Josh Buzzell

Overview

Josh Buzzell has spread anti-Semitism, expressed support for Hamas terrorists and promoted incitement. Buzzell has also demonized Israel and engaged in anti-Israel activism.

Buzzell was affiliated with Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR) at McMaster University (McMaster SPHR) from 2014 to 2015. SPHR is an alternative name for Students For Justice In Palestine (SJP).

Buzzell is also a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.

As of December 2023, Buzzell’s LinkedIn profile bio said: “Marketing & Sales | Customer Service | Accessibility | Mental Health & Disabilities Grad | Public Speaking.”

Buzzell’s LinkedIn also said he studied peace studies and religious studies at McMaster from 2013 - 2018 and computer science and information technology at Mohawk College from September 2020 until December 2022.

Buzzell’s LinkedIn said he was based in Hamilton, Ontario.

In September 2023, Buzzell’s Twitter bio said: “I teach an Islamic Studies & Leadership class teaching solutions to major world issues from the Islamic view.” The bio linked to registration for the Islamic Studies and Leadership Young Da’ee program at i3 Institute.

As of September 2023, Buzzell had the username “Islamic_Thought” and handle “@IslamicTh0ught” on Twitter. He used the name “Josh Bzl” on Facebook. On Instagram, he went by the username “BuzzBroadcast

” and “@buzzellbroadcast” was his handle.

Anti-Semitism

On August 10, 2014, Buzzell posted on Facebook a screenshot of a Tweet that said: “This is #Israel: We apply what we learned in Nazi occupied Europe every day in occupied #Palestine. #FreePalestine.”

The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) highlights as one possible contemporary example of anti-Semitism: “Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis.” The U.S. State Department adopted the IHRA’s working definition of anti-Semitism in 2016. Over 40 countries have adopted the definition as well.

On July 14, 2014, Buzzell wrote on Facebook: “The Nazis moved Jews into Ghettos after they were told that they could go back home after a ‘temporary’ time of political unrest.We all know where they really went next though.#FreeGaza #PeaceForAll.”

Buzzell’s Facebook post linked to an article accusing Israel of “Incremental Genocide in the Gaza Ghetto.” He wrote his post during Israel’s Operation Protective Edge (OPE) against Hamas.

Israel commenced OPE in July 2014 to stop rocket fire targeting Israeli civilians and to destroy Hamas attack tunnels.

Support for Hamas Terrorists

On July 30, 2014, Buzzell tweeted: “If Hamas defends UN schools then they are defending people like me. People who want to go to school in peace. #Israel ruined that peace.”

Hamas has been designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S., Canada, European Union, Israel and other countries. Founded in 1987, it has killed thousands of Israeli civilians through mass shootings and suicide bombings. Hamas has also kidnapped children, families and the elderly and held them hostage in Gaza. It has desecrated [slide 2] dead bodies and launched numerous rocket attacks against Israeli civilians.

The United Nations Relief Works Agency (UNRWA) has been accused of hiring militants and providing armsto Hamas terrorists. Hamas rockets have been found in UNRWA schools on numerous occasions.

In 2015, the U.S. Congress found that "[t]he curriculum of UNRWA schools, which use the textbooks of their respective host governments or authorities, has long contained materials that are anti-Israel, anti-Semitic, and supportive of violent extremism.”

UNRWA school teachers have reportedly carried terrorist acts while working at UNRWA and frequently posted anti-Semitic cartoons and texts.

On July 20, 2014, Buzzell tweeted: “So you're telling me that if these guys are entering your home I'm a terrorist for stopping them? https://youtube.com/watch?v=A4b36K3_y2A#GazaUnderAttack.”

The tweet linked to a YouTube video about Israeli defensive measures against Hamas tunnels concealed in houses used to smuggle weapons.

Hamas terror tunnels are intended for mass murders and hostage-taking scenarios against Israeli civiliansand soldiers. They stretch from the Gaza Strip into Israel.

Incitement

On May 10, 2021, Buzzell posted a video on his Instagram story highlights, titled “Injustice” that was captioned [slide 53]: “The oppressors are attacking Israel’s 3rd holiest site and attacking people who came to pray...”

In May 2021, violent clashes broke out between Palestinian worshippers and Israeli police at the Al-Aqsa compound following claims the Al-Aqsa Mosque was in danger. The subsequent incitement was a leading factor in Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorists firing over 4,300 rockets from Gaza into Israel later that month. Israel responded by launching “Operation Guardian of the Walls (OGW),” carrying out targeted military strikes in Gaza. Allegations of Jews “threatening” to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque have been a traditional pretext for Arab attacks on Jews predating the State of Israel.

On November 21, 2014, Buzzell wrote on Facebook: “WHAT YOU TELEVISION MEDIA WON'T TELL YOU” and shared a post by McMaster BDS that said: “18 Nov Palestinians kill 4 Israelis in synagogue in Jerusalem…”

The post attempted to justify the murders by listing some alleged earlier incidents: “Israeli settlers storm Aqsa mosque… Israel allows prayer in Aqsa with restrictions… Israel police assassinates Kheir Aldeen after hitting police car -Israeli soldiers enter the Aqsa with guns and gas bombs… Israel attacks moslem women worshippers entering the mosque.”

In the fall of 2014, Palestinian leaders and media incited a wave of violence against Israelis with the lie that Israel intended to desecrate the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. This resulted in the November 18, 2014 Har Nof massacre, in which terrorists murdered six people in a Jerusalem synagogue during morning prayers.

Palestinians and anti-Israel activists have historically described visits by Jews to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem as “incursions” during which Jews purportedly “storm” the Temple Mount and Al-Aqsa Mosque. Palestinians have also frequently used the mosque to stockpile stone slabs, fireworks and rocks, with which they attack Israeli security officers and non-Muslim visitors to the Temple Mount.

Khayr Al Din Hamdan [Kheir Adeen] was killed by Israeli police after running up to a police van with a knife, hitting the windows and attempting [00:00:19] to stab an officer exiting the van.

The November 21, 2014 McMaster Facebook post also claimed that one day before the Har Nof Palestinian terrorist murders, a Palestinian bus driver was “hanged” by Israelis in Jerusalem, despite both Palestinian and Israeli coroners’ published finding that the driver committed suicide by hanging.

On November 5, 2014, Buzzell tweeted: “#FOA shows how you can spread the message of Muslim sovereignty over Al Aqsa Masjid” and linked to a Twitter campaign by Friends of Al Aqsa. The campaign included templates of Tweets to post such as “Extremist Jewish settlers have been storming the Al Aqsa compound under protection of Israeli army during Jewish holidays #HandsOffAlAqsa.”

Demonizing Israel

On October 19, 2015, during a period of violence known as the “Knife Intifada,” Buzzell tweeted: “Is Israel a just state? Or is Canada supporting a death machine?”

In October 2015, there was an upsurge in violence across Israel incited by Palestinian political and religious leaders. The wave of stabbings, known as the “Knife Intifada,” was characterized by young Palestinians throughout the country stabbing and attempting to stab Israeli civilians.

Also on October 19, 2015, Buzzell tweeted: “Is Palestine on the offensive or defensive? This map clears up the misconceptions.#zionisttrash #Zionism #FREEGAZA.” His tweet included a photo of a series of maps displayed on American cable news network MSNBC, captioned “Palestinian loss of land 1946 - present.”

The maps claim that lands once controlled by Britain, Egypt and Jordan as autonomous “Palestinian land” were purportedly stolen by Israel. In February 2016, publisher McGraw-Hill Education recalled copies of a college textbook containing the fraudulent maps. In October 2015, American cable news network MSNBC apologized for airing a similar series of maps and retracted them.

On July 25, 2014, during OPE, Buzzell posted on Instagram: “I just sent an email to our political leaders in #Canada demanding #Peace for #Gaza.” The post included a screenshot of an email he reportedly wrote that accused Israel of “unacceptable human rights abuse”and “illegal attacks on civilians, targeting of hospitals and the bombing of UN schools.”

On July 15, 2014, Buzzell tweeted: “Israel commits crimes against humanity but we aren't told about it:”

On July 14, 2014, Buzzell tweeted: “#Israel makes no mistakes.It deliberately bombs children.#GazaUnderAttack.”

On the same date, Buzzell tweeted: “Israel has enough intelligence data to know who they bomb before they bomb them.Israel isn't mistakingly killing civilians.”

On July 1, 2014, Buzzell tweeted a screenshot of a post by British politician and terrorist supporter George Galloway that accused Israel of committing a “massacre” in Gaza.

Anti-Israel Activism (BDS, SPHR)

On May 31, 2017, Buzzell tweeted: “@Radiohead, during apartheid South Africa, artists stayed away. Time to do the same with Israel.” His tweet linked to a campaign by the BDS movement calling on band Radiohead to “Stand up for Palestinian rights and cancel your concert in Tel Aviv.”

On March 23, 2015, Buzzell posted on Facebook a photo of himself that he captioned: “5 minutes after we pass BDS at McMaster.”

On March 23, 2015, the McMaster Student Union (MSU) voted to pass a BDS motion endorsed by SPHR McMaster and other student groups.

On March 22, 2015, Buzzell wrote on Facebook: “In Israel, Palestinians and other non-Jews are treated like second-class citizens even though they have lived there historically. I do not support Israel's wars of aggression in Gaza, Israel's racist apartheid state and nor do I support student money being used to invest in Israel and companies complicit in acts against humanity. / VOTE YES TO BDS TOMORROW IF YOU AGREE! / Come to Burridge Gym at 3:00pm tomorrow to vote at the MSU's General Assembly.”

On September 13, 2014, Buzzell posted on Facebook promoting an SPHR event “outlining the struggle of apartheid Palestine.”

On July 19, 2014, Buzzell participated in an anti-Israel protest in Hamilton, Ontario. Buzzell posted photos from the protest on Facebook of signs held by protesters that equated Palestinians with Holocaust victims, accused Israel of genocide and one that read: “ISRAEL / BIGGEST TERRORIST OF THE WORLD / LEAVE OUR LAND.”

Buzzell also posted a photo of a man holding a megaphone and wrote: “Using his micro phone this man chanted ‘Down With Israel at today's peacefull [sic] protest.”

On March 29, 2014, Buzzell wrote in a post on “Evernote” that he had attended the MSU’s general assembly the previous week “with the purpose…to vote Yes to BDS at McMaster…”

On March 9, 2015, Buzzell posted on Instagram an image from an Israeli Apartheid Week display and wrote: “.I really like this: #Student #art on display at #McMaster #IAW for solidarity with #Palestine.”

On February 22, 2014, Buzzell tweeted: “Donate to Israeli Apartheid week at McMaster here:” and linked to a gofundme raising money for IAW to be hosted by SPHR and McMaster Muslims for Peace and Justice (MMPJ).

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.

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.