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Omer Arain

Overview

Omer Arain was a member of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at the University of Wisconsin - Madison (UW-Madison). He co-authored and sponsored a divestment resolution at UW-Madison in 2017, as the Shared Governance Chair of the Associated Students of Madison (ASM).

Arain attended the National SJP (NSJP) 2017 conference. NSJP 2017 was held October 27-29, 2017 at the University of Houston (UH). The conference was themed “A Reimagined World: Dismantling Walls from Palestine to the Rio Grande.” Per the 2017 National SJP Conference website, the conference aimed to strengthen “collaborative efforts within all regions to pass BDS” and envision “pathways to achieving sanctions in the future.”  

Arain is affiliated with the Muslim Students Association (MSA) at UW-Madison, and is a member of the Facebook group “Muslim Students Association @ UW- Madison.”

As of December 28, 2017, Arain’s LinkedIn page said he was an “accelerated masters” student at UW-Madison, slated to graduate in 2018, and that he completed his bachelor’s degree in Political Science at UW-Madison in 2017.

He is reportedly studying International Public Affairs.

Pushing BDS

Arain co-authored and sponsored a divestment resolution for “UWDivest” — a divestment campaign initiated by SJP UW-Madison.

The resolution accused [00:41:17] Israel of “committing genocide” and called [00:41:22] upon the UW system to “condemn the apartheid state of Israel.”

On March 28, 2017, the resolution was provided [00:44:38] to ASM representatives — 24 hours prior to the meeting.

On March 29, 2017, after five hours of debate, UW ASM voted to table the resolution indefinitely.

During the debate, Arain defended [00:41:17] the wording of the resolution, which claimed Israel is “committing genocide” and labelled Israel an “apartheid state.”

On April 12, 2017, UWDivest proposed a by-laws change, calling on the ASM to create a “Financial Transparency and Ethics Subcommittee” which would have access to UW’s financial holdings.

The proposal passed the first round of voting, but was controversial because the ASM meeting was held on Passover, when many of the Jewish students who opposed the original legislation were absent.

On April 26, 2017, ASM voted on a modified version of UWDivest’s divestment resolution. The resolution blamed Israel for police violence in the US and demanded that UW divest from arms manufacturers allegedly responsible for “lives in Palestine who continue to suffer under Israeli military occupation.”

The resolution passed 24-0, with two abstentions.

It was also reported that the resolution’s backers made a concerted effort to intimidate Ariela Rivkin, the only Jewish member of the university’s student government.

After the legislation passed, UW released a statement condemning the vote.

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.


MSA

The MSA was  established by members of the Muslim Brotherhood in January 1963 at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, with the goal of "spreading Islam as students in North America." A 2004 FBI investigation uncovered an internal Muslim Brotherhood document in which a brotherhood leader identified the MSA as "one of our organizations." 


The MSA reportedly has “nearly 600 chapters” located in the United States and Canada, and is “the most visible and influential Islamic student organization in North America,” boasting conferences, special events, publications, websites and other activities.


The organization includes a number of previous chapter presidents with explicit links to terrorist groups. Included are al-Qaeda cleric Anwar al-Awlaki (Colorado State University), Somali al-Shabaab militant leader Omar Shafik Hammami (University of South Alabama) and Pakistani Taliban recruiter Ramy Zamzam of the MSA's Washington, D.C. council.  


Omer Arain
Status:
Student
University:
Wisconsin-Madison
Organizations:
MSA,
SJP

Related Profiles:
Sarah Tawashy,

Last Modified:
06/23/2025

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