Hasini Jayawardena

On November 2, 2021, Jayawardena retweeted a tweet that said: “palestinian political prisoners have been on hunger strike for months. some have not eaten in over 100 days. their families are asking for a social media storm, please help us spread the hashtag #FreeThemAll.”

In October 2021, six prisoners affiliated with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) armed wing Al-Quds Brigades chose to prolong their hunger strike in protest against their administrative detention by Israel. The six men were Kayed al-Fasfus, Miqdad al-Qawasmeh, Alaa Aaraj, Hisham Abu Hawwash, Shadi Abu-Akr and Ayyad Hureimi.

On November 7, 2020, Jayawardena tweeted: “I am trying to say every war has been made or created or made worse as a result of the US and it’s relationship to Israel.”

On May 7, 2021, Jayawardena tweeted: “I think terrible example because they’re literally committing genocide and excluding Palestinians from their vaccination process within the occupied territories of Palestine they refer to as Israel.”

All Israel's citizens, including Arabs, were provided equal and free access to a coronavirus vaccine.

Under the Oslo Accords [p. 5], the Palestinian Authority (PA) is responsible for providing health services to Palestinians under its jurisdiction. In December 2020, PA officials reportedly contacted Israel’s Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) department to request the vaccine, which Israel agreed to provide.

On May 11, 2021, Jayawardena tweeted in a thread: “Read a book Shaquille. I’m not arguing this with you. Israel is stolen land…” She responded to a tweet that said: …Saying the state of Israel shouldn’t exist is just pure anti-semitism…”

On May 11, 2021, during Israel’s Operation Guardian of the Walls (OGW) against Hamas, Jayawardena tweeted: “The annexation of Palestine is not new just because western media now has decided to talk about it. When this weeks news cycle ends, Palestinians will still be suffering if the state of Israel continues to exist.”

In May 2021, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorists fired over 4,300 rockets from Gaza at major population centers in Israel. Israel responded by launching OGW, carrying out targeted military strikes.

Jayawardena retweeted a May 16, 2021 tweet that said: “once again, im wishing everyone who's trying to ‘peace and love’ their way through the actual genocide going in Palestine a very big f**k you. your ‘both sides deserve peace’ takes? that's just you tiptoeing on the fence between supporting a genocide and standing against it.”

On May 17, 2021, Jayawardena tweeted: “Students for Justice in Palestine organize commencement-day drive-by to show solidarity with Palestine – Massachusetts Daily Collegian.”

In a tweet in the same thread, Jayawardena included a video from the event where a male protester yelled [00:00:08]: “Long live the intifada!” As police officers were present, he also shouted [00:00:12]: “Abolish the police!”

The term “intifada,” which translates from Arabic as “uprising” or “insurrection,” carries the connotation of violence. Palestinian intifadas waged against Israel have been marked since 1987 by hundreds of hijackings, shootings, stabbings, bombings and suicide missions.

On May 18, 2021, Jayawardena tweeted: “For those of you who want to learn more about the Israeli Apartheid, here is a link with free books!

The link Jayawardena included in her tweet contained a list of various books by anti-Israel activists Noam Chomsky, Ilan Pappé and others.

Jayawardena retweeted a May 30, 2021 tweet from SJP UMass that said: “to the UMass public declaring solidarity with the Palestinian people, who have been struggling under the oppression and cruelty of the Israeli occupation for 73 years now…”

On June 4, 2021, Jayawardena tweeted: “Like I said a few weeks ago, just because it isn’t the trending thing anymore doesn’t mean that Israel isn’t an Apartheid state. It still is. it has been for a while. PM shift or whatever means nothing. Israel still exists to actively erase Palestinians. #FreePalestine.”

On July 20, 2021, Jayawardena tweeted: “Palestinians were attacked, again, days before Eid, at Al Aqsa Mosque by the Israeli Offensive Forces and some of you think changing Israeli politicians will free Palestine?? Palestinians will not be free if Israel continues to exist the way it does. #FreePalestine.”

The allegation that Jews “threaten” to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque has been a pretext for Arab attacks on Jews long before the existence of the modern Jewish state. Such propaganda has led to multiple periods of violence against Israeli civilians.

In October 2019, Jayawardena signed an SJP UMass open letter titled “SJP Open Letter to Chancellor Subbaswamy.”

On October 28, 2019, SJP Umass published to Facebook an Open Letter in response to a statement by UMass Amherst Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy condemning an event scheduled to take place at UMass Amherst on November 12, 2019. The event was titled: “Criminalizing Dissent – The Attack on BDS & American Democracy.”

The event featured BDS co-founder Omar Barghouti, anti-Israel agitator Linda Sarsour, Cornel West and Dima Khalidi, founder of Palestine Legal.

Earlier, on October 21, 2019, Subbaswamy released a statement about the event saying: “It is troubling that such a one-dimensional, polarizing event should take place on our campus. A panel discussion where only one perspective is shared does little to increase the understanding of such a complex topic like the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”

Subbaswamy continued: “Furthermore, because the BDS position in general fails to acknowledge the humanity on the Israeli side of the conflict and is considered by many as anti-Semitic, the upcoming event could very well alienate many of our Jewish students and other members of our campus community.”

On November 12, 2019, the event was held at the UMass-Amherst Fine Arts Center.

During the event, Barghouti claimed [00:02:15]: “Israel's far-right regime is not merely continuing its decades-old military occupation settler colonialism apartheid and ethnic cleansing against Palestinians; it's increasingly outsourcing its anti-democratic tactics to the U.S. They've tried to silence my voice...”

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 Student 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.