Robert Gardner

Overview

Robert Gardner has expressed support for terrorism and violence, demonized Israel and participated [00:42:21] in a violent disruption on the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) campus, as the 2018 primary signatory for Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at UCLA. Gardner was a 2016-2017 board member of SJP UCLA.

Gardner 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.”

Gardner is a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement, defended anti-Israel agitators and expressed support for the violent March of Return.

As of November 2019, Gardner’s Facebook page said he was the Communications Intern at the Institute for Middle East Understanding (IMEU) in Tustin, California since September 2019.

As of November 2019, Gardner’s Facebook page said he graduated from UCLA with a degree in Political Science/Urban and Regional Planning in 2018. However, Facebook photos indicated that he graduated in June 2017.

As of the same date, his Facebook also said he was the “External Affairs Director” at UCLA Student Organizations, Leadership & Engagement - SOLE, from September 2017-June 2018.Gardner’s Facebook page also said he studied Social Sciences at Los Angeles Valley College (LAVC), from 2012-2015.

In September 2013, Gardner tweeted: “I just recieved my undergrad in poli science this year and going for my masters.”

As of November 2019, Gardner used the alias “Robert Eugene” on Facebook. He went by that alias as early as December 2016.

Expressing Support for Terrorism

On November 6, 2019, Gardner tweeted: “ @SSI_Movement @UMNews @JoanGabel @UMNpublicsafety @NationalSJP@PYM_USA

terrorism.”

Demonizing Israel

On February 12, 2019, Gardner tweeted: “Death to Israel tbh [to be honest].”

On August 8, 2018, Gardner tweeted at U.S. Congressman Ted Lieu: “Too bad you support IsraelI apartheid and the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians you purport to support.”

On June 1, 2018, Gardner tweeted: “FYI: I support both non-violence AND violence. Kill apartheid before it kills you. #FreePalestine.”

On January 22, 2017, Gardner tweeted: “Zionism isn't just racism, but it is also terrorism. Don't forget it.”

On October 19, 2016, Gardner tweeted: “#BDS may hurt but occupation kills.”

On September 9, 2016, Gardner tweeted: “BDS may hurt, but Apartheid kills.”

On May 30, 2016, Gardner authored an article accusing Israel of committing “ethnic cleansing” against Palestinians.

On April 29, 2016, Gardner claimed on Twitter: “Israel imposes 2 seperate legals systems in the West Bank based on one's race or ethnicity. Indeed, it is an apartheid state.”

On August 30, 2015, Gardner promoted on Facebook an Australian documentary that claimed that Israel targets and tortures Palestinian children by putting them in outdoor cages.

In 2015, the UC Regents considered a resolution to adopt the U.S. State Department’s definition of anti-Semitism. However, following an outcry by numerous anti-Israel groups, UC tabled the consideration.

On July 22, 2015, Gardner was quoted stating the UC Regents’ decision to hold off on adopting the U.S. State Department’s definition of anti-Semitism was due to the success of students uniting “to overcome the pressures of powerful outside forces who seek to stifle and censor criticism of the Israeli government."

On November 24, 2014, Gardner tweeted: “@ReggieBush This is how the Israeli lobby work: They steal land, implement Apartheid, and if you humanize Palestine, your racist.”

On October 20, 2014, Gardner accused Israel of “Apartheid, Colonialism, and Ethnic Cleansing,” in a Facebook post.

SJP UCLA - Violent Disruption of Pro-Israel Campus Event

On May 17, 2018, Gardner [00:41:32], along with SJP 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 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.

Gardner led [00:43:21; 00:43:42; 00:44:02; 00:44:37; 00:44:56; 00:45:27] protestors in chanting throughout the disruption.

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 [00:01:32] 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 that “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 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.”

On June 1, 2018, Robert Gardner responded to Burkan Aranki’s tweets that read: “I’m f**king sad. Israel must pay for its crimes," and “What’s worse is how BFI and SSI expects us to stay quite after all this bs."

Gardner tweeted: “They have no idea what’s coming. The question is: are folks on campus ready? It’s time turn our anger into organizing and turn the f**k up."

Aranki responded: “Lord knows I’m ready to turn it up a notch

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."

Defending Anti-Israel Agitators

As of November 7, 2019, Gardner’s Facebook profile picture was an image depicting U.S. Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, with the hashtag “#ISTANDWITHILHAN.”

Ilhan Omar was elected to the U.S. Congress in 2018. In February 2019, top Congressional leaders denounced Omar for tweeting anti-Semitic remarks.Omar has demonized Israel and endorsed BDS. In July 2019, Omar introduced a pro-BDS resolution in the U.S. Congress, which she described as “an opportunity for us to explain why it is we support…the BDS movement.”

On March 4, 2019, Gardner tweeted: “#IStandWithIlhan because being the only Black Muslim Woman with an hijab in Congress does not necessitate islamophobic smears via criticism of Israel.”

On December 22, 2017, Gardner tweeted: “#FreeTamimiWomen Because you can’t be a feminist if Palestinian women are not included in the struggle for liberation. #FreeAhed #FreePalestine.”

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.

Nariman Tamimi, Ahed Tamimi’s mother, is a prolific promoter of terror. In 2015, she shared a Facebook post providing graphic instructions on where to aim a knife to kill an Israeli. In 2016, Nariman shared her approval of a teenage Palestinian terrorist who killed a 13-year-old Israeli girl sleeping in her bed.

On December 20, 2017, Gardner posted to Facebook an illustration of Ahed Tamimi, adding: “#FreeAhed.”

On December 21, 2017, Gardner defended Tamimi on Facebook, calling on his followers to: “support the hashtag #FreeAhed, and call your local representatives and demand Israeli occupation forces to #FreeAhed, her family, and to stop political imprisonment, especially against children.”

On December 23, 2017, Gardner posted on Facebook: “#FreeAhed #FreeTamimiWomen,” along with a photo of Tamimi.

Supporting BDS

On June 27, 2018, Gardner tweeted: “Thank you @Europcar for divesting from the Israeli occupation. It’s the right thing to do.”

On May 31, 2018, Gardner tweeted: “#BlackBruins Sign the pledge and refuse all free propaganda trips to apartheid Israel. @BlackBruins @aepatucla.” Gardner’s tweet linked to a post that portrayed Hillel and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) as racist and having “significant ties to White Supremacists.”

Gardner helped organize a March 15, 2018, protest by various campus SJPs in the UC systemtargeting a UC Regents meeting at the UCLA campus and calling on the Regents to divest from some companies that do business with Israel.

Protesters held signs that read “UC Divest from Apartheid” and reportedly chanted “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free,” and “UC Regents, you can’t hide, we charge you with genocide.”

“From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free” is a chant calling to dismantle the State of Israel. It has also been employed by Hamas leader Khaled Mashal to call for the replacement of Israel with an Islamic state.

On March 14, 2018, Gardner posted to Facebook a graphic promoting “UC Divest,” adding: “The time has come.”

On the same day, Gardner tweeted: “Why are my tuition dollars being used to support a racial hierarchy in Palestine at the hands of apartheid Israel? #UCDivest #NotMyTuition #KillerRegents.”

On June 12, 2016, Gardner tweeted California Senator Ben Allen: “@BenAllenCA Hi Ben. Can you please place me on your CA black list since I boycott Israel and it's occupation? Thanks.”

Gardner’s tweet referred to California Assembly Bill AB2844, titled: “California Combatting the Boycott, Divestiture, and Sanctions (BDS) of Israel Act of 2016,” which aimed to bar state and local contracts with any private company boycotting Israel.

On May 28, 2015, Gardner tweeted: “Congratulations to #UCDavisDivest for passing divestment. ..again!#BDS F**k @StandWithUs Suck ba**s. Human rights prevail.”

On May, 1, 2015, Gardner drafted (p. 49) a resolution to the Student Senate for California Community Colleges (SSCCC) General Assembly, calling for divestment from companies that have business interests in Israel.

The resolution failed, with 25 voting in favor, 44 opposed and six abstaining.

On November 13, 2014, SJP at UCLA submitted pushed a divestment resolution to the UCLA Undergraduate Student Government titled: “A Resolution to Divest from Companies Engaged in Violence Against Palestinians.”

The resolution called on the “Regents to divest from companies that enable and profit from violations of Palestinian rights.”

On November 18, 2014, UCLA’s undergraduate student government adopted the resolution with a vote of 8-2-2. The following day, Gardner tweeted: “So proud of UCLA for standing against apartheid, illegal colonialism, and repression #UCLADivest.”

SJP Activism

On June 8, 2018, Gardner offered assistance to the SJP activist Reem Zaitoon at Florida State University (FSU) on Twitter, after she tweeted “Canary Mission is currently smearing my school's SJP chapter to the point that my school's administration got involved.”

In May 2018, Canary Mission released a report exposing FSU SJP’s incitement to terror and FSU SJP members’ racism, anti-semitism and support for violence.Zaitoon herself threatened that she would “f**k up a Zionist," spread anti-Semitism and called for “death to the United States.”

On April 27, 2018, Gardner shared a SJP UCLA Facebook post promoting a list of candidates for USAC elections in 2018, including SJP activist Sarena Khasawneh.

On February 15, 2018, Gardner promoted SJP UCLA’s Palestine Awareness Week (PAW) on Facebook.

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 April 18, 2017, Gardner promoted a SJP UCLA-hosted talk by anti-Israel professor Rabab Abdulhadi on Facebook.

On February 14, 2017, Gardner posted a photo of himself on Facebook next to SJP UCLA’s mock separation wall, which he referred to as an “Apartheid wall.”

Gardner co-authored an op-ed published on December 4, 2016, in the Daily Bruin, titled “SJP film screening does not reflect anti-Semitism.” The article denied that Professor Sut Jhally’s film The Occupation of the American Mind: Israel’s Public Relations War in the U.S. “represented an ‘intellectualization’ of anti-Semitism” and stated that those “who truly care about peace should focus their energy on how to end the occupation.”

On December 1, 2016, Gardner posted a photo of himself along with other SJP UCLA 2016-2017 board members on Facebook, posing together with musician and BDS-supporter Roger Waters.

On the same day, Gardner tweeted: “So awesome meeting #RogerWaters today! Thanks for coming out. @SJPatUCLA #BDS #FreePalestine.”

On November 30, 2016, SJP 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 Roger Waters, who had narrated the film.

On September 30, 2016, Gardner posted on Facebook: “Giving the presentation for SJP at UCLA's first Generation Body Meeting.”

On September 28, 2016, Gardner tweeted an invite to attend SJP UCLA’s “kickoff meeting.”

Attending the 2018 National SJP Conference

On November 22, 2018, Gardner was featured in a photo of the 2018 National SJP Conference steering committee members.

On October 28, 2018 Gardner wrote on Facebook: “We are exactly 3 weeks away from the National SJP conference! To celebrate an incredible list of speakers and workshop leaders at what is our biggest conference yet- we are officially launching our LOGO!”

Gardner continued: “The California Bruin Bear, the kite to signify the power in the Gaza March of Return, the Kuffiyeh, and the birds of freedom leading our way with radical hope towards liberation for all and a Free Palestine. DO NOT MISS OUT ON AND REGISTER NOW:nationalsjp.org/2018-registration ALUMNI, JOIN US! nationalsjp.org/2018-alumni PLEASE DONATE to make this happen:nationalsjp.org/donate #NSJP2018”

Gardner’s post also included a photo of the 2018 National SJP Conference logo.

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.

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.