Fatima Omar

Overview

Fatima Omar is a student at the University of Chicago (U of C).

Omar is a member of Student for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at U of C (SJP U o f C) and the Muslim Students Association (MSA) at U of C (MSA U of C). She also supports the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement on the U of C campus.  

Demonizing Israel

On April 24, 2015 — one day after Israeli Independence Day — SJP U of C on Facebook uploaded photos of Omar and other members holding a protest where they held Israel responsible for the creation and continuation of the Palestinian refugee problem. One sign suggested that Israel is engaged in an “ongoing genocide, ethnic cleansing and apartheid.  

U of C Divest

SJP U of C and JVP UChicago - Exalting Terror

On November 2, 2015, JVP UChicago and SJP U of C erected a shrine honoring Palestinian terrorists killed during the upsurge of stabbings, car rammings and other terrorist attacks against Jews, that began in October 2015. 

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.

The shrine featured Palestinian terrorist Fadi Aloon, whom it portrayed as an innocent civilian was shot while "run[ning] from a racist mob." 

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. 

SJP U of C - Supporting a Terrorist

2016 the SJP U of C Facebook Page’s cover photo featured a likeness of Rasmea Odeh. On April 23, 2015, JVP UChicago members attended a fundraising event for her.

Odeh was a key military operativewith the terrorist group the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). In 1969, Odeh masterminded a PFLP bombing that killed two college students in a Jerusalem supermarket. Odeh also attempted to bomb the British consulate.

Odeh confessed, in a highly detailed account, the day following her arrest. In a 2004 documentary, one of Odeh’s co-conspirators directly implicated her as the mastermind.

On 1970, an Israeli court tried and convicted Odeh for her involvement in both bombings and sentenced her to life imprisonment. However, Odeh was released 10 years later, in a prisoner swap and emigrated to the United States.

On November 10, 2014, a Michigan federal jury convicted Odeh for immigration fraud because she failed to disclose her prior conviction and life sentence on her immigration application. On March 12, 2015, she was sentenced to 18 months in prison.

On February 26, 2016, Odeh’s immigration fraud case was sent back to the district court, to examine whether trauma-related repressed memories contributed to Odeh’s failure to disclose her prior conviction.

On March 23, 2017, Odeh accepted a plea deal where she would be initially deported to Jordan and lose her U.S. citizenship in exchange for avoiding jail time.

The SJP U of C Facebook cover photo also included an image of domestic terrorist Assata Shakur, who was convicted of killing a NJ State trooper and grievously wounding another in 1973. Shakur escaped from prison in 1979 and managed to flee to Cuba in 1984 — where she resides today. She is listed on the FBI Most Wanted Terror List under her legal name, Joanne Deborah Chesimard.

Further, the SJP U of C Facebook cover photo included an image of Commandanta Ramona, a deceased leader of the militant separatist Mexican group the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN).

Lastly, the cover photo included an image of Angela Davis. Davis made the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitive List in 1970, after being charged as a principal in an aggravated kidnapping and first-degree murder — for purchasing the shotgun used in the abduction and killing of a judge. Davis was eventually arrested — but later acquitted.

SJP U of C - Painting Assailants as Innocent Victims

On October 14, 2015, SJP U of C launched on Facebook an incendiary poster campaign memorializing people who were killed during riots or while perpetrating violence. The posters, reading: "MURDERED BY THE ISRAELI MILITARY" or “INJURED BY ISRAELI FORCES,” were hung in public spaces throughout the campus. The funerals of some of those memorialized also were exploited by Palestinian militants to foment yet further violence. The Facebook post whitewashed assailants as “victims of state violence.”

One poster memorialized 13-year old attempted-murderer Ahmad Manasra. 

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.

SJP U of C’s poster claimed — falsely— that Manasra was "shot and left to die."

Another poster portrayed Palestinian terrorist Fadi Aloon as "murdered by the Israeli police." 

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. 

SJP U of C -Spreading Hatred of Israel 

From October 26-30, 2015, SJP U of C launched its annual Israeli Apartheid Week — a five-day event dedicated to demonizing Israel.

One of the week’s events began with a panel moderated by John Mearsheimer, who is notorious for anti-Semitic claims that the “Israel Lobby” in the United States exercises undue influence over U.S. foreign policy and that the Lobby’s agenda is detrimental to U.S. interests.

The event also featured anti-police agitator Page May from We Charge Genocide and co-founder of the BDS movement Omar Barghouti, who rejects the existence of Israel.

On October 27, 2015, SJP U of C hosted a talk featuring Eliat Maoz, who propagated a blood libel, claiming that Israel’s wars with Hamas in Gaza are “a testing ground” for the weapons industry. Maoz described the “Occupied Palestinian Territories” as “the largest and most advanced weapon-testing laboratory,” and that Israel uses its operations as a means of marketing and exporting its technology and weapons abroad. 

On April 24, 2015 —  a day after Israeli Independence Day — SJP U of C posted photos of their protest with JVP UChicago members. The protesters held Israel responsible for the creation and continuation of the Palestinian refugee problem. One sign suggested that Israel is engaged in an “ongoing genocide, ethnic cleansing and apartheid.” 

SJP U of C - Hosting Anti-Israel Speakers

SJP U of C has a history of inviting Israel-haters to speak at events, including Dr. Leila Farsakh, Dr. Sa'ed Atshan and New York-based poet and writer Remi Kanazi.

On May 11, 2015, SJP U of C organized an event featuring Farsakh. Farsakh advocates for a one-state solution that would see the dissolution of Israel as a Jewish State. Farsakh attended Harvard's One State Conference in March 2012, where in response to a question concerning the fate of Israeli Jews were they to become disempowered by the voluntary dissolution of Israel, Farsakh reportedly suggested they could "reconnect with their Arabism."

On May 13, 2015, as part of Palestine Solidarity Week, SJP U of C organized an event featuring Atshan. Atshan has long rejected the two-state solution, does not accept that Israel is a democracy and wants the Jewish state to be dissolved and replaced with another. democratic state.

In 2012, Atshan wrote an article that accused Israel of "ethnic cleansing" and “colonization” — and roundly condemned Native American poet Joy Harjo for rejecting Palestinian calls to boycott Israel. Harjo posted on her Facebook page from Tel Aviv, saying: “Now my social media pages and message boxes are filled with a campaign to force a boycott, with messages of polarization, as if there is one way to poetry, resistance or empowerment.” Harjo went on to mention “an atmosphere of censure now in the ultimatum that I am being given to boycott.”

On January 17, 2012, SJP U of C hosted a panel event featuring Kanazi, condemning Israel’s 2008 - 2009 Operation Cast Lead. The event also featured Ali Abunimah, the co-founder of the anti-Israel online magazine Electronic Intifada.

SJP U of C - Propagating Blood Libels

On September 16, 2014, SJP U of C shared on Facebook an image of Palestinians massacred in the Sabra and Shatilla refugee camps in Lebanon by Lebanese Christian Phalangists — and suggested that Israel committed the massacre. The post further alleged that "63 noted Palestinian intellectuals in Sabra and Shatila were shot execution-style by Israeli forces."

On May 7, 2014, SJP U of C shared a poster on Facebook objecting to Israel’s Independence Day, and rejecting Israel’s right to exist. The poster urged: "Decolonize Palestine. Free Palestine." The poster accused Zionists of “celebrating” and trying “to normalize ethnic cleansing.” SJP U of C and JVP UChicago members paraded similar signs on the grounds of the U of C campus.

SJP U of C - Dedicating a Week to Israel-Hatred

From October 26-30, 2015, SJP U of C launched its annual Israeli Apartheid Week — a five-day event dedicated to demonizing Israel.

One of the events began with a panel moderated by John Mearsheimer, notorious for anti-Semitic claims that the "Israel Lobby" in the United States exercises undue influence over U.S. foreign policy and that the Lobby’s agenda is detrimental to U.S. interests.

The event also featured Black rights activist Page May from We Charge Genocide as well as Omar Barghouti. 

On October 27, 2015, SJP U of C hosted a talk featuring Eliat Maoz, who propagated a blood libel, claiming that Israel’s wars with Hamas in Gaza are "a testing ground" for the weapons industry. Maoz described the “Occupied Palestinian Territories” as “the largest and most advanced weapon-testing laboratory,” and that Israel uses its operations as a means of marketing and exporting its technology and weapons abroad.

SJP U of C - Disguising Anti-Semitism as Anti-Zionism

On July 20, 2014 — During Israel’s Operation Protective Edge — SJP U of C members attended an anti-Israel march and die in attended held in downtown Chicago. 

Demonstrators held signs bearing anti-Semitic claims, such as "Zionism is Nazism." One sign read: — “Well done Israel, Hitler would be proud of you.” Another said — “Stop doing what Hitler did to you.” Yet another read: — “Israel is a Racist, Genocidal state.” One placard propagated multiple blood libels, reading: — “Israel’s To Do List: use chemical weapons, murder children, attack the press, bomb refugee camps, block provisions of humanitarian aid.”

The demonstration was organized by the Coalition for Justice in Palestine (CJP) — a group formed at the time of the second Intifada, which includes Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP)-Chicago. SJP Chicago is, in turn, a "network forged by student activists organizing for Palestine on university campuses throughout Chicago," which includes SJP U of C.

On August 10, 2014, CJP organized another anti-Israel rally and die-in, attended by members of SJP U of C and JVP UChicago. SJP U of C member Jonah Rubin posed holding up a sign that accused Israel of apartheid. SJP U of C member Kirsten Gindler posed holding a JVP sign which accused Israel of waging a war on innocents: — "Jews Oppose Israel’s War on Civilians."

SJP U of C - Shutting down Free Speech

On February 21, 2016, SJP members opposed a lecture by Bassem Eid, founder of the Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group, who opposes the BDS movement. During the talk Eid was threatened with physical violence.

After Eid criticized the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Hamas for repression and human rights abuses against the Palestinians, protesters repeatedly interrupted Eid. A former student at Chicago’s Columbia College, who said he was from Gaza, yelled in Arabic, "I’m going to destroy this place!" Later, he said, “I’m going to kill this motherf**cker!” and “Wait until you go to your car!”

In October 2009, over a hundred SJP U of C and MSA U of C members disrupted a lecture by former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert visiting U of C, organized by the Harris School of Public Policy. Demonstrators shouted,"You deserve to be executed!" One agitator was dragged out by police, yelling “You’re a f**king snake! You goddamn pig!” The protesters turned violent against the police; some were arrested.

The anti-Israel agitators waved banners with Olmert’s likeness and the phrase "war criminal." Demonstrators denied Israel’s right to exist in any part of Palestine — chanting “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” Across the Palestinian political spectrum, from Hamas to the PA that phrase has always referred specifically to the destruction of Israel and expulsion of the Jews.

On February 26, 2013, SJP protested a talk by Israeli-American Law Professor Amos Guiora from the University of Utah. Protesters picketed and turned their chairs away from Guiora in the middle of his talk. One student continuously interrupted Guiora until being escorted out of the room.

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.  

Social Media and Weblinks

Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/fatima.omar.169

Google+:https://plus.google.com/104960965202425394460/posts