September Porras Payea
Overview
September Porras Payea demonized Israel and promoted two Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) initiatives as an activist with Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at Swarthmore College (Swarthmore) in 2018.In September 2019, Jen Moore, a faculty member of the Swarthmore History department, indicated on Twitter that Payea was studying History. An October 2018 Facebook post said that Payea was a religion honors minor, slated to graduate in 2020.
As of January 2020, Payea used the name “September Sky Porras” on Facebook.
Demonizing Israel
On July 26, 2018, Payea shared a Facebook post titled: “A Christian Note on Palestine.” In the post, Payea wrote: “We should not divorce our faith from our world views. It is likely that if Jesus walked today he would be imprisoned in Gaza or the West Bank, or even still a refugee pushed from his home and land.”In a comment on her July 26, 2018 Facebook post, Payea also claimed that Israel has a “history of colonization and apartheid.”
On May 22, 2018, Payea shared a video on Facebook titled: “70 years of Nakba -- explained.”
The term “Nakba” is generally translated as “catastrophe” in Arabic, referring to the outcome of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. It is a term often used to delegitimize the creation of the State of Israel by defining it as a catastrophe.
On May 14, 2018, Payea shared a Swarthmore SJP post on Facebook with an image including text that read: "Today, the Trump administration moved the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem. Today, Israeli snipers have killed at least 55 Palestinian protesters and injured 1200 more. Today, Swarthmore is complicit in these crimes. Pay attention to Palestine. End the Occupation."
In May 2018, violent riots dubbed the “March of Return,” instigated by Hamas on the Israeli-Gaza border, saw thousands of rioters attempting numerous breaches of Israel’s border fence, with participants declaring their intention to harm Jews across the border.
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.
On May 14, 2018 Payea posted an article on Facebook titled: “Israeli forces kill dozens of Palestinians in protests as US embassy opens in Jerusalem.”
Payea commented: “IGNORE ANY NEWS SOURCE TELLING YOU PALESTINIANS ‘died’. THEY WERE MURDERED. EVERY BULLET THAT WAS FIRED WAS APPROVED BY THE GOVERNMENT WHICH IS SUPPORTED BY THE U.S. THIS IS A MASSACRE.”
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.
On April 1, 2018, Payea wrote on Facebook: “Ongoing occupation and murder directed against Palestinians demonstrating their right to return to their own land: this is the cost of maintaining the Israeli settler-colony.”
Swarthmore SJP -Boycotting Sabra Hummus
The petition accused Sabra of supporting Israeli forces who commit “countless human rights violations,” including “arbitrary murders, assaults, incarcerations, evictions, and arrests of children.”
On April 1, 2018, Payea posted the Swarthmore SJP petition on Facebook and commented: “Sign the petition to end the sale of Sabra products on campus, and expect to hear more from SJP very soon.”
On April 4, 2018, Payea promoted on Facebook a Swarthmore SJP April 4, 2018 event titled: “SJP Send-off Rally: Tell President Smith that Sabra Must Go!” Porras commented on her post: “Join us in Parrish as we send off SJP representatives to deliver and discuss our campaign's demands with President Smith!”
On April 30, 2018, Swarthmore President Valerie Smith announced that Swarthmore would continue to sell Sabra products on campus and begin selling an alternative brand of hummus.
On May 2, 2018, Payea posted a livestream video to Facebook of a Swarthmore SJP rally that was held with the aim of halting the sale of Sabra hummus on campus.
Payea commented on her post: “We as Students for Justice in Palestine refuse to take jargon and empty promises as answers for the continual demand to not be a part of an institution complicit in ethnic cleansing and human rights violations. End Sabra and Viva Palestina”
Swarthmore SJP Divestment Campaign
On October 9, 2018, Swarthmore SJP held a rally to launch their campus divestment resolution. The resolution called on Swarthmore to divest from a number of companies doing business with Israel.On October 24, 2018, Swarthmore student newspaper “Voices” published SJP’s divestment resolution, which accused seven companies of being engaged in the “murder” of Palestinian civilians,” “ethnic identification and segregation,” as well as “chemical warfare and the indiscriminate targeting of civilians.”
On December 7, 2018, Payea appeared [00:00:25] in a video posted on Facebook titled: “1K Strong Against Apartheid - Now We Rally & Deliver!” The video was published by Swarthmore SJP to promote an upcoming Swarthmore SJP rally.
On December 12, 2018, Payea participated [00:04:54] in a Swarthmore SJP rally where activists reportedly delivered a petition Swarthmore President Valerie Smith, urging Swarthmore to “divest from Israeli apartheid.”
In February 2019, Swarthmore SJP proposed their BDS resolution to Swarthmore’s Student Government Organization (SGO). On February 10, 2019, the BDS resolution failed to pass.
On February 24, 2019, the SGO Executive Board and Senate reportedly hosted an open meeting on the failed BDS resolution.
On March 3, 2019, the SGO held another meeting inviting student groups to again discuss the BDS resolution. SGO’s President Gilbert Orbea motioned to hold a vote among members on whether to make the meeting closed, that succeeded, after which SGO held a secret vote. At the secret vote, the SGO voted in support of the divestment resolution.
On March 12, 2018, President Smith released a statement to Swarthmore’s website in which she declined to change Swarthmore’s investment policies in accordance with the BDS resolution.
Swarthmore SJP
Swarthmore SJP was formerly known as Swarthmore Students for Peace and Justice in Palestine (Swarthmore SPJP) from 2010-2017.Swarthmore SJP - Expressing Support for Terrorists
On March 26, 2019, Swarthmore SJP posted on Facebook in honor of Women’s History Month, celebrating “the resistance and resilience” of Khalida Jarrar as “a Palestinian feminist.”Khalida Jarrar is a senior member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terror organization. In 2017, Israel arrested Jarrar “on suspicion of involvement with terrorist activities.” In 2015, an Israeli military court sentenced Jarrar to 15 months in prison for calling to kidnap Israeli soldiers.
On March 24, 2019, Swarthmore SJP posted to Facebook celebrating Leila Khaled in honor of Women’s History Month.
Khaled, a leading member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terrorist organization, participated in the hijacking of TWA Flight 840 in 1969 and El Al Flight 219 in 1970.
On May 6, 2017, Swarthmore SPJP posted a video to Facebook of SPJP members taking part in the “Saltwater Challenge.”
The “Saltwater Challenge” was held in solidarity with over 1,000 Palestinian prisoners hunger-striking in Israeli prisons — most of whom were convicted for acts of terrorism.
The strike was initiated by Marwan Barghouti, who was serving five consecutive life sentences for his role in suicide bombings and shooting attacks during the second intifada. Barghouti led the Palestinian Authority (PA) terrorist Tanzim force and founded the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades.
Barghouti also financed the guitar-case bomb used in the Sbarro Cafe massacre, where 15 civilians were killed and 130 injured.
Swarthmore SJP - Promoting Anti-Israel Agitators
On March 28, 2019, Swarthmore SJP posted to Facebook celebrating Manal Tamimi in honor of Women’s History Month.Manal Tamimi has promoted anti-Semitic blood libels as well as terror support.
On September 21, 2018, Swarthmore SJP posted to Facebook promoting Dareen Tatour. In October 2015, Tatour was placed under house arrest for incitement to violence and for support of a terrorist organization on social media.
On March 19, 2018, Swarthmore SJP hosted anti-Israel activist David Sheen.
David Sheen, a Canadian-Israeli anti-Israel activist and filmmaker, works to portray Israel as an extremist racist state. To this end, Sheen has been accused of purposefully mistranslating Hebrew articles and advertisements to make Israelis appear racist.
Swarthmore SJP - Supporting Violent Protesters
On March 30, 2019, Swarthmore SJP held a “Vigil for Gaza's Great March of Return.” The event’s Facebook description called to “Honor the lives of those murdered by Israeli military forces” on the “1-year anniversary of the ongoing Great March of Return, a series of massive nonviolent demonstrations.”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 of Return was organized and funded by Hamas as a campaign of violent protests along Israel’s border to spotlight the demand of Palestinians to “return” to Israel.
On May 17, 2018, Swarthmore SJP posted to Facebook: “for the past month and a half - and increasingly in the past couple of days - the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have been massacring Palestinians in Gaza who are nonviolently protesting for their rights. Over 100 demonstrators have been killed and thousands injured, among them a number of children, most by trained snipers with explicit orders to kill.”
On May 16, 2018, Hamas senior official Salah al-Bardawil stated that 50 out of 62 Gaza border protesters killed on May 14 were in fact Hamas operatives. Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) later claimed that three of its members were also killed at the May 14 protest.
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/100004718826786Twitter: https://twitter.com/skyoflights
Muckrack:https://muckrack.com/september-porras-payea
Videos
Photos & Screenshots
