Omar Duwaji

Overview

Omar Duwaji has glorified a terrorist, demonized Israel and spread a conspiracy theory, on social media. He has also shown support for the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.

Duwaji was reportedly active with Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at Northeastern University (Northeastern), in 2011.

As of August 2018, Duwaji’s LinkedIn stated that he was an editorial producer at AJ+, a Qatari-funded propaganda media channel notorious for spreading misinformation and lies about Israel.

As of the same date, Duwaji used the name “Omar Damascene” on Facebook and on one of his Instagram accounts.

Glorifying a Terrorist

On June 10, 2013, Duwaji posted on Instagram an image of Abd al-Qadir al-Husayni with the comment, “Arab Badass.”

Al-Husayni established the “Holy Jihad” group in 1936 and led the “Army of the Holy War” during Israel’s War of Independence.

Al-Husayni was responsible for some of the most brutal acts of terror in the history of Jerusalem, including a car-bomb explosion on Ben Yehuda Street in 1948, which killed fifty people. A few weeks later, twelve people were killed in another car-bombing by Husayni’s forces, in the courtyard of the Jewish Agency building.

Demonizing Israel

On November 29, 2012, Duwaji tweeted a link to a video — produced by the anti-Israel Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) organization—  that accused [00:02:15] Israel of “Institutionalized discrimination” against non-Jews. Duwaji commented “#Amazing #Mustwatch.”

The video claimed [00:01:30] Israeli Arabs are second class citizens of Israel, and portrayed [00:03:50] Israel as an aggressive, oppressive force that can be influenced [00:05:27] only through pressure. Further, the film rejected peace talks as a [00:05:02] “theater to cover a land grab.”

On October 14, 2010, Duwaji shared on Facebook a video that suggested Israel deliberately targeted Gazan civilians during Operation Cast Lead.

The video quoted Rebhi Salem of the Gaza American International School claiming [00:06:00]: “the pretext the Israelis would give that the school has been a site for launching rockets and missiles is an absolute lie.”

Israel commenced Operation Cast Lead (OCL)in 2008-09 in order to stop Hamas rocket fire from Gaza targeting Israeli civilians.

On May 31, 2010, Duwaji posted on Facebook an article about the “Gaza Freedom Flotilla” incident, writing “unbelievable...10 innocent people lost their lives today at the hands of the Israeli government trying to deliver aid to the people of Gaza. Tyranny…”

The Mavi Marmara was the lead ship in the “Freedom Flotilla” that attempted to sail to Gaza in May 2010. Activists aboard the ship agitated for violent confrontation and chanted a slogan glorifying the killing of Jews. When Israeli security forces boarded the Marmara, protesters attacked them with iron bars, metal chairs, knives, stun grenades and firearms, rocks and bottles. A United Nations report found that the flotilla agitators initiated an organized, violent confrontation with Israeli forces, and that the Marmara was carrying no humanitarian aid, only weaponry.

On January 8, 2010, Duwaji shared on Facebook a Press TV video interview with George Galloway. Duwaji commented “dude's my hero.” In the video, Galloway said [00:04:30] “They [Israel] are capable of insane acts and we must be on our guard.”

Galloway’s anti-Zionist rhetoric has been condemned as anti-Semitic on numerous occasions. In 2013, Galloway walked out of an Oxford debate, saying “I don’t recognize Israel and refuse to debate with Israelis” when he discovered one of the participating students was an Israeli citizen. In 2014, Galloway declared his constituency of Bradford an “Israel-free-zone.

Conspiracy Theory

On September 8, 2013, Duwaji tweeted: “REPORT: Hitler may not have authorized systemic murder of Jews during Holocaust.”