Julie Norris

Overview

Julie Norris [Julie M. Norris] was a student activist who worked to create a Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter at Fordham University (Fordham). In April 2017, Norris and fellow Fordham students sued the university for its refusal to grant Fordham SJP club status on campus.

Norris has demonized Israel on social media.

Norris attended the 2019 National SJP Conference at the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities (UMN) as an activist with Fordham SJP.

National SJP held their conference at the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities (UMN), from November 1-3, 2019. The conference was themed: “Beyond Struggle: From Roots to Branches Towards Liberation.”

As of December 2020, Norris’s LinkedIn page said she received a bachelor’s degree in Urban Studies from Fordham in 2019. Norris listed under “Activities and Societies” that she was affiliated with SJP.

As of the same date, Norris’s LinkedIn page said she was a World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF) Apprentice in Hillsboro, New Mexico from November to December 2020, and a WWOOF Apprentice in Phoenix, Arizona from October to November 2020.

As of December 2020, Norris lists the website for the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) on both her Twitter pages. In August 2019, Norris was reportedly a member of PSL.

Working to Establish Fordham SJP

In December 2016, Fordham Dean of Students Keith Eldredge denied Fordham SJP official club status at the university, despite approval by Fordham’s United Student Government (USG) on November 17, 2016.

In a December 22, 2016 email released by Inside Higher Ed, Eldredge stated: “I cannot support an organization whose sole purpose is advocating political goals of a specific group, and against a specific country, when these goals clearly conflict with and run contrary to the mission and values of the University.”

In his email, Eldredge also said that the group would lead to “polarization” and that “the call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions of Israel presents a barrier to open dialogue.”

On January 23, 2017, Norris participated in a solidarity rally organized by Fordham SJP protesting Fordham’s decision to refuse the group official club status.

On April 26, 2017, Norris and fellow Fordham students Ahmad Awad, Sofia Dadap and Sapphira Lurie filed a suit in the Supreme Court of the State of New York against the university for banning their SJP chapter. They were represented by Palestine Legal (PL), the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) and civil rights lawyer Alan Levine.

On May 3, 2017, Norris featured in a CCR Youtube video saying [00:00:05]: “... I[]t's crucial that Fordham students are able to organize an SJP in order to combat the misinformation surrounding the Palestinian struggle. And only through an organized effort like SJP can we overcome this misinformation.”

On February 11, 2019, Palestine Legal (PL) quoted Norris saying: “‘We will continue to call for justice in Palestine despite Fordham's shameful actions… There is nothing progressive about a school that bans its students from standing in solidarity with movements against oppression around the world.’”

On July 29, 2019, NY Supreme Court Justice Nancy Bannon annulled Dean Eldredge's decision to deny SJP’s application for club status and directed the university to recognize Fordham SJP as a university-sanctioned club. On August 6, 2019, the judgement was entered.

On that same day, Norris featured [00:07:40] in a video posted to Facebook by Fordham SJP, with petitioners Awad and Lurie, and the group’s legal team, which included [00:05:29] Maria LaHood, CCR’s Deputy Legal Director, [00:06:03] Radhika Sainath, Senior Staff Attorney at Palestine Legal and [00:09:42] Astha Sharma Pokharel, CCR Bertha Justice Fellow.

In the video, Nadia Ben-Youssef, the Advocacy Director at CCR, discussed the court’s decision and Lurie said [00:04:46]: “I am so grateful that we had such a great legal team and that we had the support of outside organizers and the Palestine solidarity movement.”

In the video, Norris also said [00:09:04]: “Every time they try to let the movement die or, like, give us another obstacle, it’s only going to make us stronger and fight harder and there is nothing they can do to stop it.”

On August 29, 2019, Fordham SJP held its first official campus event. That day, Fordham SJP posted on Facebook: “Club Fair!! Today was our first activity as an official Fordham club and it felt so good! If you missed it, make sure to follow us on fb, twitter, or instagram, or email [email protected] for updates. Endless thanks to our supporters! We are so excited to finally begin this work on campus.”

On August 30, 2019, Fordham filed a notice of appeal and in January 2020 appealed the NY State Supreme Court decision that ordered Fordham University to recognize Fordham SJP as a “university-sanctioned” club.

On December 22, 2020, the New York State Supreme Court Appellate Division overturned the lower court’s 2019 decision.

The same day, Palestine Legal and the Center for Constitutional Rights issued a statement that read: “We plan to seek review by the highest court in New York so that Fordham students can keep organizing for Palestinian rights on campus as SJP…”

Demonizing Israel

On May 15, 2018, during violent riots in Gaza, Norris shared to Instagram an image thatpaired an iconic photo of dying 13-year-old Hector Pieterson, a mortally wounded black child, taken during the Soweto uprising, with a photo of a Palestinian protestor injured on May 14, 2018, during the violent “March of Return,” near Israel’s border fence in Gaza.

In May 2018, terror organization Hamas instigated the “March of Return.” Thousands of violent rioters attempted numerous breaches of Israel’s border fence with Gaza, seeking to harm Jews across the border. Media reports confirmed [00:00:20] protesters’ breaches and attempted breaches of the fence, some by armed Palestinians. On May 15, 2018, senior Hamas official Mahmoud Al-Zahhar said the Gaza protests were only a pretext of “peaceful resistance.”

Norris retweeted a March 15, 2017 tweet that linked to a teleSUR English article, titled: “Israel Is Now Officially an ‘Apartheid State’: UN.” The article referenced a report issued without authorization under the imprimatur of the U.N and later withdrawn.

In March 2017, a UN commission composed of 18 Arab states produced a report claiming Israel established an “apartheid regime.” Anti-Israel professor Richard Falk co-authored the report. Soon after the report’s release, UN Secretary General Antonió Guterres ordered it withdrawn, claiming the report was published without consultation with Guterres’s office and it did not reflect the UN secretariat’s views.

Soon after the report’s release, UN Secretary General Antonió Guterres ordered it withdrawn. His spokesman said the report was published without prior consultations with Guterres’ office and it did not reflect the UN secretariat’s views.

Attending the 2019 National SJP Conference

On November 4, 2019, Norris appeared [slides 2 and 4] in a photo posted by Fordham SJP to Instagram at the 2019 NSJP Conference.

The 2019 National SJP Conference was held at the University of Minnesota- Twin Cities (UMN), from November 1-3. The Conference themes centered on support for BDS as well as the rejection of Israel and Zionism.

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.”

Members of allied student groups could register only as part of an SJP chapter delegation which, in turn, needed to be “vouched for by their campus’s SJP” for “security culture and accountability reasons.”

The Conference also restricted media access to journalists “registered and confirmed by our Media Committee in advance to attend the conference. Absolutely no exceptions will be made.”

During the Conference, National SJP reportedly covered the windows of the conference hall.

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.