Heena Sharma
Overview
Heena Sharma has spread hatred of Israel and America, engaged in anti-Israel activism and is a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.In 2021, Sharma was affiliated with Within Our Lifetime (WOL), an activist group in New York City. WOL’s “Points of Unity” states: “We defend the right of Palestinians as colonized people to resist the zionist occupation by any means necessary.”
In May 2021, Sharma was reportedly an organizer with Survived and Punished NY. In July 2021, Sharma was reportedly a “writer and abolitionist organizer based in New York City.”
As of March 2023, Sharma’s LinkedIn page said that Sharma studied special education and teaching at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) from 2014 to 2015. Sharma also graduated from Barnard College in 2012 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology.
As of January 2023, Sharma went by the username “
heenz” and the handle “@heenasharma_” on Twitter.Hatred of Israel and America
On July 4, 2021, Sharma tweeted a photo of an Israeli and American flag on fire. Sharma wrote: “u know the vibes.”On June 16, 2021, Sharma tweeted: “im just really tired of zionists in ‘social justice’ spaces, esp when they are youth workers teaching young people that there are ‘both sides.’ f**k yall. #FreePalestine.”
Zionism is the belief that Jews have the right to self-determination in their own national home, and the right to develop their national culture.
On May 29, 2021, Sharma tweeted: “i can't believe @benandjerrys just stopped tweeting altogether um not sure if the strategy to quietly wait out *settler colonialism genocide* is gonna work !! a free Palestine in our lifetime
#BoycottBenAndJerrys #HasBenAndJerrysTweetedYet.” Sharma’s tweet linked to an article titled: “Ben & Jerry's freezes when it comes to Palestine.” On May 13, 2021, Sharma tweeted: “all the americans disgusted by young israelis gleefully celebrating settler colonialism & palestinian genocide, how do u think the US indoctrinates us?americans look the same, celebrating our military prowess, imperialism, genocides committed in the name of liberty & self-defense.”
Sharma wrote the tweet during Israel’s Operation Guardian of the Walls (OGW) against Hamas.
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 in Gaza.
On May 13, 2021, Sharma tweeted: “holding my breath. a free Palestine in our lifetimes. intifada zindabad [long live the intifada] #SaveSheikhJarrah #FreePalestine #GazaUnderAttack.”
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 11, 2021, Sharma tweeted: “what more needs to be said? f**k you @AndrewYang.”
Sharma’s tweet was in response to a tweet by American politician Andrew Yang that said: “I'm standing with the people of Israel who are coming under bombardment attacks, and condemn the Hamas terrorists…”
On May 10, 2021, Sharma tweeted: “i feel SICK. how can anyone criticize Palestinian armed resistance in the face of such gleeful violent settler colonialism? #SaveSheikhJarrah #FreePalestine.”
Sharma’s tweet included a May 2021 video of Jews dancing in front of the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem.
On May 7, 2021, Sharma tweeted a photo of Israeli and American flags burning. Sharma wrote: “mood. #SaveSheikhJarrah.”
On May 5, 2021, Sharma tweeted: “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.”
Anti-Israel Activism
On May 15, 2021, Sharma tweeted: “f**k Israel all my homies hate Israel!!! #FreePalestine.” Sharma’s tweet included a photo of a sign with the same text held at a May 15, 2021, WOL rally in Brooklyn titled: “Nakba 73 Defend Palestine!”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.
In the same thread, Sharma tweeted: “END ALL AID TO RACIST ISRAEL #FreePalestine.” In the tweet, Sharma included a photo of a protest sign with the same text.
At the same protest, anti-Israel protesters held signs that said [00:06:40]: “F**k Israel. All my homies hate Israel. #FreePalestine,” and [00:06:21] “Zionists are Nazis.” They also chanted [00:27:36]: “5,6,7,8, Israel is a terrorist state,” and held signs that accused [00:09:11] Israel of apartheid.
On May 15, 2021, Sharma tweeted a photo of a protest sign that said: “RESISTANCE IS JUSTIFIED WHEN PALESTINE IS OCCUPIED.” In the same tweet, Sharma wrote: “#FreePalestine #SaveSheikhJarrah.”
Among Palestinians and anti-Israel activists, the term “resistance” can be a euphemism for nationalistic terror. It is often used to excuse or even glorify anti-Israel and anti-Semitic violence.
On June 1, 2021, Sharma tweeted: “
NYC & NJ CALL TO ACTION #BlockTheBoat #ShutdownApartheid #BDS #FreePalestine.” Sharma’s tweet featured a flyer promoting a June 6, 2021 protest co-organized by WOL. The protest sought to stop a cargo ship owned by ZIM, an Israeli shipping company, from docking at the Port of New York and New Jersey. The “Block the Boat'' campaign is a BDS initiative founded by the Arab Resource and Organizing Center (AROC) in 2014. The campaign’s goal is to disrupt the Israeli shipping company Zim from accessing American ports in both the east and west coasts.
On September 15, 2021, Sharma tweeted: “Fri 9.17 / 5pm / ‘Columbus’ Circle, NYC / Organized by @WOLPalestine / Globalize the Intifada / Return our children / Free all Palestinian prisoners / Defend the hunger strikers / Honor the martyrs / Defund settler nonprofits / End all US aid to Israel / End the siege on Gaza.”
Israel and Egypt implemented a United Nations-approved [pp. 39–41] joint blockade of the Gaza Strip in 2011 to stop Hamas from acquiring more sophisticated rockets.
Sharma’s tweet promoted a September 17, 2021 WOL rally that was held in Manhattan and called people to: “Globalize the Intifada. Free all Palestinian prisoners… Defund the settler organizations, Honor The Martyrs…”
At the rally, protestors chanted [00:20:08]: “We don’t want no two states, we want all of it!”
The protesters held a banner that said: “Prisoners Revolt from Attica to Gilboa 1971 / 2021,” alluding to the Palestinian terrorists who had escaped a maximum-security prison in Israel that same month.
On September 6, 2021, six Palestinian prisoners escaped from the maximum-security Gilboa Prison in Israel. The escaped prisoners were convicted members of the terror organizations Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, who were jailed for their involvement in attacks carried out during the second intifada. All were recaptured by September 19, 2021, by Israeli authorities.
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
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hsha24Twitter:https://twitter.com/heenasharma_
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heenzsharmz/[Private]
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heena-sharma-7ba052105/
Linktr.ee: https://linktr.ee/heena.s
Venmo: https://venmo.com/u/Heena-Sharma
Photos & Screenshots
