Ghaith Hanbali

Overview

Ghaith Hanbali has spread hatred of Israel, engaged in anti-Israel activism and campaigned [p. 10] for Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement resolutions in 2019, 2020 and 2021 [pp. 17, 20] at the University of Toronto (U of T).

Hanbali served as president of the Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter at the University of Toronto (U of T). Hanbali also served as the finance and sponsorship executive for the U of T chapter of SJP (TSJP).

Hanbali served as vice-president operations of U of T’s Scarborough Campus (UTSC) Students' Union (SCSU) from October 2021, for the remainder of the 2021-2022 academic year.

According to Hanbali’s LinkedIn profile, Hanbali served as an internship trainee at the Hussam Attereh Group for Legal Services in the Palestinian Authority from November 2020 to February 2021, and as a legal intern for the Human Rights Commission of Palestine, also in the Palestinian Authority, from September to November 2020.

As of July 2023, Hanbali’s LinkedIn said he was a reservations agent at the Chelsea Hotel in Toronto, Ontario, from March 2023 to July 2023, and a guest service agent from August 2022 until March 2023.

Also as of July 2023, Hanbali’s LinkedIn said he would be studying for a Bachelor of Laws degree at the University of Sussex in Brighton, England, from July 2023 until June 2025. As of the same date, Hanbali’s LinkedIn said he graduated from UTSC with a bachelor’s in political science in June 2022.

As of July 2023, Hanbali’s Facebook said he attended the Friends School in Ramallah, Israel. His LinkedIn said he attended the Friends School from September 2012 to May 2017, and received an international baccalaureate and science diploma there.

As of July 2023, Hanbali’s LinkedIn said he was located in Toronto, Ontario.

As of July 2023, Hanbali went by the username “GHAITH HANBALI” and used the handle “@GhaithHanbali” on Twitter. Also as of July 2023, Hanbali went by the username “Ghaith” and used the handle “@hanbaliii” on TikTok.

Hatred of Israel

On March 23, 2019, in a Facebook post by the SCSU Racialized Student Collective, Hanbali was quoted as saying: “I myself have lived under an apartheid occupation almost my entire life.”

He was apparently referring to his life before moving to Canada in 2008, as well as to the five years he spent at a Ramallah high school.

In the post, Hanbali also claimed that Israel’s security barrier “was built to segregate between people.”

Israel’s security barrier, 97 percent of which is a low chain-link barrier, was built as a deterrent to Palestinian terror attacks. The concrete portions of the fence were built in response to Palestinian sniper attacks.

Anti-Israel Activism (BDS)

On March 4, 2018, Hanbali posted on the Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) at UTSC Facebook Events page advertising “Volunteer Orientation” for IAW: “If anyone is free right now and would like to help us make some posters come to meeting place.”

Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) is presented internationally as a “series of events that seeks to raise awareness of…Israel’s settler-colonial project and apartheid system over the Palestinian people.” One of its goals is to build support for the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement. IAW has been renamed Palestine Awareness Week.

On March 5, 2018, Hanbali posted on Facebook promoting IAW at UTSC.

On March 11, 2018, Hanbali shared on Facebook a video he edited [00:01:10] about IAW at UTSC. The video promoted [00:00:35] the building of a mock “apartheid wall” and [00:00:50] the BDS movement.

The “mock apartheid wall” is a series of panels meant to represent Israel's security barrier, which was built as a deterrent to Palestinian terror attacks and in response to Palestinian sniper attacks. Panels feature misleading statistics and “facts” that present a skewed image of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

In November 2019, Hanbali proposed [p. 10] a motion calling on the SCSU to “reaffirm its commitment” to the BDS movement at the SCSU Annual General Meeting (AGM).

Hanbali again proposed [p.10] the BDS motion at SCSU’s March 2020 Winter General Meeting (WGM).

In November 2020, Hanbali reportedly explained that the purpose of the motion was “to impose pressure on the Israeli government to conform with international law.”

In March 2021 at SCSU’s WGM, Jewish members of SCSU proposed [p. 20] the addition of three clauses and the rewording of another from Hanbali’s BDS motion [p. 17]. The clauses would ensure that SCSU “continue to engage with campus Jewish organizations” and that the SCSU’s boycott as well as its advocacy for Palestinian rights would “refrain from associating with the BDS brand.” Hanbali responded [p. 20] that the proposed new clauses “are not allowed and go against the spirit of the motion.”

At SCSU’s AGMs in November 2021 and November 2022, Hanbali spoke [p. 27] against motions submitted by Jewish students calling on [p. 22] SCSU to not endorse BDS.

In November 2019, the leader of the SJP chapter at UTSC (TSJP), Ghaith Hanbali, proposed a motion calling on [p. 10] the Scarborough Campus Student Union (SCSU) to “reaffirm its commitment” to the BDS movement at the SCSU Annual General Meeting (AGM).

The motion called on SCSU to “actively support initiatives that raise awareness about the state of Israel’s ongoing occupation of Palestine and war crimes against Palestinian peoples,” and to “refrain from engaging with organizations or participating in events that further normalizes Israeli apartheid.”

Proponents of the “anti-normalization” policy seek to police all interactions between Israelis and Palestinians and shut down all conversations and interactions perceived as being ideologically unaligned with their own agenda.

The motion also called on SCSU’s board of directors to “draft a policy resolution to endorse the BDS movement to ensure that future elected representatives and staff of the Students’ Union uphold our collective commitment to justice in Palestine.”

Hanbali’s motion was not addressed at the AGM due to time constraints.

In a January 2020 meeting of the SCSU board of directors, SCSU voted in favor [p. 14] of a similar motion [p. 11] in support of BDS.

In November 2020, SCSU voted in favor [p. 21] of the original BDS motion proposed [p. 15] by Hanbali in November 2019.

In March 2021, SCSU voted [p. 29] against a motion [p. 11] submitted by Jewish students calling on [p. 26] SCSU to not endorse BDS.

On November 3, 2021, SCSU president Sarah Abdillahi proposed adopting [p. 123] a version of the motion titled: “Re-Affirmation of The Rights Of Jewish Students AT UTSC” that had been amended by SCSU’s Policy and By-Law Committee.

One ofthe clauses [p.124] the Policy and By-Law Committee sought to delete recognized “the right of Jewish students…to organize & advertise events to express their political, cultural and/or religious views.”

The committee also proposed to exclude [p.125] a clause that would allow SCSU to “support campus events…that are organized or sponsored… by campus and community groups that support Israel or Zionism” and“participate in joint research with Israelis or Israeli institutions… enroll in classes offered in conjunction with Israeli universities… [and] travel or study abroad in Israel, or with organizations that support Israel or Zionism.”

On the same date, SCSU voted [p. 126] to adopt the motion.

On November 24, 2021, at its AGM, SCSU voted in favor of adopting a BDS policy [p. 12] proposed by SCSU’s Policy & By-law Committee. The policy included [p. 13] clauses calling to “source kosher food from organizations that do not normalize Israeli apartheid,” and to “Boycott Israeli and settlement goods from being sold by Student Union entities.”

After condemnations by Jewish students and organizations, SCSU passed [p. 20] an amended motion that removed specific reference to kosher food providers, although it still called for SCSU to “refrain from engaging with organizations, services, or participating in events that further normalize Israeli apartheid.”

In November 2019, U of T had previously been embroiled in a controversy regarding kosher food when its Graduate Students’ Union (UTGSU) External Commissioner expressed reluctance to support a campaign by Jewish campus group Hillel to introduce kosher food on campus, due to Hillel’s “pro-Israel” stance.

In November 2022, another Jewish student-led anti-BDS resolution [p. 21] was proposed and ultimately voted [p. 23] down. The motion noted [p. 21] that BDS leads to anti-Semitic hate crimes and discrimination against Jews on campuses where resolutions are adopted. It also called on [p. 22] SCSU to not boycott the Jewish student organizations Hillel and Jewish Student Life (JSL) targeted by the BDS movement.

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.