Amitai Ben-Abba
Overview
Amitai Ben-Abba was arrested while protesting former Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Barak. He has defended terrorists and expressed support for violent protesters. He also avoided mandatory service in the Israeli army by faking clinical depression.Ben-Abba has demonized Israel, opposed the recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and supported anti-Israel agitators. He has repurposed Jewish rituals and promoted the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.
As of 2017, Ben-Abba was a member of IfNotNow (INN). Ben-Abba was also an activist with other anti-Israel groups such as Ta’ayush and Anarchists Against the Wall between 2012 and 2017. As of 2017, Ben-Abba was reportedly also a member of Free Jerusalem.
Ben-Abba was reportedly a member of Justice for Palestine (JFP) at Middlebury College (Middlebury) in 2013.
As of July 2019, Ben-Abba was reportedly an MFA candidate in Creative Writing at Mills College (Mills) and a student at Middlebury in 2012.
Arrest
On May 16, 2018, Ben-Abba was arrested [00:01:51] and cited for trespassing after participating [00:00:40] in a protest against former Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Barak. The Facebook description for the protest called Barak “a war criminal.”Ben-Abba and other activists disrupted the event by shouting [00:00:40] and chanting, before being removed [00:01:18] from the event by the police. Ben-Abba shouted [00:00:45]: “Palestinians have been marching for their freedom, you have executed Palestinian protesters.”
Other activists chanted: [00:00:47] “How many more must die till we take a stand. Not one more!” and accused [00:01:21] Israel of massacring civilians.
In May 2018, terror group Hamas instigated violent riots on the Israeli-Gaza border. Thousands of rioters attempted to breach Israel’s border fence, declaring their intention to harm Jews across the border under the pretext of “peaceful resistance.”
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.
The protest against Ehud Barak was co-organized by Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), the Answer Coalition and the Palestine Action Network (PAN). PAN, based in San Francisco, is a network consisting of various anti-Israel groups. Activists from INN also participated in the protest.
Defending Terrorists
On April 18, 2017, Ben-Abba published an op-ed in Mondoweiss defending Palestinian prisoners participating in a hunger strike known as the “Dignity Strike.”Ben-Abba wrote that “Terrorism” is “a word…used by Israeli officials to describe pretty much everything they dislike (the New York Times, for example, were accused of ‘journalistic terrorism’ for publishing Marwan Barghouti’s op-ed).” Ben-Abba referred to Marwan Barghouti as “a so-called terrorist.”
“Dignity Strike” refers to a hunger strike initiated by Marwan Barghouti on April 16, 2017. More than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners participated in the strike – most them also convicted for acts of terrorism. Barghouti headed the Palestinian Authority (PA) terrorist Tanzim force and founded the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. He was sentenced to five consecutive life terms by an Israeli civilian court for some of his crimes, including his role in the Sbarro Cafe bombing.
Supporting Violent Protesters
On April 13, 2018, Ben-Abba helped lead [00:04:02] an INN protest in San Francisco, in support of the Great March of Return.On March 30, 2018, some 30,000 Palestinians in Gaza approached Israel’s border to take part in “Land Day Protests” or the “Great March of Return.” The March was organized and funded by Hamas as a campaign of violent protests along Israel’s border.
INN activists blocked the doors of United States Senator Dianne Feinstein’s office for over two hours, forcing the building to close for the duration of the protest. The activists also recited [00:05:55] the Mourner’s Kaddish prayer for Palestinians killed during the Great March of Return protests.
The Jewish ritual of the Mourner’s Kaddish is a prayer customarily reserved for close relatives or Jews murdered for being Jews.
INN stated: “The demonstrators called on Feinstein to condemn Israeli violence against Palestinian protesters in Gaza” and referred to “The Great March of Return” as “a protest which has not injured or endangered Israeli soldiers or civilians.”
At the protest, Ben-Abba read [00:04:00] the names of terrorists killed during the riots, who were revealed to be members of Hamas’ military wing, including: Ahmed Ibrahim 'Ashour Odeh, Jihad Ahmed Farina, Sari Walid Abu Odeh, and Musab Zuhair Anas al-Saloul and members of Fatah’s military wing, the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, such as Hamdan Isma'il Saber Abu 'Amsha and Jihad Zuhair Abu Jamous "al-Najar."
Ben-Abba also memorialized members of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP)’s military wing: Abd al-Qader Murdhi Suleiman al-Hawajri and Ahmed Omar Arafa and Amin Mansour Abu Muammar, a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).
He specifically eulogized [00:34:32] photojournalist Yasser Murtaja. Murtaja was reportedly a Hamas spy who useddrones to film Israeli positions. He was shot on April 6, 2018 as he filmed the 2018 March of Return protest in Gaza.
Ben-Abba also eulogized [00:36:40] Muhammad Abu Amro. Hamas’ military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, identified Abu Amro as one of their “martyrs” and posted a photo of him armed and in uniform on both their website and on Twitter.
On April 28, 2018, Ben-Abba wrote on Facebook: “The people of Gaza... are heroes” and that Israel’s response to the protesters was a “crime against life itself.”
Ben-Abba’s post also shared an article that described the protests as “nonviolent” and claimed Hamas’ presence there may signal they are “beginning to embrace popular, unarmed civil protest.”
At the protest, Ben-Abba read [00:04:00] the names of terrorists killed during the riots, who were revealed to be members of Hamas’ military wing, including: Ahmed Ibrahim 'Ashour Odeh, Jihad Ahmed Farina, Sari Walid Abu Odeh, and Musab Zuhair Anas al-Saloul and members of Fatah’s military wing, the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, such as Hamdan Isma'il Saber Abu 'Amsha and Jihad Zuhair Abu Jamous "al-Najar."
Ben-Abba also memorialized members of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP)’s military wing: Abd al-Qader Murdhi Suleiman al-Hawajri and Ahmed Omar Arafa and Amin Mansour Abu Muammar, a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).
He specifically eulogized [00:34:32] photojournalist Yasser Murtaja. Murtaja was reportedly a Hamas spy who useddrones to film Israeli positions. He was shot on April 6, 2018 as he filmed the 2018 March of Return protest in Gaza.
Ben-Abba also eulogized [00:36:40] Muhammad Abu Amro. Hamas’ military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, identified Abu Amro as one of their “martyrs” and posted a photo of him armed and in uniform on both their website and on Twitter.
On April 28, 2018, Ben-Abba wrote on Facebook: “The people of Gaza... are heroes” and that Israel’s response to the protesters was a “crime against life itself.”
Ben-Abba’s post also shared an article that described the protests as “nonviolent” and claimed Hamas’ presence there may signal they are “beginning to embrace popular, unarmed civil protest.”
March participants sent scores of kites bearing explosive devices across Israel’s border to burn Israeli crops and homes. Participants also attempted to breach the border fence, which caused the Israeli Defense Forces to respond with live fire. Agitators also threw Molotov cocktails and firebombs, shot firearms and threw rocks.
Draft Dodging
In 2018, Ben-Abba published an essay detailing how he “tried to fake clinical depression” to avoid being drafted for mandatory service to the Israeli army. He was ultimately exempted from service, telling people he “was diagnosed with a ‘pre-psychotic state with potential for schizophrenia.’”Ben-Abba also wrote the documentary “Objector,” about his sister Atalya Ben-Abba’s refusal to be drafted for mandatory service in the Israeli army.
On October 1, 2017, Ben-Abba was scheduled to speak at an INN Bay Area screening of the film. The event’s Facebook description said about the film: “she [Ayala] has come to understand the military as the enforcer of an apartheid regime.”
Opposing the Recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s Capital
On May 24, 2017, Ben-Abba helped organize and participated in a disruption blocking the entrance to the Damascus Gate of the Old City of Jerusalem, during the Jerusalem Day parade.INN co-organized the disruption, along with Free Jerusalem and All That’s Left, against “Jerusalem Day,” which celebrates Israel’s reunification of Jerusalem during the 1967 Six Day War.
During the protest, activists blocked [00:01:31]the entrance to the Damascus Gate and refused [00:11:40] orders by Israeli security services to leave. Protesters were ultimately removed by Israeli police.
Geoffrey Gilbert, an INN activist who also participated in the protest, wrote on Facebook: “With IfNotNow...we were blocking the entrance to the Muslim quarter...I blocked the gate to highlight the violence of the police, the March of the Flags zealots, and the occupation of East Jerusalem.”
On December 8, 2017, Ben-Abba participated [00:21:44] in an INN Bay Area protest against the U.S. government’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and the decision to move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Ben-Abba spoke at the protest and claimed: [00:26:00] “Jerusalem… is an apartheid city. By granting its status as capital, Trump is legitimizing apartheid.”
The event’s Facebook description called the recognition “incitement” and said: “We will not wait to see how this plays out before taking a side; we know this is wrong and we take action now.”
Demonizing Israel
On December 1, 2018, Ben-Abba posted on Facebook referring to Israel as a “white supremacist colonial project.”On May 21, 2018, Ben-Abba published an op-ed in Counter Punch, titled: “Israel’s New Ideology of Genocide,” in which he claimed that “Israel is ideologically prepared to enact a Palestinian Shoah.”
“Shoah” is the Hebrew term for the Nazi Holocaust and has been used since the 1940s.
Ben-Abba wrote: “Israeli society is ideologically prepared to enact a genocide on Palestinians right now, and if we do not make the comparison and act accordingly, Israel will march into the decisive stage, up to the 6th million Palestinian and over.”
He also said: “To stop the pending genocide, world leaders must cease talking and start acting. Arms embargo, economic sanctions, and arrests of traveling war criminals will be a long-overdue start. Anything short of that is compliance.”
On January 11, 2017, Ben-Abba published an op-ed in Middle East Monitor, in which he claimed: “Zionism and anti-Semitism are long-time bedfellows…They’ve been consistent in sharing the cause of emptying Europe of Jews and transplanting them in Palestine.”
On October 28, 2016, in an op-ed published on Mondoweiss, Ben-Abba called Israeli soldiers “harbingers of the ethnic cleansing of Palestine.”
On August 7, 2012, Ben-Abba published a blog post, titled: “Training for Ethnic Cleansing.” He wrote that “Israeli apartheid is unique, but the situation of…densely populated [Palestinian] areas bear similarities to the Bantustans of South African apartheid...and the Ghettoes of the Nazis.”
Supporting Anti-Israel Agitators
On December 1, 2018, Ben-Abba wrote on Facebook in support of Marc Lamont Hill and shared an INN petition “demanding that CNN…reinstate Marc Lamont Hill immediately.”In November 2018, Marc Lamont Hill was fired from his position as a contributor to CNN (Cable News Network) following controversial comments he made during a meeting held at the United Nations for an “International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.”
During the meeting, Hill reportedly whitewashed Palestinian violence and accused Israel of “state violence and ethnic cleansing.” He also called for a “free Palestine from the river to the sea.”
In September 2018, during a U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USCPR) conference, Hill insinuated [00:31:01] that Israel poisons Palestinian water and seemingly approved [00:30:34] of violence against Israelis.
In September 2018, Ben-Abba signed a statement titled: “Israeli citizens in solidarity with Ewa Jasiewicz and Yonatan Shapira.” The statement defended Jasiewicz and Shapira, who had vandalized a remaining wall of a building from the Warsaw Ghetto in 2010, by spraying graffiti on it that said: “Free Gaza and Palestine.”
During the Second Intifada, Jasiewicz reportedly “suggested that terror groups should attack Israeli MKs instead of civilians.”
The statement Ben-Abba signed accused Israel of committing war crimes, exploiting the Holocaust and “the ongoing brutal, murderous siege on Gaza.” It also called Gaza “an open-air prison...while not being an extermination camp, is a ghetto...under Israel's control.”
On February 14, 2018, Ben-Abba tweeted: “#AhedTamimi has been imprisoned for months now. She had her 17th bday in prison. Her next court discussion in March. What's the matter with you, rogue state?! She suffered enough, release her! #Israel.”
Ahed Tamimi has a long history of physically attacking Israeli soldiers. Tamimi is the daughter of Bassem Tamimi, who is known for exploiting young children as political props in staged confrontations with Israeli soldiers.
Repurposing Jewish Rituals
On April 7, 2018, Ben-Abba participated in INN Bay Area’s “wandering Seder” in which activists used different items from the Seder plate to tell [00:00:14] the story of Passover and “to condemn the brutality toward Gazans.”A Seder is a Jewish Passover ritual, that involves telling the story of the Israelites’ exodus from slavery in ancient Egypt and their travels to the Promised Land.
Ben-Abba read the names of Palestinians who had been killed and said [00:00:11] “may their names be carved into our Hagaddah.”
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.
The statement said: “we call on academics and concerned people throughout the world to…join the Palestinian call to boycott events with Israeli government sponsorship and/or official participation.”
On January 24, 2018, Ben-Abba tweeted: “Yes. Thanks, @pappe54, for producing the kind of scholarship we need” and shared an article by BDS leader, professor Ilan Pappé.
In August 2016, Ilan Pappé publicly admitted [00:01:36] that BDS was not initiated by a “call” from Palestinian civil society; rather, it was initiated by a small number of radical anti-Israel extremists.
On October 28, 2016, Ben-Abba wrote in a piece published in Mondoweiss that “the boycott movement should focus on the Israeli economy as a whole, and not attempt the logistically impossible task of differentiating settlement products from products produced in so-called ‘Israel proper.’”
INN claims to take no position on the BDS movement and that it is “open to any who seek to shift the American Jewish public away from the status quo that upholds the Occupation.” However, INN organizes with pro-BDS, anti-Israel organizations including American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP).
Twitter: https://twitter.com/amitaibenabba
Blog: https://radicalmonkeyclown.wordpress.com
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.
Promoting BDS
Ben-Abba signed a November 2018 statement by BDS in Austria, titled: “Israeli Apartheid State – GET OUT OF VIENNA University #ApartheidOffCampus.” The statement opposed an Austrian Students' Union event on confronting anti-Semitism because the event was co-sponsored by the Israeli embassy in Austria.The statement said: “we call on academics and concerned people throughout the world to…join the Palestinian call to boycott events with Israeli government sponsorship and/or official participation.”
On January 24, 2018, Ben-Abba tweeted: “Yes. Thanks, @pappe54, for producing the kind of scholarship we need” and shared an article by BDS leader, professor Ilan Pappé.
In August 2016, Ilan Pappé publicly admitted [00:01:36] that BDS was not initiated by a “call” from Palestinian civil society; rather, it was initiated by a small number of radical anti-Israel extremists.
On October 28, 2016, Ben-Abba wrote in a piece published in Mondoweiss that “the boycott movement should focus on the Israeli economy as a whole, and not attempt the logistically impossible task of differentiating settlement products from products produced in so-called ‘Israel proper.’”
IfNotNow (INN)
IfNotNow (INN) is an anti-Israel organization founded in 2014, in response to Israel’s Operation Protective Edge (OPE) against Hamas.
INN claims to be “young Jews angered by the overwhelmingly hawkish response of American Jewish institutions” to OPE. INN presents three demands on its website: “Stop the War on Gaza, End the Occupation, and Freedom and Dignity for All.”
INN defines “the Occupation as the military rule over Palestinians in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza,” which is land Israel has controlled for nearly 50 years since the 1967 Six-Day War. However, INN leaders have made [00:34:32] the claim [00:13:49] at protests that the occupation is 70 years long, referring to Israel’s founding in 1948.
INN actions have aimed to demonize [00:38:13] Israel, harass [00:05:44] mainstream American Jewish organizations like the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and decrease support for Israel among American Jews.
INN has used “public action and imaginative ritual” to achieve its goals, including disruptions where activists were arrested.
One of the high-profile arrests occurred at a May 2018 disruption at a U.S. Senator’s office in Washington, D.C. to protest legislation against the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.
At the same incident, INN used [00:07:17] the Jewish ritual of the Mourner’s Kaddish prayer to mourn [00:09:10] protesters who were killed during the Hamas-organized and funded Great March of Return riots on the Israel-Gaza border.
INN activists have also staged and promoted walk-offs from Birthright Israel trips, a heritage trip to Israel for young Jewish adults from across the world.
INN claims to be “young Jews angered by the overwhelmingly hawkish response of American Jewish institutions” to OPE. INN presents three demands on its website: “Stop the War on Gaza, End the Occupation, and Freedom and Dignity for All.”
INN defines “the Occupation as the military rule over Palestinians in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza,” which is land Israel has controlled for nearly 50 years since the 1967 Six-Day War. However, INN leaders have made [00:34:32] the claim [00:13:49] at protests that the occupation is 70 years long, referring to Israel’s founding in 1948.
INN actions have aimed to demonize [00:38:13] Israel, harass [00:05:44] mainstream American Jewish organizations like the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and decrease support for Israel among American Jews.
INN has used “public action and imaginative ritual” to achieve its goals, including disruptions where activists were arrested.
One of the high-profile arrests occurred at a May 2018 disruption at a U.S. Senator’s office in Washington, D.C. to protest legislation against the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.
At the same incident, INN used [00:07:17] the Jewish ritual of the Mourner’s Kaddish prayer to mourn [00:09:10] protesters who were killed during the Hamas-organized and funded Great March of Return riots on the Israel-Gaza border.
INN activists have also staged and promoted walk-offs from Birthright Israel trips, a heritage trip to Israel for young Jewish adults from across the world.
INN claims to take no position on the BDS movement and that it is “open to any who seek to shift the American Jewish public away from the status quo that upholds the Occupation.” However, INN organizes with pro-BDS, anti-Israel organizations including American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP).
Social Media and Weblinks
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/743813468Twitter: https://twitter.com/amitaibenabba
Blog: https://radicalmonkeyclown.wordpress.com
Photos & Screenshots
82 images
Infamous Quotes
“To stop the pending genocide, world leaders must cease talking and start acting. Arms embargo, economic sanctions, and arrests of traveling war criminals will be a long-overdue start. Anything short of that is compliance.”
