Hanna Alshaikh

Overview

Hanna Alshaikh is an active member of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at the University of Chicago (U of C). She was also a member of the National SJP Conference Organizing Committee in 2015.

Alshaikh supports the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement and was the spokesperson for DePaul Divest, organized by SJP DePaul.

On February 18, 2015, Alashaikh mocked students frightened by Palestinian rockets targeting Israel, tweeting: “Anti divest speaker choked up because his sister heard rocket sirens in Israel & her fiancé was scared about a friend. Ok. #NUDivest”

Alshaikh graduated from DePaul University (DePaul) with a Bachelor of Arts in Islamic World Studies and Arabic Studies.

As of March 2019, Alshaikh’s Twitter bio said she was a history teacher, writer and researcher and that she held a Master’s degree from UC’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies (CMES). A January 3, 2019 tweet indicated that she graduated.

Also as of March 2019, Alshaikh was listed on De Paul’s course list as a professor of Islamic Experience and Religion and Politics in the Middle East. As of the same date, she was listed as a research fellow at the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) and as an adjunct professor at De Paul.

DePaul Divest

In March 2014, Alshaikh wrote and article for the anti-Israel publication Electronic Intifada about her efforts to pass BDS resolutions at DePaul: "While most schools have used student government resolutions as their primary political tool, we at DePaul have chosen instead to put the issue up to a student vote, using a referendum to mobilize the student body around the issue." Alshaikh continued, “A referendum, which offers every student a secret vote, will be much less susceptible to influence by lobby groups.”

According to the a May 25, 2014 Chicago Tribune article, SJP DePaul "...campaigned for more than a month and intensified their efforts on campus last week. Divestment supporters organized a sit-in in the student center ...." Eventually, The divestment question drew 1,575 “yes” votes and 1,333 “no” votes, appearing at the end of a ballot during the week-long student government elections, that drew about 10 percent of the student body.

On September 30, 2014 , Alshaikh and other SJP members advocated for more pressure on the school administration, holding a "die-in, where protest members laid on the ground with a piece of paper with the name of a deceased Palestinian on top of them. Two protesters also held a banner that read “Gaza’s blood is on our hands" while other protesters handed out a flyer that called for student action. a “mock apartheid wall,” and a “sit-in.”

The "mock apartheid wall" was displayed in St. Vincent’s Circle just off DePaul’s Quad for four days. It also displayed to coincide with Israel’s Independence Day.

In the weeks leading up to the 2014 divestment vote, Alshaikh wrote an article in the Women’s and Gender Studies newsletter entitled "Why You Should Vote Yes to Divest." Alshaikh made an unfounded and incendiary claim that — “Gender-based violence has historically been used against Palestinians to ethnically cleanse villages since the Nakba (Catastrophe) [sic. Israeli Day of Independence] in 1948.” Alshaikh went on to allege that — “Palestinian women are often forced into labor at checkpoints, while being denied access to hospitals by the Israeli military.”

Defending Terrorist Rasmea Odeh

In February 2015, SJP DePaul hosted a fundraiser for the defense of convicted student-killer, Rasmea Odeh. Alshaikh said following the event that "Israel released Odeh, so it is absolutely ridiculous to call her a terrorist."

On February 3, 2015 Alshaikh tweeted: "Rasmea is the victim of a witchhunt against anyone who criticizes US policy in favor of #Israel" #Justice4Rasmea."

Odeh was a key military operative [00:02:08]with the terrorist group the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). In 1969, Odeh masterminded a PFLP bombing that killed two college students in a Jerusalem supermarket. Odeh also attempted to bomb the British consulate.

Odeh confessed, in a highly detailed account, the day following her arrest. In a 2004 documentary, one of Odeh’s co-conspirators directly implicated [00:10:53] Odeh as the mastermind.

In 1970, an Israeli court tried and convicted Odeh for her involvement in both bombings and sentenced her to life imprisonment. However, Odeh was released 10 years later, in a prisoner swap and emigrated to the United States.

On November 10, 2014, a Michigan federal jury convicted Odeh for immigration fraud because she failed to disclose her prior conviction and life sentence on her immigration application. On March 12, 2015, she was sentenced to 18 months in prison.

In 2017, after an appeal and a lengthy court battle, Odeh admitted to immigration fraud, was stripped of her U.S. citizenship, deported to Jordan and banned from re-entering the U.S.

Bullying Students at Loyola University

At a September 2014 Loyola University event Alshaikh joined SJP U of C Loyola members to verbally assault Jewish students and create a human wall to block a Jewish group’s a tabling event for subsidized Jewish heritage tours of Israel.

SJP members hurled accusations at Hillel members such as, "How does it feel to be an occupier?" and “How does it feel to be guilty of ethnic cleansing?” SJP U of C Loyola produced a video to publicize its disruption.

As a result, Jewish students at DePaul expressed publicly how they had been intimidated and how they did not feel safe on campus in a video produced by journalist, Paul Miller.

Joining Anti-Semitic Calls for Violence

On October 18, 2015 — as a wave of terrorist violence, known as the "stabbing Intifada," swept across Israel — Alshaikh participated in a protest hosted by American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) Chicago (AMP-Chicago). During that October, Palestinian radicals stabbed and hacked to death scores of Israeli civilians. The AMP rally featured open calls for violence, with protestors shouting “Intifada, Intifada, We Support the Intifada!” and “Free Free Palestine!”

Signs at the protest likened Israelis to Nazis. One sign read: "Zionism = Nazism" with a Star of David and Swastika beside each word, respectively. Another read: “ISRAEL KILLS Children” while another stated: “Israel is a war criminal.”

Delegitimizing Israel

On June 3, 2015, Alshaikh falsely likened Israel to Apartheid South Africa, she tweeted — "The east-west binary is imagined & invented. Keep in mind, #Israel claims to be western and European. Much like apartheid South Africa did."

On February 3, 2015 Alshaikh tweeted: "Let's be cl

Ahmed Manasra (sometimes spelled Mansara) and his 15-year-old cousin Hassan went on a stabbing spree in Jerusalem on October 12, 2015, during the Knife Intifada. They critically wounded a 13-year-old boy and moderately wounded a 25-year-old man. The spree ended when police shot Hassan and a passing motorist hit Ahmed. Ahmed was taken to an Israeli hospital. He admitted to investigators: “I went there to stab Jews.” He was later tried and convicted on two counts of attempted murder.

ear: there is no argument for Israel. There are stale talking points for Israel, but no logical or ethical argument for Israel."

SJP U of C - Disguising Anti-Semitism as Anti-Zionism

On July 20, 2014 — During Israel’s Operation Protective Edge — Alshaikh joined SJP U of C members who attended an anti-Israel march and die in that was held in downtown Chicago. Demonstrators held signs bearing anti-Semitic claims, such as "Zionism is Nazism." One sign read: — “Well done Israel, Hitler would be proud of you.” Another said — “Stop doing what Hitler did to you.” Yet another read: — “Israel is a Racist, Genocidal state.” One placard propagated multiple blood libels, reading: — “Israel’s To Do List: use chemical weapons, murder children, attack the press, bomb refugee camps, block provisions of humanitarian aid.”

The demonstration was organized by the Coalition for Justice in Palestine (CJP) — a group formed at the time of the second Intifada, which includes Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP)-Chicago. SJP Chicago is, in turn, a "network forged by student activists organizing for Palestine on university campuses throughout Chicago," which includes SJP U of C.

On August 10, 2014, CJP organized another anti-Israel rally and die-in, attended by members of SJP U of C and JVP UChicago. SJP U of C member Jonah Rubin posed holding up a sign that falsely accused Israel of apartheid. SJP U of C member Kirsten Gindler posed holding a JVP sign which fraudulently accused Israel of waging a war on innocents: — "Jews Oppose Israel’s War on Civilians."

SJP U of C - Dedicating a Week to Israel-Hatred

From October 26-30, 2015, SJP U of C launched its annual Israeli Apartheid Week — a five-day event dedicated to demonizing Israel.

Alshaikh attended one of the week’s events which was a panel moderated by John Mearsheimer, notorious for anti-Semitic claims that the "Israel Lobby" in the United States exercises undue influence over U.S. foreign policy and that the Lobby’s agenda is detrimental to U.S. interests.

The event also featured anti-police agitator, Page May from We Charge Genocide and co-founder of the BDS movement Omar Barghouti, who rejects the existence of Israel.

Barghouti falsely claimed that the demand that all Palestinian refugees be allowed to settle in Israel is a "right" under international law, and further asserted that the demands of BDS are “inflexible” and “non-negotiable” — and if people object then “tough.”

Barghouti also accused Israel of "colonizing the minds of Palestinians" by (temporarily) shutting down Palestinian educational institutions — particularly Birzeit University — whose militant student body was involved in riots and terror activity during the first Intifada and later remained ridden with terrorists. Barghouti omitted that under Israeli occupation five Arab universities and 70 teaching colleges were created on the West Bank, between 1967 and 1987 alone; none were permitted when the area was under Jordanian rule before 1967.

SJP U of C and JVP UChicago - Exalting Terror

On November 2, 2015, JVP UChicago and SJP U of C erected a shrine honoring Palestinian terrorists killed during the upsurge of stabbings, car rammings and other terrorist attacks against Jews, that began in October 2015 — in which scores of Israelis were brutally murdered. SJP U of C and JVP UChicago falsely accused Israeli security forces who neutralized the terrorists of conducting "extra-judicial killings."

The shrine featured Palestinian terrorist Fadi Aloon, whom it portrayed as an innocent civilian was shot while "run[ning] from a racist mob." In reality, Aloon was shot by Israeli security forces after he tried to stab to death a 15-year old Israeli boy. Several hours before the stabbing, Aloon posted “Either martyrdom or victory” on his Facebook page.

SJP U of C - Sanctifying Terrorists and Murderers as "National Heroes"

On May 16, 2016, SJP U of C approvingly posted on Facebook the U.S. Palestinian Community Network (USPCN) stance on Palestinian terrorism against Israel.

The text stated: "Regardless of the charges brought against them by occupying Israeli military courts, we stand in defense of all Palestinian prisoners." The text continued, “[t]hose held by Israel are all prisoners of conscience and national heroes, and we reject the criminalization of our resistance. To defend and advocate for them is to support the sacred right of the Palestinians to National Liberation and Independence.”

This unqualified defense of all Palestinian prisoners would include convicted terrorists Amjad and Hakim Awad— currently held in Israeli jail — who decapitated 3-month-old infant Hadar Fogel and butchered her 4-year-old brother Elad, 11-year-old brother Yoav — along with their mother Ruth and father Udi on March 11, 2011. The Awads used knives and guns to attack the Fogel family members in their beds. Amjad Awad told reporters in court: "I’m proud of what I did and I’ll accept any punishment I get, even death, because I did it all for Palestine."

The USPCN post quoted by SJP U of C urged taking "immediate action" by registering to attend unrepentant terrorist-murderer Rasmea Odeh’s next status hearing and labeled her a “beloved community icon.”

On March 17, 2016 the SJP U of C Facebook Page’s cover photo featured a likeness of Rasmea Odeh. On April 23, 2015, JVP UChicago members attended a fundraising event for her.

The SJP U of C Facebook cover photo also included an image of domestic terrorist Assata Shakur, who was convicted of killing a NJ State trooper and grievously wounding another in 1973. Shakur escaped from prison in 1979 and managed to flee to Cuba in 1984 — where she resides today. She is listed on the FBI Most Wanted Terror List under her legal name, Joanne Deborah Chesimard.

Further, the SJP U of C Facebook cover photo included an image of Commandanta Ramona, a deceased leader of the militant separatist Mexican group the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN).

Lastly, the cover photo included an image of Angela Davis. Davis made the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitive List in 1970, after being charged as a principal in an aggravated kidnapping and first-degree murder — for purchasing the shotgun used in the abduction and killing of a judge. Davis was eventually arrested — but later acquitted.

SJP U of C - Idolizing Terrorists

On October 14, 2015, SJP U of C launched on Facebook an incendiary poster campaign memorializing — in a fraudulent manner— the names of people who were killed during riots and terrorists who were neutralized. The Posters say" MURDERED BY THE ISRAELI MILITARY” or "INJURED BY ISRAELI FORCES.” The posters were hung in public spaces throughout campus. The funerals of some of those memorialized also were exploited by Palestinian militants to foment yet further violence. The Facebook post misleadingly called the assailants “victims of state violence.”

One poster memorialized 13-year old attempted-murderer Ahmad Manasra.

Another poster portrayed Palestinian terrorist Fadi Aloon as "murdered by the Israeli police."

Fadi Aloon was shot by Israeli security forces after he stabbed a 15-year-old Israeli boy. Several hours before the attack, Aloon posted “Either martyrdom or victory” on his Facebook page.

SJP U of C - Lying To Slander Israel

On April 24, 2015 — a day after Israeli Independence Day — SJP U of C posted photos of their protest with Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) UChicago (JVP UChicago) members, falsely holding Israel responsible for the creation of the Palestinian refugee problem and misleadingly charging Israel with its continuation. One sign propagated a triple lie — suggesting that that Israel is engaged in an "ongoing genocide, ethnic cleansing and apartheid."

On May 13, 2015, SJP U of C held Palestine Solidarity Week, which featured a JVP UChicago workshop titled, "Facing the Nakba." Photos from the event were posted on Facebook of SJP U of C and JVP UChicago members holding up placards containing anti-Israel propaganda.

One placard made the misleading claim that Israel depopulated 500 Arab villages — when, in fact, Arabs were encouraged to lay down arms and stay.

Another placard stated, fraudulently, that "in 2011 the Knesset (Israeli Parliament) passed a bill which bars any public funding for any commemoration of Nakba day." In truth, the bill only penalized state-funded bodies for holding events marking Nakba (Arabic for catastrophe) Day on Israel’s Independence Day, that support armed resistance or racism against Israel, or desecrating the state flag or national symbols.

Other placards propagated the unique definition of "refugee" that UNRWA applies to Palestinian Arabs, with one placard stating that over 4.4 Million Palestinian refugees are registered with the U.N. and others estimating the total number of Palestinian refugees at 7 Million.

SJP U of C - Hosting Israel Haters

On May 11, 2015, SJP U of C organized an event featuring Dr. Leila Farsakh. Farsakh advocates for a one-state solution that would see the dissolution of Israel as a Jewish State. Farsakh attended Harvard's One State Conference in March 2012, where in response to a question concerning the fate of Israeli Jews were they to become disempowered by the voluntary dissolution of Israel, Farsakh reportedly suggested they could "reconnect with their Arabism."

On May 13, 2015, as part of Palestine Solidarity Week, SJP U of C organized an event featuring Dr. Sa'ed Atshan. Atshan has long rejected the two-state solution, does not accept that Israel is a democracy and wants the Jewish state to be dissolved and replaced with another democratic state.

In 2012, Atshan wrote an article that falsely accused Israel of "ethnic cleansing" and “colonization” — and roundly condemned Native American poet Joy Harjo for rejecting Palestinian calls to boycott Israel. Harjo posted on her Facebook page from Tel Aviv, saying: “Now my social media pages and message boxes are filled with a campaign to force a boycott, with messages of polarization, as if there is one way to poetry, resistance or empowerment.” Harjo went on to mention “an atmosphere of censure now in the ultimatum that I am being given to boycott.”

On January 17, 2012, SJP U of C hosted a panel event featuring New York-based poet and writer Remi Kanazi, condemning Israel’s 2008 - 2009 Operation Cast Lead. The event also featured Ali Abunimah, the co-founder of the anti-Israel online magazine Electronic Intifada.

SJP U of C - Propagating Blood Libels

On September 16, 2014, SJP U of C shared on Facebook an image of Palestinians massacred in the Sabra and Shatilla refugee camps in Lebanon by Lebanese Christian Phalangists — and falsely suggested that Israel committed the massacre. The post, based on a highly questionable, uncorroborated source, further alleged that "63 noted Palestinian intellectuals in Sabra and Shatila were shot execution-style by Israeli forces."

On May 7, 2014, SJP U of C shared a poster on Facebook objecting to Israel’s Independence Day, and rejecting Israel’s right to exist. The poster urged: "Decolonize Palestine. Free Palestine." The poster falsely accused Zionists of “celebrating” and trying “to normalize ethnic cleansing.” SJP U of C and JVP UChicago members paraded similar signs on the grounds of the U of C campus.

SJP U of C - Shutting down Free Speech

On February 21, 2016, SJP members opposed a lecture by Bassem Eid, founder of the Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group, who opposes the BDS movement. During the talk Eid was threatened with physical violence.

After Eid criticized the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Hamas for repression and human rights abuses against the Palestinians, protesters repeatedly interrupted Eid. A former student at Chicago’s Columbia College, who said he was from Gaza, yelled in Arabic, "I’m going to destroy this place!" Later, he said, “I’m going to kill this motherf*!” and “Wait until you go to your car!”

In October 2009, over a hundred SJP U of C and MSA U of C members disrupted a lecture by former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert visiting U of C, organized by the Harris School of Public Policy. Demonstrators shouted,"You deserve to be executed!" One agitator was dragged out by police, yelling “You’re a f**king snake! You goddamn pig!” The protesters turned violent against the police; some were arrested.

The anti-Israel agitators waved banners with Olmert’s likeness and the phrase "war criminal." Demonstrators denied Israel’s right to exist in any part of Palestine — chanting “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” Across the Palestinian political spectrum, from Hamas to the PA that phrase has always referred specifically to the destruction of Israel and expulsion of the Jews.

On February 26, 2013, SJP protested a talk by Israeli-American Law Professor Amos Guiora from the University of Utah. Protesters picketed and turned their chairs away from Guiora in the middle of his talk. One student continuously interrupted Guiora until being escorted out of the room.

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.