Nadine Darwish

Overview

Nadine Darwish is an organizer for Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at Loyola University (Loyola SJP). She served as Loyola SJP’s treasurer in 2015 and its president in 2014.On November 4-6, 2016, National SJP held a Conference at George Mason University (GMU). Darwish accepted a Facebook invitation to attend.

Darwish was heavily involved in the 2015 Loyola Divest campaign, as well as the 2014 divestment campaign — promoting the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement on Loyola’s campus.

Darwish volunteered for the Council of American Islamic Relations (CAIR), Chicago between December 2013 and March 2014, and represented the organization at various political and cultural events. In 2014, Darwish served on the board of Middle Eastern Student Association (MESA) , in a public relations capacity.

Darwish is a student at Loyola University, majoring in Health Systems Management.

Pushing BDS at Loyola

In March 2015, Darwish was highly involved in pushing a divestment resolution that called for the university to boycott Israeli corporations at Loyola. After an initial tie vote, the resolution passed — by a plurality of 16 to15, with two abstentions — on March 24, 2015.

To promote the resolution, Loyola Divest produced a campaign video, riddled with deceptions. For instance, one Loyola SJP member, Samira Bakira, claimed the Israeli government "sterilizes 50% of the Ethiopian women upon entrance to Israel." Darwish also featured in the video.

Loyola University President Michael J. Garanzini wrote an open letter to the student body titled "Endorsing A Community of Dialogue," that condemned the divestment resolution’s divisiveness. The letter pointed out that the university would not be interested in adopting divestment because the University’s interest is in "having students engage in thoughtful and respectful open discussion."

A year earlier - on March 18 2014, the student body president vetoed a similar divestment resolution and Loyola issued a statement that it would not adopt the student’s divestment proposal if passed. In response, Darwish wrote an article charging the Loyola Student Government charging as "cowards" for being “intimidated.” She signed the letter “An angry Palestinian.” Darwish also wrote an article for the student newspaper, condemning the university administration’s handling of divestment.

Harassing Fellow Students

In September 2014 - while Darwish was president of Loyola SJP, the group was suspended for harassing Jewish groups at the university.

SJP members surrounded a Taglit-Birthright table and disrupted the processing of applications for a subsidized trip to Israel. While blocking access to the table, the agitators assailed fellow students with questions like "How does it feel to be an occupier?" and "How does it feel to be guilty of ethnic cleansing?"

Following a complaint lodged against SJP Loyola, the entire chapter was suspended pending a university investigation. The group was found responsible for violating university policy, placed on probation for the rest of the academic year and required to attend inter-group dialogue training. CAIR assisted the group in appealing its suspension, but SJP members were still required to attend the dialogue training.

Promoting A Terrorist

On June 21, 2016, Darwish posted a photo on Instagram of herself posing with terrorist Rasmea Odeh. Odeh was a military operative with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), an internationally designated terrorist organization.

In 1969, she masterminded a bombing that killed two university students in a Jerusalem supermarket. Odeh also attempted to bomb the British consulate. Odeh confessed, in a highly detailed account, the day following her arrest. In a 2004 documentary, one of Odeh’s co-conspirators directly implicated her as the mastermind.

In 1970, an Israeli court tried and convicted Odeh for her involvement in both bombings and sentenced her to life imprisonment. However, Odeh was released 10 years later, in a prisoner swap and emigrated to the United States.

In November 2014, a Michigan federal jury convicted Odeh of immigration fraud — for failing to disclose her prior conviction and life sentence, on her immigration application. Odeh was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison, fined and ordered to be deported following her prison term.

On January 9, 2016, Darwish posted on Facebook urging her followers to buy tickets to fundraise for Odeh's legal defense fund.

Delegitimizing Israel

On April 5, 2016, Darwish promoted a four day event at Loyola as part of Israel Apartheid Week. The event culminated with a with Saed Atshan — whom Israel deemed a security threat and denied entry into the West Bank in 2015.

On March 16, 2015, Darwish hosted a "Palestine 101" as part of Loyola Divest Week.

Loyola SJP - Praising All 'Martyrs'

On October 13, 2015, Loyola SJP posted on Facebook a list of 30 Palestinians 'who died in the past weeks of escalation of violence,' with the comment 'We mourn the deaths of all of these Palestinian martyrs; no matter their age, no matter their gender, no matter their associations.'

Loyola SJP posted the list during a month of terrorist violence. {"snippet" : "Knife Intifada"} . Loyola SJP’s list of “martyrs” included a number of radicals who were stopped after initiating attacks..

One person listed was 19 year-old Fadi Allon.

Fadi Aloon was shot by Israeli security forces after he stabbed a 15-year-old Israeli boy. Several hours before the attack, Aloon posted “Either martyrdom or victory” on his Facebook page.

Another ”martyr” was Muhannad Halabi, also 19.

Nineteen year old Muhannad Halabi murdered two Israelis and injured two others, including a 2-year-old, during a stabbing spree. One day earlier, Halabi posted on his Facebook page that “[t]he third Intifada is here” and wrote “[w]ake up from your slumber and save al-Aqsa. Let the revolution erupt.”

Loyola SJP - Lauding Violence

On February 3, 2016, Loyola SJP promoted products by Watan - founded and directed by former Loyola SJP president Jumani Al-Qawasmi and described as a Palestinian-themed “creative platform and storefront.” On that date, the storefront listed for sale a pin featuring a gun-wielding Palestinian with the phrase “Revolution until Victory” and another pin featuring a map of Israel surrounded by a Palestinian Keffiyeh and an AK-47 assault rifle. Also available for purchase was a print and sticker of Ghassan Kanafani, a leading member and spokesperson of the designated terrorist organization the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) in its 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. The storefront has since been revised.

On March 17, 2016, SJP Loyola promoted a PYM USA writing scholarship on Facebook named after Ghassan Kanafani that referred to him as as a "Palestinian Novelist" and an “Iconic National Hero.”

Loyola SJP - Promoting Incitement

On October 22, 2015, Loyola SJP posted a blood libel on Facebook that "activist" Hashem Azzeh was “murdered” by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). {"snippet" : "Hashem Al Azzeh"}

On May 14, 2016, Loyola SJP posted an Al-Jazeera video — subsequently exposed as featuring serial falsehoods — titled: "Where did the Palestinians Go?" The video fraudulently implied that Palestinian Arabs have no political representation, and that Palestinian Arabs were not offered Israeli citizenship until 1967. In fact, Arabs enjoyed citizenship and full rights from the very first Israeli election in 1949.

On February 11 2016, Loyola SJP posted on Facebook claiming contaminated water in Flint, Michigan (known as the "Flint Water Crisis") resulted because “Flint’s population was under colonial rule.” Loyola SJP then proceeded to fraudulently blame Israel for “a severe water crisis” in Gaza due to the U.N.-approved joint Israeli and Egyptian naval blockade of the Gaza Strip.

Since a 1995 water agreement between Israel and Palestinians was signed, Israel has not controlled the water in Gaza, and Palestinian factions have failed to use the billions in aid they receive to develop new water resources for their people. Therefore, they purchase water from Israel, which has doubled the amount of water it supplies to Gaza — far exceeding the stipulations of the 1995 agreement.

On February 23, 2015, Loyola SJP posted on Facebook an article from Al-Jazeera that "Israel opened water dams, without warning, last night, causing serious damage to Gazan villages near the border. More than 40 homes were flooded and 80 families are currently in shelters as a result." Loyola SJP did not remove their post when Al-Jazeera later retracted, noting that there are no dams in Southern Israel that can be opened.

On May 17, 2015, Loyola SJP shared an AJ+ video implying falsely that Israel disobeyed a UN Resolution in not granting the Palestinians a "right to return to homes and lands," — a demand long discredited as a subterfuge to eliminate Israel. In reality, there is no absolute right of return mandated by international law — “[i]nstead, international law gives each country the right to decide for itself to whom it will give citizenship.”

The "Right of Return" under U.N. Resolution 194 (Article 11) -- which the Arabs unanimously rejected -- was a recommendation..

On December 18, 2015, Loyola SJP shared on Facebook a misleading AJ+ video demonizing Israel. The video’s presenter, Dena Takruri, mischaracterized Israel’s security fence — 97% of which is a low chain link barrier — as an 8 meter-high wall running 280 miles. The video also falsely insinuated that a non-binding advisory opinion on the security fence issued by the International Court of Justice is binding international law.

Loyola SJP - Defending Hamas

On Jul 12 2016, Loyola SJP shared a video on Facebook promoting the 2016 film series titled "Gaza in context," about the history of the Gaza Strip and Operation Protective Edge (OPE).

Israel commenced Operation Protective Edge (OPE) in July 2014, to stop rocket fire targeting Israeli civilians and to destroy Hamas attack tunnels.

However, the script of “Gaza in context” starts with an “attack” by Israel on Gaza — omitting all context of Hamas rockets.

Loyola SJP - Supporting Student-Killer Rasmea Odeh

On February 4, 2016, Loyola SJP posted on Facebook in support of unrepentant terrorist-murderer Rasmea Odeh.

Odeh was a key military operative [00:02:08]with the terrorist group the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). In 1969, Odeh masterminded a PFLP bombing that killed two college students in a Jerusalem supermarket. Odeh also attempted to bomb the British consulate.

Odeh confessed, in a highly detailed account, the day following her arrest. In a 2004 documentary, one of Odeh’s co-conspirators directly implicated [00:10:53] Odeh as the mastermind.

In 1970, an Israeli court tried and convicted Odeh for her involvement in both bombings and sentenced her to life imprisonment. However, Odeh was released 10 years later, in a prisoner swap and emigrated to the United States.

On November 10, 2014, a Michigan federal jury convicted Odeh for immigration fraud because she failed to disclose her prior conviction and life sentence on her immigration application. On March 12, 2015, she was sentenced to 18 months in prison.

In 2017, after an appeal and a lengthy court battle, Odeh admitted to immigration fraud, was stripped of her U.S. citizenship, deported to Jordan and banned from re-entering the U.S.

On November 3, 2014, Loyola SJP posted on Facebook calling Odeh "a beloved Palestinian icon."

Loyola SJP - Demonizing Israel

On December 2, 2015, Loyola SJP promoted an event featuring former SJP leader Kristian Davis Bailey attempting to hijack civil rights discourse and conjoin the political agenda of "Black Lives Matter" and the Palestinian narrative demonizing Israel.

The event showcased the falsification of "intersectionality" by anti-Israel groups to link and ultimately blame Israel and Zionism for unrelated problems in disparate locations — like college tuition hikes in New York state, police riots in Ferguson, MO, race-based violence in Baltimore MD, campus rape and negative environmental impacts of the fossil-fuel industry.

Loyola SJP - Rejecting Dialogue

On July 5 2015, Loyola SJP shared a link to a petition on Facebook in opposition to the Muslim Leadership Initiative (MLI).

MLI "invites North American Muslim leaders to explore how Jews understand Judaism, Israel and North American Jewish identity through a Zionist lens," and to expand their understanding of Jewish “ethics, faith, and practice.” According to MLI founder Imam Abdullah Antepli, “MLI aims to put mainstream North American Jewry in conversation with their Muslim counterparts.”

Loyola SJP’s facebook post denounced the MLI as 'all messed up' and stated that 'it is important we stand against normalization' The 'anti-normalization' campaign seeks to restrict all dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians.

Loyola SJP - Causing a Hostile Campus Environment

On June 3, 2016, Loyola SJP posted on Facebook their solidarity with the General Union of Palestinian Students (GUPS) at San Francisco State University (GUPS SFSU) who, on April 6, 2015 shouted down Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat, while he was speaking at SFSU.

Upon entering the room, president of GUPS Lubna Morrar led the group in yelling, "Get the f**k of our campus!" Following which she led the group in other aggressive and violent chants including “Intifada, Intifada!” as well as, “If we don’t get no justice, then you don’t get no peace” and "From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be Free!” — a call for Israel’s destruction.

Barkat’s personal security guards sprang to ensure his safety and a campus police officer arrived while student leaders from the event attempted to dialogue with the protesters. The protesters persisted in their disruption, forcing Barkat to move from the podium to sit with the audience, in an attempt to continue his talk.

On April 7, 2016, SFSU President Les Wong issued a statement condemning the protesters for the disruption and promised to open an investigation of the incident.

Loyola SJP - Defending Hate Speech

On January 30 2015, Loyola SJP posted support for Steven Salaita, the Edward Said Chair of American Studies at the American University of Beirut (AUB) claiming he was "unjustly fired".

In 2014, The University of Illinois withdrew an offer of employment to Salaita after becoming aware of his anti-Semitic tweets. One tweet, posted shortly after Hamas kidnapped three teenage Israeli high school students, read: "You may be too refined to say it, but I’m not: I wish all the f**king West Bank settlers would go missing.” In 2017, Salaita posted to Facebook: “People ask if I would go back in time and change anything. I would not…I will die unapologetic.” In February 2019, Salaita stated that he had become a school bus driver in the Washington, D.C., area.

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.

CAIR

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.