Lama Abu Amara
Overview
Lama Abu Amara has spread anti-Semitism, defended the terror group Hamas and shown support for terrorists and terror financiers. She has also called for “intifada” and spread hatred of Israel.Abu Amara is an activist with Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at Kent State University (KSU).
On May 13, 2018, Abu Amara posted on Facebook that she had graduated from KSU with a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry.
She is a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.
Anti-Semitism
On August 2, 2014, Abu Amara tweeted: “‘Never again.’-The Jews of the Warsaw Ghetto. Never again for them, but their descendants think otherwise. #BoycottIsrael #SupportGaza #Gaza.”Israel commenced Operation Protective Edge (OPE) in July 2014, to stop rocket fire targeting Israeli civilians and to destroy Hamas attack tunnels.
On July 26, 2014, Abu Amara tweeted: “Palestinians will rise to defend themselves when their rights are violated. Just like the Jews of the Warsaw Ghetto against the Nazis. #Gaza.”
On July 23, 2014, Abu Amara tweeted: “‘One holocaust does not justify another!!’ -Unknown. #FreeGaza #FreePalestine #ISupportGaza #GazaUnderAttack.”
Defending Hamas
On July 27, 2014, Abu Amara tweeted: “When Hamas uses inaccurate crude rockets Israel takes the chance to make it look like ‘Indiscriminate firing’.”On August 2, 2014, Abu Amara tweeted: “Funny how Isreal's claims turned into facts n the media. While Hamas' claims stay claims.Next time take Hamas' word.They didn't abduct any1.”
Hamas was responsible for the kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers from a bus stop on June 12, 2014. The abducted boys were murdered by their captors, and their bodies were found buried in Palestinian-controlled territory on June 30, 2014.
Supporting Terrorists and Terror Financiers
On May 6, 2017, Abu Amara appeared [00:00:01] in an SJP KSU Facebook video promoting and performing [00:01:00] the “#SaltWaterChallenge” with other SJP activists.On August 1, 2014, Abu Amara tweeted: “When someone decides to open an independent charity org to help people in Gaza, they get labeled as terrorists. #TheHolyLandFoundation.”
The HLF5 were five individuals associated with the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF) indicted for funnelling funds to Hamas in the guise of humanitarian aid.
The men were were all convicted and sentenced in 2009 to federal prison terms ranging from 15 to 65 years.
On the same day, Abu Amara tweeted: “Additionally they are thrown to jail. I hope the jury who put them there realize the big mistake they made. #JusticeForHLF.”
Also on the same day, Abu Amara tweeted: “The Holy Land Foundation Five.I hope everyone gets familiar with this case as it is one of the cases dearest to my heart.Stay strong uncles.”
Calling for “Intifada”
As of January 11, 2018, Abu Amara’s Twitter profile said: “Globalize the IntifadaSince the early 2000’s the term “Intifada” has carried the connotation of violence.
Spreading Hatred of Israel
On August 2, 2014, Abu Amara tweeted: “In #America you can criticize anything and anyone, even God. But you can't criticize #Israel. #ICC4Israel #FreeGaza #LiftTheSiege #Gaza.”On November 14, 2014, Abu Amara tweeted: “Apartheid Israel has not stopped for it will never stop. The media will not cover what it can not explain. #BehindTheScenes.”
On July 24, 2014, Abu Amara tweeted: “What is happening in Gaza isn't ‘punishing terrorism’. It is collective punishment. Genocide. Israel isn't a democracy it is a dictatorship.”
On July 27, 2014, Abu Amara tweeted: “‘Israel warns civilians in advance.’ Aha?So if a rapist sent a woman a message saying that he would rape her in 5 mins.Makes it justifiable?”
On August 3, 2014, Abu Amara tweeted: “Hospitals in need of doctors pronto! The genocide must stop. Enough is enough. #FreeGaza #ICC4Israel.”
On November 3, 2017, Abu Amara retweeted an SJP KSU tweet calling Gaza an “open air prison.”
Abu Amara retweeted a December 6, 2017 tweet that said: “From Syria, Jerusalem is the capital of Palestine
The hashtag “#HandsOffJerusalem” was created to protest U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, and to relocate the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Abu Amara retweeted a December 8, 2017 tweet that described Israelis as “colonizers,” and retweeted a December 28, 2016 tweet featuring a debunked graphic purporting to show the “disappearing” of Palestine.
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.
Supporting BDS
On November 15, 2017, Abu Amara tweeted: “Congrats to the @UMich on passing a resolution divesting from companies that support Israel's illegal occupation against the Palestinian people! A 13 year struggle for divestment; finally a victory.
Abu Amara retweeted a December 31, 2017 tweet that promoted BDS and opposed the “normalization of settler-colonialist Zionist rhetoric.”
Abu Amara retweeted a January 21, 2018 tweet that listed “Drugstore Cosmetics” that were reportedly compliant with BDS and others reportedly not compliant.
SJP KSU - Supporting Terrorists
The “Saltwater Challenge” was held in solidarity with over 1,000 Palestinian prisoners hunger-striking in Israeli prisons — most of whom were convicted for acts of terrorism.
The strike was initiated by Marwan Barghouti, who was serving five consecutive life sentences for his role in suicide bombings and shooting attacks during the second intifada. Barghouti led the Palestinian Authority (PA) terrorist Tanzim force and founded the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades.
Barghouti also financed the guitar-case bomb used in the Sbarro Cafe massacre, where 15 civilians were killed and 130 injured.
SJP KSU retweeted a May 11, 2017 tweet that said: “Join us at 8527 S. Harlem from 10am to 7pm for #DignityStrikeChi in support of #Palhunger @Addameer @SamidounPP … ”
Addameer’s logo and images of Barghouti and terrorist Ahmad Sa’adat, leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), appeared in the tweet’s photos.
Addameer organizes and promotes campaigns on behalf of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons and has advocated for theBoycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.
Addammer is reportedly an “affiliate” of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a terror organization. In September 2019, Israeli forces raided the officers of Addammeer, seizing laptops and memory cards.
SJP KSU also retweeted a May 11, 2017 tweet supporting the “#DignityStrike.”
SJP KSU - Promoting Violence and Spreading Hatred
On January 6, 2018, Subhi Husien — a 2017-2018 SJP KSU activist — tweeted: “BDS is important for weakening the Zionist entity but violent revolution will be the only solution to gain liberation.”
As of January 2018, Lama Abu Amara — an SJP KSU activist in 2017-2018 — wrote in her Twitter profile: “Globalize the Intifada
The term “intifada” has carried the connotation of violence, since the early 2000’s.
On August 2, 2014, Abu Amara tweeted: “‘Never again.’-The Jews of the Warsaw Ghetto. Never again for them, but their descendants think otherwise. #BoycottIsrael #SupportGaza #Gaza.”
On July 12, 2017, Yousef Mousa — a former SJP KSU president — posted a Facebook graphic paraphrasing a quote [00:00:23] by PFLP spokesman Ghassan Kanafani rejecting negotiations as a path to peace.
On December 23, 2017, SJP KSU activist Chance Zurub — the 2018 SJP KSU president — tweeted: “The only Israeli food that they [Israelis] eat is the blood of the Palestinian people.”
SJP KSU - Anti-Semitic Conspiracy Theory
On October 24, 2016, SJP KSU tweeted an image of a hand controlling a brain via puppet strings, captioned: “ISRAEL PUBLIC RELATION’S WAR IN THE UNITED STATES.”The tweet promoted SJP KSU’s October 27, 2016 screening of the anti-Israel film “The Occupation of the American Mind.”
SJP KSU - Demonizing Israel
On May 10, 2017, SJP KSU tweeted: “Reality: Israel is an illegitimate state that uses systematic war and apartheid to ethnically cleanse an entire population.”
On May 28, 2017, SJP KSU tweeted: “Israel continues ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian pop. as American college students take ‘birthright’ trips, complicit in Israel's crimes.”
Birthright Israel is a free trip to Israel for Jewish young adults from all over the world.
On March 5, 2018, SJP KSU displayed its “mock Israeli apartheid wall” on campus, representing Israel’s security barrier. The wall included a version of debunked anti-Israel propaganda maps. SJP KSU also displayed the “mock Apartheid Wall” in 2017, where it promoted BDS on campus.
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.
MSA
The MSA was established by members of the Muslim Brotherhood in January 1963 at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, with the goal of "spreading Islam as students in North America." A 2004 FBI investigation uncovered an internal Muslim Brotherhood document in which a brotherhood leader identified the MSA as "one of our organizations."
The MSA reportedly has “nearly 600 chapters” located in the United States and Canada, and is “the most visible and influential Islamic student organization in North America,” boasting conferences, special events, publications, websites and other activities.
The organization includes a number of previous chapter presidents with explicit links to terrorist groups. Included are al-Qaeda cleric Anwar al-Awlaki (Colorado State University), Somali al-Shabaab militant leader Omar Shafik Hammami (University of South Alabama) and Pakistani Taliban recruiter Ramy Zamzam of the MSA's Washington, D.C. council.
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.
