Eiman Najjar

Overview

Eiman Najjar has expressed support for terrorists and demonized Israel. She was reportedly a member of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at the University of South Carolina (UofSC) and attended the 2018 National SJP conference.

The 2018 National SJP conference was held on November 16-18, 2018 at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). The conference was themed “Radical Hope: Resistance in the Face of Adversity.” The conference website stated: “[t]he reason we can have hope is that Zionism...can be destroyed.”

In June 2018, Najjar indicated on a “Statement of solidarity” that she was a UofSC student.

Support for Terrorists

On September 4, 2018, Najjar attended a UofSC SJP event discussing “the role women play in the Palestinian liberation struggle.”

The Facebook event page listed Rasmea Odeh, Khalida Jarrar amd Dareen Tartour as examples of women at the forefront of the Palestinian movement. At the UofSC SJP event, activists wrote letters of support to Jarrar and Tatour.

Odeh was a key military operative with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terrorist organization. In 1969, she masterminded a PFLP supermarket bombing that killed two college students. She also attempted to bomb the British consulate in Jerusalem. Odeh later moved to the United States but was deported to Jordan in 2017 for immigration fraud.

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.

In October 2015, Tatour was placed under house arrest for incitement to violence and for support of a terrorist organization on social media. Tatour had supported the terror group Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and posted to Facebook: “I am the next shahid [martyr].” Najjar retweeted a UofSC SJP December 3, 2018 tweet that said: “Bookmarks for sale!! TWO FOR A DOLLA!! Each bookmark highlights an aspect of Palestinian culture, a Palestinian person or other significant part of the Palestinian liberation struggle!!…”

The tweet linked to UofSC SJP’s Instagram photo of the bookmarks, one of which called for “#Justice4Rasmea” and a second that quoted Tatour.

Demonizing Israel

Najjar retweeted a November 24, 2018 tweet that said: “I applaud @Airbnb for their recent decision to remove all their vacation rental listings from the occupied West Bank. These listings in illegal settlements promoted structural discrimination, theft of Palestinians' land, and direct violations of international law.”

Najjar retweeted a November 18, 2016 tweet that said “ على الحدود يحرص محمد أن يكون في كل جمعة يحمل المصابين والشهداء لكن اليوم نقلوه محمولا محمد أبو سعدة شهيدا [Mohammad makes sure to be at the borders (Gaza/Israel) carrying the injured and martyrs but today they carried him, Mohammad Abu Sa’ada a martyr?]”

Mohammed Abu Saada reportedly participated in a series of violent protests on the Gaza Israel border in 2016.

The protests were organized to show solidarity with the “Jerusalem Intifada” or “Knife Intifada,” an upsurge in violence across Israel incited by Palestinian political and religious leaders. The “Knife Intifada” saw young Palestinians throughout the country stabbing and attempting to stab Israeli civilians.

In November 2016, Abu Saada was shot after he reportedly tried to infiltrate into Israel.

Najjar retweeted a November 19, 2016 tweet that said: “"ما فرحت فيك يما" .. أقسى جملة .. من مقطع توديع والدة #الشهيد محمد ابو سعدة..[I didn’t celebrate you, son”… the hardest sentence… from a farewell clip of a mother of the martyr Mohammad Abu Sa’ada..]

”.

UofSC SJP Activism

On March 20, 2019, Najjar participated in a UofSC SJP “Mock Checkpoint Demonstration,” where the event’s Facebook description claimed Palestinians are “constantly harassed, dehumanized, and mocked by Israeli soldiers.”

On March 21, 2019, UofSC SJP posted a photo on Facebook of the event, where they displayed a poster depicting series of misleading maps known as the “Map That Lies.” The maps had the title: “Is This Ethnic Cleansing?”

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 textbook containing the fraudulent maps. In October 2015, American cable news network MSNBC apologized for airing a similar series of maps and retracted them.

On November 1, 2018, Najjar posed for a group photo posted to Facebook by UofSC SJP with anti-Israel activist Benjamin Ladraa. The photo was from an event UofSC SJP hosted featuring Ladraa.

Ladraa undertook a solo “walk for Palestine” to spread the demonization of Israel in 2017-2018. He has also defended terrorists, promoted the violent March of Return, demonized Israel and advocated for anti-Israel agitators.

Najjar posed for a group photo with UofSC SJP members posted on Twitter on November 15, 2018

UofSC SJP - Celebrating Terrorists

On January 23, 2019, UofSC SJP posted to Facebook: “Joining the intl call to free Ahmad Sa’adat and all political prisoners!”along with a photo of UofSC SJP activists holding signs that demanded “Freedom for Ahmad Sada’at.”

Ahmad Sa’adat is the Secretary General of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). He is currently sentenced for terror activities, including his role in the 2001 assassination of Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze’evi and is in an Israeli prison. Under Sa’adat’s leadership, the PFLP perpetrated many suicide bombings against Israeli civilians during the second intifada.

In December 2018, UofSC SJP sold bookmarks glorifying Palestinian terrorists Fatima Bernawi, Rasmea Odeh and Khalida Jarrar, as well as terror-inciter Dareen Tatour.

Fatima Bernawi [Fatima Mohammed Bernawi] was a terrorist with the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). She was responsible for a 1967 attempted bombing of a crowded Jerusalem movie theater. Bernawi was sentenced to life in prison but was released after 10 years.

In October 2015, Tatour was placed under house arrest for incitement to violence and for support of a terrorist organization on social media. Tatour had supported the terror group Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and posted to Facebook: “I am the next shahid [martyr].” On September 4, 2018, UofSC SJP hosted an event where attendees wrote letters of encouragement to Jarrar, Tatourand Odeh to support their efforts at “resisting Israel.”

On August 3, 2018, UofSC SJP posted to Facebook a PFLP poster that featured a photo of George Habash and his quote “Palestine, all of Palestine, from the river to the sea.”

George Habash, who has been called“the godfather of Middle East terrorism,” founded the terrorist organization the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). In 1970, Habash was the mastermind behind the hijacking of four Western airliners known as the Dawson Field hijackings. In 1972, the PFLP collaborated with Japanese Red Army terrorists to massacre 24 people at Israel's Lod International Airport (renamed Ben Gurion International Airport).

On June 29, 2018, UofSC SJP shared on Facebook a link to an article about Leila Khaled and added: “‘Khaled’s most famous military operations obtained their intended goal and made her a hero in the Middle East and elsewhere.’”

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.

On November 21, 2017, UofSC SJP shared an Al Jazeera interview about Marwan Barghouti to Facebook.

Marwan Barghouti is currently serving five consecutive life sentences for his role in suicide bombings and shooting attacks that killed five Israelis during the second intifada.

Barghouti led the Palestinian Authority (PA) terrorist Tanzim force and founded the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. He also financed the guitar-case bomb used in the Sbarro Cafe massacre, where 15 civilians were killed and 130 injured.

UofSC SJP - Defending Terrorists

On August 13, 2018, UofSC SJP shared an article to Facebook that defended several“Knife Intifada” terrorists, including Ahmed Manasra and Nurhan Awad.

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.

Ahmed Manasra (sometimes spelled Mansara) and his 15-year-old cousin Hassan went on a stabbing spree in Jerusalem on October 12, 2015, during the Knife Intifada. They critically wounded a 13-year-old boy and moderately wounded a 25-year-old man. The spree ended when police shot Hassan and a passing motorist hit Ahmed. Ahmed was taken to an Israeli hospital. He admitted to investigators: “I went there to stab Jews.” He was later tried and convicted on two counts of attempted murder.

Hadeel Awad and her cousin Nurhan Awad were shot after they stabbed two people — including a 70-year-old Palestinian resident of Bethlehem — near Jerusalem’s Mahane Yehuda market. Hadeel was shot by police as she was slashing at other Israeli civilians with scissors.

The article shared by UofSC SJP on Facebook also praised Lama Hafez al-Bakri.

In December 2015, 16-year-old Lama al-Bakri drew a knife and attempted to stab a pedestrian in the Jewish neighborhood of Kiryat Arba before she was shot. Bakri was then detained for 3 years.

UofSC SJP- Glorifying Violent Protesters

On May 14, 2018, UofSC SJP posted to Facebook: “Just today, the number of Palestinian martyrs doubled since the beginning of the #GreatReturnMarch as Israel opened live fire” and added: “demand the US and Israel put an end to this ruthless massacre.”

On March 30, 2018, some 30,000 Palestinians in Gaza approached Israel’s border to take part in the “March of Return” protests. Organized and funded by Hamas, the campaign of violent protests along Israel’s border aimed to spotlight the Palestinian demand to “return” to Israel.

The “right of return” has been discredited as a means to eliminate Israel.

On May 15th, 2018, UofSC SJP launched a photo campaign of UofSC SJP activists and members holding up signs in defense of the March of Return.

That day, UofSC SJP tweeted: “peaceful Palestinian protestors at the #GreatReturnMarch demanding basic rights are being massacred by Israeli snipers. Israel opened live ammunition murdering over 50 Palestinians yesterday.”

On May 16, 2018, a Hamas senior official, Salah al-Bardawil, stated that 50 out of 62 protesters killed during the May 14 Gaza border protest were Hamas operatives. Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) also claimed that three of its members were killed at the same protest.

On September 21, 2018, UofSC SJP posted to Facebook: “We have now entered the 26th week of the #GreatReturnMarch where Palestinians...demand their right of return...israel has opened live ammunition and brutally murders and injuries (nonviolent- btw) Palestinian protestors….We will honor our martyrs.”

UofSC SJP - Opposing the Anti-Semitism Bill

In 2017, UofSC SJP fought against SC H. 3643, which sought to include the State Department’s definition of anti-Semitism when evaluating hostile environment complaints.

The bill did not pass in 2017, however it was reportedly placed in the 2018-2019 budget and currently applies on college campuses.

UofSC SJP - Promoting Supporters of Terror

On April 22, 2018, UofSC SJP co-hosted Joe Catron and Islam Marqa of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM). The event’s Facebook page noted that ISM volunteers acted as human shields, writing: “They stayed with resistance fighters trapped under siege in the Nativity Church in Bethlehem.”

The International Solidarity Movement (ISM), founded in 2001, is a movement allegedly “committed to resisting the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land using nonviolent, direct-action methods and principles.”

However, the group has been accused of supporting terrorism and has encouraged its foreign volunteers to act “as human shields in cities, towns and refugee camps.” ISM has also encouraged activists to break curfew and disregard Israeli directives prohibiting access to closed military zones.

That policy resulted in the death of Rachel Corrie, who was accidentally killed while interfering with an Israeli military operation in 2003. A wrongful death suit brought by Corrie’s family was dismissed, because the judge ruled that Corrie unreasonably chose to put her own life in danger.

On March 4, 2018, UofSC SJP shared to Facebook an Electronic Intifada (EI) article titled: “How the US jailed five innocent Palestinians.” The UofSC SJP post featured the hashtag “#TheHolyLandFive” (HL5).

The HLF5 were five individuals associated with the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF) indicted for funnelling funds to Hamas in the guise of humanitarian aid.

The men were were all convicted and sentenced in 2009 to federal prison terms ranging from 15 to 65 years.

Attending the 2018 National SJP Conference

Najjar posed for a November 20, 2018 Instagram photo taken during the 2018 National SJP conference.

2018 National SJP - Celebrating Violence

During the 2018 National SJP conference, anti-Israel activist Mohammed Nabulsi led the attendees in the chant [00:00:52] “Long Live the Intifada! Intifada! Intifada!”

Since the early 2000’s, the term “intifada” has carried the connotation of violence. The second intifada was characterized by more than 120 suicide bombings targeting Israeli civilians on buses and in cafes.

Anti-Israel activist Omar Zahzah also reportedly [00:00:07] led National SJP attendees in chanting, in Arabic, “With our bodies and our blood, we will free Palestine.”

As of November 2018, the 2018 National SJP website glorified “radical hope and upfront defiance of Zionism,” citing as examples the “early revolts through the Intifadas to the Great Return March.”

The Great Return March of 2018 was organized and funded by the terror group Hamas as a campaign of violent protests along Israel’s border to spotlight the demand of Palestinians to “return” to Israel.

Tens of thousands of rioters gathered on Israel’s Gaza border, attempting numerous breaches of Israel’s border fence, with leaders andparticipants declaring their intention to harm Jews.

National SJP originally promoted a conference logo featuring a keffiyeh-wearing bear, looking toward a kite bearing the colors of the Palestinian flag.

On October 27, 2018, National SJP said the kite signified “the power in the Gaza March of Return.”

Since March 2018, March of Return participants and Hamas’s “Kite Unit” have sent hundreds of kites bearing incendiary devices and IEDs (improvised explosive devices) across the border into Israel to terrorize Israelis. The kites are often marked with swastikas.

By the time National SJP produced its 2018 conference logo highlighting the kites in October 2018, Gazan terror kites and balloons had ignited more than 1,300 fires in Israel, over seven months.

2018 National SJP - Undermining U.S. Support for Israel

On November 18, 2018, the US Palestine Community Network (USPCN) posted on Facebook the 2018 National SJP keynote speech by Hatem Abudayyeh, USPCN’s co-founder.

Abudayyeh has supported [00:08:45] convicted terrorists, praised terror organizations, called for Israel’s destruction and is an activist in theBoycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.

In his 2018 National SJP Keynote, Abudayyeh said [00:53:01] that the “specific role” of Palestinian and Arab students was to organize [00:53:42] in order to weaken “Zionist Israel” and force [00:54:23] the U.S. to “no longer provide it with diplomatic, political, financial and military cover and support.”

Abudayyeh predicted [00:55:37] that once U.S. support to Israel ends, National SJP attendees would return to Palestine as “conquering heroes,” end [00:54:38] the “occupation and colonization of all Arab lands including the Golan Heights” and replace “Zionist Israel” with a Palestinian state.

2018 National SJP - Whitewashing Terror Organizations

During his keynote speech, Abudayyeh also painted [00:14:01] terrorist organizations as “liberation movements” and “resistance organizations,” stating [00:14:21] “what we also know is that the majority of the resistance organizations in Palestine are on the U.S. state department list of foreign terrorist organizations.”

Abudayyeh also celebrated [00:52:00] that all of the “armed resistance” organizations in Gaza are part [00:52:14] of a “unified resistance in Gaza, that includes all of the resistance organizations, working together under a unified military command.”

2018 National SJP - Defending Terrorist Rasmea Odeh

During his keynote speech, Abudayyeh claimed [00:08:28] that pro-Israel organizations “go after students like you,” adding [00:08:20] “just like they went after my friend and colleague, Rasmea Odeh.”

Abudayyeh added that he was asked [00:08:45] to talk about Odeh’s case, and praised SJP and SDS students who organized [00:09:15] “absolutely valuable” events on behalf [00:9:11] of Odeh, “as she was fighting to stay in the U.S.”

2018 National SJP - Demonizing Israel and Jews

During his keynote speech, Abudayyeh defended [00:27:25] the “Irvine 11” — eleven Muslim Student Union (MSA) members who were arrested in 2010 for repeatedly shouting down former Israeli ambassador Michael Oren during an address at the University of California at Irvine (UC Irvine).

Abudayyeh referred [00:27:37] to Oren as a “racist fascist speaker, representative of a racist, fascist country.”

Abudayyeh went on to claim [00:29:48] that “today, even in the United States, Israel is finally being seen as the criminal, apartheid, racist state that it is.”

Abudayyeh also called for increased action in the face of President U.S. Donald Trump, and referred [00:48:41] to Jared Kushner, Trump’s Jewish son-in-law and senior advisor, as “that pig son-in-law of his.”

2018 National SJP - Excluding Students

The 2018 National SJP Conference welcomed only students who were verified and vouched for by an SJP (or otherwise named campus Palestine solidarity group). Media requests needed to be “approved by the NSJP press team” prior to the conference.

A November 7, 2018 Columbus Jewish News article reported that the Los Angeles City Council unanimously passed a resolution calling on UCLA to cancel the 2018 NSJP conference, stating that a “public university should not allow any group to implement a litmus test for event participation on their campus.”

On November 12, 2018, UCLA Chancellor Gene Block published an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times that criticized National SJP’s exclusion of members of pro-Israel student groups.

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.