Nayrouz Abu Hatoum
Overview
Nayrouz Abu Hatoum has spread hatred of Israel, engaged in anti-Israel activism and is a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.Abu Hatoum was reportedly a co-founding member of Insaniyyat, Society of Palestinian Anthropologists.
As of October 2023, Abu Hatoum was listed as an assistant professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Concordia University (Concordia) in Montreal, Canada.
Abu Hatoum was the Ibrahim Abu-Lughodin (IAL) fellow at Columbia University (Columbia) for the 2018 - 2019 academic year. Abu Hatoum also received a PhD in social anthropology from York University (York) and worked as a “visiting scholar” at the City Institute at York (CITY). As of October 2023, she was listed as an external affiliate of CITY.
Spreading Hatred of Israel
On May 15, 2021, during Israel’s Operation Guardian of the Walls (OGW), Abu Hatoum featured as a speaker for an online event titled: “Palestinian Resistance! 73 years since the Nakba.” The event was co-organized by Azaadi Now.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.
In May 2021, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorists fired over 4,300 rockets from Gaza at major population centers in Israel. Israel responded by launching OGW, carrying out targeted military strikes in Gaza.
The online event also featured Mark Ayyash, an anti-Israel professor, as a speaker.
During the online “discussion”, Abu Hatoum referred [00:19:33] to Israel’s security barrier as an “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.
She also said [00:36:16] that OGW is a “reminder of the Al-Aqsa Intifada [Second Intifada]... in 2000” with its “attacks on Al-Aqsa.”
The second intifada took place from 2000 to 2005 where Palestinian terrorists carried out over 130 suicide bombings, murdering over 1,000 Israeli civilians and soldiers. Terrorists targeted city buses, shopping centers, dance clubs and cafes. Palestinian leadership encouraged children to carry out “martyrdom” operations against Israel.
The allegation that Jews “threaten” to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque has been a pretext for Arab attacks on Jews long before the existence of the modern Jewish state. Such propaganda has led to multiple periods of violence against Israeli civilians.
The letter also claimed that Israel has a “broader aim to ethnically cleanse the city [Silwan] of its indigenous Palestinian residents.”
Jewish ownership claims to lands in Silwan, a Jerusalem neighborhood also known as Shiloach, have been frequently met with Palestinian violence against Israelis who sought to reclaim their property rights.
The letter also read: “We are saddened but resolute that if Film Forum does not rectify its complicity in occupation and apartheid, a boycott of screenings and participating in cultural collaborations may become necessary.”
The letter concluded: “The reality is that to allow Israel to whitewash its practices of apartheid and ethnic cleansing through cultural funding is to be complicit in these practices.”
As of October 2023, Abu Hatoum was a signatory to a May 2021 public manifesto titled: “Palestine and Praxis: Open Letter and Call to Action.” The manifesto referred to Israel as a “settler colonial state” that promotes policies that “constitute apartheid, bolstered by a brute force that enshrines territorial theft and the racial supremacy of Jewish-Zionist nationals.”
The second intifada took place from 2000 to 2005 where Palestinian terrorists carried out over 130 suicide bombings, murdering over 1,000 Israeli civilians and soldiers. Terrorists targeted city buses, shopping centers, dance clubs and cafes. Palestinian leadership encouraged children to carry out “martyrdom” operations against Israel.
The allegation that Jews “threaten” to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque has been a pretext for Arab attacks on Jews long before the existence of the modern Jewish state. Such propaganda has led to multiple periods of violence against Israeli civilians.
Anti-Israel Activism
Abu Hatoum signed a July 2021 online open letter titled: “Film Forum: Don't Whitewash Apartheid,” which claimed that accepting “funding from the Israeli government is to accept complicity in the system of Israeli apartheid.”The letter also claimed that Israel has a “broader aim to ethnically cleanse the city [Silwan] of its indigenous Palestinian residents.”
Jewish ownership claims to lands in Silwan, a Jerusalem neighborhood also known as Shiloach, have been frequently met with Palestinian violence against Israelis who sought to reclaim their property rights.
The letter also read: “We are saddened but resolute that if Film Forum does not rectify its complicity in occupation and apartheid, a boycott of screenings and participating in cultural collaborations may become necessary.”
The letter concluded: “The reality is that to allow Israel to whitewash its practices of apartheid and ethnic cleansing through cultural funding is to be complicit in these practices.”
As of October 2023, Abu Hatoum was a signatory to a May 2021 public manifesto titled: “Palestine and Praxis: Open Letter and Call to Action.” The manifesto referred to Israel as a “settler colonial state” that promotes policies that “constitute apartheid, bolstered by a brute force that enshrines territorial theft and the racial supremacy of Jewish-Zionist nationals.”
The manifesto also stated that signatories commit to advancing the manifesto's values in the “classroom and on campus” using practical measures. It also claimed that Palestinians are going through an “ongoing Nakba.”
The manifesto also committed signatories to “Pressuring our academic institutions and organizations to respect the Palestinian call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions of Israel by instating measures that remove complicity and partnership with military, academic, and legal institutions involved in entrenching Israel’s policies.”
The letter also claimed that “Hamas rockets” are a “series of stale talking points…”
On March 9, 2017, while Abu Hatoum was a lecturer at TMU, she featured as a speaker for an event titled: “Decolonial Narratives: Settler Colonialism in Canada and Palestine.” The event formed part of Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) at McMaster University (McMaster).
Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) is presented as “an international series of events that seek to raise awareness of…Israel’s settler-colonial project and apartheid system over the Palestinian people” and build support for the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.
The manifesto also committed signatories to “Pressuring our academic institutions and organizations to respect the Palestinian call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions of Israel by instating measures that remove complicity and partnership with military, academic, and legal institutions involved in entrenching Israel’s policies.”
The letter also claimed that “Hamas rockets” are a “series of stale talking points…”
Hamas has been designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S., Canada, European Union, Israel and other countries. Founded in 1987, it has killed thousands of Israeli civilians through mass shootings and suicide bombings. Hamas has also kidnapped children, families and the elderly and held them hostage in Gaza. It has desecrated [slide 2] dead bodies and launched numerous rocket attacks against Israeli civilians.
On March 9, 2017, while Abu Hatoum was a lecturer at TMU, she featured as a speaker for an event titled: “Decolonial Narratives: Settler Colonialism in Canada and Palestine.” The event formed part of Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) at McMaster University (McMaster).
Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) is presented as “an international series of events that seek to raise awareness of…Israel’s settler-colonial project and apartheid system over the Palestinian people” and build support for the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.
Social Media and Weblinks
University Website:https://www.concordia.ca/faculty/nayrouz-abuhatoum.html
- Status:
- Professor
- University:
- Concordia
- Organizations:
- N/A
- Related Profiles:
- Hammam Farah,
- Last Modified:
- 05/04/2026
Photos & Screenshots
21 images