Areni Der Grigorian
Overview
Areni Der Grigorian was the vice-president of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) during the 2015-2016 academic year. Der Grigorian had been a member of the group as early as 2014.Der Grigorian is a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.
As of February 2023, Der Grigorian was listed on the website of the Pilibos Armenian School as an “Elementary Math Teacher.”
As of January 2023, Der Grigorian’s Facebook page said Der Grigorian studied at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London (SOAS London) and UCLA.
On June 12, 2016, Der Grigorian posted a photo on Facebook of Der Grigorian wearing a graduation cap and a UCLA “Class of 2016” sash. Der Grigorian wrote: “Bowties and Bachelors: A memoir of how much I cried in the last 4 year [sic] and also how much I learned.”
In 2015, Der Grigorian served as the “Chief of Staff” on UCLA’s Undergraduate Students Association Council (USAC).
As of January 2023, Der Grigorian used the handle: “@Areni_dg” on Twitter and went by the username “oatmilk intolerant
.” Der Grigorian used the handle “@arenii27” on Instagram. On another Instagram page, Der Grigorian used the handle: “@_hangingonbyathread_”SJP Activism
On May 2, 2016, Der Grigorian appeared in an SJP at UCLA recruitment photo on Facebook, along with other outgoing board members, calling on students to apply for SJP at UCLA board membership positions for the 2016-2017 academic year.
On November 6, 2014, Der Grigorian was featured in a Facebook photo, along with SJP at UCLA activists in front of a display known as a “Mock Apartheid Wall.”
The “mock apartheid wall” is a series of panels meant to represent Israel's security barrier, which was built as a deterrent to Palestinian terror attacks and in response to Palestinian sniper attacks. Panels feature misleading statistics and “facts” that present a skewed image of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The display featured a series of debunked maps popular with anti-Israel activists and the display was part of SJP at UCLA’s Palestine Awareness Week (PAW) 2014.
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-level textbook that contained the fraudulent maps. In October 2015, the United States cable news network MSNBC apologized for airing a similar series of maps and retracted them.
Palestine Awareness Week (PAW) is a re-branding for American audiences of Israel Apartheid Week (IAW), originally presented as “an international series of events that seek to raise awareness of Israel’s settler-colonial project and apartheid system over the Palestinian people” and build support for the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.
BDS Activism
On November 20, 2014, Der Grigorian was tagged in a Facebook photo indicating that Der Grigorian worked as a BDS organizer. In the post, SJP at UCLA activist Aaliyah Kahn thanked “everyone who helped work on this resolution to divest from companies that profit off the violations of Palestinian human rights.”On November 4, 2014, Der Grigorian posted another UCLA SJP Divest poster to Facebook, adding: “Fo'realzeez #UCLADIVEST.”
On February 26, 2014, Der Grigorian posted a UCLA SJP Divest poster on Facebook.
SJP at UCLA - Support for Terrorists
On October 14, 2015, during the “Knife Intifada,” SJP at UCLA held a demonstration and “die-in,” in solidarity with Palestinians one day after Palestinian terrorists killed three Israelis and wounded more than 20.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.
On October 29, 2015, SJP at UCLA shared on their website an October 23, 2015 submission published six days prior in the Daily Bruin, titled “Palestinians are dying too.”
The submission, written by Shawndeez Davari Jadalizadeh, accused another article in the Daily Bruin of taking part in an attempt “to erase Palestinian life” by failing to mention the names of Palestinians killed during the Knife Intifada.
The submission then listed a number of “Palestinians killed by Israelis... since Oct. 1, the beginning of the third intifada,” such as: Mohannad Halabi, Fadi Alloon, Amjad Hatem al-Jundi, Bassem Bassam Sidr, Hassan Khalid Manasra, Fadel al-Qawasmi and Mohamed Nathmie Shamassnah.
On October 3, 2015, during Israel’s “Knife Intifada,” 19-year-old Mohanad Halabi murdered two Israeli rabbis in a stabbing attack in Jerusalem’s Old City. The wife and child of one of the victims were also injured. The day before the murder, Halabi, a member of the terror group Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), had reportedly posted to his Facebook page: “The third Intifada is here"and "Wake up from your slumber and save al-Aqsa. Let the revolution erupt.”
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.
Amjad Al-Jundi stabbed an Israeli soldier on October 7, 2015. He then took the soldier’s rifle and ran to a nearby apartment building where he tried to shoot and stab a local woman in her home. Police responded and killed Al-Jundi during a shootout that transpired.
Basel Bessam Sidr was shot while attempting to stab Israeli police officers in Jerusalem. Fadil Qawasmi was shot after attempting to staban Israeli policeman and a civilian in Hebron.
Hassan Manasra was shot on October 12, 2015, while he and his 13-year-old cousin Ahmed were engaged in a stabbing spree in Jerusalem, critically wounding a 13-year-old Israeli boy and moderately wounding a 25-year-old man.
Mohammad Nathmie Shamasna was shot after he stabbed a 19-year-old Israeli soldier and unsuccessfully tried to grab his gun.
During an interview with the Lebanese Al-Quds TV channel following the attack, Shamasna’s mother said the family was proud of her son, who was “martyred for the sake of Al-Aqsa,” and then pulled out a knife concealed beneath her clothes and said, while making stabbing motions: “Watch out, Israel! Watch out!”
SJP at UCLA - Anti-Semitism
In February 2015, four SJP at UCLA activists and council senators with the Undergraduate Students Association (USA) were involved in a widely publicized anti-Semitic incident.Sofia Moreno Haq, Negeen Sadeghi-Movahed, Manjot Singh and Fabienne Roth were responsible for preventing Rachel Beyda from joining the Undergraduate Students Association Council (USAC) judicial board, because she belonged to Jewish organizations.
Beyda’s position on the Judicial Board was later confirmed at a re-vote and the four objecting counselors submitted a formal apology to Beyda and the Jewish community.
SJP at UCLA - Intimidation
n 2016, SJP at UCLA reportedly harassed and intimidated Milan Chaterjee, the former president of UCLA’s Graduate Student Association (GSA), to such an extent that he stepped down from his student government position and left UCLA.In November 2015, Chaterjee attempted to block an effort by SJP at UCLA to use school funds to promote the BDS movement during a diversity caucus Town hall event, in accordance with a policy requiring viewpoint neutrality.
Chaterjee said that, as a result, he was "relentlessly attacked, bullied, and harassed by BDS-affiliated organizations and students" for months.
In April 2014, SJP at UCLA members submitted a petition to USAC’s judicial board against two former undergraduate student government council members who participated in trips to Israel that were sponsored by pro-Israel Jewish organizations.
SJP at UCLA alleged that the council members committed “conflict of interest violations” by participating in the sponsored trips and should have abstained from voting on a February 2014 BDS resolution. SJP at UCLA also argued the council members’ votes on the divestment resolution should have been disqualified.
Although the ballot on the divestment resolution was secret, it was assumed that the two council members voted against the resolution because they both spoke against the resolution during discussions prior to the vote.
The student judicial board later ruled that the trips taken by the council members did not constitute a conflict of interest.
SJP UCLA - BDS Activism
In December 2013, SJP at UCLA launched its first divestment campaign, drafting a resolution calling on the UC Regents to pull funding from five companies doing business with Israel, including Caterpillar, Cemex, Cement Roadstone Holdings (CRH), General Electric (GE), and Hewlett-Packard (HP). The February 2014 debate lasted over ten hours and went until six in the morning the following day. The resolution was ultimately voted down.
In November 2014, SJP UCLA again pushed a divestment resolution “calling on the Regents to divest from companies that enable and profit from violations of Palestinian rights.”
The resolution claimed that the same five companies “provided weapons used” by Israel “in attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure in the Gaza Strip,” and that investment in these companies “shows implicit support” for “the killings of civilians.”
On November 18, 2014, the undergraduate student government adopted the divestment resolution with a vote of 8-2-2.
In February 2015, SJP UCLA pushed BDS beyond the UCLA campus by promoting a divestment resolution to the UC Student Association (UCSA). The resolution also called on the UC Regents to divest from American-based corporations that “violate Palestinian human rights.”
The UCSA Board of Directors passed the resolution by a 9-1-5 vote.
SJP UCLA also used their 2014 Palestine Awareness Week (PAW) to promote divestment, erecting a “mock apartheid wall” and hosting a screening and discussion of the film “Roadmap to Apartheid,” a film that compared Israel to apartheid in South Africa.
Palestine Awareness Week (PAW) is a re-branding for American audiences of Israel Apartheid Week (IAW), originally presented as “an international series of events that seek to raise awareness of Israel’s settler-colonial project and apartheid system over the Palestinian people” and build support for the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.
SJP at UCLA - Hosting Israel Haters
On January 28, 2016, SJP at UCLA hosted anti-Israel Professors Ahlam Muthaseb and Sa'ed Atshan.Muhtaseb regularly uses her Facebook and Twitter to demonize Israel, whitewash Palestinian terrorism and collaborate with fellow anti-Israel activists. Atshan has praised inciters of violence as well as Sheikh Omar Suleiman who, in 2014, called on Twitter for a “Third Intifada” to destroy Israel.
Social Media and Weblinks
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Areni_dg [Private]Facebook: www.facebook.com/areni.dergrigorian
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arenii27/ [Private]
Instagram 2: https://www.instagram.com/dgphotocrew/ [Deleted]
Instagram 3: https://www.instagram.com/_hangingonbyathread_/
