Raad Samih

Overview

Raad Samih is the social media chair of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at IUPUI (SJP IUPUI) and has fundraised for SJP. He also supports the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement and has posted on Facebook his appreciation for Stephen Hawking’s boycott of Israeli academics.

Samih is very active on social media and uses his Facebookaccount extensively to spread anti-Israel invective and promote SJP IUPUI.

Samih is a senior at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), majoring in Accounting. He is also a peer mentor at IUPUI.  

Disseminating Anti-Semitism and Conspiracy Theories

On April 11, 2016, Samih shared an article on Facebook claiming that Israel sexually abused 240 Palestinian children in detention centers. The article refers to Israelis as "[t]he God damned jews" and “the offspring of Lucifer.” Despite admitting that there was no objective proof, the article blames Israel for U.S. soldiers’ treatment of prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. The article concludes that “[o]nly those who have emerged from satan’s colon could be responsible.”

Applauding the Exploitation of Children to Demonize Israel

On April 28, 2016, Samih shared an Al Jazeera article on Facebook that featured the anti-Israel journalism of 10-year-old Janna Jihad Ayyad. Ayyad is a relative of Palestinian propagandist and provocateur Bassem Tamimi, who is notorious for exploiting young children as political props by manufacturing confrontations with Israeli soldiers who respond to the riots that Tamimi organizes.

On April 27, 2016, Samih shared an inflammatory AJ+ video on Facebook about 12-year-old Dima Al-Wawi, who was imprisoned for attempting to stab a security guard at the Israeli settlement of Karmei Tzur. Al-Wadi later claimed that she intended to kill the security guard and hoped she would be killed in the process. "I was dreaming that I was going to be martyred," she said. Al-wadi was released early — six weeks before her scheduled release — and was received as a hero in her home-town in Halhoul, in the West Bank.

Romanticizing and Whitewashing Murder

On November 28, 2015 Samih shared a video on Facebook that romanticized the Palestinian "Knife Intifada," in which scores of Israelis were stabbedor hacked to death:

The video showed the painting of a mural — accompanied by narration that included the following lyrics,: “Then came the black, the night, the oppression… giving birth to the glint of a knife. Knives that are our tongues when the world is deaf to our alphabet. This is the intifada of the knife... The intifada is us not forgetting…”

The narration ends: “These are the colors of the intifada and we hold the brushes… the knowledge, the stones, the rhymes, the knives..., to paint our way back home.”

On October 12, 2015, during a month of spiraling Palestinian violence against Israeli civilians, fueled by unremitting incitement, Samih posted on Facebook that Palestinians have “no choice but revolt and shake the oppressors.”

Defending Hamas

On October 22, 2015, Samih shared a misleading photo on Facebook that misappropriated Warsaw Jewry’s life-and-death struggle against the Nazis — to justify the terrorist organization Hamas’ construction of Terror Tunnels in Gaza.

On July 26th, 2014 Samih posted an article on Facebook claiming that Israel fabricated the charge of Hamas’ involvement in the kidnap and murder of three Israeli teenagers, in order to justify the 2014 Gaza war. This libel was debunked when the Hamas terrorist who masterminded the operation confessed to planning the kidnap and murder.

Lying to Demonize Israel

On December 21, 2015, Samih shared a post on Facebook that accused the State of Israel, falsely, of practicing “ethnic cleansing” and “genocide” — although it has been widely reported that the populations of Gaza and the West Bank are among the fastest growing populations in the world in recent decades.

On December 17, 2015, Samih 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.

On October 20, 2015, Samih shared on Facebook a doctored image purporting to show “Palestinian children waiting in a [sic] Israeli checkpoint on their road to get water.” The image was a digitally altered 2010 LA Times photo, of Palestinian children waiting to receive donated food in a soup kitchen in Palestinian Authority controlled Hebron.

Cheering a Terrorist Murderer

On August 9, 2015, Samih shared on Facebook a post of Palestinian terrorist Maher al-Hashlamoun laughing after being sentenced to two life terms in prison.

Al-Hashlamoun was convicted for intentionally crashing into a bus stop and then murdering Israeli civilian Dalia Lemkus by stabbing her to death, as well as injuring others trying to prevent the murder. The text accompanying al-Hashlamoun’s picture said "he laughed at the judge saying do you think you will last in my country for that long," adding “may Allah grant our brother paradise.”

Spreading Hate and Disinformation

On January 16, 2016, Samih shared an article on Facebook that shared testimony about the 2014 Gaza War from the Russel Tribunal, a self-appointed “court of the people” with no legal authority. The tribunal includes anti-Zionist journalist Max Blumenthal, anti-Israel singer Roger Waters, and Norwegian physician Mads Gilbert, who was accused of faking resuscitation on a dead child in Gaza — for dramatic effect — on a CNN video. The testimony also included that of Gazan doctor Mohammad Abou-Arab, who denied that Hamas used Palestinian civilians as human shields, despite Hamas openly admitting to the practice during the 2014 war. (0:42)

On December 19, 2015, Samih posted on Facebook on article containing the dubious testimony of a “126-year-old Palestinian man” recalling “the agonies of the 1948 Nakba.”

On November 27, 2015, Samih shared an article on Facebook claiming that an “Israeli settler ran over a 16-year-old Palestinian girl and then shot her dead.” The girl, Ashraqat Taha Qatanani, was killed during her attempt to stab to death ‎an Israeli woman. According to a Palestinian newspaper Qatani instructed her father the night before her attack “to ‎donate her organs, and not to bargain over her ‎body.” The newspaper also stated that she died as “a Martyr as ‎she wished.”

On May 25, 2015 Samih shared a post on Facebook insinuating that Israel illegally planned to “demolish the Palestinian village of Susiya and expel its residents.” Khirbet Susiya is a small Bedouin village in the South Hebron hills, whose recent history was fabricated — the area has historically served only as grazing land.

SJP IUPUI

SJP IUPUI was formed in October 2014. SJP IUPUI is also part of the organization Indiana Palestine Solidarity (IPS), which was created by SJP chapter-founder Sireen Zayedto "bring together activists and SJP chapters from all over the state of Indiana." IPS’ Facebook page details the activities of SJP U Indy and SJP IUPUI.

In early April 2016, SJP IUPUI held the SJP Midwest Conference, hosting SJP members from twelve different states.

On February 4, 2016, SJP IUPUI announced on its website that it would be hosting bi-weekly workshops focusing "on topics like a basic breakdown of the conflict, the injustices Palestinians face, and the difference between antisemitism and anti-Zionism."

During its February 25, 2016, "History of Palestine" workshop at IUPUI, SJP IUPUI tweeted an image of a deliberately misleading map featuring the headline “Palestinian loss of land.” The widely debunked map — dubbed ‘The Map That Lies” — fraudulently presented lands once controlled by Britain, Egypt, and Jordan as autonomous “Palestinian land,” purportedly stolen by Israel.

On January 12, 2015, SJP IUPUI tabled at IUPUI’s Campus Center and distributed materials created by American Muslims for Palestine (AMP). According to Congressional testimony, AMP is linked to the terror group Hamas and is a principal funder of SJP activities.

SJP IUPUI has falsely branded Israel an “apartheid state” on its Facebook page and implied that no one but Jews are allowed in Israel.

Applauding Terrorist Murder

On October 16, 2015, during a month when Palestinian terrorists stabbed and hacked and shot and ran over scores of Israelis — SJP IUPUI posted on Facebook a photograph of a Palestinian terrorist — disguised as a journalist — who tried to stab to death an Israeli soldier.

The SJP IUPUI graphic cheered the terrorist, commenting "Let’s go!" The photograph was placed side-by-side with a cartoon image of a lion, wearing a Palestinian flag as a headband, attacking an Israeli soldier, with an image of the Al Aqsa mosque in the background. The photo of the stabbing originated with a photographer named Bilal H. Altaweel, who captioned his image: “The first moment...After the youth chased and stabbed the soldier more than 5 stabs…”

During the same period of unremitting incitement, SJP IUPUI posted on Facebook an image of a knife-wielding Palestinian surrounded by wolves branded with the star of David, a symbol intimately associated with Judaism and Israel. The image caption read “RESISTANCE IS NOT A CRIME.” The image was later removed from the group’s page.

However, on October 14, 2015, SJP IUPUI posted on Facebook a picture of convicted terrorist Leila Khaled — with the comment “Resistance is not Terrorism.”

Khaled is a leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and participated in the hijacking of TWA Flight 840 in 1969 and El Al Flight 219 in 1970. As of 2017, Khaled was a member of PFLP's Political Bureau.

Khaled has said that the second intifada failed because it was not violent enough, advocated for the use of children in terror activities and compared Zionists to Nazis.

The PFLP claimed credit for the 2014 Har Nof Massacre where six people were murdered during morning prayers in a Jerusalem synagogue. The PFLP also claimed credit for the 2001 assassination of the Israeli tourism minister. 

Lying Outright to Students

On October 18, 2015, SJP IUPUI posted on its Facebook page a bogus quote falsely attributed to Albert Einstein comparing Zionists to Nazis.

Also in October 2015, SJP IUPUI lied on Facebook that over a dozen different Palestinian assailants, including child terrorists, were innocent victims who were shot or killed for no reason.

On October 4, SJP IUPUI posted a picture of Palestinian terrorist Fadi Aloon with the fraudulent caption "I WAS BEING PURSUED BY ISRAELI SETTLERS SO I RUSHED TO THE ISRAELI POLICE FOR HELP. THEY SHOT ME DEAD." Aloon was shot by Israeli security forces after Aloon attempted to murder a 15-year old Israeli boy. Several hours before the murder attempt, Aloon posted “Either martyrdom or victory” on his Facebook page.

On October 14, SJP IUPUI posted a picture of 13-year old attempted-murderer Ahmad Manasra, who went on a stabbing spree with his 15 year-old cousin Hassan Khaled Manasra in Jerusalem. They critically injured a 13-year old boy and moderately wounded a 25-year-old man. The group’s post fraudulently mischaracterized the harsh outbursts of some distraught Israeli witnesses, after Manasra was initially neutralized, as “settlers surround[ing] Ahmed...while an Israeli ambulance stood by as he bled.” Ahmad Manasra was immediately treated at an Israeli hospital and later convicted of attempted murder.

The same post referenced two other Palestinian teenagers, Mostafa Al-Khateeb and Mara al-Bakri — and falsely implied that they, too, were innocent victims of Israeli brutality.

Mustafa Al-Khatib — an 18-year-old terrorist who tried to stab a soldier near the Lion’s Gate of the Old City of Jerusalem — was subsequently shot and killed by Israeli police.

Marah Al-Bakri — a 16-year-old female terrorist who stabbed an Israeli border policeman at Ammunition Hill in Jerusalem — was subsequently shot and wounded by that policeman.

Also on October 14, SJP IUPUI doubled down, posting a decontextualized list of Palestinians killed during the month. The group falsely portrayed Israelis as child-killers, by claiming that "the majority of those killed were children. #PrayforPalestine."

Below is just a partial, contextualized list of so-called "children" featured in SJP IUPUI's accounting, which included Fadi Aloon, discussed above:

• Muhannad Halabi, 19: 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.”

  
  

• Thaer Abu Ghazaleh, 19: stabbed a number of Israelis with a screwdriver near a bus stop in Tel Aviv, injuring four.

  
  

• Muhammad Ali, 19: stabbed a border policeman in Jerusalem in the neck.

  
  

• Muhammad Fares Abdullah al-Jaabari,19: stabbed a border policeman in Hebron.

  
  

• Amjad al Jundi, 18: stabbed an Israeli soldier and stole his gun.

  
  

• Hudhaifa Suleiman, 18: participated in a Hamas-organized riot where "hundreds of Palestinians...threw firebombs, rolled burning tires and threw rocks at [Israeli] soldiers."

  
  

On October 17, SJP IUPUI recycled a post that Mutaz Qwaisat, Bayan Ayman Esaili, Fadel Qawasmi, and Eyad Shahada were killed "with no reason." On the same day, The Guardian reported that all four tried to stab Israelis in separate attacks.

On October 20, SJP IUPUI posted, fraudulently, that a 15-year-old Palestinian schoolgirl “was on her way back home from school today, an Israeli shouted for help and claimed from far that she has a knife. As a result, 10 Israeli police and soldiers opened fire at her. She had no knife on her. Only thing found on her was a pair of sunglasses. Sunglasses. Trial, jury, execution.....all in one, but with no actual trial. THIS is what America supports. Wake the hell up!"

However, multiple news sourcesand a Google search of the image SJP IUPUI posted reveal that the "15-year-old Palestinian schoolgirl" was actually an 16-year-old female Palestinian terrorist, Marah al-Bakri, mentioned above — who stabbed a Border Policeman in Jerusalem's Ammunition Hill on October 12, (not October 20,) 2015. After stabbing the policeman, al-Bakri was shot and evacuated to a hospital with a moderate shoulder wound. The Policeman was also hospitalized. Before being evacuated, al Bakri was surrounded by other security personnel — who did not open fire.

Fanning Religious Hatred and Violence

On November 5, 2014, SJP IUPUI posted an article on Facebook that “‘Israel’ plans to “demolish Al-Aqsa Mosque” and “build the so-called Jewish Temple in its place.”

On October 18, 2015, SJP IUPUI posted on Facebook the incendiary lie that "Mosques [are] calling people to get out and protect the homes that are getting attacked by Zionist settlers. #intifadaAlAqsa." One day later, SJP IUPUI posted fraudulently on Facebook that Israel was building “apartheid walls” to stop Palestinians from going to the Al Aqsa mosque. The post’s accompanying image featured a temporary barrier constructed in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Armon Hanatziv, after two Palestinian terrorists boarded a public bus and proceeded to shoot, strangle, and stab passengers, killing three and wounding many others.

On December 10, 2015, SJP IUPUI escalated further, retweeting a fraudulent and provocative tweet that “Zionist settlers attack Masjed AlAqsa this morning with the protection of Israeli occupation forces. #FreePalestine.” The tweet’s accompanying photo showed Jewish visitors walking on the Temple Mount.

This kind of incitement — propagating the libel that the Al Aqsa mosque is under attack — fueled a deadly upsurge in violence by Palestinian Arabs in the fall of 2015.

Propagating Blood Libels

On February 19, 2016, SJP IUPUI posted a picture on Facebook claiming that an Israeli motorist intentionally ran over Inas Shawkat, a 5-year-old Palestinian girl walking on Highway 60, the highway between Jerusalem and Shechem. The text accompanying the graphic stated "I WAS MURDERED AS A THREAT TO ISRAELI ZIONISTS."

The accident took place near the central West Bank town of Sinjil, located northeast of Ramallah. The driver turned himself in at the nearest Jewish settlement, Ofra and called the police to report the accident. The driver told police he did not stop after striking the girls because he feared for his life due to the crowd that had gathered at the scene of the accident. The police investigated and determined the event was a tragic accident.

On November 13, 2015, SJP IUPUI posted a gruesome cartoon of an Israeli food product covering the bloody body of a dead Palestinian child. The group commented: "Cartoon of the Day: EU Approves Labelling Products From Occupied Territories - #Israel#Palestine#BDS."

On October 23, 2015, SJP IUPUI shared an article on Facebook falsely blaming Israel for the death of 54-year-old Palestinian agitator Hashem Azzeh. Azzeh died from a heart attack following a long history of cardiac illness, yet SJP IUPUI claimed that Azzeh was killed by tear gas thrown by Israeli soldiers. An International Solidarity Movement report on Azzeh’s death belied that claim — making no mention whatsoever of tear gas.

IPS Supporting Student-Killer Rasmea Odeh

On February 25, 2015, Indiana Palestine Solidarity (IPS) held a "Solidarity with Rasmea" fundraiser for unrepentant terrorist-murderer Rasmea Odeh, misleadingly labeling Odeh’s arrest and prosecution part of a “broader pattern of persecuting Arabs and Muslims who are outstanding and outspoken leaders in their communities throughout the U.S.”

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.

Lying to Demonize Israel

On November 14, 2014, SJP IUPUI shared a Facebook post slamming Israel for banning Israel-hating propagandist Dr. Mads Gilbert from entering Gaza through Israel. 

Gilbert has been banned indefinitely from entering Gaza through Israel because of his connections to the Hamas leadership. 

In 2008, 2009, 2012 and 2014 Gilbert was stationed at a hospital that served as a Hamas command center and rocket launching site. During that time he acted as a propagandist for the Hamas government in Gaza.

In 2001, following al Qaeda's September 11 terrorist attacks, Gilbert expressed support for the terror acts as a “legitimate response.” In December of 2009, Gilbert was accused of faking resuscitation on a dead child in Gaza for dramatic effect for a CNN video.

SJP’s BDS Deception at IUPUI

On October 28, 2015, SJP IUPUI co-sponsored an event at IUPUI called "Why Boycotting Israeli Universities is the Right Thing to Do."

Around March 8, 2016, SJP IUPUI launched a Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement resolution demanding that IUPUI “divest from companies that support the Israeli occupation of Palestine,” including but “not limited to Caterpillar, Hewlett-Packard (HP), Lockheed Martin, Elbit Systems, and Boeing.”

Among the resolution’s demands was the requirement that IUPUI disclose its holdings in Israeli companies and those non-Israeli companies that conduct business in the Palestinian Occupied Territories.The resolution also demanded that IUPUI dining services stop carrying Sabra, a hummus brand partially owned by the Israeli Strauss Group.

The resolution condemned HP because it allegedly "profits from global mass incarceration and provides prisoner data systems for the United States Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs (ICE) Law Enforcement Support Center."

The resolution also condemned HP for providing biometric identification systems used at Israeli military checkpoints. Everyone traveling on Israeli roads passes through checkpoints — implemented to save the lives of both Palestinian Arabs and Israelis. SJP alleged, misleadingly, that checkpoints "restrict the freedom of movement of Palestinians, facilitate discrimination against Palestinians, and reinforce a stratification of citizenship."

SJP IUPUI’s divestment campaign and resolution, called #IUPUIdivest, was removed from the group’s website sometime after April 27, 2016, without explanation.

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.

Social Media and Weblinks

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/raad.samih [Deleted]

Twitter:https://twitter.com/raadsamih [Private]