Ghiyath Alazzah

Overview

Ghiyath Alazzah shouted down Muslim, Christian, Jewish, LGBTQ+, Arab and Bedouin Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) reservists who came to speak at University of California, Irvine (UCI) in May 2017.

Alazzah is a student activist with Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at the University of California, Irvine (UCI).

On May 11, 2017, during SJP UCI’s “Anti-Zionism week,” Alazzah posed in a photo with other SJP UCI student activists holding a sign that read: “Long live the Intifada.”

He is also affiliated with the Muslim Students Association (MSA) West — MSA’s west coast regional division — as well affiliated with the Muslim Students Union (MSU) at UCI.

Alazzah is a member of the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM) Los Angeles, Orange County, Inland Empire Facebook group and is a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. He also manages the Palestinian Heritage Committee Facebook page.

As of April 2018, Alazzah’s LinkedIn indicated that he graduated from UCI in 2017, where he majored in Computer Science. As of March 2018, he works as a Software Engineer at Amazon Web Services.

Shutting Down Free Speech

In May 2017, Alazzah joined other SJP UCI student activists in shutting down a panel of visiting IDF reservists who came to speak at UCI.

The panel featured individuals from Muslim, Christian, Jewish, LGBTQ+, Arab and Bedouin communities who had served in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). The event was hosted by UCI’s chapter of Students Supporting Israel (SSI), with volunteers from the NGO “Reservists on Duty,” who offered a chance to hear “from a 1st hand source the difference between how Israel is being portrayed on campuses and the facts on the ground.”

Alazzah and other anti-Israel protesters interrupted panelists, yelled at the attendees and chanted — often barring the panelists from talking.

After one anti-Israel agitator accused the reservists of serving in a military “where they murdered kids and families” and of being “colonizers” other agitators objected when the panelists vigorously objected to the protestors’ accusations. One female panelist broke down in tears, whereupon one of the agitators screamed “You don’t deserve to cry!” Celine Qussiny — reportedly the 2015 co-chair of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at UCI — piled on and started leading the protesters in chanting “Israel, Israel, you can’t hide. We charge you with genocide,” and “Israel, Israel, what do you say? How many people have you killed today?” and “Hey hey, ho ho, these colonizers have got to go.”

Leading SJP UCI’s Saltwater Challenge

On April 29, 2017, Alazzah led SJP UCI student activists in a “Saltwater Challenge,” in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners hunger then striking in Israeli prisons.

The hunger strike was initiated by Marwan Barghouti, who was serving five consecutive life sentences for his role in suicide bombings — and shooting attacks against Israelis that killed five people during the Second Intifada. Barghouti financed the guitar-case bomb used in the Sbarro Cafe massacre.

Alazzah made the blanket claim that Palestinians in Israeli prisoners were “wrongly imprisoned by the Zionist entity... not given their basic human rights” and ”never had a fair trial.” Marwan Barghouti was tried in an Israeli civilian court for his crimes and completed his doctorate in Political Science while in Israeli prison.

Demonizing Israel

On May 4, 2017, Alazzah is listed on Facebook as having attended Facebook “Anti-Zionism Week: On This Land,” co-organized by SJP UCI and MSU UCI. One of the events scheduled for during the week, was the attendance of a divestment hearing at California State University, Long Beach (CSULB), on May 10, 2017. That hearing marked the third, and final, reading of a controversial BDS resolution that had already divided CSULB’s campus.

The resolution’s second reading was passed, with great acrimony, on May 4th. Immediately afterwards, approximately 30 supporters of the vote reportedly gathered and proceeded to chant, “Allah al-Akbar.” After the vote, a former student senator observed that one Palestinian supporter told a Jewish girl with tears streaming down her face, that he “didn’t talk to terrorists.”

Public comments published by the Daily 49er after the final vote highlighted the division caused by the resolution. One faculty member on campus for more than 16 years was “saddened by the lack of constructive academic engagement.”

Pushing BDS

On June 28, 2017, Alazzah was listed on Facebook as having attended a Sacramento Regional Coalition for Palestinian Rights protest against AB 2844. AB2844 is an anti-BDS bill that was approved by the State of California in September of 2016.

The protest against AB 2844 was titled: “Stop AB 2844 - Protect our #RightToBoycott.” Alazzah told the campus newspaper, New University “Basically as a public institution, UCI and the other UCs and CSUs now cannot divest because they do business with the state...What the law says is that anyone trying to do business with the state cannot divest from Israel.”

Supporting Terrorist Rasmea Odeh

On November 12, 2014, Alazzah shared a graphic on Facebook of Rasmea Odeh with a caption that read: “Free Our Beloved Rasmea Now!”

Odeh was a key military operative [00:02:08]with 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 [00:10:53] Odeh as the mastermind.

In 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.

In 2017, after an appeal and a lengthy court battle, Odeh admitted to immigration fraud, was stripped of her U.S. citizenship, deported to Jordan and banned from re-entering the U.S.

SJP UCI - Threatening Fellow Students

In May 18, 2016, SJP UCI disrupted a pro-Israel film screening, laying siege to attendees. Approximately fifty anti-Israel activists yelled obscenities, physically blocked students, and attempted to force their way into the room where the event was being held.

Qussiny, who was then the co-chair of SJP at UCI, led the protesters in yelling “Intifada, Intifada — Long live the Intifada!,” and “When people are occupied, resistance is justified.” Qussiny also reportedly yelled “F**k Israel!” Other anti-Israel protesters reportedly shouted, “All white people need to die.”

One Jewish student — then-sophomore Eliana Kopley — was physically prevented from entering the event by SJP protesters. A protester reportedly shouted, “If we’re not allowed in, you’re not allowed in!” Kopley then reported that she was followed by protesters and hid in a room for safety, where she called the police.

“I was terrified. There is no other word to describe how I felt,” Ms. Kopley said when interviewed.

Event attendees had to be safely escorted from the room by police.

When interviewed, event lecturer Eran Izak reported “[the protesters] were banging on the glass and the door and we could hear screaming outside.” Izak added “The students had a look of panic on their faces — they were terrified. Finally the police arrived, pushed the protesters back a little, and escorted us to our cars.

”Prior to, as well as following the protest, the #UCIntifada hashtag was used by a number of individuals, as well as by SJP UCI Twitter account. SJP UCI also tweeted: “UCISRAEL2016ISRACIST.”

The UCI administration issued a written warning to SJP UCI for “violat[ing] Student Conduct Policies regarding disruption,” effective until March of 2017. SJP UCI was ordered to host an educational program for its membership by November 18 2016.

SJP UCI Joining with MSU UCI

In 2015, 2016 and again in 2017, SJP UCI co-hosted Anti-Zionism Week (AZW) on campus, with MSU UCI. MSU UCI has a history of pushing anti-Israel activities on campus and supporting the BDS movement. In 2013, and 2014, MSU UCI hosted Anti-Zionism Week (AZW) on campus.

SJP UCI and MSU UCI - Creating an Unsafe Atmosphere

During the May 10, 2017 disruption of SSI’s panel, the agitators left the room when the campus police were called. However the protesters remained outside in the lecture hall, blocking the main exit with chants of “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be Free,” and “Intifada, Intifada, long live the Intifada.”

Event attendees had to be safely escorted from the room by police.

SJP UCI and MSU UCI - Verbal Assault

At one point during the May 10, 2017 disruption, an anti-Israel agitator accused the reservists of serving in a military “where they murdered kids and families” and of being “colonizers” other agitators objected when the panelists vigorously objected to the protesters’ accusations. One female reservist broke down, whereupon another of the agitators screamed “You don’t deserve to cry!”

Celine Qussiny — reportedly the 2015 co-chair of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at UCI — piled on and led the protesters in a series of chants. The agitators yelled: “Israel, Israel, you can’t hide. We charge you with genocide,” and “Israel, Israel, what do you say? How many people have you killed today?” and “Hey hey, ho ho, these colonizers have got to go.”

Qussiny interrupted her chanting to yell “you’re here to spread propaganda of a settler colonial state, you’re killing our people.” Qussiny finished by yelling “You people are colonizers or occupiers and you should not be allowed on this f**king campus,” adding “you have the guns, you would kill me if you could, f**k you.”

Qussiny also led the protesters in chants of: “when people are occupied, resistance is justified,” and “when people are colonized, destruction is justified.” Some of the protesters wore t-shirts sold earlier in the week by MSU UCI, in the course of Anti-Zionism week, imprinted with the words “UC Intifada.”

One demonstrator repeatedly interrupted a panelist, who was providing his perspective in response to an attendee’s question. The demonstrator cut off the panelist, saying: “this is a form of like politically trying to get people to not be able to speak.” When asked to keep to the structure of a question and answer session, the protester screamed: “this is people’s lives, people are dying and these guys are responsible for it,” pointing at the panelists.

SJP UCI and MSU UCI - Incitement

On May 11, 2017, the day after the disruption of SSI’s event — SJP and MSU UCI held an anti-Israel demonstration in the middle of the UCI campus. Most of the demonstration leaders tried to hide their faces behind posters, or masked them with Keffiyehs.

From behind a placard, Qussiny hurled a litany of accusations against Israelis, Israel-supporters and the reservists who spoke the previous day, saying: “these soldiers are responsible for our land theft, our expulsion, responsible for the settlements, for our home demolitions, for the sexual violence, for the military violence, for the colonial violence not only in Palestine but all over the world, where they aid military regimes. They train the police officers right here in the United States. They train the police officers right here in the United States. They train border patrol. And they’re right here, they’re right here on this campus.”

Qussiny then pointed out the IDF reservists who came to observe the demonstration, claiming “these soldiers are directly, directly committing genocide against our peoples and training police officers, border patrol agents and various military regimes worldwide to commit genocides all around the world.” Demonstrators responded by yelling “murderers!!”

Qussiny claimed: “Last night we went to disrupt [SSI’s] event to let them know...that we refuse to allow the normalization of their presence here.” She then repeated her allegations against the reservists and derided UCI’s administration for requesting that demonstrators be civil and respectful to them.

Again Qussiny led students in the chant: “When people are occupied, resistance is justified,” “When people are colonized, resistance is justified,” and “when people are brutalized, resistance is justified.”

SJP UCI and MSU UCI - Libeling “Zionist and Pro-Israel Organizations”

During the demonstration, Qussiny libeled “Zionist and pro-Israel organizations”, claiming: “ last year, administration received, we got 400 death threats from Zionist and pro-Israel organizations that were sent to administration.” Qussiny added: “who knows what could have happened to us. These people are threatening to come to this campus - they were threatening - they were saying that they would commit, they would have bloodshed on our campus if we were not expelled.”

Qussiny went on to claim that the university refused to follow a 2013 divestment proposal to divest from Wells Fargo involved “in Israeli settler colonialism” because “the university only cares about the money.” Qussiny then added: “the university meets with Zionist organizations to secure those relationships with huge amounts of money to make sure that we are policed and that our resistance is suppressed.”

SJP UCI and MSU UCI - 2017 Anti-Zionism Week

During May 8 -11, 2017, MSU UCI co-hosted “Anti-Zionism week” with SJP UCI and two other groups. During the week, student activists erected a barrier, mischaracterizing Israel’s security fence as an “apartheid wall” ad advocating for BDS. In addition, anti-Israel students were reported to hold mock funerals for babies and distribute mock eviction notices.

On May 11, 2017, in honor of Anti-Zionism week, MSU UCI and SJP UCI demonstrators held up signs reading “Long live the Intifada.” One demonstrator held up a sign reading: “Zionism is White Supremacism.”

One of the Israeli reservists, Ilan Golan, said his group set up a booth nearby, handed out flyers, held up signs and also engaged with students and passersby about Israel.

Golan reportedhis group was subjected to insults and name-calling by the anti-Israel supporters who participated in the week’s events.

SJP UCI and MSU UCI - Promoting Controversy at Another School

One of the advertised events during UCI’s 2017 ‘Anti-Zionism week’ was the attendance of a divestment hearing at California State University, Long Beach (CSULB), on May 10, 2017. That hearing marked the third, and final, reading of a controversial BDS resolution that had already divided CSULB’s campus.

MSU UCI - Promoting Anti-Semitism

MSU UCI has a long history of marginalizing Jewish students. By August of 2016, at least nine anti-Semitic events had already been reported on campus that year.

A 2012 report by the Anti-Defamation League documented a decade of anti-Semitism on UCI campus. The MSU was named as the leading culprit of anti-Semitism on campus.

In 2010 a group of UCI students, dubbed the “Irvine 11,” were arrested for repeatedly disrupting an address by former Israeli ambassador Michael Oren — using a premeditated strategy of defamation, harassment, intimidation and bullying to disrupt the talk (25:05).

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.

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.

PYM

In 2012, the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM USA) released a statement saying: “Our liberation...will be gained with the path that was written with the blood of our martyrs. We reaffirm that the only path that we are concerned with is the path that explicitly heads towards the liberation of our land and the return of our people to Palestine.”

PYM organized rallies demonizing Israel where it displays propaganda posters supporting the terrorist organization Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and compared Israel to Nazi Germany.

On October 25, 2015, PYM called to support “intifada” during a period when Palestinian radicals across Israel stabbed and hacked to death scores of Israeli civilians. PYM alleged that “Al-Aqsa Mosque has been the target of particularly brutal assaults” and that “... arbitrary killings are committed daily by the Zionist military and settlers.”

On November 10, 2015, the PYM Facebook page displayed a photo of masked Palestinian radicals throwing rocks and firing rocks from slingshots. That photo was used to promote at least 25 anti-Israel rallies across the globe on or around November 29, 2015 under the banner of “Transnational mobilization for Palestinian resistance.”

On November 30, 2015, PYM displayed a photo on Facebook from one of the rallies showing a sign in support of PFLP member Khalida Jarrar, who confessed to inciting violence and calling for terrorists to abduct Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers.

Another sign showed support for PFLP Secretary-General Ahmad Sadat, who was convicted for the 2001 assassination of Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze'evi.

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.