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SPHR

SPHR was formed in 1999 via a merger between the Concordia Centre for Palestinian Human Rights (CCPHR) at Concordia and the Palestinian Solidarity Committee (PSC) at McGill University. The group gained notoriety after instigating a riot at Concordia University, that forced then former (and current) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to cancel a speech scheduled for September 9, 2002. Ticket holders later reported that the protesters subjected them to antisemitic slogans and physical attacks. A holocaust survivor was kicked in the groin and a local Rabbi with his wife were assaulted and spat on.

Promoting BDS on Campus  

On March 22, 2016, SPHR hosted an event, as part of Concordia’s Israeli Apartheid Week, titled ‘Breaking the Seige." The description of the event claimed, fraudulently, that "Gaza is under a blockade that stops food, building supplies and medicine from entering.” On March 18, SPHR promoted the event by stating “By 2020 Gaza will be considered unlivable.”

On November 23, 2015, SPHR shared an Al-Jazeera video making the disinformational claim that "[u]sing architectural techniques, forensic teams were able to verify that Israeli forces targeted civilians, ambulances and hospitals as well as first responders" during the Israeli operation in Gaza in 2014. The post concluded that it is “our duty to denounce those war crimes and crimes against humanity.”

On October 29, 2015, SHPR held an event with Mondoweiss correspondent Dan Cohen, titled "Live from Gaza" as part of ‘BDS Week’ organized by Yahia. In January 2015, Cohen tweeted a photo with Palestinian youngsters in Gaza, with the wry caption “Selfie with the greatest threat to Israel.” Since 2012, more than tens of thousands of Gazan teenagers and children have received military training in Hamas summer camps to launch attacks on Israel.

The next day, SPHR hosted an event featuring anti-Semitic journalist Max Blumenthal, whose book "Goliath: Life and Loathing in Greater Israel" has been dubbed “The Israel Hater’s Handbook” by Eric Alterman of progressive magazine The Nation.

On October 16, 2015, SPHR shared a misleading and religiously charged Al-Jazeera video, at a time of heightened tensions in Israel. The video was captioned with a by-line claiming, falsely, that "Israeli forces stormed the Al Aqsa Mosque." The “threat” of “attacks” on Al Aqsa has been a pretext for Arab attacks on Jews well before the existence of 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.

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.

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