Amani Al-Hindi Barakat
Overview
Amani Al-Hindi Barakat has called for intifada, glorified terrorists and shown support for the terror organization Hamas. She also promoted the violent March of Return, spread hatred of Israel and is a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.Barakat was Al-Awda’s treasurer from 2012-2014 and has been involved with Al-Awda since 2009.
Barakat is also affiliated with Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and attended the 2018 National SJP Conference. The 2018 National SJP conference was held on November 16-18, 2018 at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). The conference was themed “Radical Hope: Resistance in the Face of Adversity.” The conference website stated: “[t]he reason we can have hope is that Zionism...can be destroyed.”
Barakat also indicated on Facebook that she “was attending” the 2018 “US Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USCPR) National Conference.”
As of April 2019, Barakat has been a member of the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM)’s Facebook group since February 2012.
Spreading Incitement
On December 13, 2018, Barakat posted to Facebook: “Intifada! LongLivetheResistance#FreePalestine.”Since the early 2000s, the term “intifada,” which translates from Arabic as “uprising” or “insurrection,” has carried the connotation of violence.
On October 4, 2015, Barakat posted to Facebook: “Intifada...Intifada!”
On September 16, 2015, Barakat shared a link to Facebook of a short video clip of the Al Aqsa mosque which claimed it was damaged by an Israeli attack. Barakat added: “I'm so sick to my stomach!!! Until when these Zionist bastards will keep getting away with these crimes???”
On September 13, 2015 masked Palestinian rioters barricaded themselves inside the Al Aqsa Mosque. They set off fireworks — which started a small fire — and threw stones and debris stored inside at Israeli police. The police later found pipe bombs the rioters had prepared to launch at Jewish visitors to the Temple Mount plaza.
Glorifying Terrorists
On December 18, 2018, Barakat posted to Facebook: “Bravery at its finest! يسعد البطن اللي حملك [May Allah gladden the stomach that carried you].
” along with a link to an interview of a young person who had carried out a stabbing attack against Israelis.The interviewer asked [00:01:46], in Arabic: “Do you not regret anything?” to which the young person responded: “Not at all.” When the interviewer asked [00:01:53]: “[Even] The terror attack, the result and your being here?” The young person responded: “No.”
On December 13, 2018, Barakat shared a Facebook post that said: “دعواتٌ لإعلان الاضراب الشامل في الضفة الغربية اليوم، حداداً على روح الشهيد أشرف نعالوة وروح الشهيد صالح البرغوثي [Calls for the declaration of a comprehensive strike in the West Bank today, in mourning for the spirit of martyr Ashraf Naalwa and the spirit of martyr Saleh Barghouthi].”
On May 26, 2017, Barakat promoted and fundraised for a film glorifying Leila Khaled: “This film needs your attention & support. Help us build an audience.” The film poster featured the caption “Finally! A movie about Leila Khaled.”
On April 5, 2017, Barakat shared to Facebook a Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) video that praised Rasmea Odeh.
Odeh was a key military operative with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terrorist organization. In 1969, she masterminded a PFLP supermarket bombing that killed two college students. She also attempted to bomb the British consulate in Jerusalem. Odeh later moved to the United States but was deported to Jordan in 2017 for immigration fraud.
On March 18, 2017, Barakat shared photos to Facebook of the funeral of “the martyr Basel Al-Araj.”
On June 3, 2016, Barakat posted to Facebook a series of photos that celebrated Khalida Jarrar’s release from prison.
Khalida Jarrar is a senior member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terror organization. She has reportedly been the head of the PFLP in the West Bank since 2016. In 2015, an Israeli military court sentenced Jarrar to 15 months in prison for calling to kidnap Israeli soldiers. Israel arrested Jarrar again in 2017 “on suspicion of involvement with terrorist activities and violent public disturbances.” In 2019, she was arrested by Israel with 50 other PFLP operatives following a deadly 2018 bombing attack.
On August 29, 2014, at the end of Operation Protective Edge (OPE), Barakat shared a post to Facebook that spread Hamas incitement and described Hamas as the “resistance” and “martyrs.”
On February 18, 2013, Barakat posted to Facebook: “Big news if it's true! I pray it's correct. Marwan Bargouthi & Ahmad Sadaat among 550 prisoners will be released as a good gesture before Obama's visit ??”
Marwan Barghouti is currently serving five consecutive life sentences for his role in suicide bombings and shooting attacks that killed five Israelis during the second intifada.
Barghouti led the Palestinian Authority (PA) terrorist Tanzim force and founded the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. He also financed the guitar-case bomb used in the Sbarro Cafe massacre, where 15 civilians were killed and 130 injured.
Promoting Knife Intifada Terrorists
On October 8, 2015, Barakat shared a post to Facebook that claimed that Fadi Alloun was “shot dead by Israeli police while he ran away from an Israeli mob.”Fadi Aloon was shot by Israeli security forces after he stabbed a 15-year-old Israeli boy. Several hours before the attack, Aloon posted “Either martyrdom or victory” on his Facebook page.
In October 2015, there was an upsurge in violence across Israel incited by Palestinian political and religious leaders. The wave of stabbings, known as the “Knife Intifada,” was characterized by young Palestinians throughout the country stabbing and attempting to stab Israeli civilians.
Barakat commented: “Our youth are giving their lives to our just cause, the least we can do is make the time to come out and support their steadfastness & protest this surge of the Zionist aggression on Al-Aqsa Mosque, mass youth arrests, continuous displacement, home demolitions, and vigilante settler violence.”
The event’s Facebook description said: “Al-Awda (PRRC) and Palestinian forces would like to invite all Southern Californians to joins us in protesting...Israeli forces against the Palestinian civilian population.”
On October 23, 2015, Barakat participated in an online radio interview where she blamed [00:02:36] the stabbing attacks on “the recent instigation by the State of Israel when it came to the Al Aqsa mosque.”
On October 27, 2015, Barakat posted to Facebook: “Hala wallah! Exposing Israel's crimes is not incitement. Zionists are terrified because the world is finally seeing their true colors & their crimes loud and clear. Long live the Intifada!”
On November 7, 2016, Barakat posted “Klab! [Dogs!]” to Facebook and shared a post by anti-Israel activist Miko Peled that condemned the sentencing of Ahmad Manasra to 12 years in prison as a “cruel injustice” and said: “Shame on any Rabbi who does not condemn Israel in front of his or her congregation!”
Supporting Hamas
On March 28, 2017, Barakat posted to Facebook an address by Khaled Mashal, declaring that Hamas is ready for any scenario and that they are not afraid of anything.On July 30, 2014, Barakat posted to Facebook: “Inshallah, We are don't you worry Marwan” and linked to a statement by Marwan Barghouti that called on Palestinians living in Israel to “resist” alongside Hamas in Gaza.
On July 23, 2014, during Operation Protective Edge (OPE), Barakat posted to Facebook: “Excellent address by Khalid Mish3al [Khaled Mashal].”
Barakat commented on the same post: “It was very dignified address where he praised the resistance & the steadfastness of the people in Gaza regarding all the hardship they endure.”
In a later comment, Barakat linked to a video of Mashal declaring: “may history curse the murderers [referring to Israel].”
Defending Terrorism
Asem Barghouti killed two Israeli soldiers on December 13, 2018 and wounded a civilian and soldier while carrying out a drive-by shooting at the Asaf junction.
On December 20, 2018, Barakat shared to Facebook a link to an article titled: “A history lesson on the legitimacy of resistance.” The image with the article was an image of Leila Khaled with the caption: “Resistance is not Terrorism.”
The article said: “There is no magic to resistance and struggle... In Palestine, that includes the right to armed struggle, if necessary.” The article also labeled Israel an “evil occupation that bears no legitimacy whatsoever.”
On December 12, 2017, Barakat shared to Facebook a video of a seminar in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).
The seminar included a recorded address by Leila Khaled, as well as a video conversation with the international coordinator of the Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa'adat.
Glorifying Terror-Financiers
On September 17, 2018, Barakat shared a post by anti-Israel activist Miko Peled to Facebook, that said: “The Story of the Holy land Foundation Five [HL5] - five finest men you will ever meet in federal prison, they are innocent but they are Muslim Palestinian in the US.”The HLF5 were five individuals associated with the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF) indicted for funnelling funds to Hamas in the guise of humanitarian aid.
The men were were all convicted and sentenced in 2009 to federal prison terms ranging from 15 to 65 years.
The men were all convicted and sentenced in 2009 to federal prison terms ranging from 15 to 65 years.
On October 17, 2017, Barakat posted on Facebook celebrating Shireen Issawi’s release from Jail and wrote: “Yes✌️#respect” and “Happy time🙏✌.”
Promoting the Violent March of Return
On March 30, 2018, Barakat posted to Facebook: “Yes! ‘I stand with #Gaza and all my Palestinians in the #GreatReturnMarch.’”On April 3, 2018, Barakat gave an interview with “Rising Up with Sonali” on KPFP Pacific Radio, where she claimed [00:02:48] the March of Return was a “peaceful protest, sort of inspired by what Gandhi did.”
Barakat also alleged [00:03:39] that Israel gave orders to use live ammunition and shoot at the protestors “for absolutely no reason.”
On April 9, 2018, Barakat shared to Facebook PYM’s “International call to action in support of The Great Return March.”
The call said: “to take action and launch demonstrations in support of the Great Return March on April 14th up until May 15th, just as the righteous resisters in Gaza have declared” and added: “There will be no solution without the total end of the Zionist colonization of Palestine.”
Most of the Gazans who died between March 30 and April 6, 2018, were identified as terror operatives who were killed while carrying out terrorist attacks, rioting against IDF forces or attempting to breach the border fence between Israel and the Gaza Strip.
On May 15, 2018, Barakat posted to Facebook the names of 60 protestors who were killed while participating in the March of Return.
On May 16, 2018, a Hamas senior official, Salah al-Bardawil, stated that 50 out of 62 protesters killed during the May 14 Gaza border protest were Hamas operatives. Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) also claimed that three of its members were killed at the same protest.
On October 13, 2018, Barakat wrote on Facebook: “Another massacre in #Gaza today…Glory and honor to all the Martyrs!...#NoReturnNoPEace #GreatReturnMarch.”
Spreading Hatred of Israel
On April 5, 2016, Barakat referred to Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as “The Z State’s biggest kalb [dog]” in a Facebook post.
On May 15, 2016, Barakat posted to Facebook: “my people were ethnically cleansed in 1948 by the Zionists occupiers.”
On March 17, 2017, Barakat posted to Facebook: “The UN withdrawal of the ESCWA report doesn't change the fact that Israel is a racist, apartheid settler colonial and an illegal state!!”
On August 16, 2017, Barakat posted to Facebook: “Well said my friend.
Lamis Deek: You cant fight #WhiteSupremacy in the U.S. and support Zionist Supremacy in #Palestine . #ZionismIsFascism.”
Lamis Deek has expressed support for terror organizations and terrorism. She has supported [00:01:15] Hamas terrorists and called for intifada in America, as well as expressed hatred of Israel and propagated anti-Israel conspiracy theories.
Supporting BDS
On June 6, 2018, Barakat wrote on Facebook: “Yes!!! #FIFA take note: Israel must be expelled! No to whitewashing Israel's ongoing atrocities. No to normalizing Israeli apartheid, occupation, and violence! Thank you, Argentina! #BDS #Victory.”On January 24, 2018, Barakat posted to Facebook: “Love this guy! Thank you, Roger Waters! #BDS.”
Roger Waters is a world-famous musician and BDS activist who has compared Israel to Nazi Germany. He has also been accused of spreading anti-Semitism at his concerts.
On November 15, 2017, Barakat wrote on Facebook: “Gm:-). #BDSVictory After years of hard work, divestment resolution passes at UM Ann Arbor! Congrats @SAFEumich @Detroit_to_Gaza and thank you to @TheBSU & all who supported acting for #humanrights https://t.co/ooyH0RVzFe#UMDIVEST #Palestine.”
On August 21, 2014, Barakat posted to Facebook: “To all my family and friends please download the Buycott app and use it to to [sic] boycott Israeli products. Thank you.”
Attending the 2018 National SJP Conference
On November 27, 2018, Barakat posted a group photo of 2018 National SJP Conference attendees to Facebook and wrote: “PYM and National SJP condemn the repression, racism, and Islamophobia that occurred during the 2018 National Student Justice in Palestine Conference. #NSJP2018.”On November 18, 2018, Barakat posed for a photo with fellow 2018 National SJP Conference attendees Ahlem Muhtaseb and Saliem Shehadeh. Barakat posted the photo to Facebook, adding: “To Exist is to Resist! #Sumud #NSJP #UCLA.”
On September 24, 2018, Barakat wrote on Facebook: “Please support if you can. #SJP” and shared a fundraiser organized by “National Students for Justice in Palestine” titled: “UCLA 2018- National Students for Justice in Palestine Conference.”
2018 National SJP - Celebrating Violence
Since the early 2000’s, the term “intifada” has carried the connotation of violence. The second intifada was characterized by more than 120 suicide bombings targeting Israeli civilians on buses and in cafes.
Anti-Israel activist Omar Zahzah also reportedly [00:00:07] led National SJP attendees in chanting, in Arabic, “With our bodies and our blood, we will free Palestine.”
As of November 2018, the 2018 National SJP website glorified “radical hope and upfront defiance of Zionism,” citing as examples the “early revolts through the Intifadas to the Great Return March.”
The Great Return March of 2018 was organized and funded by the terror group Hamas as a campaign of violent protests along Israel’s border to spotlight the demand of Palestinians to “return” to Israel.
Tens of thousands of rioters gathered on Israel’s Gaza border, attempting numerous breaches of Israel’s border fence, with leaders andparticipants declaring their intention to harm Jews.
National SJP originally promoted a conference logo featuring a keffiyeh-wearing bear, looking toward a kite bearing the colors of the Palestinian flag.
On October 27, 2018, National SJP said the kite signified “the power in the Gaza March of Return.”
Since March 2018, March of Return participants and Hamas’s “Kite Unit” have sent hundreds of kites bearing incendiary devices and IEDs (improvised explosive devices) across the border into Israel to terrorize Israelis. The kites are often marked with swastikas.
By the time National SJP produced its 2018 conference logo highlighting the kites in October 2018, Gazan terror kites and balloons had ignited more than 1,300 fires in Israel, over seven months.
2018 National SJP - Undermining U.S. Support for Israel
On November 18, 2018, the US Palestine Community Network (USPCN) posted on Facebook the 2018 National SJP keynote speech by Hatem Abudayyeh, USPCN’s co-founder.Abudayyeh has supported [00:08:45] convicted terrorists, praised terror organizations, called for Israel’s destruction and is an activist in theBoycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.
In his 2018 National SJP Keynote, Abudayyeh said [00:53:01] that the “specific role” of Palestinian and Arab students was to organize [00:53:42] in order to weaken “Zionist Israel” and force [00:54:23] the U.S. to “no longer provide it with diplomatic, political, financial and military cover and support.”
Abudayyeh predicted [00:55:37] that once U.S. support to Israel ends, National SJP attendees would return to Palestine as “conquering heroes,” end [00:54:38] the “occupation and colonization of all Arab lands including the Golan Heights” and replace “Zionist Israel” with a Palestinian state.
2018 National SJP - Whitewashing Terror Organizations
During his keynote speech, Abudayyeh also painted [00:14:01] terrorist organizations as “liberation movements” and “resistance organizations,” stating [00:14:21] “what we also know is that the majority of the resistance organizations in Palestine are on the U.S. state department list of foreign terrorist organizations.”Abudayyeh also celebrated [00:52:00] that all of the “armed resistance” organizations in Gaza are part [00:52:14] of a “unified resistance in Gaza, that includes all of the resistance organizations, working together under a unified military command.”
2018 National SJP - Defending Terrorist Rasmea Odeh
During his keynote speech, Abudayyeh claimed [00:08:28] that pro-Israel organizations “go after students like you,” adding [00:08:20] “just like they went after my friend and colleague, Rasmea Odeh.”2018 National SJP - Demonizing Israel and Jews
During his keynote speech, Abudayyeh defended [00:27:25] the “Irvine 11” — eleven Muslim Student Union (MSA) members who were arrested in 2010 for repeatedly shouting down former Israeli ambassador Michael Oren during an address at the University of California at Irvine (UC Irvine).Abudayyeh referred [00:27:37] to Oren as a “racist fascist speaker, representative of a racist, fascist country.”
Abudayyeh went on to claim [00:29:48] that “today, even in the United States, Israel is finally being seen as the criminal, apartheid, racist state that it is.”
Abudayyeh also called for increased action in the face of President U.S. Donald Trump, and referred [00:48:41] to Jared Kushner, Trump’s Jewish son-in-law and senior advisor, as “that pig son-in-law of his.”
2018 National SJP - Excluding Students
The 2018 National SJP Conference welcomed only students who were verified and vouched for by an SJP (or otherwise named campus Palestine solidarity group). Media requests needed to be “approved by the NSJP press team” prior to the conference.A November 7, 2018 Columbus Jewish News article reported that the Los Angeles City Council unanimously passed a resolution calling on UCLA to cancel the 2018 NSJP conference, stating that a “public university should not allow any group to implement a litmus test for event participation on their campus.”
On November 12, 2018, UCLA Chancellor Gene Block published an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times that criticized National SJP’s exclusion of members of pro-Israel student groups.
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.
AMP
American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) was founded by UC Berkeley Professor Hatem Bazian as a vehicle to generate mainstream support in the United States for the Palestinian national cause.
On its website, the organization lists Bazian as the chairman of its national board and describes itself as “a national education and grassroots-based organization, dedicated to educating the American public about Palestine and its rich cultural, historical and religious heritage.”
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has accused AMP of promoting “extreme anti-Israel views and has at times provided a platform for anti-Semitism under the guise of educating Americans” about Palestinians. The ADL further stated that AMP is directly involved in campus-based anti-Israel activity through Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP).
Prior to founding the AMP in 2006, Dr. Bazian created SJP together with fellow UC Berkeley Professor Snehal Shingavi in 2001. The close working relationship between AMP and SJP has been documented several times over the years by several organizations, including NGO Monitor and StandWithUs.
In addition to providing financial, public relations and legal assistance to SJP, AMP has also been accused of having connections to Hamas. The AMP national board includes former members of both the Islamic Association of Palestine (IAP) and Holy Land Foundation (HLF), both of which were found liable for aiding and abetting Hamas. The IAP was founded by Mousa Mohammed Abu Marzook, a senior member of Hamas.
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