Anna Ben Hur

The article defended an SJP-hosted event that featured anti-Israel activists Roger Waters, David Zirin, Linda Sarsour and Marc Lamont Hill, who are all renowned for making anti-Semitic and anti-Israel statements.  

Ben Hur’s article came after concerns were raised about the potentially anti-Semitic nature of the event and amid calls for the university to dissasociate itself from it..

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.

Linda Sarsour frequently uses the word “Zionist” as a pejorative and has tweeted that “nothing is creepier than Zionism.” She has aligned with noted anti-Semite Louis Farrakhan, dismissed [00:07:45] those who see her alignment with Farrakhan as problematic and slammed the “Jewish Media” for calling attention to it. 

The organizers of the SJP-hosted event reportedly acknowledged the claims concerning their anti-Semitism and referenced them in promotional flyers for the event, to smear those who called out the anti-Semitic nature of the attacks on Israel and Zionism made previously by the panelists.

The panel was moderated by Vijay Prashad, who, as of April 2020, was a member of The US Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (USACBI)’s Advisory Board.

On May 5, 2019, Ben Hur tweeted a photo from the SJP-hosted event and said: “Feeling so so good and grateful for all the love SJP felt tonight from the panelists and ppl who came to the event! And from those who couldn’t make it! Thank you @lsarsour @marclamonthill @EdgeofSports @vijayprashad and @rogerwaters.”

On April 27, 2019, Ben Hur tweeted: “Mostly bc I’ve been spending my days dealing w Zionist orgs that have been calling SJP anti Semitic for supporting Palestinian rights 😡😡😡 they can all eat my shorts.”

Demonizing Israel 

On November 12, 2019, Ben Hur published an editorial in the Daily Collegian titled: “Pro-Palestinian Jews exist; Anti-Zionism is not anti-Semitism.” 

In the article, Ben Hur stated: “Israel is not my vision of Jewish liberation. It is constantly committing human rights violations by arresting children, cutting off water supplies, demolishing homes and destroying farmland of Palestinians.

Ben Hur also called Israel “racist” and insisted: “This is the image in which Israel was created, in a vision of a whiteness. [sic]” Ben-Hur then claimed: “Many Jews at UMass desire a Jewishness that doesn’t come attached to ethno-nationalism.”

Ben Hur was also quoted in an article published on April 21, 2019, in the Daily Collegian, about an SJP event for “Palestinian Prisoners Day.” Ben-Hur stated: “My family is part Israeli, although I am American. I have visited there and was confused about the conflict and genocide there.”

Praising Anti-Israel Agitators

On September 4, 2019, Ben Hur posed for photos posted to Instagram by UMass SJP, posing with Marc Lamont Hill and Linda Sarsour.

 
UMass SJP Instagram’s post was captioned: “Last semester, we finished the year off strong with an amazing panel titled: ‘Not Backing Down: Israel, Free Speech, & The Battle for Palestinian Human Rights’ ... SJP is just getting started this semester, we have a lot we’re excited for ~~ Stay tuned!”
 
On November 14, 2019, Ben Hur was featured in a group photo on Instagram, posted by UMass SJP, posing with anti-Israel agitators Sut Jhalley and Linda Sarsour. 
 
Jhally has promoted anti-Zionism on campus and is the creator of the anti-Israel films and demonized Israel on social media.
 
The caption read: “A BIG thank you to the wonderful panelists last night who discussed the rampant criminalization of both the legitimate & necessary dissent of Israeli’s apartheid regime and the support of Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) — thank you to everyone who came! Panelists: @lsarsour @shaunking @speakoutwithtimwise Dima Khalidi & Omar Barghouti ❤️ FREE FREE PALESTINE 🇵🇸.”

Ben Hur retweeted a November 12, 2019 tweet from Issa Amro promoting a controversial quote by 2020 U.S. Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders: “The struggle against anti-Semitism is also the struggle for Palestinian Freedom!” 

Anti-Israel agitator Issa Amro is known for vandalism and attacks on Israeli soldiers and civilians. Amro heads the Youth Against Settlements (YAS) movement, an anti-Israel organization based in Hebron that promotes anti-Semitism, rock-throwing and violence against Israelis.  

On November 22, 2016, Ben Hur shared a post on Facebook from All That’s Left, that featured an article from +972 magazine, titled: “WATCH: ‘They want to get rid of the idea of nonviolent resistance.’” 


All That’s Left’s Facebook post said: “Here's an interview that members of ATL worked on with Issa Amro who is facing trial tomorrow for nonviolent resistence [sic] to the occupation. We stand with Issa.”

Supporting BDS

Ben Hur signed an October 30, 2019 Open Letter by UMass SJP to UMass- Amherst Chancellor Subbaswamy. The open letter Ben Hur signed demonized Subbaswamy for dissociating the University from a BDS panel event on campus. 

The Open Letter claimed the goal of BDS was “freeing Palestinians from underneath Israel’s spiked boot” and that it was “a direct response to the grave and despicable lack of care for life shown by a government that has the most power, most money for weapons (largely due to U.S. military aid), and most protection for engaging in these inhumane acts.” 

The Open Letter also denied that BDS was anti-Semitic because “The movement itself has thousands of Jews around the world.”

Anti-Israel Activity

On November 8, 2019, Ben-Hur featured in a group photo of SJP activists posted to Facebook by UMass SJP, modeling t-shirts that said: “Free Palestine” and featured a series of misleading maps.

The maps claim that lands once controlled by Britain, Egypt and Jordan as autonomous “Palestinian land” were purportedly stolen by Israel. In February 2016, publisher McGraw-Hill Education recalled copies of a college textbook containing the fraudulent maps. In October 2015, American cable news network MSNBC apologized for airing a similar series of maps and retracted them.

The caption on UMass SJP’s Facebook post read: “Need some new cool t-shirts? ... We have these wonderful new t shirts for you, we're selling them for a sliding scale of $15-30, and we're accepting venmo and cash!! We'll be at Criminalizing Dissent:The Attack on BDS & Pro-Palestinian Speech with them, come pick up a shirt and see the amazing speakers!”

On May 17, 2018, Ben-Hur donated on Facebook to “a fundraising drive by Medical Aid for Palestinians [MAP].” 

According to NGO Monitor, MAP has worked with groups linked to the terror group the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), an internationally designated terrorist organization.

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.

Social Media and Weblinks

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