Josh Fatahi
Overview
Josh Fatahi whitewashed violent protesters and was thepresident of Students Justice for Palestine (SJP) at California State University, Fullerton (CSUF) for the 2019-2020 academic year.Fatahi attended the 2019 National SJP Conference with other SJP CSUF activists.
Fatahi is also a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.
As of December 2020, Fatahi was listed as the “Primary Contact” for SJP CSUF and inJune 2020, he was a committee member of the Student Fee Advisory Committee (SFAC) at CSUF.
In September 2019, he was reportedly a member of the Lebanese Social Club (LSC) at CSUF and was affiliated with South West Asian North African (SWANA) since April 2019.
In May 2020, Fatahi was a third-year [00:19:53] student at CSUF majoring in political science.
Whitewashing Violent Protesters
On August 18, 2019, Fatahi shared [slide 1]a quote from the United Nations Relief Works Agency (UNRWA) to his Instagram story about the March of Return.Most of the Gazans who died between March 30 and April 6, 2018, were identified as terror operatives who were killed while carrying out terrorist attacks, rioting against IDF forces or attempting to breach the border fence between Israel and the Gaza Strip.
Fatahi also shared [slide 3] a quote from “The UN Independent Commission of Inquiry on the 2018 Gaza protests” to his Instagram story that read “Israeli snipers shot thousands of demonstrators…”
Palestinian gunmen at the demonstrations have fatally targeted Israeli security forces defending Israel’s border with Gaza.
SJP Activism
On May 5, 2020, Fatahi featured on a podcast produced by CSFU’s official radio station Titan Radio Clubhouse. The podcast description said: “Monica zooms on with President Josh Fatahi and Event Coordinator Hanin Sharif of SJP as they analyze the importance of Students for Justice in Palestine being a club needed on campus.”During the podcast, Fatahi stated: [00:02:51] “If i was going to describe in Palestine… I would say… there was like an oppressive apartheid structure in place…”
Fatahi also emphasized [00:08:09] SJP CSUF’s importance on campus and promoted [00:11:30] the group’s “mock apartheid wall,” stating that ”we [SJP] do it every year.”
He went on to state [00:11:49] that in the future he would like SJP CSUF to participate in Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) every year.
Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) is presented as “an international series of events that seek to raise awareness of…Israel’s settler-colonial project and apartheid system over the Palestinian people” and build support for the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.
On November 18, 2020, SJP CSUF erected a mock “apartheid wall” on campus, as a “representation” of Israel’s security barrier, to promote BDS.
Israel’s security barrier, 97 percent of which is a low chain-link barrier, was built as a deterrent to Palestinian terror attacks. The concrete portions of the fence were built in response to Palestinian sniper attacks.
A November 19, 2019 article published in CSUF’s student Newspaper “The Daily Titan” quoted Fatahi stating that the mock apartheid wall “has importance in helping Palestinian students find a place of camaraderie…”
SJP CSUF’s “apartheid wall” was reportedly “displayed with the help from” the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM).
PYM has expressed support for terrorists, promoted incitement to violence and advocated for the dissolution of the State of Israel.
On November 19, 2019, CSUF SJP shared Fatahi’s Instagram stories that featured images of the mock apartheid wall with text over one image that read [slide 12]: “COME SUPPORT! !”
On October 8, 2019, Fatahi appeared [slide 4] in an SJP CSUF Instagram photo giving a presentation about Israel’s arms blockade on the Gaza strip.
The United Nations approved [pp. 39–41] the Israeli-Egyptian blockade of Gaza in 2011 as a security measure to stop Hamas from acquiring sophisticated rockets. Multiple flotillas have attempted to breach the blockade, with at least one flotilla initiating a violent confrontation with Israeli forces.
On September 10, 2019, Fatahi featured [slide 4]in an SJP CSUF Instagram photo as well as an Instagram story, giving a presentation in front of a screen that read: “Occupied Palestine.” SJP CSUF’s Instagram post said: “Thank you everyone for coming out to our first general meeting!! If you haven’t received any of our emails, shoot us a quick dm so we can add you!! 🙌🏽😊🇵🇸.”
On September 5, 2019, Fatahi featured in a photo on SJP CSUF Instagram story, tabling at a “Discover Fest '' eventheld on campus. On September 3, 2019, CSUF SJP promoted the event to Instagram and wrote: “Don’t forget to come say hi to us tomorrow and Thursday @ Discover Fest!!... Cant wait to see y’all!(: ✌🏽🇵🇸.”
Supporting BDS
On February 5, 2020, Fatahi featured in an article published by CSUF student’s magazine, titled “Freedom Fight At CSUF.”Fatahi reportedly said: “Most of the work SJP does is informing folks on what’s going on in Palestine through outreach, workshops, and the wall event we do each year. We also push for boycott, divestment, and sanction as a way to pressure Israel...”
On May 5, 2020, Fatahi was interviewed in a Titan Radio Clubhouse podcast, where he stated [00:00:45] “We [SJP CSUF]kind of follow the tenets of BDS…”
Attending National SJP 2019
On November 8, 2019, Fatahi featured in an SJP CSUF Instagram photo alongside other activists. The Instagram post read: “We had an amazing time at the NSJP conference and came back feeling more knowledgeable and empowered. Thank you to everyone that came to our NSJP debrief. We can’t wait to apply what we’ve learned in our positions. ✊🏽🇵🇸✌🏽.”The Conference partnered with numerous anti-Israel organizations and conducted their event in a clandestine manner.
2019 National SJP - Supporting BDS
The Conference website called to capitalize on shifts in the political climate, represented by the elections to the U.S. Congress of Representatives Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, who both support BDS. National SJP speakers also reportedly drew attention to Rep. Omar’s support for the BDS movement as the Representative for UMN’s Congressional district.During the Conference, National SJP speakers reportedly “noted the success of past divestment campaigns at the University [UMN], which ultimately resulted in the passing of a campus-wide [BDS] referendum in 2018.”
The UMN resolution passed in 2018 by a margin of 3.4 percent of those students who voted, translating to approval by 6.18% of all eligible voters. Less than 13% of the eligible voters actually voted on UMN’s BDS referendum.
2019 National SJP - Rejecting Israel and Zionism
The 2019 National SJP Conference website indicated that the goal of their “solidarity movement” was to push for policies that “demanded the end of” the state of Israel, referred to as “the Israeli occupation.”The website clarified that “the Palestinian struggle against Zionism, extends beyond the confines of 1967, and well before the Nakba,” and was based on the rejection of Jewish national self-determination in Israel.
Nakba is an Arabic term for “catastrophe” and refers to the outcome of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. It is a term often used to delegitimize the creation of the State of Israel.
2019 National SJP - Heightened Secrecy
The 2019 National SJP Conference required attendees to be “verified and vouched for” by an SJP chapter to which they belonged and required each chapter to register as a group. The conference also required each group to be verified by a “reference––someone who is NOT going to this conference but who is or has recently been a part of your SJP.”2019 National SJP - Partnering Organizations
National SJP partnered with other anti-Israel organizations to table, sell merchandise and lead workshops, including CODEPINK, Palestine Youth Movement (PYM), Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), US Palestinian Community Network (USPCN), Palestine Legal, Watan Palestine and the Adalah Justice Project.Keynote speakers included Loubna Qutami, Chair of PYM, as well as Taher Herzallah of American Muslims for Palestine (AMP). Other speakers included Miko Peled, Sandra Tamari, Suhad Katib, Chris Gazaleh, Clarissa Bitar, Tariq Luthun, Maytha Alhassen and Sima Shakhsari.
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.
