Lauren Burgess

Overview

Lauren Burgess [Lauren A. Burgess] has shown support for Hamas terrorist war crimes, called for violence against Israelis, spread hatred of Zionists and engaged in anti-Israel activism.

Burgess’s activism took place during Israel’s war against Hamas terrorists. Israel launched the war, called called “Swords of Iron,” after a series of Hamas terror attacks and war crimes against Israeli civilians, including mass murder, torture, rape, beheadings and kidnappings. The atrocities were executed on October 7, 2023, and left approximately 1,200 Israelis dead, hundreds kidnapped and thousands wounded.


In 2024, Burgess was an activist with the anti-Israel campus group Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP). 

As of July 2024, Burgess was listed online as a student at Youngstown State University (YSU). YSU is located in Youngstown, Ohio. 

As of the same date, Burgess’s Facebook About page said that she was studying for a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and political science. 

As of the same date, Burgess’s Facebook About page also said she worked as a private tutor and a private nanny.

On December 20, 2023, Burgess posted on Facebook that she was fired from The Lake Club in Youngston, Ohio in November 2023 due to her “political opinion.”

Support for Hamas Terrorist War Crimes

On November 4, 2023, Burgess participated in an anti-Israel protest in Washington, D.C., where she said [00:00:06] in an interview, referring to Hamas: “They are a political organization. Certain countries, such as Canada, the U.K., and the United States, recognize them as terrorist organizations [sic]. But I think that one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.”

Later in the interview, Burgess was asked what would happen to all the Israelis when Palestine became “free.” Burgess replied [00:00:40]: “Um, they would use their second citizenship to whatever country they immigrated from, and they would go back…everyone came from somebody that came from some heritage outside of the Middle East..”


On Saturday, October 7, 2023, approximately 2,900 heavily armed Hamas terrorists breached Israel’s border with Gaza. They executed numerous war crimes on civilians, including mass murder, beheadings of children, rape of men and women, torture, kidnappings and mutilation. Hamas broadcast videos of their butchery on social media, often to victims’ accounts for families to see. Israel retaliated with a war called “Swords of Iron.” As of November 10, 2023, approximately 1,200 Israelis, the vast majority of them civilians, were murdered during the attacks. Hamas kidnapped 242 Israelis, including at least 30 children. At least 3,500 people were wounded, many severely.

Calling for Violence against Israelis during a Hamas War

On October 10, 2023, Burgess posted on Facebook a graphic with text that read: “The right for an occupied people to resist by any means necessary is established by international human rights law. If you’re Palestinian and you exercise that right, you are a terrorist….Who are you to judge the modes by which an occupied people liberate themselves? Decolonization necessitates violence…”

Anti-Israel activists use the term “resistance” to refer to violence and terror perpetrated against Israeli civilians and their allies. It is used to glorify anti-Israel and anti-Semitic violence. Anti-Israel activists chant slogans such as: “Resistance by any means necessary!” and “Resistance is justified when people are occupied!” in response to terror attacks.

In the same post, Burgess included a graphic of a paraglider with a Palestinian flag coming out of the parachute. The graphic was captioned: “I STAND WITH PALESTINE / STAND ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF HISTORY.” 

During the October 7, 2023, Hamas terror attack on Israel, numerous terrorists breached the Israel-Gaza border in motorized paragliders “to infiltrate Israeli territory and secure terrain.” War reports included footage of the gliders descending on the Supernova Music Festival, where Hamas terrorists slaughtered over 360 unarmed young men and women. In the days following the Hamas atrocities, images of Hamas militants on paragliders were employed to glorify terrorism and serve as a symbol of Palestinian violent nationalism.

Hatred of Zionists

On November 21, 2023, Burgess posted on Threads: “I cackle at the idea of Z*onists calling the terms ‘apartheid’ ‘ethnic cleansing’ and ‘genocide’ hyperbolic simply because they’re gaining traction as more people learn about what’s going on… these terms are not inapplicable nor are they being misused. Perhaps a dictionary and some time spent outside of the echo chamber will clear things up for them?”

On October 28, 2023, Burgess posted on Threads: “Anyone who’s used this ‘conflict’ as an excuse to be Antisemitic was already a bigoted person prior to October 7th…Please stop confusing anti-Zionism with antisemitism...” 

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.

Anti-Israel Activism (SJP)

On March 15, 2024, Burgess posted a video on TikTok captioned: “When people don’t want to sign your petition urging Youngstown city council to call for a ceasefire [between Israel and Hamas] .” Burgess then wrote on the post: “Not even mad tho bc we got more than 100 signatures in one day #SJP #SJPYSU.” 

The watermelon has been appropriated by anti-Israel activists as a symbol of Palestinian "resistance" to "Israeli occupation," as it shares the colors with the flag of Palestine. It has been depicted in art, used on flags at protests and posted online.  

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.

Social Media and Weblinks

Twitter:https://twitter.com/lauurbuurgess [Deleted]

Twitter 2:https://twitter.com/littleIeo 

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/lauurbuurgess/ [Private]

Facebook:facebook.com/lauren.burgess.792303/ [Deleted]

Facebook 2:https://www.facebook.com/lauurenn5 

LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauren-burgess-0944a2299/ [Deleted] 

Sotwe:https://www.sotwe.com/lauurbuurgess [Deleted]

Threads:https://www.threads.net/@lauurbuurgess 

TikTok:https://tiktok.com/@lauurbuurgess5 [Deleted]

TikTok 2:https://www.tiktok.com/@philaurosophy