Pouneh Behin

Overview

Pouneh Behin participated in the violent disruption of a pro-Israel event on the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) campus in May 2018 and has demonized Israel.

In November 2018, Behin was a member of two Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) Facebook groups: SJP at University of California, Riverside (UCR) since 2007 and SJP at the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley), since 2014.

Behin attended the 2018 National SJP Conference.

The 2018 National SJP conference was held on November 16-18, 2018 at UCLA. The conference was themed “Radical Hope: Resistance in the Face of Adversity.” The conference website stated: “[t]he reason we can have hope is that Zionism...can be destroyed.”

Behin is a supporter of the Boycott Divestment Sanctions (BDS)movement against Israel and has glorified a violent agitator.

In June 2018, Behin’s LinkedIn said she co-founded the group Southwest Asian & North Afrikan - Los Angeles (SWANA-LA). SWANA-LA has collaborated with the Palestine Youth Movement (PYM).

Behin is a member of Al-Awda LA’s Facebook group, since 2009, as well as a member of the Muslim Students Association (MSA) at UCLA’s Facebook group, since 2016.

As of January 2019, Behin’s LinkedIn said she was a Veterinarian at Vetco Clinics in West LA, as well as an Educator and Career Mentor at Los Angeles City College (LA City College), since 2017. As of January 2019, Behin’s Facebook page said she started a “new job” at Petco in Los Angeles, CA as of April 2017.

Also as of January 2019, Behin’s LinkedIn said she received her DVM in veterinary medicine from Western University of Health Sciences (Western University) in 2015. Behin also said she graduated from Ohio State University (OSU) in 2013 with a master’s degree in Public Health, and from UCLA in 2007 with a bachelor’s degree in French.

As of January 2019, Behin used the name “Pouneh Best” on Facebook.

SJP UCLA - Violent Disruption of Pro-Israel Campus Event

On May 17, 2018, Behin, along with other SJP activists and affiliates, disrupted [00:47:49] an event hosted by Students Supporting Israel (SSI) on the UCLA campus. The event, titled "Indigenous People Unite," provided a forum for Jewish, Kurdish, and Armenian indigenous communities “to share the stories of their people.”

The disrupters were joined by activists with SJP at UCLA Alumni Association,as well as activists from the group SWANA-LA and activists from the off-campus Antifa group Revolution Club L.A./ Refuse Fascism Los Angeles.

Approximately 41 minutes into the lecture, SJP UCLA members and Antifa activists invaded [00:41:16] the forum. Protester Arman Adamian marched toward the speakers and tore the Armenian flag off the wall. Adamian also grabbed [00:41:24] the Armenian panelist’s notes off the speakers’ table and leaned over the seated panelist.

Behin also appeared in the video waving [00:48:42] a large Palestinian flag and screaming [00:49:03] "End The Occupation" and "Free, free Palestine!!"

Other protesters chanted [00:43:01]“From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be Free!” as well as [00:42:29] “We don’t want two states, we want ‘48!” and [00:45:08] “1,2,3,4 Open up the prison doors; 5,6,7,8 Israel is a terrorist state!!”

The Israeli flag was also ripped from the wall and protestor Natalie Kamajian, when asked to relinquish the flag, refused [00:46:52] to do so.

Campus security eventually escorted [00:50:05] the protesters out of the classroom where the event was held, into an adjacent hallway. There, the protesters pounded [00:521:2348] on the door to the classroom and continued [00:08:32] chanting.

Later, when the door was reopened, the protesters continued their disturbance, screaming [00:33:15] obscenities, using [00:14:27] a megaphone and physically blocking [00:13:52] the door from being closed.

Behin used [00:13:17] a megaphone to call [00:14:39] out the names of the Gaza rioters shot the day before during the Hamas-organized violent “March of Return.”

On March 30, 2018, some 30,000 Palestinians in Gaza approached Israel’s border to take part in “Land Day Protests,” or the “March of Return.” The march was organized and funded by Hamas as a campaign of violent protests to spotlight the Palestinian demand to “return” to Israel. The “right of return” has since been discredited as a means to eliminate Israel.

On May 16, 2018, a Hamas senior official, Salah al-Bardawil, stated that 50 out of 62 protesters killed during the May 14 Gaza border protest were Hamas operatives. Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) also claimed that three of its members were killed at the same protest.

Following the disruption, students attending the SSI event reported feeling intimidated and fearing for their physical safety. SSI chapter president Hirmand Sarafian, the Armenian panelist, reported that he felt physically threatened “throughout the whole thing, from the beginning to the end.”

SJP UCLA reportedly denied initiating or having “a significant hand in organizing the demonstration” and claimed that “none of our board members attended the event.”

However, SJP UCLA’s 2018 primary signatory Robert Gardner was filmed taking a leadership role in the disruption, alongside SJP UCLA signatory Gurutam Thockchom, as well as fellow SJP UCLA activists Burkan Aranki, Sarena Khasawneh, John Abughattas, and Tamara Khoury.

On May 18, 2018, both SWANA-LA and the Palestine Solidarity Committee (PSC) in Austin specifically praised SJP UCLA and SJP at UCLA Alumni’s role in disrupting the SSI event. PSC is an alternative name for SJP.

On May 24, 2018, UCLA chancellors Jerry Kang and Monroe Gorden published anofficial denunciation of the incident in the Daily Bruin, UCLA’s campus newspaper.

The chancellors’ statement condemned the intimidation of panelists and audience members and declared that the university would “refer all evidence of wrongdoing” of non-UCLA students “to local prosecutors to determine whether they have broken the law.”

A June 14, 2018 article, published by the Jewish Journal, reported that half a dozen students said they would file formal complaints against the disruptors for “criminal disruption of a meeting, as well as disturbing the peace and conspiracy.”

An August 8, 2018 article in the Algemeiner reported that the Los Angeles city prosecutor was investigating the disruption, and had “requested additional investigative materials from the UCLA Police.”

Demonizing Israel

On November 15, 2012, during Operation Pillar of Defense (OPD), Behin posted on Facebook a cartoon of Gaza civilians lying dead in front of a firing wall, facing a grinning Israeli soldier dressed as a Nazi stormtrooper with a smoking gun alongside a smiling figure of “Uncle Sam,” the American icon.

Behin commented “End the occupation. End Israeli aggression/attacks on civilians.”

Israel launched OPD to stop Hamas rocket attacks on Israeli civilians from Gaza. Over the course of eight days in November 2012, Palestinian terrorist groups fired more than 1,500 rockets at Israel. The majority struck Israel, damaging homes, schools and other civilian areas. Human Rights Watch noted: “Palestinian armed groups made clear in their statements that harming civilians was their aim.”

On May 16, 2013, Behin posted to Facebook: “Today marks the 65th anniversary of the ethnic cleansing of Palestine.”

Glorifying an Anti-Israel Agitator

On December 30, 2017, Behin posted to Facebook a photo glorifying Ahed Tamimi.

Ahed Tamimi has a long history of physically attacking Israeli soldiers. Tamimi is the daughter of Bassem Tamimi, who is known for exploiting young children as political props in staged confrontations with Israeli soldiers.

The following day, another Facebook user posted a photo of Behin speaking into a microphone at the rally.

Supporting BDS

On March 7, 2016, Behin posted on Facebook: “DJ Khaled, hear your community out! Don't play yourself! Major key - boycott Sabra! #BoycottSabra #DropSabra. Just deleted you on Snapchat. You heard what the Palestinian youth are asking for.”

In November 2014, SJP UCLA pushed a divestment resolution “calling on the Regents to divest from companies that enable and profit from violations of Palestinian rights.”

The resolution, which was endorsed by the UCLA student government, called on the University of California Board of Regents to divest from a list of companies allegedly tied to violence against Palestinians.

On November 5, 2014, and November 10, 2014, Behin promoted “UCLA Divest” on Facebook.

On November 20, 2014, Behin appeared in a SWANA LA photo celebrating the passage of the divestment resolution, alongside other SWANA activists. SWANA LA commented “Thank you council members and thank you to the SWANA UCLA students waiting to see this happen! #UCLADivest.”

On February 11, 2015, SJP UCLA pushed BDS beyond the LA campus, to the University of California (UC) level, and proposed a resolution to the UC Student Association (UCSA) urging it “to divest from American companies that profit from human rights violations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.”

On February 8, 2015, Behin indicated on Facebook that she “went” to the “UCSA Divestment” vote as part of SJP UCLA’s contingent, in support of the resolution.

At the meeting, the UCSA Board of Directors passed the resolution by a 9-1-5 vote.

On March 15, 2018, various SJP chapters in the UC system co-opted a student protest against tuition hikes outside of the UC Regents meeting at the UCLA campus, calling on the Regents to divest from some companies that do business with Israel.

Anti-Israel Activism

From March-May 2018, Behin indicated on Facebook that she “went” to three events to support the “March of Return.”

On April 17, 2017, Behin indicated on Facebook that she went to an event titled “LA: Protest PA Security Coordination w/ Israeli Occupation,” marking the “40 day memorial of Basel Al-Araj’s murder.”

Basel Al Araj was killed in a shoot-out with Israeli troops during an arrest raid. He had been suspected of belonging to a terror cell planning to carry out attacks on Israeli targets. Two M-16 assault rifles and an improvised Carlo-style submachine gun were found inside his home.

On January 28, 2016, Behin indicated on Facebook that she “went” to SJP UCLA’s Palestine Awareness Week (PAW).

Palestine Awareness Week (PAW) is a re-branding for American audiences of Israel Apartheid Week (IAW), originally presented as “an international series of events that seek to raise awareness of Israel’s settler-colonial project and apartheid system over the Palestinian people” and build support for the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.

On November 30, 2016, Behin indicated on Facebook that she “went” to SJP UCLA’s screening of the anti-Israel film “The Occupation of the American Mind.” The event also featured the film’s anti-Israel executive producer, Professor Sut Jhally and anti-Israel musician, Roger Waters.

In his films, Jhally claims that the “Israel lobby” has waged “the most successful PR campaign ever,” the result of which is a strong pro-Israel bias in American public media.

Attending the 2018 National SJP Conference

On November 20, 2018, Behin appeared [00:03:10] in live footage acting as security for the 2018 National SJP Conference.

2018 National SJP - Celebrating Violence

During the 2018 National SJP conference, anti-Israel activist Mohammed Nabulsi led the attendees in the chant [00:00:52] “Long Live the Intifada! Intifada! Intifada!”

Since the early 2000’s, the term “intifada” has carried the connotation of violence. The second intifada was characterized by more than 120 suicide bombings targeting Israeli civilians on buses and in cafes.

Anti-Israel activist Omar Zahzah also reportedly [00:00:07] led National SJP attendees in chanting, in Arabic, “With our bodies and our blood, we will free Palestine.”

As of November 2018, the 2018 National SJP website glorified “radical hope and upfront defiance of Zionism,” citing as examples the “early revolts through the Intifadas to the Great Return March.”

The Great Return March of 2018 was organized and funded by the terror group Hamas as a campaign of violent protests along Israel’s border to spotlight the demand of Palestinians to “return” to Israel.

Tens of thousands of rioters gathered on Israel’s Gaza border, attempting numerous breaches of Israel’s border fence, with leaders andparticipants declaring their intention to harm Jews.

National SJP originally promoted a conference logo featuring a keffiyeh-wearing bear, looking toward a kite bearing the colors of the Palestinian flag.

On October 27, 2018, National SJP said the kite signified “the power in the Gaza March of Return.”

Since March 2018, March of Return participants and Hamas’s “Kite Unit” have sent hundreds of kites bearing incendiary devices and IEDs (improvised explosive devices) across the border into Israel to terrorize Israelis. The kites are often marked with swastikas.

By the time National SJP produced its 2018 conference logo highlighting the kites in October 2018, Gazan terror kites and balloons had ignited more than 1,300 fires in Israel, over seven months.

2018 National SJP - Undermining U.S. Support for Israel

On November 18, 2018, the US Palestine Community Network (USPCN) posted on Facebook the 2018 National SJP keynote speech by Hatem Abudayyeh, USPCN’s co-founder.

Abudayyeh has supported [00:08:45] convicted terrorists, praised terror organizations, called for Israel’s destruction and is an activist in theBoycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.

In his 2018 National SJP Keynote, Abudayyeh said [00:53:01] that the “specific role” of Palestinian and Arab students was to organize [00:53:42] in order to weaken “Zionist Israel” and force [00:54:23] the U.S. to “no longer provide it with diplomatic, political, financial and military cover and support.”

Abudayyeh predicted [00:55:37] that once U.S. support to Israel ends, National SJP attendees would return to Palestine as “conquering heroes,” end [00:54:38] the “occupation and colonization of all Arab lands including the Golan Heights” and replace “Zionist Israel” with a Palestinian state.

2018 National SJP - Whitewashing Terror Organizations

During his keynote speech, Abudayyeh also painted [00:14:01] terrorist organizations as “liberation movements” and “resistance organizations,” stating [00:14:21] “what we also know is that the majority of the resistance organizations in Palestine are on the U.S. state department list of foreign terrorist organizations.”

Abudayyeh also celebrated [00:52:00] that all of the “armed resistance” organizations in Gaza are part [00:52:14] of a “unified resistance in Gaza, that includes all of the resistance organizations, working together under a unified military command.”

2018 National SJP - Defending Terrorist Rasmea Odeh

During his keynote speech, Abudayyeh claimed [00:08:28] that pro-Israel organizations “go after students like you,” adding [00:08:20] “just like they went after my friend and colleague, Rasmea Odeh.”

Odeh was a key military operative with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terrorist organization. In 1969, she masterminded a PFLP supermarket bombing that killed two college students. She also attempted to bomb the British consulate in Jerusalem. Odeh later moved to the United States but was deported to Jordan in 2017 for immigration fraud.

Abudayyeh added that he was asked [00:08:45] to talk about Odeh’s case, and praised SJP and SDS students who organized [00:09:15] “absolutely valuable” events on behalf [00:9:11] of Odeh, “as she was fighting to stay in the U.S.”

2018 National SJP - Demonizing Israel and Jews

During his keynote speech, Abudayyeh defended [00:27:25] the “Irvine 11” — eleven Muslim Student Union (MSA) members who were arrested in 2010 for repeatedly shouting down former Israeli ambassador Michael Oren during an address at the University of California at Irvine (UC Irvine).

Abudayyeh referred [00:27:37] to Oren as a “racist fascist speaker, representative of a racist, fascist country.”

Abudayyeh went on to claim [00:29:48] that “today, even in the United States, Israel is finally being seen as the criminal, apartheid, racist state that it is.”

Abudayyeh also called for increased action in the face of President U.S. Donald Trump, and referred [00:48:41] to Jared Kushner, Trump’s Jewish son-in-law and senior advisor, as “that pig son-in-law of his.”

2018 National SJP - Excluding Students

The 2018 National SJP Conference welcomed only students who were verified and vouched for by an SJP (or otherwise named campus Palestine solidarity group). Media requests needed to be “approved by the NSJP press team” prior to the conference.

A November 7, 2018 Columbus Jewish News article reported that the Los Angeles City Council unanimously passed a resolution calling on UCLA to cancel the 2018 NSJP conference, stating that a “public university should not allow any group to implement a litmus test for event participation on their campus.”

On November 12, 2018, UCLA Chancellor Gene Block published an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times that criticized National SJP’s exclusion of members of pro-Israel student groups.

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.