Ruya Hazeyen

On October 25, 2023, during Israel’s Swords of Iron against Hamas, Hazeyen participated [00:01:17] in an anti-Israel walkout, rally, and sit-in at UMass Amherst.

The SJP chapter on campus (UMass Amherst SJP) and UMass Dissenters co-organized the protest where campus police arrested 57 students. The protest was part of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.

Hazayen was the co-president of UMass Amherst SJP during the protest, where activists also staged a “sit-in” outside the office of UMass Chancellor Javier Reyes.

Hazeyen told a local reporter [00:01:17]: “Everyone is here because injustice is injustice. This is not only occupation, this is a genocide, and we as students have had enough, and, you know, we are going to all sit in until the university abides to our demands.”

One demand on the UMass Amherst SJP Instagram page said: “UMASS DIVEST & CUT TIES FROM WAR PROFITEERS WHICH ARM ISRAEL'S GENOCIDE IN GAZA…” Another demand the group made on Instagram was for Reyes to “MAKE A STATEMENT CONDEMNING ISRAEL’S GENOCIDE IN GAZA…”

Another demand on the UMass Dissenters Instagram page said: “UMASS CALL FOR AN IMMEDIATE END TO ISRAEL’S SIEGE ON GAZA AND U.S. FUNDING FOR ISRAEL.”

The United Nations approved [pp. 39–41] the Israeli-Egyptian blockade of Gaza in 2011 as a security measure to stop Hamas from acquiring sophisticated rockets. Multiple flotillas have attempted to breach the blockade, with at least one initiating a violent confrontation with Israeli forces.

Following Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, the Israeli military discovered that Hamas went around the blockade by smuggling weaponry through tunnels under the Philadelphi corridor separating Gaza from Egypt.

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 Student 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.

The Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement was founded by pro-terror activist Omar Barghouti in 2005 to turn “Israel into a pariah state, as South Africa once was.” Barghouti has also called for Israel's destruction and the BDS movement demands would result in that same goal.

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 infiltrating university campuses through lobbying for “BDS resolutions.” In these cases, student governments propose resolutions to boycott or divestment from Israel or Israeli-affiliated entities. 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 and pro-terror activism on campus.

Organizing an Anti-Israel Rally During a War Against Hamas

SJP

BDS