Daniel Alvarez

Overview

Daniel Alvarez [Daniel A. Alvarez] attempted to shut down a campus talk by an Israeli dignitary as an activist with the anti-Israel student group General Union of Palestine Students (GUPS) at San Francisco State University (GUPS SFSU) in 2016. GUPS is a chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP).

As of June 2023, Alvarez’s LinkedIn profile said that he was pursuing a master’s degree in infectious disease at Keck Graduate Institute (KGI), slated to graduate in 2023. Alvarez received a bachelor’s degree in biology and physiology from SFSU in 2020, according to an official SFSU graduation ceremony brochure.

As of the same date, Alvarez’s LinkedIn said he was located in Claremont, California.

As of the same date, Alvarez went by the username “Dani Sanchez” on Facebook.

Attempting to Shut Down a Campus Event

On April 6, 2016, Alvarez and other GUPS activists, chanted [00:00:20] anti-Israel chants to disrupt a talk at SFSU given by then-Mayor of Jerusalem, Nir Barkat. Barkat’s talk was sponsored by the SFSU Hillel chapter. The protesters forced Barkat to move from the podium and sit with audience members in an attempt to allow them to hear his talk.

Linda Ereikat, the then leader of GUPS SFSU, led the group in chanting: “Get the f**k off our campus!” Alvarez chanted [00:00:02]: “Intifada, Intifada!” and [00:00:10]: “From the River to the Sea, Palestine Will Be Free!”

Since the early 2000s, the term “intifada,” which translates from Arabic as “uprising” or “insurrection,” has carried the connotation of violence.

“From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be Free” is a chant used [00:02:47] to call for the elimination of the State of Israel. It has also been employed by Hamas leader Khaled Mashal to call for the replacement of Israel with an Islamic state. In April 2024, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution condemning the chant as antisemitic.

Alvarez also chanted [00:00:18]: “Free, Free Palestine!” with other activists. Alvarez joined in [00:00:28] with the chant: “If we don’t get no justice, then you don’t get no peace!”Alvarez then chanted [00:01:08]: “One, two, three, four we don’t want your [Israeli] racist war!”

On April 7, 2016, SFSU President Les Wong issued a statement condemning the protesters for the disruption.

GUPS

The General Union of Palestine Students (GUPS) at San Francisco State University (SFSU) is the only GUPS chapter operating in the United States. Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) is an offshoot of GUPS.

GUPS is an international organization, initially administered by the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO). PLO leader Yasser Arafat officially founded GUPS in Cairo in 1959. GUPS was founded at SFSU in 1973.

GUPS has reportedly describedits overall goal as organizing student activists to achieve justice and freedom for the Palestinian people. To this end, GUPS formed an umbrella organization for Palestinian student groups and to form alliances with non-Palestinian groups.

GUPS’s focus, however, is almost entirely on its anti-Israel campaigns, which have included harassment, anti-Semitic libels, celebrating violence and glorifying terrorists. GUPS members have also intimidated pro-Israel students, shut down pro-Israel events, supported the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement and held “Israeli Apartheid” events. The group has also held "die-ins,"rallies and protests.

SFSU graduate and GUPS activist Hatem Bazian created SJP while working as a professor at UC Berkeley in 2001.

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.