Hannah Thalenberg
Overview
Hannah Thalenberg has whitewashed terrorists, supported anti-Israel agitators and demonized Israel. She has also spread hatred of Israel and Zionism, opposed the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism and is a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.In July 2021, Thalenberg indicated on Twitter that she was involved in “building” a Houston chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP).
As of July 2021, Thalenberg’s Twitter bio said she was an “abortion funder & language justice worker.” As of the same date, Thalenberg’s Linkedin page said she was based in Houston, Texas, and that she graduated from Rice University (Rice) with a bachelor’s degree in Anthropology and History in 2012.
Whitewashing Terrorists
On May 14, 2021, Thalenberg tweeted: “To be clear, Palestinians resist the Zionist occupation every f**king day by merely existing as their full selves and always moving toward liberation. It’s ‘violence’ when protests become too massive and widespread to suppress/ignore and when Hamas fires rockets in self-defense.”Thalenberg retweeted a July 8, 2021 tweet that said: “This 1970 Ghassan Kanafani interview reminds us of today’s Palestinians asserting their truths in Western media, even when journalists try to twist their words into narratives of a ‘both-sides’ ‘conflict’ Palestinians can ‘solve’ by surrendering their liberation struggle.”
Kanafani was a leading member and spokesperson for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) during the terrorist organization’s early years. Kanafani announced the PFLP’s responsibility for the Lod Airport Massacre of May 1972 and was linked to the airport attackers. The attack killed 26 people and wounded 80 others.
Thalenberg retweeted a July 12, 2021 tweet that said: “Israeli authorities have refused to release political prisoner Khalida Jarrar to mourn the death of her daughter Suha Jarrar. Grave injustices multiplied. We stand in solidarity with the Jarrar family, mourning Suha Jarrar & demanding freedom for Khalida Jarrar #FreeKhalidaJarrar.”
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.
Supporting Anti-Israel Agitators
Thalenberg retweeted a February 12, 2019 tweet that said: “.@IlhanMN supports our right to boycott, and to work for Palestinian human rights...”
On March 13, 2019, Thalenberg signed “An Open Letter: We are Jews Who Stand with Representative Ilhan Omar” posted in the name of group called “JewsWithIlan.org” and published on the Facebook page of a group called the “Palestinian Community Foundation in Europe.”
The open letter claimed that “There is absolutely nothing anti-Semitic about calling out the noxious role of AIPAC[American Israel Public Affairs Committee], which spends millions each year to buy U.S. political support for Israeli aggression and militarism against the Palestinian people.”
The open letter referred to U.S. Congresswoman Ilhan Omar being denounced by top Congressional leaders for anti-Semitic remarks, including tweeting: “It's all about the Benjamins baby
.” Omar’s tweet was in response to a tweet by journalist Glenn Greenwald that read: “GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy threatens punishment for @IlhanMN and @RashidaTlaib over their criticisms of Israel. It's stunning how much time US political leaders spend defending a foreign nation even if it means attacking free speech rights of Americans.”
When asked where the money she was referring to came from, Omar tweeted back: “AIPAC!”
The open letter also applauded Omar for her “courageous support” of BDS, concluding “We thank Ilhan Omar for having the bravery to shake up the congressional taboo against criticizing Israel. As Jews with a long tradition of social justice and anti-racism, AIPAC does not represent us. #WeStandWithIlhan.”
Demonizing Israel
Thalenberg retweeted a July 5, 2021 tweet that said: “Once you realize that the *only* way Israel can maintain a Jewish majority is through ethnic cleansing, apartheid, genocide, oppression, and injustice, you realize there is no moral basis to support an Israel, even though it makes appeals to previous atrocities as justification.”Thalenberg retweeted a July 1, 2021 tweet that referenced then-Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin [Bibi] Netanyahu and said: “Israel is carrying out systemic ethnic cleansing right now. This isn’t about ‘Bibi’s policies’ or ‘antisemitism’ or ‘fighting terrorism.’ This is just ethnic cleansing...”
Thalenberg retweeted a June 27, 2021 tweet that said: “Please don’t be fooled and think Israel isn’t gonna ethnically cleanse Silwan because they haven’t done it yet. Ask yourself how many months have we been fighting for Sheikh Jarrah? It’s an incremental genocide because of social media pressure we are putting on them. #SaveSilwan.”
In May 2021, Palestinian violence erupted in anticipation of an Israel High Court ruling on eviction proceedings concerning over 70 Palestinian tenants illegally residing in Jewish-owned properties in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah.
Thalenberg retweeted a June 27, 2021 tweet that referenced then-Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and said: “Like, do you get it yet? Do you get that it was never about ‘Bibi’s policies’ or ‘Netanyahu’s corruption’? That Israel was always this? That the ethnic cleansing of Palestine is in the fabric of Israel?”
Thalenberg retweeted a June 21, 2021 tweet that said: “Israel is going full force in targeting as many Palestinians as possible. It is using carpet bombing cities as collective punishment, mass military detention of Palestinians, including children, armed settlers attacking from their settlements, displacing us, censoring us.”
During OGW, Israel used targeted strikes on terrorist targets and did not carry out a “carpet bomb” of Gaza.
Thalenberg retweeted a June 13, 2021 tweet that said: “What an Israeli ceasefire looks like: Regularly scheduled settler colonial brutality with a few less bombs dropped. Still executing Palestinians, still bulldozing homes, still stealing land, still abducting children, still shooting at fishermen, still backing up settler violence.”
On May 14, 2021, Thalenberg tweeted: “Wrong. We Jews need to recognize that our liberation is bound up with that of Palestinians and that that *people*, not settler colonial states, have the right to exist. Peace will come when we denounce & END the ethnic cleansing and apartheid being perpetrated in our names.”
On June 29, 2020, Thalenberg tweeted: “As July 1 approaches, a reminder that annexation and apartheid have *been* Palestinians' reality for decades.”
Hatred of Israel
Thalenberg retweeted a May 13, 2021 tweet that said: “let’s make this perfectly clear: israel does not have a right to exist...”
Thalenberg retweeted a May 5, 2021 tweet that said: “there's really no ambiguity when it comes to palestine. u either support the palestinian people & denounce israeli genocidal settler colonialism, or u don't. if ur unsure ‘who to believe’ or think it's more ‘complicated,’ thats what israeli & american propaganda want u to believe.”
Thalenberg retweeted a May 5, 2021 tweet, invoking the Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) “Deadly Exchange” campaign, that said: “u.s police officers are literally trained by israeli military. the police violence experienced here is 100% linked to imperialism. we have to have international solidarity. the u.s and israel are both settler colonial nations often using the exact same tools. free palestine!!”
In 2017, JVP launched the “Deadly Exchange (DX)” campaign, which accused American Jewish organizations of promoting human rights abuses. JVP also released a video that blamed [00:04:04] U.S.-based Jewish organizations for violence that occurs against Black and Brown communities, immigrants and activists in the U.S.
On November 19, 2020, Thalenberg tweeted: “What's anti-semitic is equating my religion and people w/ a settler colonialist project.”
Thalenberg’s tweet was in response to a U.S. State Department tweet that said: “.@SecPompeo: Anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism. The U.S. is committed to countering the Global BDS Campaign as a manifestation of anti-Semitism.”
On December 29, 2018, Thalenberg tweeted: “Brazil’s army & military police have long been major buyers of Israeli military technology & training, to be employed in favelas & urban peripheries as in occupied Palestine. I shudder to imagine how these torturers plan to strengthen such a relationship. Solidarity in resistance.”
Hatred of Zionism
On June 15, 2021, Thalenberg tweeted: “Normalize not needing footage of Palestinians being dehumanized and attacked by the IOF/settlers to believe them when they say Zionism is a genocidal project.”“IOF” stands for Israeli Occupation Forces, a derogatory name used by anti-Israel activists to demonize Israel’s army in place of its official name, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
Thalenberg retweeted a June 9, 2021 tweet that said: “One of the effects of Zionism & the complete dehistoricization of antisemitism it produces is that Jewish Zionists on this site [Twitter] think that every single time someone is mean to them, that's antisemitic. Which is one of the reasons engaging with most of them is so futile.”
On May 26, 2021, Thalenberg tweeted: “Fondly remembering when @tejanitx and I got to weed out zionists from an applicant pool
.”Thalenberg retweeted a May 10, 2021 tweet that said: “If you are silent about Israeli violence against Palestinians because you believe it is antisemitic, what you are saying is that Judaism stands for ethnic cleansing, land theft, and murder. That is what is antisemitic.”
On May 7, 2021, Thalenberg tweeted: “Zionism is ethnic cleansing and genocide. Period. The last settler in this video could not state this any more clearly. If you’ve been led by US propaganda to believe that speaking out against it constitutes antisemitism, let’s talk—I’m Jewish. #SaveSheikhJarrah #FreePalestine.”
Opposing the IHRA Definition of Anti-Semitism
On June 18, 2021, Thalenberg tweeted: “Codifying this
definition does nothing to protect Jews like me from antisemitism and everything to silence anti-Zionists (also like me) who speak up against a genocidal settler colonial state.” Thalenberg’s tweet was in response to Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s tweet that said: “Texas on Wednesday became the first US state to officially adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance [IHRA] definition of antisemitism.”
Several examples of anti-Semitism given in the IHRA’s definition relate to Israel, however the definition states: “criticism of Israel similar to that leveled against any other country cannot be regarded as antisemitic.”
The U.S. State Department adopted the IHRA’s working definition of anti-Semitism in 2016. Twenty-eight European countries, as well as Canada, Australia, Israel and Argentina, have also adopted the definition.
Anti-Israel Activism
On July 11, 2021, Thalenberg tweeted: “Bravo Donnarumma & #BoycottPuma!! #ITA #EURO2020.” The tweet was linked to an action piece on the BDS movement website titled “Puma and Israel’s ethnic cleansing in Silwan and Sheikh Jarrah.”On July 5, 2021, Thalenberg tweeted: “It’s a joy and an honor to start building this [JVP chapter] together.
” Thalenberg’s tweet was in response to another tweet that said: “Tonight, I’m attending the first ever meeting for a Houston chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace. All the respect to @bordes_suaves for organizing our chapter! #tikkunolam #FreePalestine #SaveSilwan #SaveSheikhJarrah.”
On May 22, 2021, Thalenberg tweeted: “Anyone who’s protested on the corner of Westheimer and Post Oak in #Houston will know how extraordinary today was.
#FreePalestine #CeaseApartheid #InOurHands.”On May 18, 2021, Thalenberg tweeted: “Decolonize Palestine and fund abortion, y'all.
” alongside an image of a fund-raising campaign flyer.On May 15, 2021, Thalenberg tweeted: “#Houston, TODAY at 3pm!! See https://linktr.ee/Nakba73HTX for information and action items.
#Nakba73 #SaveSheikhJarrah #ResistanceUntilLiberation.” The tweet was accompanied by an image of a poster titled, “HOUSTON RALLY AND PROTEST NAKBA 73: WE WILL RETURN.”The term “Nakba” is generally translated as “catastrophe” in Arabic, referring to the outcome of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. It is a term often used to delegitimize the creation of the State of Israel by defining it as a catastrophe.
On May 13, 2021, Thalenberg tweeted at U.S. Congresswoman Sylvia R. Garcia’s Twitter: “.@LaCongresista, I know you care about keeping migrant families together and children safe at the US-MX border. Pls bring this energy to #HR2590 to stop funding the Israeli govt's imprisonment of Palestinian children, theft of Palestinian homes, & annexation of Palestinian land.”
U.S. Representative Betty McCollum introduced Bill H.R. 2590 in April 2021to “ensure that United States taxpayer funds are not used by the Government of Israel to support the military detention of Palestinian children… or further annexation of Palestinian land in violation of international law.”
On May 10, 2021, Thalenberg tweeted: “Houston, let's show up for a free Palestine! See https://linktr.ee/Nakba73HTX for resources and action items prior to this Saturday's demonstration.
#Nakba73 #SaveSheikhJarrah #ResistanceUntilLiberation.”Thalenberg retweeted a May 9, 2021 tweet that said: “If you’re in the US and asking how to support #SaveSheikhJarrah, the answer is: Boycott, divest from & sanction Israel. Start with the $3.8 billion the US sends Israel annually from our tax $$. That check is material & political cover for Israel to do what it wants with impunity.”
JVP
JVP was founded in Berkeley, California in 1996, as an activist group with an emphasis on the “Jewish tradition” of peace, social justice and human rights. The organization is currently led by Rebecca Vilkomerson and its board members include Israel critics Naomi Klein, Judith Butler, Noam Chomsky and Tony Kushner.
JVP, which generally employs civil disobedience tactics to disrupt pro-Israel speakers and events, consists of American Jews and non-Jewish “allies” highly critical of Israeli policies. A staunch supporter of the BDS movement, JVP claims to aim its campaigns at companies that either support the Israeli military (Hewlett-Packard) or are active in the West Bank (SodaStream).
Although several Jewish groups critical of Israeli policies, like J Street and Partners for a Progressive Israel, make efforts to operate within the mainstream American Jewish community, JVP functions outside. The group is often criticized for serving as a tokenized Jewish voice for the pro-Palestinian camp and is widely regarded as the BDS movement’s “Jewish wing.”
JVP denies the notion of “Jewish peoplehood” and has even gone so far as to refer to its own Ashkenazi (Jews who spent the Diaspora in European countries) leadership as “white supremacy inside of JVP.”
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has accused JVP of being “the largest and most influential Jewish anti-Zionist group in the United States,” and said the group “exploits Jewish culture and rituals to reassure its own supporters that opposition to Israel not only does not contradict, but is actually consistent with, Jewish value.”
The ADL also claimed that “JVP consistently co-sponsors rallies to oppose Israeli military policy that are marked by signs and slogans comparing Israel to Nazi Germany, demonizing Jews and voicing support for groups like Hamas and Hezbollah.”
According to the ADL website, JVP “uses its Jewish identity to shield the anti-Israel movement from allegations of anti-Semitism and provide it with a greater degree of legitimacy and credibility.”
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.
Social Media and Weblinks
Twitter:https://twitter.com/bordes_suavesLinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/hannah-thalenberg/
We Testify:https://www.wetestify.org/storytellers/hannah-thalenberg
Photos & Screenshots
Infamous Quotes
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