Maryam Alwan

Maryam Alwan’s Arrest at the Pro-Hamas Encampment at Columbia University (Columbia), Support for Terrorism, Calling for Israel’s Destruction and Hatred of Israel

Maryam Alwan has expressed support for terrorism, promoted incitement, called for Israel’s destruction and spread hatred of Israel as an activist with Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP).

As of January 2024, Alwan was an organizer with the SJP chapter at Columbia University (Columbia SJP). In November 2023, she called [00:00:18] herself “a proud member of SJP.”

On October 9, 2023, Columbia SJP expressed support for the Hamas terror attacks of October 7, 2023. The war crimes and atrocities against Israeli civilians included mass murder, torture, rape, beheadings and kidnappings. The attacks left over 1,200 Israelis dead, hundreds kidnapped and thousands wounded. Israel retaliated with a war called “Swords of Iron.”

Alwan is a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.

Alwan is affiliated with the anti-Israel activist groups Within Our Lifetime (WOL) and American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), as well as Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP).

As of March 2024, Alwan was listed in the Columbia online directory as a student in the School of General Studies, affiliated with the Institute of Comparative Literature and Society. Columbia is located in New York, New York.

As of January 2024, Alwan was listed as a “fourth-year [student]...in the dual degree program between Sciences Po [Paris Institute of Political Studies] and Columbia, majoring in politics and government with a focus on the Middle East…and comparative literature and society.”

10/14/2022 - Support for Terrorism & Promoting Incitement

On October 14, 2022, Alwan participated [slide 4] in a WOL rally, where she joined in multiple anti-Israel chants. The chants expressed [00:32:26] support for terrorism, promoted [00:31:21] incitement, spread [00:55:55] hatred of Israelis and called [00:20:38] for the destruction of Israel. Alwan appeared [00:31:21] in a video on the left side of the screen, wearing a black and white keffiyeh.

Maryam Alwan, Columbia University, Spread Hatred of Israel

The rally was titled “Emergency Action for Palestine,” and it was held in Times Square in Manhattan, New York. WOL and other anti-Israel organizations, including Samidoun and AMP, organized the rally.

At the rally, Alwan joined in the chants [00:20:38]: “From the River to Sea, Palestine will be free!” and [00:21:58]: “Israel, what do you say? How many kids did you kill today?”

“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.

Alwan also joined in the chants [00:31:21]: “There is only one solution! Intifada, revolution!” and [00:31:30]: “Intifada, Intifada! Long live the intifada!”

The term “intifada,” which translates from Arabic as “uprising” or “insurrection,” carries the connotation of violence. Palestinian intifadas waged against Israel have been marked since 1987 by hundreds of hijackings, shootings, stabbings, bombings and suicide missions.

Alwan continued and participated in the chants [00:31:37]: “Intifada, Intifada! Globalize the Intifada!” and [00:32:26]: “Resistance is justified when people are occupied!”

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 and encourage 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.

“Globalize the Intifada” is an anti-Israel campaign launched by Within Our Lifetime (WOL) in the summer of 2021, intended as an “ongoing strike at the heart of empire with Palestine as its compass.” The movement seeks to “break free from the genocidal grip of U.S. imperialism and Zionism” and advocates “liberation by any means necessary.”

Alwan also joined in the chants [00:32:42]: “Palestine is our demand! No peace on stolen land!” and [00:35:13]: “Not just annexation, not just occupation! Fight for liberation, bring the whole thing down!”

Alwan later joined others in chanting [00:49:54]: “Hey hey, ho ho! Zionism has got to go!”

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. Zionism is a core part of the identity of most Jews.

As she marched, Alwan chanted [00:55:55]: “Settlers, settlers, go back home! Palestine is our home!”

One way that anti-Israel activists spread anti-Semitism is by claiming that Jews have no connection to the Land of Israel.

4/8/2023 - Calling for Israel’s Destruction at an AMP Rally

On April 8, 2023, Alwan joined in a chant calling [00:30:17] for Israel’s destruction during an AMP protest in Times Square. She appeared [00:30:22] in a video on the left side of the screen, wearing a black shirt and a red and white scarf.

At the protest, Alwan joined in the chant [00:30:17]: “From the River to Sea, Palestine Will Be Free!”

Later, Alwan participated in the chant [00:30:29]: “Free, free Palestine!” as she held an AMP banner that said: “LET YOUR REPRESENTATIVE KNOW, ‘JUSTICE FOR ALL’ MUST MEAN JUSTICE FOR PALESTINE. AMERICAN MUSLIMS FOR PALESTINE NJ CONDEMNS THE THEFT OF PALESTINIAN LAND.”

Alwan then chanted [00:30:47] with other activists: “Not another nickel, not another dime! No more money for Israel’s crimes!”

November 15, 2023 - Hatred of Israel at a WOL Rally

On November 15, 2023, Alwan was featured as a speaker at a WOL rally titled: “All Out for Gaza at Columbia University.” WOL held the rally during Israel’s war against Hamas following the October 7, 2023, terror attacks.

WOL organized the rally to protest Columbia’s suspension of the school’s SJP and JVP chapters for violating university policies.

At the rally, Alwan, who was wearing a keffiyeh, said [00:00:30]: “My grandparents are older than the State of Israel. They survived the waves of ethnic cleansing that the Zionist project necessitated. Every Palestinian around the world is tied together through violent displacement, exile and intergenerational trauma.”

The modern State of Israel was founded in 1948.

At the same rally, Alwan also said [00:03:16]: “Our university is directly complicit in this violence with its rhetoric and its investments…Why are we paying taxes to a government or tuition to an institution that funds a genocide?”

Later, Alwan said [00:19:48]: “Columbia was the first Ivy League [university] to divest from South Africa apartheid. The more you target the students, the more determined we will become to make it the first Ivy to divest from Israeli apartheid, too.”

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.

A terrorist detained by Israel admitted he raped an Israeli woman when he broke into a kibbutz house during the October 7, 2023 attack. In March 2024, a former hostage of Hamas publicly stated she was sexually abused and tortured while in captivity.

For more information on the October 7, 2023 terror attacks, see the Canary Mission page on Hamas.

Hamas is a designated terrorist organization founded in 1987 that is dedicated to destroying Israel and killing Jews. Since 2001, Hamas has launched thousands of rockets at Israel and on October 7, 2023, Hamas murdered approximately 1,200 Israelis and kidnapped over 200 hostages, including children and the elderly.

Maryam Alwan’s Arrest at the Pro-Hamas Encampment at Columbia

On April 18, 2024, Alwan was arrested at the pro-Hamas encampment at Columbia. She was featured in an April 19, 2024 video posted on X by Columbia SJP that said: “An SJP organizer, Maryam Alwan, smiling in the face of arrest.”

In the video, Alwan can be seen [00:00:10] being led away from the Columbia encampment by the New York City Police Department (NYPD) after she was arrested with her hands were zip-tied behind her back.

On April 19, 2024, the Columbia Spectator reported that Alwan had been suspended from Columbia for her participation in the encampment.

Alwan was featured in an April 18, 2024 video uploaded to YouTube at the encampment and said [00:01:00]: “We are here today to demand that Columbia divest immediately from all stakes in Israeli apartheid.”

Alwan was featured in an April 17, 2024 video posted on Instagram by the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM) chapter in New York, New York (PYM NYC).

She said [00:00:22]: “We decided to have this encampment here today because it’s the same day that our university president testified in front of Congress.”

On April 17, 2024, Columbia president Minouche Shafik testified [00:31:17] in front of a United States House Committee about Columbia’s response to anti-Semitism at Columbia.

On April 17, 2024, Columbia students and anti-Israel activists set up a pro-Hamas “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” on the university's main lawn. Many participants were arrested and the encampment featured multiple violent incidents, including taking over a campus building and taking a university worker hostage.

Activists protested Israel’s war against Hamas and demanded that Columbia “divest from companies and institutions that profit from Israeli apartheid, genocide and occupation…”

The action had reportedly been planned for months and was organized by the Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD) coalition. The encampment was also organized by Columbia’s banned pro-Hamas activist group Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and the university chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP). Activists reportedly received training from National SJP and other anti-Israel organizations.

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 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.

WOL

Within Our Lifetime (WOL) is a pro-terror activist group in New York City dedicated to Israel’s destruction within the lifetime of its members.

Acts of violence and physical confrontations with police have frequently occurred at WOL protests and marches. WOL uses harassment campaigns to target pro-Israel organizations or companies that do business with Israel, making it a part of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.

Multiple activists who have either burned Israeli flags or led chants at WOL rallies were later jailed for violent anti-Semitic hate crimes, including Saadah Masoud and Waseem Awawdeh. In Masoud’s case, he received 18 months in jail for an anti-Semitic assault at an April 2022 WOL rally and two other anti-Semitic assaults in 2021.

WOL promotes “resistance” against Israel “by any means necessary,” calls to “Globalize the Intifada,” spreads incitement and idolizes [00:34:06] Palestinian terrorists like Leila Khaled and others at rallies and online events.

WOL was founded by Nerdeen Kiswani and Dan Cione in 2015. Kiswani is a frequent speaker at WOL rallies where she has promoted terrorism against Israelis and called for the death of Zionists. She has also provided support for Masoud and other activists following their arrests.

WOL began as the New York City chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), going by NYC SJP, but changed its name in 2018. The group is not found to be registered in any U.S. state as a nonprofit organization under its official name. Nor is there any listing for WOL under its name on the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) website for tax-exempt organizations.

JVP

JVP was founded in Berkeley, California in 1996, as an activist group with an emphasis on the “Jewish tradition” of peace, social justice and human rights. The organization is currently led by Rebecca Vilkomerson and its board members include Israel critics Naomi Klein, Judith Butler, Noam Chomsky and Tony Kushner.

JVP, which generally employs civil disobedience tactics to disrupt pro-Israel speakers and events, consists of American Jews and non-Jewish “allies” highly critical of Israeli policies. A staunch supporter of the BDS movement, JVP claims to aim its campaigns at companies that either support the Israeli military (Hewlett-Packard) or are active in the West Bank (SodaStream).

Although several Jewish groups critical of Israeli policies, like J Street and Partners for a Progressive Israel, make efforts to operate within the mainstream American Jewish community, JVP functions outside. The group is often criticized for serving as a tokenized Jewish voice for the pro-Palestinian camp and is widely regarded as the BDS movement’s “Jewish wing.”

JVP denies the notion of “Jewish peoplehood” and has even gone so far as to refer to its own Ashkenazi (Jews who spent the Diaspora in European countries) leadership as “white supremacy inside of JVP.”

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has accused JVP of being “the largest and most influential Jewish anti-Zionist group in the United States,” and said the group “exploits Jewish culture and rituals to reassure its own supporters that opposition to Israel not only does not contradict, but is actually consistent with, Jewish values.”

The ADL also claimed that “JVP consistently co-sponsors rallies to oppose Israeli military policy that are marked by signs and slogans comparing Israel to Nazi Germany, demonizing Jews and voicing support for groups like Hamas and Hezbollah.”

According to the ADL website, JVP “uses its Jewish identity to shield the anti-Israel movement from allegations of anti-Semitism and provide it with a greater degree of legitimacy and credibility.”

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.