widely criticized within the LGBT community. What happened in Chicago was so disturbing that 41 national and grassroots LGBT leaders signed a letter to National LGBTQ Task Force Executive Director, Rea Carey, expressing their deep concern.
Supporting Student-Killer Rasmea Odeh
On 31 March, 2016, Shams tweeted support for unrepentant terrorist-murderer Rasmea Odeh.Odeh was a key military operative [00:02:08]with the terrorist group the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). In 1969, Odeh masterminded a PFLP bombing that killed two college students in a Jerusalem supermarket. Odeh also attempted to bomb the British consulate.
Odeh confessed, in a highly detailed account, the day following her arrest. In a 2004 documentary, one of Odeh’s co-conspirators directly implicated [00:10:53] Odeh as the mastermind.
In 1970, an Israeli court tried and convicted Odeh for her involvement in both bombings and sentenced her to life imprisonment. However, Odeh was released 10 years later, in a prisoner swap and emigrated to the United States.
On November 10, 2014, a Michigan federal jury convicted Odeh for immigration fraud because she failed to disclose her prior conviction and life sentence on her immigration application. On March 12, 2015, she was sentenced to 18 months in prison.
In 2017, after an appeal and a lengthy court battle, Odeh admitted to immigration fraud, was stripped of her U.S. citizenship, deported to Jordan and banned from re-entering the U.S.
SJP U of C - Disguising Anti-Semitism as Anti-Zionism
On July 20, 2014 — During Israel’s Operation Protective Edge — SJP U of C members attended an anti-Israel march and die in that was held in downtown Chicago. Demonstrators held signs bearing anti-Semitic claims, such as “Zionism is Nazism.” One sign read: —“Well done Israel, Hitler would be proud of you.” Another said — “Stop doing what Hitler did to you.” Yet another read: — “Israel is a Racist, Genocidal state.” One placard propagated multiple blood libels, reading: — “Israel’s To Do List: use chemical weapons, murder children, attack the press, bomb refugee camps, block provisions of humanitarian aid.”
The demonstration was organized by the Coalition for Justice in Palestine (CJP) — a group formed at the time of the second Intifada, which includes Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP)-Chicago. SJP Chicago is, in turn, a “network forged by student activists organizing for Palestine on university campuses throughout Chicago,” which includes SJP U of C.
On August 10, 2014, CJP organized another anti-Israel rally and die-in, attended by members of SJP U of C and JVP UChicago. SJP U of C member Jonah Rubin posed holding up a sign that falsely accused Israel of apartheid. SJP U of C member Kirsten Gindler posed holding a JVP sign which fraudulently accused Israel of waging a war on innocents: — “Jews Oppose Israel’s War on Civilians.”
On July 29, 2014, Shams tweeted — “#Israel's war in #Gaza is not a war for hearts and minds, it's about terrorizing a population into submission.”
Signs at the protest likened Israelis to Nazis. One sign read: “Zionism = Nazism” with a Star of David and Swastika beside each word, respectively. Another sign said: “ISRAEL KILLS Children” while yet another said: “Israel is a war criminal.” It was reported that a flyer with a photo of children was distributed, that read “NO… NOT AUSCHWITZ… ITS OCCUPIED PALESTINE.”
On October 18, 2015, Shams also shared on Twitter photos and videos from the protest, tweeting: — “1000 chanting on Chicago streets: "Hands off our mosques, hands off our churches, Intifada, Intifada!" #Palestine.” This tweet echoed deadly incitement by Palestinian leaders in October 2015 that lead directly to murderous attacks against Israeli Jews.
That same day, Shams tweeted more pictures from the march and recalled the chant that denied Israel’s right to exist: — “1000 chanting ‘from the river to the sea, #Palestine will be free’ in downtown #Chicago.” One of Shams photos showed a sign reading — “Victory March will continue until the Palestinian flag flies in Jerusalem and all of Palestine.”
Spreading Anti-Semitic Calls for Violence
On October 18, 2015 — as a wave of terrorist violence, known as the “stabbing Intifada,” swept across Israel — Shams participated in a protest hosted by American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) Chicago (AMP-Chicago). During that October, Palestinian radicals stabbed and hacked to death scores of Israeli civilians. The AMP rally featured open calls for violence, with protesters shouting “Intifada, Intifada, We Support the Intifada!” and “Free Free Palestine!”Signs at the protest likened Israelis to Nazis. One sign read: “Zionism = Nazism” with a Star of David and Swastika beside each word, respectively. Another sign said: “ISRAEL KILLS Children” while yet another said: “Israel is a war criminal.” It was reported that a flyer with a photo of children was distributed, that read “NO… NOT AUSCHWITZ… ITS OCCUPIED PALESTINE.”
On October 18, 2015, Shams also shared on Twitter photos and videos from the protest, tweeting: — “1000 chanting on Chicago streets: "Hands off our mosques, hands off our churches, Intifada, Intifada!" #Palestine.” This tweet echoed deadly incitement by Palestinian leaders in October 2015 that lead directly to murderous attacks against Israeli Jews.
That same day, Shams tweeted more pictures from the march and recalled the chant that denied Israel’s right to exist: — “1000 chanting ‘from the river to the sea, #Palestine will be free’ in downtown #Chicago.” One of Shams photos showed a sign reading — “Victory March will continue until the Palestinian flag flies in Jerusalem and all of Palestine.”
Whitewashing Terrorism
On May 25, 2016, Shams shared a photo on Facebook of Sawsan Ali Mansour, — with the misleading, provocative comment: “Palestinian woman shot dead at #Israel checkpoint,1 of 200 killed since October in West Bank.” Shams omitted Mansour was shot only after she pulled a knife and attempted to kill a female border guard stationed at the checkpoint.UofC Divest
On March 28, 2016, a coalition of organizations including Jewish Voice for Peace UChicago (JVP UChicago), SJP at the University of Chicago (SJP U of C), Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán at UChicago and Queers United in Power launched the UofC Divest campaign. The campaign called on U of C’s College Council to pass a resolution urging the university’s divestment from targeted companies doing business with Israel. The launch urged students to sign a petition supporting the resolution.UofC Divest’s inaugural Facebook post claimed that “we act in direct response to the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement” — that lists the Council of National and Islamic Forces in Palestine as the first member of its national committee and takes its financing, inspiration and marching orders from foreign sources.
Also on March 28, 2016 UofC Divest hung banners throughout the (U of C) campus, supporting the divestment resolution. Dozens of BDS supporters held a rally, marching with a huge Palestinian flag through U of C’s central quad.
On March 28, 2016, Shams shared photos of the banners on Facebook and promoted the campaign as a representative of the UofC Divest team.
On March 29, 2016, Shams shared photos on Twitter of the anti-Israel demonstrators rallying around the campus with a giant Palestinian flag.
On March 28, 2016, Shams shared photos of the banners on Facebook and promoted the campaign as a representative of the UofC Divest team.
On March 29, 2016, Shams shared photos on Twitter of the anti-Israel demonstrators rallying around the campus with a giant Palestinian flag.
Students at the U of C who were opposed to UofC Divest responded by launching a counter campaign — “University of Chicago Coalition for Peace.”
On April 11, 2016, UofC Divest uploaded a video promoting its campaign, featuring SJP and JVP members. One member said — “this University shouldn’t be profiting off the murder of women and children.” Another student who presented herself as a recipient of financial aid complained that “it makes me really angry to know that the money used to fund my education comes from loads of human rights violations.” Another student said she supports
On April 11, 2016, UofC Divest uploaded a video promoting its campaign, featuring SJP and JVP members. One member said — “this University shouldn’t be profiting off the murder of women and children.” Another student who presented herself as a recipient of financial aid complained that “it makes me really angry to know that the money used to fund my education comes from loads of human rights violations.” Another student said she supports
UofC Divest because she doesn’t “support a state founded on Apartheid.” Diana Lozano, co-chair of Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán at UChicago (M.E.Ch.A.) — speaking in Spanish claimed — “the same colonial forces in the U.S.-Mexico borders are the ones that are oppressing Gaza.”
On April 14, 2016, two-weeks after the UofC Divest campaign’s launch, the College Council passed the resolution in an 8-4-3 vote. Shams, present at the vote posted on Facebook pictures of himself and other UofC Divest members celebrating.
In a marked departure from prior College Council policy, all photography and voice recordings were prohibited at the divestment vote. Representatives’ individual votes on amendments disassociating the resolution from the international BDS movement and asserting Israel’s right to exist were not captured on the record. Two attempts by the university newspaper to re-poll members of the Council yielded different numbers than the totals from that night — and indicated that at least two representatives misreported their votes.
Following the vote, some students sought to illustrate that UofC Divest was not about human rights, but about singling out Israel. They proposed a resolution to the college council to divest from Chinese weapon manufacturers due to China’s record of human rights violations and its occupation of Tibet. Council members condemned the resolution — and tabled it indefinitely— claiming it was political and offensive to Chinese students.
The text stated: “Regardless of the charges brought against them by occupying Israeli military courts, we stand in defense of all Palestinian prisoners.” The text continued, “[t]hose held by Israel are all prisoners of conscience and national heroes, and we reject the criminalization of our resistance. To defend and advocate for them is to support the sacred right of the Palestinians to National Liberation and Independence.”
This unqualified defense of all Palestinian prisoners would include convicted terrorists Amjad and Hakim Awad— currently held in Israeli jail — who decapitated 3-month-old infant Hadar Fogel and butchered her 4-year-old brother Elad, 11-year-old brother Yoav — along with their mother Ruth and father Udi on March 11, 2011. The Awads used knives and guns to attack the Fogel family members in their beds. Amjad Awad told reporters in court: “I’m proud of what I did and I’ll accept any punishment I get, even death, because I did it all for Palestine.”
The USPCN post quoted by SJP U of C urged taking “immediate action” by registering to attend unrepentant terrorist-murderer Rasmea Odeh’s next status hearing and labeled her a “beloved community icon.”
On March 17, 2016 the SJP U of C Facebook Page’s cover photo featured a likeness of Rasmea Odeh. On April 23, 2015, JVP UChicago members attended a fundraising event for her.
The SJP U of C Facebook cover photo also included an image of domestic terrorist Assata Shakur, who was convicted of killing a NJ State trooper and grievously wounding another in 1973. Shakur escaped from prison in 1979 and managed to flee to Cuba in 1984 — where she resides today. She is listed on the FBI Most Wanted Terror List under her legal name, Joanne Deborah Chesimard.
Further, the SJP U of C Facebook cover photo included an image of Commandanta Ramona, a deceased leader of the militant separatist Mexican group the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN).
Lastly, the cover photo included an image of Angela Davis. Davis made the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitive List in 1970, after being charged as a principal in an aggravated kidnapping and first-degree murder — for purchasing the shotgun used in the abduction and killing of a judge. Davis was eventually arrested — but later acquitted.
On April 14, 2016, two-weeks after the UofC Divest campaign’s launch, the College Council passed the resolution in an 8-4-3 vote. Shams, present at the vote posted on Facebook pictures of himself and other UofC Divest members celebrating.
In a marked departure from prior College Council policy, all photography and voice recordings were prohibited at the divestment vote. Representatives’ individual votes on amendments disassociating the resolution from the international BDS movement and asserting Israel’s right to exist were not captured on the record. Two attempts by the university newspaper to re-poll members of the Council yielded different numbers than the totals from that night — and indicated that at least two representatives misreported their votes.
Following the vote, some students sought to illustrate that UofC Divest was not about human rights, but about singling out Israel. They proposed a resolution to the college council to divest from Chinese weapon manufacturers due to China’s record of human rights violations and its occupation of Tibet. Council members condemned the resolution — and tabled it indefinitely— claiming it was political and offensive to Chinese students.
Embracing Hate Speech
On April 1, 2016, Shams shared a photo on Facebook of himself with New York-based Poet, Remi Kenazi at an event titled “Narratives of Resistance” organized by several organizations, including JVP UChicago and SJP U of C. The event featured Kenazi, notorious for aggressively anti-Israel poetry and Israel-hater Lubna Morrar, who spreads incitement against Israelis and hatred of America in her poetry.SJP U of C - Sanctifying Terrorists and Murderers as “National Heroes”
On May 16, 2016, SJP U of C approvingly posted on Facebook the U.S. Palestinian Community Network (USPCN) stance on Palestinian terrorism against Israel.The text stated: “Regardless of the charges brought against them by occupying Israeli military courts, we stand in defense of all Palestinian prisoners.” The text continued, “[t]hose held by Israel are all prisoners of conscience and national heroes, and we reject the criminalization of our resistance. To defend and advocate for them is to support the sacred right of the Palestinians to National Liberation and Independence.”
This unqualified defense of all Palestinian prisoners would include convicted terrorists Amjad and Hakim Awad— currently held in Israeli jail — who decapitated 3-month-old infant Hadar Fogel and butchered her 4-year-old brother Elad, 11-year-old brother Yoav — along with their mother Ruth and father Udi on March 11, 2011. The Awads used knives and guns to attack the Fogel family members in their beds. Amjad Awad told reporters in court: “I’m proud of what I did and I’ll accept any punishment I get, even death, because I did it all for Palestine.”
The USPCN post quoted by SJP U of C urged taking “immediate action” by registering to attend unrepentant terrorist-murderer Rasmea Odeh’s next status hearing and labeled her a “beloved community icon.”
On March 17, 2016 the SJP U of C Facebook Page’s cover photo featured a likeness of Rasmea Odeh. On April 23, 2015, JVP UChicago members attended a fundraising event for her.
The SJP U of C Facebook cover photo also included an image of domestic terrorist Assata Shakur, who was convicted of killing a NJ State trooper and grievously wounding another in 1973. Shakur escaped from prison in 1979 and managed to flee to Cuba in 1984 — where she resides today. She is listed on the FBI Most Wanted Terror List under her legal name, Joanne Deborah Chesimard.
Further, the SJP U of C Facebook cover photo included an image of Commandanta Ramona, a deceased leader of the militant separatist Mexican group the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN).
Lastly, the cover photo included an image of Angela Davis. Davis made the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitive List in 1970, after being charged as a principal in an aggravated kidnapping and first-degree murder — for purchasing the shotgun used in the abduction and killing of a judge. Davis was eventually arrested — but later acquitted.
SJP U of C - Hosting Israel Haters
On May 11, 2015, SJP U of C organized an event featuring Dr. Leila Farsakh. Farsakh advocates for a one-state solution that would see the dissolution of Israel as a Jewish State.Farsakh attended Harvard's One State Conference in March 2012, where in response to a question concerning the fate of Israeli Jews were they to become disempowered by the voluntary dissolution of Israel, Farsakh reportedly suggested they could "reconnect with their Arabism."
On May 13, 2015, as part of Palestine Solidarity Week, SJP U of C organized an event featuring Dr. Sa'ed Atshan. Atshan has long rejected the two-state solution, does not accept that Israel is a democracy and wants the Jewish state to be dissolved and replaced with another. democratic state.
In 2012, Atshan wrote an article that falsely accused Israel of “ethnic cleansing” and “colonization” — and roundly condemned Native American poet Joy Harjo for rejecting Palestinian calls to boycott Israel. Harjo posted on her Facebook page from Tel Aviv, saying: “Now my social media pages and message boxes are filled with a campaign to force a boycott, with messages of polarization, as if there is one way to poetry, resistance or empowerment.” Harjo went on to mention “an atmosphere of censure now in the ultimatum that I am being given to boycott.”
On December 27, 2015, Shams tweeted — “Saed Atshan is a professor of peace and war studies at a Quaker college. #Israel deems him a "security threat"!”
On January 17, 2012, SJP U of C hosted a panel event with Remi Kanazi, condemning Israel’s 2008 - 2009 Operation Cast Lead. The event also featured Ali Abunimah, the co-founder of the anti-Israel online magazine Electronic Intifada.
Shams attended one of the week’s events, a panel moderated by John Mearsheimer, notorious for anti-Semitic claims that the “Israel Lobby” in the United States exercises undue influence over U.S. foreign policy and that the Lobby’s agenda is detrimental to U.S. interests.
The event also featured Black rights activist Page May from We Charge Genocide and co-founder of the BDS movement Omar Barghouti, who rejects the existence of Israel.
Barghouti falsely claimed that the demand that all Palestinian refugees be allowed to settle in Israel is a “right” under international law, and further asserted that the demands of BDS are “inflexible” and “non-negotiable” — and if people object, then “tough.”
Barghouti also accused Israel of “colonizing the minds of Palestinians” by (temporarily) shutting down Palestinian educational institutions — particularly Birzeit University — whose militant student body was involved in riots and terror activity during the first Intifada and later remained ridden with terrorists. Barghouti omitted that under Israeli occupation five Arab universities and 70 teaching colleges were created on the West Bank, between 1967 and 1987 alone; none were permitted when the area was under Jordanian rule before 1967.
On May 13, 2015, as part of Palestine Solidarity Week, SJP U of C organized an event featuring Dr. Sa'ed Atshan. Atshan has long rejected the two-state solution, does not accept that Israel is a democracy and wants the Jewish state to be dissolved and replaced with another. democratic state.
In 2012, Atshan wrote an article that falsely accused Israel of “ethnic cleansing” and “colonization” — and roundly condemned Native American poet Joy Harjo for rejecting Palestinian calls to boycott Israel. Harjo posted on her Facebook page from Tel Aviv, saying: “Now my social media pages and message boxes are filled with a campaign to force a boycott, with messages of polarization, as if there is one way to poetry, resistance or empowerment.” Harjo went on to mention “an atmosphere of censure now in the ultimatum that I am being given to boycott.”
On December 27, 2015, Shams tweeted — “Saed Atshan is a professor of peace and war studies at a Quaker college. #Israel deems him a "security threat"!”
On January 17, 2012, SJP U of C hosted a panel event with Remi Kanazi, condemning Israel’s 2008 - 2009 Operation Cast Lead. The event also featured Ali Abunimah, the co-founder of the anti-Israel online magazine Electronic Intifada.
SJP U of C - Dedicating a Week to Israel-Hatred
From October 26-30, 2015, SJP U of C launched its annual Israeli Apartheid Week — a five-day event dedicated to demonizing Israel.Shams attended one of the week’s events, a panel moderated by John Mearsheimer, notorious for anti-Semitic claims that the “Israel Lobby” in the United States exercises undue influence over U.S. foreign policy and that the Lobby’s agenda is detrimental to U.S. interests.
The event also featured Black rights activist Page May from We Charge Genocide and co-founder of the BDS movement Omar Barghouti, who rejects the existence of Israel.
Barghouti falsely claimed that the demand that all Palestinian refugees be allowed to settle in Israel is a “right” under international law, and further asserted that the demands of BDS are “inflexible” and “non-negotiable” — and if people object, then “tough.”
Barghouti also accused Israel of “colonizing the minds of Palestinians” by (temporarily) shutting down Palestinian educational institutions — particularly Birzeit University — whose militant student body was involved in riots and terror activity during the first Intifada and later remained ridden with terrorists. Barghouti omitted that under Israeli occupation five Arab universities and 70 teaching colleges were created on the West Bank, between 1967 and 1987 alone; none were permitted when the area was under Jordanian rule before 1967.
In January of 2016, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) swept Birzeit, seizing weapons stockpiles and Hamas propaganda. The university administration echoed Barghouti’s claims, characterizing the sweep as a “belligerent ... attack on the university and our right to education and all the principles involved in the freedom of education."
Barghouti also condemned Israel for shutting down other educational institutions, like kindergartens and high schools, which were also used to educate children to hate Israeli Jews — and become suicide bombers. Barghouti also falsely claimed that Israel is guilty of Apartheid towards its Arab citizens.
On October 27, 2015, SJP U of C hosted a talk featuring Eliat Maoz, who propagated a blood libel, claiming that Israel’s wars with Hamas in Gaza are “a testing ground” for the weapons industry. Maoz described the “Occupied Palestinian Territories” as “the largest and most advanced weapon-testing laboratory,” and that Israel uses its operations as a means of marketing and exporting its technology and weapons abroad.
Barghouti also condemned Israel for shutting down other educational institutions, like kindergartens and high schools, which were also used to educate children to hate Israeli Jews — and become suicide bombers. Barghouti also falsely claimed that Israel is guilty of Apartheid towards its Arab citizens.
On October 27, 2015, SJP U of C hosted a talk featuring Eliat Maoz, who propagated a blood libel, claiming that Israel’s wars with Hamas in Gaza are “a testing ground” for the weapons industry. Maoz described the “Occupied Palestinian Territories” as “the largest and most advanced weapon-testing laboratory,” and that Israel uses its operations as a means of marketing and exporting its technology and weapons abroad.
SJP U of C and JVP UChicago - Exalting Terror
On November 2, 2015, JVP UChicago and SJP U of C erected a shrine honoring Palestinian terrorists killed during the upsurge of stabbings, car rammings and other terrorist attacks against Jews, that began in October 2015 — in which scores of Israelis were brutally murdered. SJP U of C and JVP UChicago falsely accused Israeli security forces who neutralized the terrorists of conducting “extra-judicial killings.”The shrine featured Palestinian terrorist Fadi Aloon, whom it portrayed as an innocent civilian was shot while “run[ning] from a racist mob.” In reality, Aloon was shot by Israeli security forces after he tried to stab to death a 15-year old Israeli boy. Several hours before the stabbing, Aloon posted “Either martyrdom or victory” on his Facebook page.
SJP U of C - Sanctifying Terrorists and Murderers as “National Heroes”
On May 16, 2016, SJP U of C approvingly posted on Facebook the U.S. Palestinian Community Network (USPCN) stance on Palestinian terrorism against Israel.The text stated: “Regardless of the charges brought against them by occupying Israeli military courts, we stand in defense of all Palestinian prisoners.” The text continued, “[t]hose held by Israel are all prisoners of conscience and national heroes, and we reject the criminalization of our resistance. To defend and advocate for them is to support the sacred right of the Palestinians to National Liberation and Independence.”
This unqualified defense of all Palestinian prisoners would include convicted terrorists Amjad and Hakim Awad— currently held in Israeli jail — who decapitated 3-month-old infant Hadar Fogel and butchered her 4-year-old brother Elad, 11-year-old brother Yoav — along with their mother Ruth and father Udi on March 11, 2011. The Awads used knives and guns to attack the Fogel family members in their beds. Amjad Awad told reporters in court: “I’m proud of what I did and I’ll accept any punishment I get, even death, because I did it all for Palestine.”
The USPCN post quoted by SJP U of C urged taking “immediate action” by registering to attend unrepentant terrorist-murderer Rasmea Odeh’s next status hearing and labeled her a “beloved community icon.”
On March 17, 2016 the SJP U of C Facebook Page’s cover photo featured a likeness of Rasmea Odeh. On April 23, 2015, JVP UChicago members attended a fundraising event for her.
The SJP U of C Facebook cover photo also included an image of domestic terrorist Assata Shakur, who was convicted of killing a NJ State trooper and grievously wounding another in 1973. Shakur escaped from prison in 1979 and managed to flee to Cuba in 1984 — where she resides today. She is listed on the FBI Most Wanted Terror List under her legal name, Joanne Deborah Chesimard.
Further, the SJP U of C Facebook cover photo included an image of Commandanta Ramona, a deceased leader of the militant separatist Mexican group the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN).
Lastly, the cover photo included an image of Angela Davis. Davis made the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitive List in 1970, after being charged as a principal in an aggravated kidnapping and first-degree murder — for purchasing the shotgun used in the abduction and killing of a judge. Davis was eventually arrested — but later acquitted.
SJP U of C - Idolizing Terrorists
On October 14, 2015, SJP U of C launched on Facebook an incendiary poster campaign memorializing — in a fraudulent manner— the names of people who were killed during riots and terrorists who were neutralized. The Posters say” MURDERED BY THE ISRAELI MILITARY” or “INJURED BY ISRAELI FORCES.” The posters were hung in public spaces throughout campus. The funerals of some of those memorialized also were exploited by Palestinian militants to foment yet further violence. The Facebook post misleadingly called the assailants “victims of state violence.”Ahmed Manasra (sometimes spelled Mansara) and his 15-year-old cousin Hassan went on a stabbing spree in Jerusalem on October 12, 2015, during the Knife Intifada. They critically wounded a 13-year-old boy and moderately wounded a 25-year-old man. The spree ended when police shot Hassan and a passing motorist hit Ahmed. Ahmed was taken to an Israeli hospital. He admitted to investigators: “I went there to stab Jews.” He was later tried and convicted on two counts of attempted murder.
Another poster portrayed Palestinian attempted-murderer Fadi Aloon, as “murdered” by the Israeli police.
SJP U of C - Lying To Slander Israel
On May 13, 2015, SJP U of C ran Palestine Solidarity Week, which featured a JVP UChicago workshop titled, Facing the Nakba, which falsely blamed Israel exclusively for the creation of the Palestinian refugee problem and misleadingly charged Israel with its continuation. The groups distributed various placards with disinformation propagated as “historical truth.”One placard made the misleading claim that Israel depopulated 500 Arab villages — when, in fact, Arabs were encouraged to lay down arms and stay.
Another placard stated, fraudulently, that “in 2011 the Knesset (Parliament) passed a bill which bars any public funding for any commemoration of Nakba day.” In truth, the bill only penalized local authorities and other state-funded bodies for holding events marking Nakba (Arabic for catastrophe) Day on Israel’s Independence Day, holding events that support armed resistance or racism against Israel, or desecrating the state flag or national symbols.
Other placards propagated the unique definition of “refugee” that UNRWA applies to Palestinian Arabs, with one placard stating that over 4.4 Million Palestinian refugees are registered with the U.N. and others estimating the total number of Palestinian refugees at 7 Million.
SJP U of C - Propagating Blood Libels
On September 16, 2014, SJP U of C shared on Facebook an image of Palestinians massacred in the Sabra and Shatilla refugee camps in Lebanon by Lebanese Christian Phalangists — and falsely suggesting that Israel committed the massacre. The post, based on a highly questionable, uncorroborated source, further alleged that “63 noted Palestinian intellectuals in Sabra and Shatila were shot execution-style by Israeli forces.”On May 7, 2014, SJP U of C shared a poster on Facebook objecting to Israel’s Independence Day, and rejecting Israel’s right to exist. The poster urged: “Decolonize Palestine. Free Palestine.” The poster falsely accused Zionists of “celebrating” and trying “to normalize ethnic cleansing.” SJP U of C and JVP UChicago members paraded similar signs on the grounds of the U of C campus.
SJP U of C - Shutting down Free Speech
On February 21, 2016, SJP members opposed a lecture by Bassem Eid, founder of the Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group, who opposes the BDS movement. During the talk Eid was threatened with physical violence.After Eid criticized the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Hamas for repression and human rights abuses against the Palestinians, protesters repeatedly interrupted Eid. A former student at Chicago’s Columbia College, who said he was from Gaza, yelled in Arabic, “I’m going to destroy this place!” Later, he said, “I’m going to kill this motherf*****!” and “Wait until you go to your car!”
In October 2009, over a hundred SJP U of C and MSA U of C members disrupted a lecture by former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert visiting U of C, organized by the Harris School of Public Policy. Demonstrators shouted,“You deserve to be executed!” One agitator was dragged out by police, yelling “You’re a f**king snake! You goddamn pig!” The protesters turned violent against the police; some were arrested.
The anti-Israel agitators waved banners with Olmert’s likeness and the phrase “war criminal.” Demonstrators denied Israel’s right to exist in any part of Palestine — chanting “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” Across the Palestinian political spectrum, from Hamas to the PA, that phrase has always referred specifically to the destruction of Israel and expulsion of the Jews.
On February 26, 2013, SJP protested a talk by Israeli-American Law Professor Amos Guiora from the University of Utah. Protesters picketed and turned their chairs away from Guiora in the middle of his talk. One student continuously interrupted Guiora until being escorted out of the room.
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.
BDS
The Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement was founded by Omar Barghouti in 2005 to challenge “international support for Israeli apartheid and settler-colonialism.” BDS is an allegedly “Palestinian-led movement,” although leading BDS activists have admitted [00:01:01] this is not true.
One of the demands of BDS includes [point 3] what is generally known as the “right of return,” a demand discredited as a way to eliminate Israel. Barghouti said the “right of return” is a means to “end Israel’s existence as a Jewish state.”
Barghouti has said that BDS “aims to turn Israel into a pariah state, as South Africa once was.”
In his activism, Barghouti has also said [00:05:55] regarding Israel: “Definitely, most definitely, we oppose a Jewish state in any part of Palestine. No…rational Palestinian, not a sellout Palestinian, will ever accept a Jewish state in Palestine.”
The movement has been linked to numerous terrorist organizations and received a public endorsement from Hamas in 2017.
BDS initiatives include calling on institutions and individuals to divest from Israeli-affiliated companies, promoting academic and cultural boycotts of Israel, and organizing anti-Israel rallies, protests and campaigns.
The movement’s most notable achievement has been the infiltration of university campuses through lobbying for “BDS resolutions.” In these cases, student governments and student groups, backed by their own anti-Israel members and affiliates, have proposed resolutions on some form of boycott of, or divestment from, Israel and Israeli-affiliated entities.
Boycott resolutions, although non-binding, have been passed by student governments on numerous North American campuses.
BDS activity is often aggressive and disruptive. It has been noted that universities that pass BDS resolutions see a marked increase in anti-Semitic incidents on campus. On one campus, when the student government debated a BDS resolution, reports emerged of violent threats against those opposing it.
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_203x172_ElijcY.jpg "Alex Shams")
- Status:
- Student
- University:
- U of C
- Organizations:
- BDS,
- SJP
- Related Profiles:
- Sarah Tawashy,
- Last Modified:
- 05/04/2026
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