Malak Afaneh

Birthright Israel is a heritage trip to Israel for Jewish young adults from across the world.

The U.S. State Department has listed the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO) due to its history of bombings and airplane hijackings. The PFLP is dedicated to the destruction of Israel. In 2014, two PFLP operatives perpetrated the Har Nof synagogue massacre, murdering five Jewish men in prayer with a butcher knife, axe and gun. One police officer also died.

Leila Khaled is a leading member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and participated in the hijacking of TWA Flight 840 in 1969 and El Al Flight 219 in 1970. As of 2017, Khaled was a member of PFLP's Political Bureau. Khaled has said that the second intifada failed because it was not violent enough, advocated [00:36:07] for the use of children in terror activities and compared Zionists to Nazis.

Kanafani was a leading member and spokesperson for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) during the terrorist organization’s early years. Kanafani announced the PFLP’s responsibility for the Lod Airport Massacre of May 1972 and was linked to the airport attackers. The attack killed 26 people and wounded 80 others.

The Holy Land Five (HLF5) were five individuals associated with the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF) indicted for funneling funds to Hamas in the guise of humanitarian aid. The men were all convicted and sentenced in 2009 to federal prison terms ranging from 15 to 65 years.

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 7] dead bodies and launched numerous rocket attacks against Israeli civilians.

“From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be Free” is a chant used [00:02:47] to call for the elimination of the State of Israel. It has also been employed by Hamas leader Khaled Mashal to call for the replacement of Israel with an Islamic state. In April 2024, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution condemning the chant as antisemitic.

The “right of return” is a Palestinian demand discredited as a means to eliminate Israel.

The Palestine Children's Relief Fund (PCRF) is a nonprofit organization reportedly set up “to address the medical and humanitarian crisis facing Palestinian youths in the Middle East.” It has been financially linked with the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF), which was shut down by the U.S. government for funneling donations to the Hamas terrorist organization.

The Jerusalem Fund is an anti-Israel think tank in Washington, D.C. that frequently hosts events demonizing Israel. It has also hosted activists in the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement and spread hatred of Israel on Twitter.

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.

Mock “apartheid” walls have been constructed by SJP groups on campuses to draw attention to alleged Israeli human rights violations against Palestinians.

On August 6, 2022, Berkeley LSJP amended its group constitution to include a bylaw banning pro-Israel speakers from participating in club events. The bylaw explicitly excluded [p. 3] any speaker who had “expressed and continued to hold views…in support of Zionism, the apartheid state of Israel, and the occupation of Palestine.”

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.

Berkeley LSJP claimed that it created the bylaw “in the interest of protecting the safety and welfare of Palestinian students on campus.”

The United States Department of State defines as one example of contemporary anti-Semitism: “Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor.” As of November 2022, the U.S. was one of 35 countries to have adopted the same definition.

Berkeley Law student Malak Afaneh was the president of Berkeley LSJP when the group adopted its bylaw. She has spread hatred of Zionists and has expressed support for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terror group, which has a history of suicide bombings, stabbing attacks on civilians and airplane hijackings.

After Berkeley LSJP adopted the bylaw, it attempted to get other Berkeley Law student groups to also adopt the bylaw. The bylaw committed a group to not “host, sponsor, or promote” pro-Israel events and to mandate its leaders to participate in Berkeley LSJP’s “Palestine 101” training course “to learn ways to create a safe and inclusive space for Palestinian students and students that are in the support of the liberation of Palestine.”

On August 21, 2022, Berkeley LSJP celebrated a “BDS VICTORY!!” on Instagram, announcing [slide 2] that eight other Berkeley Law student groups had adopted the anti-Semitic bylaw. The post said: “LSJP is calling ALL student organizations at Berkeley Law to take an anti-racist and anti-settler colonial stand and adopt the bylaw into their constitutions ASAP!”

The eight groups included Berkeley Law’s Muslim Student’s Association (BLMSA), Middle Eastern and North African Law Students Association (MENALSA) and the Asian Pacific American Law Students Association (APALSA).

The UC Berkeley School of Law Faculty said that groups adopting the bylaw “impermissibly exclude a large majority of the UC Berkeley School of Law faculty from participating in the work of these organizations.” Berkeley Law alumni, Jewish student groups and faculty at other law schools also condemned the bylaw as anti-Semitic.

On August 25, 2022, Berkeley Law Dean Erwin Chemerinsky sent an email to student leaders criticizing the bylaw as “troubling” since the bylaw “would exclude about…90 percent or more of our Jewish students.” He wrote: “Indeed, taken literally, this would mean that I could not be invited to speak because I support the existence of Israel…”

On August 27, 2022, the Jewish Students Association at Berkeley Law (JSABL) wrote an open letter on Medium, where they said: “our organization was one of the few affinity groups not contacted” to adopt the bylaw.

On August 29, 2022, Berkeley LSJP wrote a statement on Instagram to the Berkeley Law community criticizing Cherminsky’s email. Berkeley SJP accused Israel of “genocide and apartheid” and of “murdering, disabling, and displacing Palestinian families day and night.” They also said: “Apartheid is a crime against humantiy [sic]...”

On October 6, 2022, Berkeley Chancellor Carol T. Christ criticized the Berkeley LSJP bylaw as “regrettable,” and in “direct opposition to our essential Principles of Community…”

On October 21, 2022, Berkeley LSJP published a “Statement of Solidarity” with the other eight student groups that adopted the bylaw, claiming that they were subject to “baseless allegations of antisemitism.” The first group to sign the statement was the Student Association at Berkeley Law (SABL), the Berkeley Law student government.

The 169 individuals and groups that signed the statement included various SJP chapters, BDS groups and branches of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), another anti-Israel group. Also among the signatories was Samidoun: Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network (Samidoun), an NGO that spreads awareness about terrorists in Israeli jail and whose leadership includes three PFLP members [pp. 22–28].

On April 15, 2021, Claremont SJP and 5C JVP introduced their resolution to the ASPC Senate that mandated ASPC compliance with BDS.

The resolution was titled [p.1], “Banning the Use of ASPC Funding to Support the Occupation of Palestine” and it required [p.2] that ASPC “internal spending” could not be used on products or services from companies that “knowingly support the Israeli occupation of Palestine.”

The Claremont SJP and 5C JVP resolution cited [p.2] a list of mostly Israeli companies compiled by the United Nations Human Rights Council as a guide for which companies to boycott. ASPC internal spending includes multiple items such as funding 5C student clubs and student-run events.

The resolution created [p.2] an oversight role for Claremont SJP over the ASPC-run Coop Store and the Coop Fountain restaurant. ASPC would “work in tandem with members of SJP, and other pertinent parties, to perform an annual check on the ASPC’s businesses to ensure all goods sold adhere to the guidelines outlined in this resolution.”

The resolution also said [p.2]: “Clubs that fail to divest and/or refrain from such uses of funding would face the loss of all Claremont Colleges Student Government Association funds.” This clause effectively mandated BDS compliance even for pro-Israel and Jewish student organizations like Claremont Hillel and Claremont Chabad.

Claremont Colleges pool mandatory student activity fees and distribute the money to the 5C student governments. ASPC provides almost 47% of the funding for all 5C clubs, although each 5C student government can fund 5C clubs.

In spring 2021, ASPC gave more than $10,000 to 5C clubs. It also gave $30,000 for student-run events at Pomona that were coordinated through the ASPC’s Pomona Events Committee (PEC). The full ASPC spring 2021 budget was $216,700.

The Claremont SJP and Claremont JVP resolution also said [p.2] that ASPC’s “end goal” would be to lead other 5C student governments to pass similar BDS resolutions.

On April 22, 2021, the ASPC Senate passed the resolution with a vote of 10-0-0. Five senators were not present, representing one third of ASPC Senate’s 15 seats.

On the same day, Claremont SJP issued a press release calling the resolution’s passage “an important first step in reducing our complicity with a country that maintains an illegal military occupation and regularly commits crimes against humanity against the indigenous Palestinian population.”

On April 23, 2021, following criticism of the resolution reportedly among campus and national Jewish groups, Pomona President G. Gabrielle Starr sent an email to the student body opposing the resolution. Starr said that requiring student clubs to boycott Israel was “deeply concerning.” He said that since the vote “was held without representation from any student opposition,” the ASPC Senate should “reverse course and allow for full discussion.”

On April 29, 2021, the ASPC Senate held a Zoom meeting that included a “comment period” for student senators and student guest speakers to express their feedback on the resolution.

On April 30, 2021, the ASPC Senate reportedly decided to “table the resolution” for further discussion on the resolution’s call to deny funding to student clubs that failed to adhere to BDS.

On May 6, 2021, the ASPC Senate reportedly passed a modified resolution that omitted the original clause forcing student clubs funded by ASPC to comply with BDS.

The final resolution mandated BDS compliance for internal ASPC spending, PEC-coordinated events and the two ASPC-managed businesses. Claremont SJP also received its new oversight role regarding the compliance of ASPC businesses with the resolution.

On November 8, 2018, Pitzer College faculty reportedly voted for a motion to suspend Pitzer’s Haifa program, which Pitzer had run since 2007. Professor Daniel Segal, the Claremont SJP and Claremont JVP faculty advisor, led the boycott campaign.

The faculty motion was a non-binding recommendation to Pitzer President Melvin L. Oliver. The motion called for the “suspension of the College’s exchange with Haifa University, until (a) the Israeli state ends its restrictions on entry to Israel based on ancestry and/or political speech and (b) the Israeli state adopts policies granting visas for exchanges to Palestinian universities on a fully equal basis as it does to Israeli universities.”

After the faculty vote, the motion was sent to the Pitzer College Council (PCC), Pitzer’s “primary legislative body,” which “votes on policy recommendations forwarded by the faculty as well as committees.” The PCC includes faculty and student senators who issue recommendations to the Pitzer president. The president is then free to approve or disapprove the recommendations.

On November 18, 2018, Claremont SJP issued a statement supporting the pro-BDS faculty vote, saying that it was “imperative” to end the “deeply problematic” Haifa program. Claremont SJP also circulated a petition to the public titled, “No Academic Freedom Under Occupation,” which accused Israel of having “increasingly draconian policies” and employing a “systemic practice of racial discrimination.”

On November 29, 2018, President Oliver responded to the faculty recommendation, opposing it and calling it a “repudiation of our educational mission… an anathema to Pitzer’s core values.” Oliver also questioned the faculty in singling out Israel for special scrutiny among foreign countries like China and Nepal where Pitzer also has study abroad programs.

On March 14, 2019, the PCC passed an amended motion to end the Haifa program. Segal co-sponsored the motion along with Pitzer Professor Claudia Strauss, who served as the Chair of the Pitzer Faculty Executive Committee (FEC). Their motion was a non-binding recommendation for Oliver and it passed with 68 voting in favor, 25 against and eight abstentions.

The amended motion outlined a “uniform policy” ending study abroad programs in countries that “restrict entry on the basis of either (a) legally protected political speech or (b) race or ancestry (as distinct from citizenship).” The motion claimed that the Haifa program violated the “uniform policy” and would be suspended immediately.

Also on March 14, 2019, Oliver released a statement declining to implement the PCC motion, where he said: “By singling out Israel, the recommendation itself is prejudiced.”

In the statement, Oliver also said: “Although some claim that this is not an academic boycott of Israel, I disagree. The recommendation puts in place a form of academic boycott of Israel and, in the process, sets us on a path away from the free exchange of ideas, a direction which ultimately destroys the academy’s ability to fulfill our educational mission.”

On the same day, Pitzer’s student newspaper, The Student Life, reported: “In advance of the Haifa vote, the organization [Claremont SJP] has focused on outreach to Pitzer faculty and student senators, and on building a coalition of other campus groups.”

On March 15, 2019, Claremont SJP posted on Facebook that they would “continue to organize to suspend Haifa and demand that President Oliver reverse his decision.” Claremont SJP also posted an online petition demanding Oliver rescind his veto of the PCC motion and included the hashtag “#ProApartheidOliver.”

On March 25, 2019, Claremont SJP posted a Facebook event page for its “Palestine Freedom Weeks,” scheduled for March 25 to April 7, 2019. The event page promoted the BDS campaign against the Haifa program and used the hashtags “#SuspendPitzerHaifa” and “#MelvinWontListen.”

On March 31, 2019, the Pitzer College Student Senate, the student government,introduced two resolutions at an “Emergency Meeting” called to address the Haifa program boycott campaign.

Claremont SJP members Shay Lari-Hosain and Jorj Chisam-Majid were among the co-sponsors for the first resolution, which said: “The Pitzer College Student Senate votes no confidence in President Melvin Oliver and, if President Oliver does not retract his anti-democratic decision by the end of the day on April 11, 2019, call for his immediate resignation or removal from office.”

Pitzer Senate president Shivani Kavuluru and vice presidents Kamyab Mashian and Dawson Reckers were among the co-sponsors for the second resolution. Their resolution censured Oliver for keeping the Haifa program and demanded that Oliver reverse his veto.

On April 7, 2019, the Pitzer Senate reportedly voted down the resolution of no confidence with 12 for and 20 against. The resolution censuring Oliver passed 29-0.

As of July 2021, Pitzer continued to offer its semester abroad program at the University of Haifa.

As of July 2021, Claremont SJP had signed a petition called the “Palestinian Students Solidarity Campaign” that was launched by the anti-Israel NGO Samidoun: Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network (Samidoun).

The petition supported Palestinian students detained or incarcerated by Israel for participating in terror-related activities and direct terror activity. Among them was Mays Abu Ghosh, Bir Zeit University student who was arrested by Israel for activism in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terror group.

Samidoun advocates for the release of all Palestinian prisoners, many of whom are members of Hamas or other terror groups like the PFLP. Multiple Samidoun activists have been identified as PFLP members, including Mohammed Khatib, Samidoun’s European Coordinator.

On March 26, 2021, Claremont SJP posted to Facebook an event page for an online panel titled “Free Them All!” that featured Samidoun’s Mohammed Khatib. The event page said speakers would give discuss “the importance of supporting and organizing for the freedom of political prisoners as part of the Palestinian national liberation struggle.”

As of May 2021, Claremont SJP’s platform referred to Israel as an “apartheid state... that can only be dismantled through Palestinian national liberation.”

As of the same date, Claremont SJP’s Instagram bio read: “Fighting for Palestinian liberation, from the river to the sea.” The same quote reportedly appeared in the Instagram bio as early as February 2020.

The chant “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free” has also been employed by Hamas leader Khaled Mashal to call for the replacement of Israel with an Islamic state. It is a chant calling to dismantle the State of Israel.

As of May 2021, Claremont SJP’s platform read: “We reject any and all collaboration, dialogue, and coalition work with Zionist organizations through a strict policy of anti-normalization and encourage our comrades in other organizations to do the same.”

The policy of “anti-normalization” aims to ensure that all interactions between Israelis and Palestinians align only with the Arab agenda, including ending the occupation and a full right of return for Palestinians, which is a Palestinian demand discredited as a means to eliminate Israel. The policies are shared with the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

On November 14, 2019, Claremont SJP hosted a film screening event featuring anti-Israel activists Abby Martin and Mike Prysner, where Martin reportedly “defended Hamas and placed sole blame on Israel for the lack of peace between both states.”

Hamas has been designated aterrorist organizationby the European Union, Canada, Australia, the United States and Israel.

Martin was a former anchor for Russian state news agency RT and Venezuelan state news agency Telasur. She has compared [00:00:13] Israel to Nazi Germany and spread anti-Israel propaganda. Martin’s husband, Michael Prysner has defended terrorism and has referred to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) as the “Apartheid Defense Forces.”At the Claremont SJP event, Martin reportedly accused a Jewish student journalist of being “associated with ‘white nationalists.’” Prysner also called Israel an “attack dog” of the United States.

At the same event, Claremont SJP screened the film “Gaza Fights for Freedom,” which Prysner and Martin directed and produced. The film’s website said: “Gaza’s protest movement like you’ve never seen before. Filmed during the height of the Great March Of Return protests, it features exclusive footage of demonstrations where 200 unarmed civilians have been killed by Israeli snipers since March 30, 2018.”

On March 30, 2018, some 30,000 Palestinians in Gaza approached Israel’s border to take part in “Land Day Protests” or the “March of Return.” The March of Return was organized and funded by Hamas as a campaign of violent protests along Israel’s border to spotlight the demand of Palestinians to “return” to Israel.

The “right of return” is a Palestinian demand discredited as a means to eliminate Israel.

March participants declared their intention to harm Jews across the border under the pretext of “peaceful resistance.” Participants also attempted to breach the border fence, which caused the Israeli Defense Forces to respond with live fire.

Rioters threw Molotov cocktails, firebombs, shot firearms and threw rocks under the cover of smoke from burning tires. Participants also sent scores of kites bearing incendiary devices across Israel’s border to burn Israeli crops and homes.

The violent riots continued until the end of 2018, accompanied by military-style attacks carried out by Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and other terrorist organizations. The attacks included gunfire, armed rioters penetrating Israeli territory, throwing IEDs and hand grenades and the continued launching of incendiary kites into Israel.

On April 15, 2021, Claremont SJP and 5C JVP introduced their resolution to the ASPC Senate that mandated ASPC compliance with BDS.

The resolution was titled [p.1], “Banning the Use of ASPC Funding to Support the Occupation of Palestine” and it required [p.2] that ASPC “internal spending” could not be used on products or services from companies that “knowingly support the Israeli occupation of Palestine.”

The Claremont SJP and 5C JVP resolution cited [p.2] a list of mostly Israeli companies compiled by the United Nations Human Rights Council as a guide for which companies to boycott. ASPC internal spending includes multiple items such as funding 5C student clubs and student-run events.

The resolution created [p.2] an oversight role for Claremont SJP over the ASPC-run Coop Store and the Coop Fountain restaurant. ASPC would “work in tandem with members of SJP, and other pertinent parties, to perform an annual check on the ASPC’s businesses to ensure all goods sold adhere to the guidelines outlined in this resolution.”

The resolution also said [p.2]: “Clubs that fail to divest and/or refrain from such uses of funding would face the loss of all Claremont Colleges Student Government Association funds.” This clause effectively mandated BDS compliance even for pro-Israel and Jewish student organizations like Claremont Hillel and Claremont Chabad.

Claremont Colleges pool mandatory student activity fees and distribute the money to the 5C student governments. ASPC provides almost 47% of the funding for all 5C clubs, although each 5C student government can fund 5C clubs.

In spring 2021, ASPC gave more than $10,000 to 5C clubs. It also gave $30,000 for student-run events at Pomona that were coordinated through the ASPC’s Pomona Events Committee (PEC). The full ASPC spring 2021 budget was $216,700.

The Claremont SJP and Claremont JVP resolution also said [p.2] that ASPC’s “end goal” would be to lead other 5C student governments to pass similar BDS resolutions.

On April 22, 2021, the ASPC Senate passed the resolution with a vote of 10-0-0. Five senators were not present, representing one third of ASPC Senate’s 15 seats.

On the same day, Claremont SJP issued a press release calling the resolution’s passage “an important first step in reducing our complicity with a country that maintains an illegal military occupation and regularly commits crimes against humanity against the indigenous Palestinian population.”

On April 23, 2021, following criticism of the resolution reportedly among campus and national Jewish groups, Pomona President G. Gabrielle Starr sent an email to the student body opposing the resolution. Starr said that requiring student clubs to boycott Israel was “deeply concerning.” He said that since the vote “was held without representation from any student opposition,” the ASPC Senate should “reverse course and allow for full discussion.”

On April 29, 2021, the ASPC Senate held a Zoom meeting that included a “comment period” for student senators and student guest speakers to express their feedback on the resolution.

On April 30, 2021, the ASPC Senate reportedly decided to “table the resolution” for further discussion on the resolution’s call to deny funding to student clubs that failed to adhere to BDS.

On May 6, 2021, the ASPC Senate reportedly passed a modified resolution that omitted the original clause forcing student clubs funded by ASPC to comply with BDS.

The final resolution mandated BDS compliance for internal ASPC spending, PEC-coordinated events and the two ASPC-managed businesses. Claremont SJP also received its new oversight role regarding the compliance of ASPC businesses with the resolution.

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 Student 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.

CAIR describes itself as a “grassroots civil rights and advocacy group” and “America's largest Muslim civil liberties organization, with regional offices nationwide.” Its official mission is “enhance understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.”

CAIR reportedly has “significant ties” to the Muslim Brotherhood, as well as Hamas. A number of former CAIR employees have been convicted on fraud and terrorism-related charges that resulted monetary fines, jail terms and, sometimes, deportation.

CAIR was founded in 1994 and opened its first office in Washington, DC, with the help of a $5,000 donation from the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF), a charity founded by Mousa Abu Marzook.

Marzook, who was listed as a "Specially Designated Terrorist" by the U.S. Treasury Department in 1995, is reportedly a senior member of Hamas.

In May 2007, CAIR was listed as an “unindicted co-conspirator” in a U.S.-filed action against the HLF for providing funds to Hamas.

CAIR was also listed as a terrorist entity by the United Arab Emirates in 2014.

The Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement was founded by pro-terror activist Omar Barghouti in 2005 to turn “Israel into a pariah state, as South Africa once was.” Barghouti has also called for Israel's destruction and the BDS movement demands would result in that same goal.

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 infiltrating university campuses through lobbying for “BDS resolutions.” In these cases, student governments propose resolutions to boycott or divestment from Israel or Israeli-affiliated entities. 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 and pro-terror activism on campus.