Sireen Amra

In May 2021, violent clashes broke out between Palestinian worshippers and Israeli police at the Al-Aqsa compound following claims the Al-Aqsa Mosque was in danger. The subsequent incitement was a leading factor in Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorists firing over 4,300 rockets from Gaza into Israel later that month. Israel responded by launching “Operation Guardian of the Walls (OGW),” carrying out targeted military strikes in Gaza. Allegations of Jews “threatening” to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque have been a traditional pretext for Arab attacks on Jews predating the State of Israel.

Amra retweeted a September 11, 2021 tweet that said: “‘Israel’ re-arrested four Palestinians who managed to escape from the Gilboa prison through a tunnel dug underneath their shared cell four days ago. In the #thread below is some information you need to know about these freedom fighters. #GilboaPrisonBreak #FreeThemAll.”
 
On September 6, 2021, six Palestinian prisoners escaped from the maximum-security Gilboa Prison in Israel. The escaped prisoners were convicted members of the terror organizations Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, who were jailed for their involvement in attacks carried out during the second intifada. All were recaptured by September 19, 2021, by Israeli authorities.

Amra retweeted a September 11, 2021 tweet that referred to the Gilboa prisoners being captured. The tweet said: “thinking of this quote by Ghassan Kanafani to keep me from breaking down at the news. ‘Self sacrifice, within the context of revolutionary action, is an expression of the very highest understanding of life, and of the struggle to make life worthy of a human being.’”
 
Amra retweeted a September 6, 2021, tweet that said: “6 Palestinian prisoners, sentenced for life by the israeli enemy, managed to escape this morning from Gilboa prison, northern occupied Palestine. Palestinian resistance factions congratulating this heroic act, saying its a new hit for israeli security establishment and the army.”
 
Amra retweeted an August 7, 2021 tweet by Yara Shoufani that said: “An excerpt on the delusional concept of winning the US to our side, from the PFLP’s ‘Strategy for the Liberation of Palestine’ on the question of ‘Who are our enemies?’”
 
The tweet included a picture with text that began: “Our enemy then is not Israel alone. It is Israel, Zionism, imperialism, and unless we have a clear scientific knowledge of our enemy we cannot hope to triumph over it.” 

The terrorist organization’s strategy book calls [p.62] for violent “armed struggle” against Israel to achieve the “liberation of Palestine” and the book also lists [p.4] Israel and [p.6] the U.S. among its “enemies.” 
 

Zionism is the belief that Jews have the right to self-determination in their own national home, and the right to develop their national culture.

On August 2, 2021, Amra posted a photo [slide 9] of terrorist George Habash to her Instagram Highlight titled: “Palestine,” with text that read: “عار على يدي إذا صافحت يدا طوحت بأعناق شعبي [Shame on my hands if I shake the hands strangling my people.]توروا ولن تخسروا سوى القيد زالخيمة [Revolt, as you will not lose anything but the bondage and the tent.]”

George Habash, who has been called“the godfather of Middle East terrorism,” founded the terrorist organization the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). In 1970, Habash was the mastermind behind the hijacking of four Western airliners known as the Dawson Field hijackings. In 1972, the PFLP collaborated with Japanese Red Army terrorists to massacre 24 people at Israel's Lod International Airport (renamed Ben Gurion International Airport).

Also on August 2, 2021, Amra posted a second photo [slide 10] of Habash with text that read: “إن النضال ضد المشروع الصهيوني قد يستمر مائة عام وأكثر , فعلى قصيري النفس أن يتنحوا جانباً[The struggle against the Zionist project may continue for a hundred years or more. The short-hearted should step aside].”

Hatred of Israel

 Amra retweeted a Februrary 14, 2022, tweet that included a picture of two people stepping on the Israeli flag. The tweet said: “مصادر صحافية: ‘بحرينيون يتظاهرون رفضا لزيارة رئيس الوزاء الإسرائيلي’. [Press sources: ‘Bahrainis are demonstrating against the visit of the Israeli Prime Minister.’]”
 
On November 9, 2021, Amra tweeted: “My hatred for israel has been especially strong lately can the astrology people please explain this.”
 
On the same day, Amra tweeted: “Oh ok I get it so basically when the moon is in gatorade, israhell is especially horrible.”
 
On August 6, 2021, Amra tweeted: “‘Anti-Zionism isn’t simply a politic; it is a sensibility, an attitude, a worldview … It honors those old revolutionary devotions:f**k Israel; f**k landlords; f**k civility; f**k the police.’”
 
The text of Amra’s tweet was a quote from an article by Steven Salaita titled: “The Taming of Anti-Zionism in the United States.” She linked to a Salaita tweet promoting the article.
 
On August 3, 2021, Amra wrote an article that was published in the July/August issue of The Public i titled: “Palestinians Aren’t Safe Anywhere, Not Even in their Classrooms.” Amra accused Israel of “apartheid, forced dispossession, segregation, and land theft in the service of colonialism.” She also called the Israeli security barrier a “draconian apartheid wall.”
 

Israel’s security barrier, 97 percent of which is a low chain-link barrier, was built as a deterrent to Palestinian terror attacks. The concrete portions of the fence were built in response to Palestinian sniper attacks.

On June 27, 2021, Amra tweeted: “israel intends to replace Silwan with an archeological theme park. Sounds familiar. What other settler colonies dispossessed indigenous ppl to construct national parks & profit off tourism that champions distorted historical narratives?#SaveSilwan.”

Amra retweeted a May 15, 2021 tweet that said: “Israel is an illegitimate settler-colonial state premised on the genocide and elimination of the Palestinian people. Zionism is a logic of genocide. When those of us in the US fail to name it as such, we are complicit in Israeliapartheid and the oppression of Palestinians.”

SJP Activism

On March 9, 2022, Amra participated [00:42:54] in an SJP UIUC protest where she blocked another student from filming. The protest was titled: “Against the Silencing of Palestinian Voices at UIUC.” 
 
Four days earlier, SJP UIUC said on Instagram that it would cut ties with Illinois Student Government (ISG) since its divestment resolution was nullified because it did not follow proper procedure. One speaker at the protest claimed [00:42:43] that SJP UIUC was “villified by racist Zionists on campus, in administration, in ISG, in Hillel and Chabad.” Hillel and Chabad are Jewish campus groups.

At the same protest, one speaker alleged [00:18:12]: “Zionism is the root cause of the social issues we see today.” Another speaker said [00:17:02] “Israel is a settler colony, not a country. Zionism is genocidal… We stand unequivocally with the Palestinian people and support how they choose to resist their oppression.” 

At the protest, activists chanted [00:10:04]: “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free!” 

“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 November 14, 2021, SJP UIUC student activist Malaak Yehya posted a photo on Instagram that showed Amra posing with anti-Israel activist Mohammed El Kurd at an SJP event held one day earlier. The picture also featured SJP UIUC board members Buthaina Hattab, Lina Issa and Maram Safi.
 
On November 13, 2021, Amra tweeted: “After the event with Mohammed El Kurd, I stayed on the abolitionist theme and flamed a CPD [Chicago Police Department] officer who tried giving my friend a ticket :) <3”
 
Amra retweeted an SJP UIUC November 6, 2021 tweet promoting the El-Kurd event that said: “ Upcoming event  SJP UIUC is collaborating with SJP Chicago to host none other than Mohammed El-Kurd! Join us Saturday Nov. 13th at 6pm at Mandel Hall at the University of Chicago!Purchase your tickets now live in our in our bio ”

 
On September 20, 2021, Amra wrote on Instagram: “My life consists only of flowers and protest.” In the post, one photo showed Amra painting a sign that said [slide 3] “FREE PALESTINE.” Another photo showed a sign that said [slide 6] “END THE ISRA-HELL.”
 
Amra retweeted a May 14, 2021, tweet that included a poster for an anti-Israel rally titled: “CHICAGO, RISE UP FOR PALESTINE!” The poster included the hashtag “#NAKBA73” and the event was organized by “The Chicago Coalition for Justice in Palestine” which includes SJP chapters and American Muslims for Palestine (AMP). 

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.

Amra retweeted a May 5, 2021 tweet from PYM that said: “CHICAGO: Rally 4 #SheikhJarrah this Saturday!”

Promoting BDS

On February 24, 2022, Amra posted [slide 8] a photo to an Instagram highlight titled: “People I Love.” In the photo, she posed with other SJP UIUC board members Buthaina Hattab, Eman Zwawi and Lina Issa. The photo was posted a day after ISG voted in favor of an SJP UIUC anti-Israel divestment resolution.

Also on February 24, 2022, Amra posed in a photo holding a sign that said “FREE PALESTINE.” The photo was posted by former SJP UIUC board member Maram Safi and it also featured Hattab, Zwawi and Issa.

Amra retweeted a May 20, 2021, tweet that said: “i just wanted to remind everyone that the official palestine BDS movement only lists a total of 8 brands to boycott (puma, AXA, HP, soda stream, ahava, sabra, pillsbury, israeli produce) to maximize impact !! the other long lists are important but they are NOT the target of BDS!”

Amra retweeted a May 15, 2021, tweet that said: “if everyone actually did a targeted boycott of ben & jerry’s i swear that could be the biggest BDS win yet.”

SJP UIUC Chapter Overview  

SJP UIUC has a history of hate-filled anti-Israel protests on campus, including in April 2022 when someone threw a rock at Jewish students. SJP UIUC leads an annual anti-Israel divestment campaign where other anti-Semitic incidents have occurred. 

In November 2020, SJP UIUC featured [pp. 3-8] prominently as a source of anti-Semitism on campus in a civil rights legal complaint filed against UIUC.

SJP UIUC speakers show support for terrorists and spread hatred of Zionists and Israel. Speakers use chants that call for Israel’s destruction and other chants for “intifada,” which is a call for violence.

SJP UIUC - Violent Anti-Semitic Protest 2021-2022  

On April 18, 2022, SJP UIUC held an anti-Israel protest that included [00:01:22] a planned stop at UIUC’s Hillel chapter, a Jewish campus organization. Sayed Quraishi, a 2022 UIUC graduate, threw a rock at Jewish students gathered on the Hillel patio. In June 2022, Quraishi was charged with committing a felony hate crime. 

After the incident, SJP UIUC treasurer Lina Issa defended the decision to target Hillel, telling [00:01:57] a local television station: “They obviously have a very direct connection to Israel and that's why we’re targeting that area in specific.”

The protest was titled: “EMERGENCY PROTEST HANDS OFF AL-AQSA.” Two days before, SJP UIUC promoted the protest on Instagram, claiming that “Zionist militia forces have once again raided Al-Aqsa mosque” and that “there is an attack by the forces of a racist, apartheid state against peaceful worshippers…”

SJP UIUC - Hatred of Israel 2021-2022

On March 9, 2022, SJP UIUC held a protest where a speaker alleged [00:18:12]: “Zionism is the root cause of the social issues we see today.” 

Zionism is the belief that Jews have the right to self-determination in their ancestral homeland, Israel, and the right to develop their national culture.  

One speaker said [00:17:02] “Israel is a settler colony, not a country. Zionism is genocidal… We stand unequivocally with the Palestinian people and support how they choose to resist their oppression.” At the protest, activists also chanted [00:10:04]: “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free!” 

SJP UIUC - Supporting Terrorists 2021-2022  

On April 26, 2022, SJP UIUC hosted an event titled: “Martyrdom in Palestine” and alleged there was “recent violence inflicted by Israeli forces” during a wave of Palestinian terrorist attacks the previous two months where 14 Israelis were killed.
 
The event’s flyer honored multiple terrorists, including Ra’ed Abd al-Jalil who was serving four life sentences for his involvement in terror attacks during the second intifada. The flyer also honored a Hamas leader who planned a 1995 bus bombing and another terrorist who was also arrested during the second intifada.  

SJP UIUC - Creating a Hostile Campus Environment 2015-2020

In October 2020, SJP UIUC was cited [pp. 3-8] in six different incidents in a civil rights legal complaint against UIUC documenting anti-Semitic incidents on campus as early as 2015. Jewish groups filed the complaint under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The complaint said [p.12]: “UIUC has also failed to combat anti-Semitism as vigorously as it has combated other forms of bigotry on its campus prohibited by Title VI.”

SJP UIUC - Supporting Terrorists 2019-2020

On November 15, 2019, SJP UIUC held a protest where Sarah El Zayyat, then an SJP UIUC member, read [00:18:57] names from a list of “martyrs.” One of the names she read was Baha Abu al-Ata, a senior Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) commander in Gaza targeted by Israel in an airstrike who was reportedly planning terror attacks. 

In November 2019, Israel launched “Operation Black Belt” to stop rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip. The rockets were sent by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terror group on November 12-14, 2019, targeting Israel’s biggest civilian population centers.   

At the rally, an activist held [00:00:46] an Israeli flag defaced with the text “GENOCIDE” and red handprints meant to signify blood.

SJP UIUC - Hatred of Israel 2019-2020

On October 10, 2019, SJP UIUC wrote on Facebook: “Zionism is a political ideology that seeks to maintain an artificial Jewish majority in historic Palestine through the systematic occupation and dispossession of Palestinians’ land and livelihoods.”

The post was issued in defense of a presentation by SJP president Dunia Ghanimah that praised [slide 14] “Martyrdom” and honored terrorist leaders Leila Khaled and Yasser Arafat. Ghanimah, who was a Mulitcultural Advocate (MA) at UIUC, gave the presentation to other MAs, as well as UIUC Housing employees and Resident Advisors.

On October 16, 2019, several Illinois Student Government (ISG) senators authored a resolution defending the presentation.

On October 22, 2019, SJP UIUC posted on Facebook encouraging students to support the ISG’s resolution.

On October 24, 2019, SJP UIUC posted on Facebook in celebration of the resolution passing.

On January 16, 2020, SJP UIUC tweeted a thread protesting a training session on anti-Semitism that had been scheduled for UIUC Housing employees, Resident Advisors, and Multicultural Advocates. The session was organized by the non-profit Jewish United Fund of Chicago (JUF).

In the Twitter thread, SJP UIUC described the JUF as a “hate group.” SJP UIUC also accused JUF of the “brokering of Chicago Police Officers exchange with israeli Occupation Forces” that contributed to a “police culture of systematic violence against Black and Palestinian youth.”

SJP UIUC BDS Activities

During the 2019-2020 academic year, SJP UIUC launched a BDS campaign by authoring a student government resolution asking the university to divest funds from companies that are either based in Israel or do business in Israel.

SJP UIUC BDS Activities - 2019-2020

On February 5, 2020, former SJP UIUC presidents Buthaina Hattab and Dunia Ghanimah, as well as then president Ahlam Khatib, collectively authored an Illinois Student Government (ISG) anti-Israel divestment Resolution 03.61, titled: “Violations of Human Rights in University Investments.”

On February 12, 2020, a female Jewish student spoke [01:56:58] at an ISG meeting held to discuss the divestment resolution, to discuss an incident where someone held a sign that said [p. 7]: “F**K NAZIS SUPPORT PALESTINIANS.” 

The female Jewish student said that she attended an ISG meeting during the fall semester that addressed a separate anti-Israel resolution. She said [01:56:58]: “When I walked into the room I was confronted by a huge sign held up by SJP that said ‘F**k Nazis’. They called us Nazis!” 

Somone in the crowd then shouted [01:57:07] at the same female Jewish student: “They’re right!”

On February 15, 2020, UIUC Divest tweeted: “...UIUC Divest passes 20-9-7! ISG resolution 03.61 “Violation of Human Rights in University Investments” calls on UIUC to divest from corporations that engage in human rights abuses including Israeli war crimes in Palestine.  #UIUCDivest.”

On February 17, 2020, UIUC Divest tweeted a letter signed by SJP UIUC criticizing the ISG President Connor Josellis for vetoing the resolution one day earlier.

SJP UIUC - BDS Activities 2020-2021

On September 23, 2020, UIUC’s student government voted [03:31:41] during a live streamed ISG meeting in favor of a BDS resolution titled: “RES.04.22 Human Rights Violations in University Investments and Police Forces.” Former SJP UIUC presidents Sofia Sinnokrot and Buthaina Hattab authored the resolution.

SJP UIUC’s statement on the vote claimed that “both the BDS and the BLM [Black Lives Matter] movement resist the fundamental racism that Israeli and American entities need to survive.” 

During the live stream, Sophia Giakas Ayesh, a former SJP UIUC activist, commented [02:36:58]: “Honestly bruh, Zionism is a political agenda that’s racist and supports genocide so bye.”

SJP UIUC - BDS Campaign 2021-2022

On February 7, 2022, SJP UIUC launched a divestment campaign to get the UIUC student body to vote on an anti-Israel divestment measure via a referendum in March 2022. 

On February 14, 2022, SJP UIUC authored a “revised resolution” titled: “Human Rights Violations in University Investments.” SJP UIUC called on the Illinois Student Government (ISG) to approve a “referendum question” for that spring’s student government ballot.

The question that SJP UIUC wanted students to vote on said: “Should the University of Illinois divest its stocks, funds, and endowment from companies that profit from or engage in human rights violations in US Prisons, at the US-Mexico Border, and in Occupied Palestine?”

On Februrary 23, 2022, ISG held a meeting to address the possibility of the question being posed to the student body.  

Malaak Yehya, a former SJP executive board member, said [00:05:23] at the meeting: “The question of Palestine and what is going on in Palestine is so simple and is nothing new. It is an ongoing struggle against colonialism, it is ethnic cleansing on display.”

On February 23, 2022, the ISG Senate reportedly passed the bill with a vote of 17 to 14 and two abstentions.

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.

PYM

In 2012, the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM USA) released a statement saying: “Our liberation...will be gained with the path that was written with the blood of our martyrs. We reaffirm that the only path that we are concerned with is the path that explicitly heads towards the liberation of our land and the return of our people to Palestine.”

PYM organized rallies demonizing Israel where it displays propaganda posters supporting the terrorist organization Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and compared Israel to Nazi Germany.

On October 25, 2015, PYM called to support “intifada” during a period when Palestinian radicals across Israel stabbed and hacked to death scores of Israeli civilians. PYM alleged that “Al-Aqsa Mosque has been the target of particularly brutal assaults” and that “... arbitrary killings are committed daily by the Zionist military and settlers.”

On November 10, 2015, the PYM Facebook page displayed a photo of masked Palestinian radicals throwing rocks and firing rocks from slingshots. That photo was used to promote at least 25 anti-Israel rallies across the globe on or around November 29, 2015 under the banner of “Transnational mobilization for Palestinian resistance.”

On November 30, 2015, PYM displayed a photo on Facebook from one of the rallies showing a sign in support of PFLP member Khalida Jarrar, who confessed to inciting violence and calling for terrorists to abduct Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers.

Another sign showed support for PFLP Secretary-General Ahmad Sadat, who was convicted for the 2001 assassination of Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze'evi.  

Social Media and Weblinks

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100013123864786 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/figleaves_ [Private] 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/s1reeno/ [Private]

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sireen-amra-b9619b238/ 

Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@s1reeno [Private]