Suman Barat

Overview

Suman Barat has defended terrorists, spread hatred of Israel and disrupted a pro-Israel event as an activist with Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at the University of Georgia (UGA).

Barat is a member of the closed Facebook group “SJP South.” She also attended the National SJP (NSJP) 2017 conference and published an article for the NSJP newsletter.

NSJP 2017 was held October 27-29, 2017 at the University of Houston (UH). The conference was themed “A Reimagined World: Dismantling Walls from Palestine to the Rio Grande.” Per the 2017 National SJP Conference website, the conference aimed to strengthen “collaborative efforts within all regions to pass BDS” and envision “pathways to achieving sanctions in the future.”
Barat is a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.

As of December 26, 2016, Barat’s LinkedIn said she was a student at UGA, slated to graduate in 2018. Barat’s Facebook said she was an intern with the Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS).

On May 7, 2018, Barat posted a photo on Facebook of herself in a graduation cap and commented: “Wanted to wait till grades came out *just in case* but I’m finally a graduate!”

Defending Terrorists

On May 30, 2017, Barat shared to Facebook the post: “Alhamdulillah [Praise Allah] The Palestinian prisoners break their hunger strike after achieving their legal demands after 40 days without food.”

Terrorist Marwan Barghouti was sentenced to five consecutive life terms for some of his crimes, including his role in the Sbarro Cafe bombing. In 2017, he initiated the hunger strike by Palestinian prisoners known as the “Dignity Strike.” He headed the Palestinian Authority (PA) terrorist Tanzim force and founded the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, which carried out many terror attacks against Israeli civilians.

On May 23, 2017, Barat posted a photo of herself to Facebook promoting the hunger strike. Barat added the comment: “In solidarity with the 1600 Palestinian political prisoners on Day 36 of their hunger strike.”

On May 19, 2017, Barat shared a video of herself alongside other UGA SJP members taking part in the “Saltwater Challenge.”

The “Saltwater Challenge” was held in solidarity with Palestinian inmates hunger-striking in Israeli prisons. According to CNN, the “Saltwater Challenge” appears to have been started by Aarab Marwan Barghouti, the son of Marwan Barghouti.

On July 13, 2016, Barat posted to Facebook a letter written by Bilal Kayed.

PFLP terrorist Bilal Kayed was incarcerated for 14 years for terror attacks and attempted terror attacks committed during the second intifada, in 2002.

Spreading Hatred of Israel

On September 28, 2017, Barat promoted the UGA SJP event “Palestine 101”
on Facebook, posting: “You'll be able to...hear an overview of the history of Zionism and the displacement, ethnic cleansing, and plight of the Palestinian people.”

On July 7, 2017, Barat applauded Cuba on Facebook, when Cuba’s representative to the United Nations condemned [00:04:52] Israel’s request for a moment of silence for the victims of the Holocaust, during a UNESCO World Heritage Committee session.

Cuba’s representative went on to call [00:05:44] for a moment of silence for “all the Palestinians who died in the region.”

On January 23, 2017, Barat published an article for the first issue of the NSJP Newsletter, where she claimed that Israel used “fertility control to hinder Palestinian population growth.”

Promoting BDS

On November 16, 2017, Barat congratulated on Facebook Students Allied for Freedom and Equality (SAFE) at the University of Michigan (UM Ann Arbour) for passing an anti-Israel divestment resolution. SAFE is a chapter of SJP.

On March 7, 2016, Barat posted on Facebook a rap video condemning renowned American record producer and radio personality DJ Khaled for endorsing Sabra, a company co-owned by the Israeli food manufacturer Strauss.

The video showed clips of Palestinian rock throwers and rappers wearing shirts saying: “boycott sabra.”

Barat added: “#BoycottSabra.”

Disrupting Pro-Israel Events at UGA

On April 6, 2017, Barat participated [00:01:04] in a UGA SJP and UGA PAC-coordinated protest and disruption of “Israel Fest” at UGA’s Tate Plaza.

Demonstrators stood opposite the festival and chanted for over an hour, including the chant [00:00:18]: “Apartheid - shut it down! Occupation - shut it down,” and [00:02:34] “Zionism - shut it down!”

One activist used a loudspeaker claim [00:00:13] that “Palestinian indigenous resistance is justified.” He also called [00:00:07] Israel “an apartheid system.”

The UGA administration requested that the protestors leave, but they refused. The protestors eventually left the plaza after they were told by UGA police that they would be forcibly removed, and could be charged with student conduct violations.

On March 6, 2017, Barat endorsed on Facebook a walk-out, coordinated by UGA SJP and UGA Progressive Action Coalition (PAC), of the “Beyond the Headlines: Israeli Soldiers Tour” event.

The event, held on February 21, 2017, invited students to hear: “the unique, personal stories” of “two young army reservists who will be speaking about their experiences defending the State of Israel.”

During the walkout, one SJP member declared [00:00:36] “ethnic cleansers and murderers will not be vindicated.”

In her Facebook post, Barat claimed the walk out was justified because the event supported the “normalization of the Israeli settler-colonial and military occupation.” Barat added: “We will continue to oppose oppression of all forms support direct actions that shut down supremacy.”

UGA SJP

UGA SJP was formerly called Athens Justice for Palestine (AJP). UGA SJP was established in 2005 and portrays itself as an organization promoting peace and human rights. Their website's mission statement states its goal is to educate people about the history of the Middle East, and to “facilitate constructive debate” with Israelis, Palestinians and Americans in order to “resolve the ongoing conflict.”

UGA SJP - Spreading Lies

On September 3, 2016, UGA SJP posted to Facebook a poster defending “political prisoner” Lina Jarbouni, adding: “Freedom for all Palestinian prisoners!”

As of January 2016, Jarbouni was serving a 17 year prison sentence for aiding terrorists from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) during the second intifada and for conspiring to commit terrorist attacks.

On November 18, 2015, UGA SJP hosted an event featuring New York-based poet and writer Remi Kanazi. Kanazi tours widely presenting aggressively anti-Israel poetry and spoken-word performances. On this occasion he referred to Israel as “s**tty,” “ethnic cleansing”, and Zionism as “racism” and “colonialism.”

On March 15, 2012, as part of their annual Israeli Apartheid week, UGA SJP hosted the anti-Zionist Professor, Noel Ignatiev, who delivered a lecture titled “Zionism - an Ideology of Race.”

Ignatiev is a purveyor of extreme anti-Israel views and his distorted entry on Zionism was removed from a prominent encyclopedia following an independent review.

On January 25, 2009, UGA SJP organized an anti-Israel protest outside the CNN news building in Atlanta, GA. The protest featured signs accusing Israel of Nazism — using an Israeli flag with a Swastika instead of the star of David. Other signs read “the Real Nazis,” “Israeli Terrorists” and “Genocide in Palestine.”

On December 31, 2008, UGA SJP and other anti-Israel groups held a protest in front of the Israeli Consulate in Atlanta. Protesters chanted slogans such as, “U.S, Israel you can’t hide, we charge you with Genocide.”

UGA SJP Demonizing Israel - Promoting Violence

On April 19, 2017, UGA SJP erected a Mock Apartheid wall, in an attempt to recharacterize the purpose of Israel’s security fence.

On February 19, 2013, UGA SJP held an Israeli Apartheid day. Amongst the displays was a black board that read “Existence is Resistance.”

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.