Matt Swagler
Overview
Swagler was reportedly active with Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and the International Socialist Organization at Barnard-Columbia, while he was a graduate student at Columbia University (Columbia).
In 2009, Swagler was an activist with the Columbia Palestine Forum and created a Facebook page for the group.
As of August 2019, Swagler was listed as a “Visiting Assistant Professor of History” at Williams College (Williams).
Swagler reportedly received a Ph.D. in History from Columbia University (Columbia) in 2017.
Supporting Terrorists
On August 1, 2014, Swagler posted on Facebook: “Let's be real, Palestinians in Gaza don't have terror tunnels - they are resistance tunnels…”Hamas terror tunnels are intended for mass murders and hostage-taking scenarios against Israeli civiliansand soldiers. They stretch from the Gaza Strip into Israel.
On February 20, 2012, Swagler tweeted: “65 days on a hunger strike against Israel's brutality - Free Palestinian political prisoner Khader Adnan! http:/socwrk.org/16417 #KhaderExists.”
Khader Adnan was a senior member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorist organization. A 2007 YouTube video showed Adnan praising and encouraging suicide bombings: "Who among you will carry the next explosive belt? Who among you will fire the next bullets? Who among you will have his body parts blown all over?” In May 2023, Adnan died in prison after refusing medical treatment during a hunger strike.
Adnan was among the 2000 Palestinian hunger strikers in 2012, which included convicted terrorists Abdullah al-Barghouti, a Hamas military commander and Palestinian terrorist Samer Issawi.
Demonizing Israel
Israel commenced OPE in July 2014 to stop rocket fire targeting Israeli civilians and to destroy Hamas attack tunnels.
Swagler’s post said: “The US government has been leading the extermination of indigenous peoples right here, long before they started funding Israel to do the same to Palestinians…”
Swager co-authored an article, originally published on April 12, 2010 and updated on March 29, 2013, with fellow CSJP activists, Fatimah Rimawi, Randa Wahbe, Alaa Milbes and Dayana Khatib, for Columbia’s weekly student newspaper, the Columbia Spectator, titled: “The Palestinian Gandhis.”
The article claimed that “Israel has used aggression to crush the peaceful resistance methodically.” and went on to accuse Israel of “the illegal occupation and colonization of the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem.”
Swagler co-wrote another article for the Columbia Spectator, originally published on March 2, 2010 and updated on March 27, 2013, with fellow CSJP activist Rahim Kurwa, as well as Khatib, Milbes, Rimawi and Wahbe, titled: “Israel, Peace not Apartheid.”
The article discussed CSJP’s “on-campus initiatives” during the sixth annual Israel Apartheid Week (IAW): “It is important to note that Israeli Apartheid Week is meant to raise awareness about the nature of Israeli apartheid.”
The article also discussed CSJP building a mock apartheid wall as part of IAW, meant to simulate Israel’s security barrier. The article said: “In erecting a mock-wall on campus, we are essentially calling for that wall to be completely deconstructed and torn down.”
Israel’s security barrier, 97 percent of which is a low chain-link barrier, was built as a deterrent to Palestinian terror attacks. The concrete portions of the fence were built in response to Palestinian sniper attacks.
Swagler was also interviewed for an article in the Columbia Spectator, originally published on March 2, 2009 and updated on March 27, 2013, titled: “Group Promotes Palestinian Rights,” where he accused Israel of “ a very long history of the dispossession of the Palestinian people and the...destruction of Gaza.”
The article spoke about the formation of the Columbia Palestine Forum, Swagler was quoted saying: “I think we have a very good reason to single out the actions of Israel."
On January 12, 2011, Swagler was quoted in a socialistworker.org article saying: “Documents released by WikiLeaks show that Israel is planning a new total war on Gaza and Lebanon...And Gaza still suffers under a brutal and dehumanizing blockade.”
Promoting BDS
Swagler co-wrote an article for the Columbia Spectator, originally published on February 28, 2010 and updated on March 27, 2013, with fellow CSJP actvisits Rimwai, Wahbe and Milbes, titled: “Israeli Apartheid Week: A call for action.”The article promoted BDS, saying: “This week, people around the world will participate in the 6th Annual Israeli Apartheid Week and call for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions against Israel.”
In 2010, Swagler signed an SJP Burlington (Burlington, Vermont) petition, demanding that the University of Vermont (UVM) divest from companies with ties to Israel, including Lockheed Martin, General Electric (GE) Corporation and Raytheon.
The petition said: “GE supplies the propulsion system...which has been used in Israeli attacks on Palestinian towns and refugee camps...SJP-UVM endorses...an international Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign (BDS) against Israel.”
On March 29, 2009, the Barnard-Columbia International Socialist Organization (ISO), organized a conference at Hunter College, part of City University of New York (CUNY), titled: “Student Divestment Panel and CAN [Campus Anti-War Network] Northeast Conference.”
The event page listed Swagler as a speaker and said: “WE DEMAND DIVESTMENT NOW!” It also called on “all student and community organizations currently or interested in working to divest from the Israeli occupation and war profiteers to come together Sunday, March 29th, NOON at Hunter College.”
SJP Activism
In March 2014, Swagler reportedly demonstrated against the removal of a banner that was hung at the entrance of Barnard college by CSJP organizer Jannine-Masoud Salman, that demonized Israel.The banner was reportedly removed after “students, their parents and alumni” reportedly said it made them “feel uncomfortable and unsafe in the space.” It was also reportedly removed because it gave the impression Barnard was “endorsing SJP's message that Israel as a Jewish state does not have the right to exist.”
According to the Columbia Spectator, Swagler said: “This is bulls**t. As soon as a banner goes up talking about justice for Palestine...the banner has to be censored.” Swagler added: “The only thing they are consistent about is supporting Israel and its apartheid actions.”
Anti-Semitism at Columbia 2016-2017
A 2017 report by AMCHA Initiative found that Columbia, which includes Barnard College (Barnard), had the highest overall anti-semitic activity (35 incidents) in 2016, the highest rate of incidents of anti-Semitic expression (23 incidents) and the highest rate of BDS activity on campus (22 incidents).The AMCHA Initiative documents anti-Semitism at U.S. colleges, using “the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) and the U.S. State Department definitions to identify” anti-Semitic incidents.
Also in 2017, Columbia was listed as third in the Algemeiner newspaper’s “Annual List of the Most Challenging North American Campuses for Jewish Students.” In 2016, the Algemeiner listed Columbia as the worst campus.
CSJP Demonizing Israel 2015
In December 2015, CSJP promoted a video, originally produced by Al-Jazeera, that referred to Israel’s security fence as “The Apartheid Wall.” The video also suggested that a non-binding, advisory opinion on the security fence issued by the International Court of Justice is binding international law.Israel’s security barrier, 97 percent of which is a low chain-link barrier, was built as a deterrent to Palestinian terror attacks. The concrete portions of the fence were built in response to Palestinian sniper attacks.
On November 17, 2015, CSJP protested opposite an event hosted by Aryeh: Columbia Students Association for Israel, titled: “Israel Week.” CSJP members held signs accusing Israel of apartheid and ethnic cleansing.
In March 2015, CSJP’s yearly Israel Apartheid Week (IAW) featured the building of a mock “Apartheid” wall on campus, meant to demonize Israel’s security barrier.
CSJP BDS Campaign 2016
On February 1, 2016, Columbia SJP and Columbia/Barnard JVP launched a joint divestment campaign on Facebook, titled: “Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD).”The campaign was launched with a petition and inaugural event titled: “BDS 101,” scheduled for February 4, 2016.
CUAD’s Facebook post stated that the campaign was “embedded in the larger BDS movement.”
CUAD also described the campaign in its Facebook post as a “call for the University to divest its stocks, funds, and endowment from companies that profit from the State of Israel's ongoing system of settler colonialism, military occupation, and apartheid law.”
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.
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.
Social Media and Weblinks
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lesindesirables
- Status:
- Professor
- University:
- Columbia,
- more...
- Williams College
- Organizations:
- BDS,
- SJP
- Related Profiles:
- Marianne Hirsch,
- Blake Turner,
- Alaa Milbes,
- Randa Wahbe,
- Ayah Zaki-Sabet,
- Brian Boyd,
- Jordan-Scott Kushner,
- David Scott,
- Premilla Nadasen,
- Victoria De Grazia,
- Fatima Rimawi,
- Partha Chatterjee,
- Feride Eralp,
- Gil Anidjar,
- Dayana Khatib,
- Marina Hansen,
- Yasmeen-Abdel Majeed,
- Qais Malhas,
- Dirk Salomons,
- Shezza-Abboushi Dallal,
- Naor Ben-Yehoyada,
- Dina Omar,
- Maya Wind,
- Jeffrey Jacobs,
- Tory-Webster Brykalski,
- Michael Kennedy,
- Paige West,
- Joseph Massad,
- Isabel Penaranda,
- Robert Tiburzi,
- Rosalind Morris,
- Zoe Crossland,
- Darializa Avila-Chevalier,
- Rhoda Kanaaneh,
- Elizabeth Povinelli,
- Rahim Kurwa,
- Yousr Shaltout,
- Mona Abdullah,
- Adrian McAfee,
- Stathis Gourgouris,
- Gayatri Spivak,
- Rashid Khalidi,
- Sumaya Awad,
- Michael Harris,
- Timothy Mitchell,
- Anna Baltzer,
- George Saliba,
- Mahmood Mamdani,
- Aleq Abdullah,
- Valentine Daniel,
- Bashir Abu-Manneh,
- Thaer-Al-Sheik Theeb,
- Bruce Robbins,
- Ahmed Hamad,
- Jannine-Masoud Salman,
- Nathalie Handal,
- Max Fineman,
- Josh Whitford,
- Tanya Keilani,
- Hanine Hassan,
- Mariam Rimawi,
- Ann Yacoubian,
- Michael Taussig,
- Alay Syed,
- Brinkley Messick
- Last Modified:
- 06/23/2025
Videos
Photos & Screenshots
