Assma Basalamah
Overview
Assma Basalamah has defended a terrorist and was the 2014 spokesperson for Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR) at the University of Ottawa (UOttawa). SPHR is an alternative name for Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP).Basalamah is also a member of SPHR UOttawa’s closed Facebook group “Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR) - National,” and has promoted the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement on campus and on Facebook.
Basalamah was also the communications officer for the Muslim Students Association (MSA) at UOttawa in 2012. As of April 30, 2018, Basalamah’s LinkedIn page listed her as a 2016 J.D. Graduate of the UOttawa Faculty of Law.
Basalama’s LinkedIn page also said she was working at the Office of the Law Clerk & Parliamentary Counsel at the House of Commons in Ottawa and is a National Research Coordinator with the Canada Research Chair on Occupational and Safety Law.
Defending a Terrorist
On April 27, 2016, Basalamah shared a post to Facebook defending terrorist Dima Al-Wawi. The post claimed that Al-Wawai “was tortured and forced to spout lies” that she intended “to stab a settler.”12-year-old Al-Wawi was imprisoned for attempting to stab a security guard at the Israeli community Karmei Tzur. Al-Wawi later claimed she intended to kill the guard and hoped she would be killed in the process. “I was dreaming that I was going to be martyred,” she said.
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.
Pushing BDS
On September 18, 2011, Basalamah promoted the 2011 National SJP (NSJP) conference on Twitter. The Conference aimed to “facilitate and support the advancement of existing campaigns and the development of new campaigns with particular... emphasis on Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS).”On October 12, 2011, Basalamah tweeted: “#Wootwoot! ‘Goldmsmiths Student Union Senate passes motion condemning research projects between King's College and Ahava #ULUSenate #BDS.’”
Basalamah retweeted an October 15, 2011 BDS Movement tweet that said: “#OccupyWallSteet not #Palestine! Boycott Israeli Apartheid! #oct15.”
Basalamah retweeted a November 4, 2011 tweet that read: “#IsraelHates when we tell people that Ahava Mud Soap is made with stolen mud on occupied land http://www.stolenbeauty.org #BDS.”
On January 28, 2015, Basalamah posted to Facebook: “Tonight Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights uOttawa has announced its Divestment campaign launch alongsode [sic] Carleton's SAIA. It was great seeing many of you come out tonight. Your support in any capacity is foundational to all moving forward with BDS on our campus.”
She continued “If you weren't at the event and would like to stay in touch about uOttawa's BDS campaign: Email us at bdsuottawa@gmail.com To follow tweets on the campaign look for#BDSuOttawa!”
On May 19, 2016, Basalamah shared a post on Facebook calling on Ontario residents to contest Ontario Bill 202 — a resolution that would prohibit government agencies and universities from cooperating with companies that adopted BDS.
On February 23, 2016, Basalamah shared a post to Facebook celebrating the passage of a BDS resolution at McGill University (McGill) in Montreal, Quebec. On the same day, Basalamah also denounced on Facebook the Canadian Federal Government’s passage of a bill formally condemning the BDS movement.
Anti Israel Campus Activism
In March 2015, Basalamah promoted a film screening of “Discordia,” co-hosted by SPHR UOttawa. On March 17, 2015, Basalamah posted on the Facebook event’s notifications page: “SUPPORT BDS . THIS THURSDAY . FILM SCREENING OF 'DISCORDIA' & DISCUSSION.”On that same day, Basalamah posted on the Facebook event’s notifications page: “Need to wrap your head around BDS? Check Out www.bdsmovement.net/.”
On October 23, 2011, Basalamah promoted a SPHR UOttawa event on Twitter, tweeting: “Lia Tarachansky IN #OTTAWA TMRW!! 7pm- 201 MNT - #uOttawa She will spk about having been a settler in #WestBank.”
Lia Tarachanskyy is a Jaffa-based filmmaker and the Israel/Palestine correspondent for the pro-Palestinian news website, The Real News Network (TRNN), where she produces short, anti-Israel reports.
On October 24, 2011, Basalamah tweeted: “Lia Tarachansky giving an awesome presentation in #uottawa #sphr #fb.”
Basalamah also tweeted: “Lia Tarachansky speaking in MNT 201#uottawa #ottawa #israel #palestine #therealnewsnetwork #fb.”
SPHR UOttawa
As of June 2007, Students for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR) at UOttawa (SPHR UOttowa)’s Mission Statement said the group was committed to the “struggle against the colonialist and imperialist policies of the Israeli government and the ideology upon which the state was formed.”In 2018, SPHR UOttowa worked closely with Independent Jewish Voices (IJV) and the Revolutionary Students Movement (RSM) at UOttawa to host anti-Israel campus events. These events included Israel Apartheid Week (IAW) and a divestment initiative.
On March 29, 2018, as part of IAW, SPHR UOttawa promoted on Facebook a film screening hosted by RSM that celebrated terrorist Leila Khaled.
SPHR UOttawa's Facebook post referred to Khaled as a “Palestinian revolutionary who became a household name after she became the first woman to hijack a plane.”
Leila Khaled is a leading member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and participated in the hijacking of TWA Flight 840 in 1969 and El Al Flight 219 in 1970. As of 2017, Khaled was a member of PFLP's Political Bureau. Khaled has said that the second intifada failed because it was not violent enough, advocated [00:36:07] for the use of children in terror activities and compared Zionists to Nazis.
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.
SPHR/IJV/RSM UOttawa - Pushing BDS
On November 5, 2017, Moumouni-Tchouassi — a member of SPHR UOttawa’s Facebook group and SFUO Vice-President of Equity — proposed [00:02:45] a Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) resolution during a SFUO Board of Administration (SFUO BOA) meeting.Students were notified of the upcoming resolution vote only two days prior, on a Friday, hours before the onset of the Jewish Sabbath.
The resolution sought to amend the SFUO policy handbook to explicitly adopt and promote BDS. The initial BDS motion read, “The Student Federation of the University of Ottawa will support [the BDS] movement as well as take a Pro-Palestine stance.”
However, before the vote took place, Moumouni-Tchouassi proposed an amendment, changing the wording of the resolution to read “the SFUO will divest from industries and companies who actively support war and occupation including the apartheid regime of the State of Israel against the Palestinian population.”
The BOA rejected the amendment. Following pushback, Moumouni-Tchouassi amended [01:14:00] the resolution to remove all references to BDS. The amended resolution committed the SFUO to do “all in its power to peacefully resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”
On March 13, 2018, SPHR, IJV and RSM at UOttawa jointly proposed a divestment initiative, during the SFUO General Assembly (SFOU GA)’s winter session.
The proposal called for the SFUO to divest from companies “complicit in violation of Palestinian human rights,” to boycott Israeli artists and to “work for the cancellation of all forms of cooperation with Israeli academic institutions.”
The divestment proposal failed to garner the required two-thirds majority to pass, with 241 votes for and 231 votes against.
After the vote, SPHR posted on Facebook ”... this moment remains a victory for all students who stand in solidarity with Palestinian human rights.”
On March 25, 2018, SPHR UOttawa attempted to push the failed BDS motion at another SFUO BOA meeting. Once more, it failed to reach the two-thirds majority necessary to pass the resolution.
The following day, UOttawa President and Vice-Chancellor, Jacques Frémont, released a statement strongly denouncing the SFUO BDS campaign:
“This issue is divisive and a detriment to an open and welcoming campus environment,” said Frémont. “The University of Ottawa will have no part of the BDS movement nor any movement that boycotts academic institutions.”
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.
MSA
The MSA was established by members of the Muslim Brotherhood in January 1963 at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, with the goal of "spreading Islam as students in North America." A 2004 FBI investigation uncovered an internal Muslim Brotherhood document in which a brotherhood leader identified the MSA as "one of our organizations."
The MSA reportedly has “nearly 600 chapters” located in the United States and Canada, and is “the most visible and influential Islamic student organization in North America,” boasting conferences, special events, publications, websites and other activities.
The organization includes a number of previous chapter presidents with explicit links to terrorist groups. Included are al-Qaeda cleric Anwar al-Awlaki (Colorado State University), Somali al-Shabaab militant leader Omar Shafik Hammami (University of South Alabama) and Pakistani Taliban recruiter Ramy Zamzam of the MSA's Washington, D.C. council.
