Claire Bobel

Overview

Claire Bobel [Claire Bobel Fonner] has shown support for a terrorist and opposed the Anti-Semitism Awareness Act, a bipartisan bill drafted in response to growing anti-Semitism in the United States.

She has also supported anti-Israel activists and spread hatred of Israel as an activist with Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at Kent State University (SJP KSU).

As of June 2018, Bobel’s LinkedIn page said she graduated from KSU in May 2018, with a bachelor’s degree in “Political Science/Public Policy.” Bobel said that she was a "Supervisor” at Aramark since May 2018, and a student manager of three cafe units at KSU.  

Supporting a Terrorist

Bobel retweeted a March 6, 2017 tweet that said: “Bassel al-Araj, Palestinian pharmacist, youth activist & writer, executed by Israeli forces in a raid this morning. Glory to your brave soul.”

Basel Al Araj was killed in a shoot-out with Israeli troops during an arrest raid. He had been suspected of belonging to a terror cell planning to carry out attacks on Israeli targets. Two M-16 assault rifles and an improvised Carlo-style submachine gun were found inside his home. 

Opposing the Anti-Semitism Awareness Act

Bobel retweeted a December 9, 2016 tweet from the anti-Israel organization Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) that opposed the Anti-Semitism Awareness Act (AAA). The bill directed the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) to use the U.S. State Department’s definition of anti-Semitism when evaluating hostile environment complaints.

JVP also launched a petition opposing the AAA, which asserted that anti-Semitism did not warrant its own bill, but should rather be considered equal to other forms of bigotry.

The petition also purported that “real anti-Semitism” came from the “white supremacist movements in this country” and contended the bill did “little to protect us, as Jewish students, from these dangers.”

The petition also claimed that the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement was “not inherently anti semitic,” and called the State Department’s definition of anti-Semitism “problematic.”

Supporting Anti-Israel Activists

Bobel retweeted a January 1, 2018 tweet supporting anti-Israel agitator Ahed Tamimi. The tweet said that Israel’s detention of Tamimi sent the message that “our lives matter, your lives do not.”


On the same day, Bobel retweeted a tweet from anti-Israel propagandist Remi Kanazi supporting Tamimi and claiming that her indictment was part of “Israel's broader targeting of Palestinian children.”

Bobel also retweeted a February 15, 2017 tweet that linked to an article defending the anti-Israel activities of professors Rabab Abdulhadi,  Bill MullenJasbir Puar, Simona Shironi,  and

Puar has accused Israel of harvesting Palestinians’ organs, while Sharoni has linked “Israeli Apartheid and campus sexual assault in America.” Mullen is a national leader within the BDS movement and Abdulhadi has cultivated ties with terror-supporting universities.

Spreading Hatred of Israel

Bobel retweeted a March 21, 2017 tweet that said: “yall rly dont get the extent of the Zionist brainwashing that goes on in the American Jewish community specifically.”

Bobel wrote in her retweet: “Read this thread, learn a thing or two. #ksuapartheidwall.” Her hashtag referred to an SJP KSU’s campus display labeling Israel’s security fence an “apartheid” wall.

SJP Activism

Bobel has indicated on social media that she has attended or promoted over a dozen SJP KSU and anti-Israel events at KSU.

Bobel indicated on Facebook that she “went” to a November 3, 2017 SJP KSU event featuring Lorraine LeBlanc, board chair of the Interfaith Peace-Builders (IFPB), which leads anti-Israel propaganda trips to Israel.

Bobel also indicated on Facebook that she “went” to a March 21, 2017 SJP KSU screening of a film titled “Roadmap to Apartheid,” that compared Israel to apartheid South Africa.

Bobel indicated on Facebook that she “went” to a March 20, 2017 SJP KSU event titled “A Night in Palestine: Two Perspectives.” The Facebook event page said: “Join us as we define Apartheid using real life examples of the difference between a Jew and a Palestinian visiting Palestine under the control of Israeli Occupation.”

On March 20, 2017, Bobel tweeted: “Check out the Mock Apartheid Wall all week from 11-4 in the K!” The tweet included an SJP KSU flyer for “Israeli Apartheid Week” and accusing Israel of “settler-colonialism.”

Israel Apartheid Week (IAW) is 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. IAW has been re-named Palestine Awareness Week.

Bobel indicated on Facebook that she “went” to a January 19, 2017 re-screening of the anti-Israel film “The Occupation of the American Mind,” which also featured a conversation with the film’s anti-Israel executive producer, Professor Sut Jhally.

Bobel had also indicated on Facebook that she “went” to the prior semester’s initial SJP KSU screening of “The Occupation of the American Mind,” on October 27, 2016.

Bobel indicated on Facebook that she “went” to a November 21, 2016, SJP KSU event titled “Zionism 101,” featuring SJP KSU faculty advisor Joshua Stacher.

SJP KSU - Supporting Terrorists  

SJP KSU - Promoting Violence and Spreading Hatred  

SJP KSU - Anti-Semitic Conspiracy Theory

On October 24, 2016, SJP KSU tweeted an image of a hand controlling a brain via puppet strings, captioned: “ISRAEL PUBLIC RELATION’S WAR IN THE UNITED STATES.”

SJP KSU - Demonizing Israel