Ria Jain

Overview

Ria Jain was a 2016-2017 board member of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

In November 2016, Jain attended the 2016 National SJP (NSJP) Conference, held at George Mason University (GMU).

In March 2015, Jain was listed on Facebook as a second year Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology major at UCLA.

As of October 2018, Jain’s Facebook profile photo showed her wearing a graduation sash.

SJP Activism

On February 17, 2017, Jain posed for two SJP at UCLA photos posted on Instagram, promoting Palestine Awareness Week (PAW) 2017. The posts invited students to “Come to Bruin Plaza anytime before 5 to check out the Mock Apartheid Wall!”

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, SJP at UCLA screened 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 and BDS-supporter Roger Waters.

On December 1, 2016, Jain appeared in a photo along with other SJP at UCLA 2016-2017 board members on Facebook, posing together with Jhally and Waters.

SJP at UCLA - Violent Disruption of Pro-Israel Campus Event

On May 17, 2018, SJP at UCLA activists and affiliates disrupted [00:00:47] 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 disruptors were joined by activists with SJP at UCLA Alumni Association (SJP at UCLA Alumni),as well as activists from the group Southwest Asian and North Afrikan Los Angeles (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 at UCLA members and Antifa activists invaded [00:41:16] the forum. Protester Armen 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 aggressively over the seated panelist.

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.

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

However, SJP at UCLA’s 2018 primary signatory Robert Gardner was filmed taking a leadership role in the disruption, alongside SJP at UCLA signatory Gurutam Thockchom, as well as fellow SJP at 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 at 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, revealed that half a dozen students said they would file formal complaints against the disruptors, reporting “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.”

SJP at UCLA - Support for Terrorists

On May 15, 2017, SJP at UCLA participated in a “Saltwater Challenge.”

The “Saltwater Challenge” was held in solidarity with hunger-striking Palestinian prison inmates convicted of terrorism. The strike was initiated by Marwan Barghouti, who was serving five consecutive life sentences for his role in suicide bombings that killed five Israelis during the second intifada. Aarab Barghouti, the son of Marwan Barghouti, launched the "Saltwater Challenge."

On October 14, 2015, the day after Palestinian terrorists killed three Israelis and wounded more than 20 others during the “Knife Intifada,” SJP at UCLA held a demonstration and “die-in,” as part of the International Day of Action for Palestine. The outreach co-director for SJP, Ani Der Grigorian commented to the Daily Bruin: “When there is no justice, there is no peace.”

In October 2015, there was an upsurge in violence across Israel incited by Palestinian political and religious leaders. The wave of stabbings, known as the “Knife Intifada,” was characterized by young Palestinians throughout the country stabbing and attempting to stab Israeli civilians.

On October 29, 2015, SJP at UCLA shared on their website an October 23, 2015 submission to the Daily Bruin, titled “Palestinians are dying too.”

The submission, written by Shawndeez Davari Jadalizadeh, accused the Daily Bruin of taking part in a “callous political project” to “erase Palestinian life” by failing to mention the names of Palestinians killed during the Knife Intifada.

The submission then listed a number of “Palestinians killed by Israelis... since Oct. 1, the beginning of the third intifada,” including terrorists Fadi Alloun, Amjad al-Jundi, Hassan Manasra.

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.

Amjad Al-Jundi stabbed an Israeli soldier on October 7, 2015. He then took the soldier’s rifle and ran to a nearby apartment building where he tried to shoot and stab a local woman in her home. Police responded and killed Al-Jundi during a shootout that transpired.

Hassan Manasra was shot on October 12, 2015, while he and his 13-year-old cousin Ahmed were engaged in a stabbing spree in Jerusalem, critically wounding a 13-year-old Israeli boy and moderately wounding a 25-year-old man.

On January 15, 2014, SJP at UCLA hosted an event titled “International Solidarity with Palestine: Towards a Global Intifada.”

Since the early 2000s, the term “intifada,” which translates from Arabic as “uprising” or “insurrection,” has carried the connotation of violence.

The second intifada (2000-2005) was characterized by more than 120 suicide bombings targeting Israeli civilians on buses and in cafes.

The event featured BDS founder, Omar Barghouti, and welcomed him to Los Angeles. Barghouti has expressed support for terrorism, promoted anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and has explicitly called for the destruction of Israel as a Jewish state.

SJP at UCLA - Anti-Semitism

In February 2015, four SJP at UCLA activists and council senators with UCLA’s Undergraduate Students Association (USA) were involved in a widely publicized anti-Semitic incident.

Sofia Moreno Haq, Negeen Sadeghi-Movahed, Manjot Singh and Fabienne Roth were responsible for preventing Rachel Beyda from joining the Undergraduate Students Association Council (USAC) judicial board, because Beyda belonged to Jewish organizations.

Beyda’s position on the Judicial Board was later confirmed at a re-vote and the four objecting counselors submitted a formal apology to Beyda and the Jewish community.

SJP at UCLA - Intimidation

In 2016, SJP at UCLA reportedly harassed Milan Chaterjee, the former president of UCLA’s Graduate Student Association (GSA), to such an extent that he stepped down from his student government position and left UCLA.

In November 2015, Chaterjee had attempted to block an effort by SJP at UCLA to use school funds to promote the BDS movement during a diversity caucus town hall event, in accordance with a policy requiring viewpoint neutrality.

Chaterjee said that, as a result, he was "relentlessly attacked, bullied, and harassed by BDS-affiliated organizations and students" for months.

In April 2014, SJP at UCLA members submitted a petition to USAC’s judicial board against two former undergraduate student government council members who participated in trips to Israel that were sponsored by pro-Israel Jewish organizations.

SJP at UCLA alleged that the council members committed “conflict of interest violations” by participating in the sponsored trips and should have abstained from voting on a February 2014 BDS resolution. SJP at UCLA also argued the council members’ votes on the divestment resolution should have been disqualified.

Although the ballot on the divestment resolution was secret, it was assumed that the two voted against the resolution because they both spoke against the resolution during discussions prior to the vote.

The student judicial board later ruled that the trips taken by the council members did not constitute a conflict of interest.

SJP at UCLA - BDS Activism

In December 2013, SJP at UCLA launched its first divestment campaign, drafting a resolution calling on the UC Regents to pull funding from five companies doing business with Israel, including Caterpillar, Cemex, Cement Roadstone Holdings (CRH), General Electric (GE), and Hewlett-Packard (HP).

The February 2014 debate lasted over ten hours and went until 6:00 a.m. The resolution was ultimately voted down.

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

The resolution claimed that the same five companies “provided weapons used” by Israel “in attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure in the Gaza Strip,” and that investment in these companies “shows implicit support” for “the killings of civilians.”

On November 18, 2014, the undergraduate student government adopted the divestment resolution with a vote of 8-2-2.

In February 2015, SJP at UCLA pushed BDS beyond the UCLA campus by promoting a divestment resolution to the UC Student Association (UCSA). The resolution also called on the UC Regents to divest from American-based corporations that “violate Palestinian human rights.”

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 certain companies that do business with Israel.

On April 25, 2018, SSI chapter president, Hirmand Sarafian, tweeted a short video documenting that during a discussion prior to the tuition-hike protest, BDS activists [00:00:18] “called us ‘Hillel fascists’ and asked us to leave” after Sarafian argued that [00:00:13] “BDS shouldn’t be included here because it excludes many Jewish voices.”

Sarafian added [00:00:28] that BDS activists at UCLA tried to “justify the use of a Swastika,” displayed by Gaza protesters, when “talking about the recent Gazan protests,” and claimed [00:00:39] “that middle-eastern Jews of different minorities aren’t really Jews.”

SJP at UCLA also used their 2014 Palestine Awareness Week (PAW) to promote divestment, erecting a “mock apartheid wall” and hosting a screening and discussion of the film “Roadmap to Apartheid,” a film that compared Israel to apartheid in South Africa.

SJP at UCLA - Glorifying A Terrorist

On February 14, 2017, SJP at UCLA glorified Rasmea Odeh on their Facebook page, in honor of Palestine Awareness Week (PAW), calling her an “icon of the Palestine liberation movement,” and “an example for the millions of Palestinians who have not given up organizing for their rights.”

The post concluded: “#Justice4Rasmea #FreePalestine #PAW2017.”

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 2017, Odeh was deported to Jordan and stripped of U.S. citizenship, after admitting to immigration fraud.

SJP at UCLA - Hosting Israel-Haters

On May 10, 2018, SJP at UCLA hosted a talk featuring anti-Israel professor Rabab Abdulhadi. Abdulhadi has cultivated ties with terror-supporting universities, glorified terrorists, trivialized the murder of Israeli teenagers and endorsed hate speech. She is also a national leader within the BDS movement.

On November 15, 2017, SJP at UCLA hosted anti-Israel journalist David Sheen. The event description said Sheen would “speak about racism and ethnic cleansing within the Israeli community.” Sheen is an anti-Israel propagandist who often demonizes Israel on American college campuses.

On November 30, 2016, SJP at UCLA screened 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 activist and musician Roger Waters.

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

On January 27, 2016, SJP at UCLA hosted anti-Israel activists Max Blumenthal and Miko Peled.

Blumenthal’s book “Goliath: Life and Loathing in Greater Israel” has been dubbed “The Israel Hater’s Handbook” by Eric Alterman of the progressive magazine The Nation.

In January 2017, Peled said [00:00:06] the Israeli army was one of the “best trained, best equipped, best fed, terrorist organizations in the world” and claimed [00:00:16] that “their entire purpose is terrorism.”

On January 28, 2016, SJP at UCLA hosted anti-Israel Professors Ahlam Muthaseb and Sa'ed Atshan.

Muhtaseb regularly uses her Facebook and Twitter to demonize Israel, whitewash Palestinian terrorism and collaborate with fellow anti-Israel activists. Atshan has praised inciters of violence including Sheikh Omar Suleiman who, in 2014, called on Twitter for a “Third Intifada” to destroy Israel.

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.