Bayan Abusneineh
Overview
Bayan Abusneineh created a platform that re-branded terrorists as “martyrs,” demonized Israel and promoted the 2018 March of Return orchestrated by Hamas.She has also whitewashed violence and expressed support for anti-Israel propagandists.
Abusneineh was an activist with Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) in 2018 and was a member of the SJP at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 2013. She is also a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.
Abusneineh is a member of the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM)’s Facebook group: “Palestinian Youth Movement - - حركة الشباب الفلسطيني” since 2013 and a member of the “PYM - San Diego” Facebook group, since 2014.
Abusneineh is also a member of the Al-Awda: The Palestine Right to Return Coalition’s Facebook group “Al-Awda -NY” since 2015, and Al-Awda San Diego since 2015.
As of October 2018, Abusneineh was listed on UCSD’s website as a PhD student in Ethnic Studies, studying Palestinian and Black women's social movements, state and gender violence and transnationalism.
Abusneineh has described her research as investigating "...the critical relationships that have existed between forms of state violence enacted against African American women and Palestinian women."
Abusneineh graduated from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) in 2013, with a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Gender Studies.
Honoring Terrorists
Abusneineh is the co-founder of the Humanize Palestine website and Facebook page that seeks to “honor and recognize all Palestinians, regardless of geographic location, killed by the Israeli Occupation.”Humanize Palestine’s About page claims it "...attempts to honor the deceased as martyrs by bringing them back to life through their pictures, stories, art, and poetry..."
The site honored Islamic Jihad terrorists Wassim Shurab and Mohannad Yousef Dheir as well as Hamas members Salah Hassanein and Mustafa and Khaled Abu Mur, who, the site says, “died together in Rafah in defense of their nation.”
The site also honored 2015 Knife Intifada terrorists Mohanad Halabi and Bahaa Alyan, as well as attempted-murderers Fadi Alloon, Hassan Manasra and Fadil Qawasmi.
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.
On October 17, 2015, Abusneineh tweeted: “Fadil Qawasmi, Palestinian teen, shot and killed in #Hebron by Israeli Forces.”
On October 18, 2015, Abusneineh posted on Facebook memorializing another attempted terrorist, Bayan Ayman Abd al-Hadi al-Esseili, writing that she was “shot and killed by Israeli Forces by a checkpoint in Hebron, Occupied West Bank. She was a stellar student, one of the best amongst her colleagues.”
On October 25, 2015, Abusneineh posted a list to Facebook of “57 Palestinians, Including 13 Children And A Pregnant Woman, Killed This Month” that also included terrorists, such as Mohannad Halabi, Baha’ Elian, Fadi Alloun, Hassan Khalid Manassra, Bassem Bassam Sidr and Fadel al-Qawasmi.
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.
In October 2015, Basel Bessam Sidr was shot while running [00:00:59] towards Israeli border police officers while brandishing a knife.
Demonizing Israel
On May 14, 2014, Abusneineh authored a now-private article titled "Gendering al Nakba," The article claimed that Israel intentionally perpetuates “sexual violence” and “exploitation” against Palestinian women as a tool to control and destroy Palestinian culture.The article also reportedly said that “Zionist gangs raped and butchered young girls and women, cut open the stomachs of pregnant women and ripped out the fetuses before killing them.”
On March 12, 2016, after Israel fired on Hamas positons in response to Palestinian rocket-fire the previous day, Abusneineh tweeted: “#Israel attacks on #Gaza shouldn't be looked at isolated killings, but as a part of their settler colonial project since 1948.”
On the same day, Abusneineh tweeted: “#Israel says that's its responding to 'Hamas' airstrikes. Israel doesn't have a Hamas problem, it has a #Palestine problem.”
On March 8, 2016, Abusneineh tweeted: “Disgusting when Israel promotes their ‘commitment’ 2 women's rights whiledenying[sic.] ALL Palestinians basic human rights.”
On November 2, 2015, Abusneineh tweeted: “Today marks the 98th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration - 98 years ago, the British promised Palestine to the Zionists; f**k colonalism.”
On May 5, 2015, the Humanize Palestine Facebook page, administered by Abusneineh and Saifan, posted: “If anything, Humanize Palestine shows us that Palestinians are being killed everyday, and that targeting Gaza is part of a larger policy to attack all Palestinians, regardless of geographic location, and aids to the Zionist settler-colonial regime.”
The post continued: “The barbaric nature of the State of Israel is reflective of the broader Zionist settler-colonial project.”
On August 8, 2014, Abusneineh authored an article on the anti-Israel news site Mondoweiss, where she characterized Israel’s Operation Protective Edge (OPE) as the “indiscriminate bombings and mass killings of whole families” that “reflects its cruel and genocidal tactics.”
Israel commenced Operation Protective Edge (OPE) in July 2014, to stop rocket fire targeting Israeli civilians and to destroy Hamas attack tunnels.
Promoting Hamas’ March of Return
On April 7, 2018, Abusneineh tweeted: “For those who are planning on teaching or want to understand the #GreatReturnMarch and subsequently, the Israeli killings of unarmed Palestinians protesting in #Gaza, here is an amazing teaching tool to situate Gaza in this contemporary moment: http://www.gazaincontext.com/film.html “On May 12, 2018, Abusneineh promoted the “Call to Action: Great Return March - 70 Years of Al Nakba” protest on Facebook, adding: “For those in San Diego who are interested in attending this demonstration in Los Angeles, PYM-SD will be organizing rides. Let me know if you need/want a ride and I can direct you to the right people!”
The event description invited protestors to demonstrate in “solidarity with the Palestinian struggle against colonial dispossession and genocide.”
The “right of return” is a Palestinian demand discredited as a means to eliminate Israel.
Whitewashing Violence
On October 23, 2015, during the “Knife Intifada,” Abusneineh promoted the “انتفض مع فلسطين- Uprise with Palestine Protest!” event on Facebook, created for PYM-San Diego, on Facebook.Abusneineh added: “Sharing this again to really urge folks in San Diego to come through. Five Palestinians were killed just today, and the violence is escalating. Not to mention that the occupation still stands strong and we're still funding it! Please come out to show your support, demand an end to Israel's cruel and brutal occupation, and stand up against apartheid and settler colonialism.”
On October 23, 2015, Abusneineh again promoted the “انتفض مع فلسطين- Uprise with Palestine Protest!” event, writing “San Diego! Hope to see you all here today!”
The event description declared “We have to stand together to support Palestinian resistance against the oppressive Zionist entity. We have to uprise along side our brothers and sisters in Palestine against the Zionist colonization of our mother land.” adding “LONG LIVE THE INTIFADA!”
The event page also accused Israel of “The Zionist bombardment on Al-Aqsa mosque,” and “gross violations of human rights in the West Bank and Gaza Strip as part of an ongoing Zionist settler-colonial logic and system” as well as “the implementation of racial caste system,” “ethnic cleansing” and “apartheid policies.”
On May 12, 2017, Abusneineh posted to Facebook: “Standing in solidarity with over 1,500 Palestinian prisoners in the Freedom and Dignity hunger strike, who are held up in Israeli prisons, and all political prisoners.”
Promoting Anti-Israel Propagandists
On May 21, 2017, Abusneineh tweeted: “Great talk on rape culture &other societal problems around racial/sexual violence in Israel/Palestine by @davidsheen.”David Sheen is an anti-Israel activist and filmmaker who works to portray Israel as an extremist racist state. To this end, Sheen has been accused of purposefully mistranslating Hebrew articles and other media to make Israelis appear racist.
In October of 2016, Abusneineh signed a petition authored by the National SJP (NSJP), whose purpose was to “extend unconditional solidarity” to Professor Rabab Abdulhadi.
The petition claimed pro-Israel organizations “waged a coordinated smear campaign—employing Islamophobia, anti-Arab racism, outright lies and innuendo, and defamation against Professor Abdulhadi.”
Professor Rabab Abdulhadi has, since 2014, sought to cultivate alliances between SFSU and two Hamas-dominated Palestinian universities.
During a March 2014, SFSU faculty event, Abdulhadi praised international hijacker Leila Khaled as an “icon in liberations movements and… an icon for women’s liberation.”
In 2016, Abdulhadi signed a letter to Vassar College President Catherine Bond Hill defending Jasbir Puar. Puar demonized Israel, suggesting that Israelis harvest the organs of dead Palestinians.
An October 14, 2015 Twitter exchange indicated that Abusneineh is an affiliate and admirer of anti-Israel professor Steven Salaita.
In 2014, The University of Illinois withdrew an offer of employment to Salaita after becoming aware of his anti-Semitic tweets. One tweet, posted shortly after Hamas kidnapped three teenage Israeli high school students, read: "You may be too refined to say it, but I’m not: I wish all the f**king West Bank settlers would go missing.” In 2017, Salaita posted to Facebook: “People ask if I would go back in time and change anything. I would not…I will die unapologetic.” In February 2019, Salaita stated that he had become a school bus driver in the Washington, D.C., area.
Pushing BDS
On February 22, 2014, Abusneineh promoted SJP at UCLA’s divestment campaign on Facebook. The campaign called 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 6:00 a.m., the following day. The resolution was ultimately voted down.
In November 2014, SJP at UCLA again pushed a divestment resolution “calling on the Regents to divest from companies that enable and profit from violations of Palestinian rights.”
On November 3, 2014, Abusneineh changed her Facebook profile picture to a poster promoting UCLA Divest.
On December 1, 2014, Abusneineh encouraged “CSD Graduate Students” on Facebook to “Vote YES” to a BDS resolution put before the Graduate Student Union United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 2865. The resolution called on the union and their employers to divest from companies that have been complicit in “human rights violations” against Palestinians.
UAW 2865’s BDS 2014 campaign was rife with anti-Semitic rhetoric.
In November 2014, the California Teamsters, representing nearly 250,000 workers statewide, sharply criticized UAW 2865 Executive Board’s involvement with BDS, emphasizing that they could not conceive of activity “more hostile to the interests of [Teamsters] members and more antithetical to the most basic principles of the union movement.”
In December 2015, UAW International officially overturned the UAW 2865 boycott resolution.
On October 22, 2015, Abusneineh tweeted a photo of the book “Against Apartheid, The Case for Boycotting Israeli Universities,” adding: “I'm late, but just received my copy and I'm super stoked to read it! @stevesalaita @AliAbunimah.”
On March 14, 2018, Abusneineh promoted BDS across the UC system, tweeting: “Follow @UCDivest to stay updated on latest news on the new campaign to hold the University of California accountable for investing in companies that support Israel. We're going to the Regents!”.
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.
PYM
In 2012, the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM USA) released a statement saying: “Our liberation...will be gained with the path that was written with the blood of our martyrs. We reaffirm that the only path that we are concerned with is the path that explicitly heads towards the liberation of our land and the return of our people to Palestine.”
PYM organized rallies demonizing Israel where it displays propaganda posters supporting the terrorist organization Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and compared Israel to Nazi Germany.
On October 25, 2015, PYM called to support “intifada” during a period when Palestinian radicals across Israel stabbed and hacked to death scores of Israeli civilians. PYM alleged that “Al-Aqsa Mosque has been the target of particularly brutal assaults” and that “... arbitrary killings are committed daily by the Zionist military and settlers.”
On November 10, 2015, the PYM Facebook page displayed a photo of masked Palestinian radicals throwing rocks and firing rocks from slingshots. That photo was used to promote at least 25 anti-Israel rallies across the globe on or around November 29, 2015 under the banner of “Transnational mobilization for Palestinian resistance.”
On November 30, 2015, PYM displayed a photo on Facebook from one of the rallies showing a sign in support of PFLP member Khalida Jarrar, who confessed to inciting violence and calling for terrorists to abduct Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers.
Another sign showed support for PFLP Secretary-General Ahmad Sadat, who was convicted for the 2001 assassination of Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze'evi.
Social Media and Weblinks
Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/100006267152839
- Status:
- Student
- University:
- California-Los-Angeles,
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- UCSD
- Organizations:
- Al-Awda,
- BDS,
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- Last Modified:
- 06/23/2025
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