As revealed in recent congressional testimony, Students for Justice in Palestine is a campus front for Hamas terrorists. SJP’s propaganda activities are orchestrated and funded by a Hamas front group, American Muslims for Palestine, whose chairman is Hatem Bazian and whose principals are former officers of the Holy Land Foundation and other Islamic “charities” previously convicted of funneling money to Hamas. The report and posters are part of a larger Freedom Center campaign titled Stop University Support for Terrorists. Images of the posters that appeared at UNC and other campuses may be viewed at www.stopuniversitysupportforterrorists.org.
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill:
UNC-Chapel Hill has supported the Hamas inspired and funded BDS movement on its campus in multiple ways, promoting apps that help consumers boycott Israeli products and inviting BDS proponents such as disgraced former University of Illinois Professor Stephen Salaita to campus. During his address, Salaita accused Zionists of making phony claims of anti-Semitism to hide Israel’s purported war crimes. UNC’s SJP chapter has also invited Laila Al-Arian, daughter of infamous University of South Florida professor Sami Al-Arian, to campus. Sami Al-Arian is the number two leader of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, responsible for over 99 murders in the Middle East, who pled guilty to charges of terrorism. At a campus event, his daughter promoted the idea that her father was forced into a guilty plea. UNC SJP has celebrated “Israeli Apartheid Week” and has held numerous events to promote Hamas propaganda on campus including a “Vigil for Palestine” which claims to commemorate victims of the “Israeli Occupation” and screenings of films that vilify Israel such as “Occupation 101.”
Supporting Evidence:
In March 2016, UNC SJP hosted Laila Al-Arian, daughter of Sami Al-Arian, a former professor at the University of Southern Florida who was indicted and pled guilty in 2006 of conspiring to aid the terrorist organization, Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The event also involved a screening of the film, “USA vs Al-Arian.” The film was promoted by SJP this way: “Is Al-Arian a threat to national security or is his First Amendment right to free speech at the heart of this case? At this time of heightened anti-Muslim rhetoric and sentiment, the film USA vs. Al-Arian is a sober reminder of the vulnerability of Arab Americans and Muslims living in the US and all of our civil rights.”
In March 2016, UNC SJP re-posted a link from anti-Israel activist Noura Erakat which celebrated the GS4’s decision to divest from Israel, thereby supporting the Hamas backed and funded BDS movement:
“G4S announces plans to drop its Israeli subsidiary to extract itself from ‘reputationally damaging work’ over the next 12-24 months. Translation: they’re about to divest from Israel. They’ll also divest from juvenile detention centers in the US and UK. What a tremendous success for a 4-year campaign. Mabruk to all the fierce ones who laid these tracks! #BDS #AnotherOne #Onward”
In December 2015, UNC SJP shared a video on social media about Israel’s security fence, which reduced Jewish deaths from terrorist attacks by more than 1,000 in its first year, labeled it an “Apartheid Wall” and falsely claimed that its key purpose is not security but rather to occupy more Palestinian land.
On November 18, 2015, UNC SJP hosted a screening of the anti-Israel film “Occupation 101" which falsely claims that Israel is occupying Palestinian land. According to the Amcha Initiative, “The film contains several anti-Semitic themes, including that Israel is guilty of ‘ethnic cleansing;' that Israel’s actions against the Palestinians are a form of colonialist aggression; and that Jews in America wield excessive power over American foreign policy.”
On October 29, 2015, UNC SJP held a “Vigil for Palestine” to commemorate the Palestinians killed as a result of the “Israeli Occupation,” making clear that SJP takes the Hamas perspective that Israel is the aggressor in the Middle East rather than the victim of constant terrorist threats from the Palestinians. The event description states: “Since October 1, 52 Palestinians have been killed and over a 1,000 have been injured as a result of the Israeli occupation. Please join us in commemorating the lives of the dozens of Palestinians who have died in this month alone. This is an opportunity for students and community members to mourn and to remember the victims of this violent military occupation. The recent spike in violence exposes the ugly reality of the occupation and the incredible harm it does to those who have to endure it.” Of course there are no Palestinian deaths as a result of “Israeli occupation.” They are casualties of a terror war that Arabs have waged against Israel since 1948.
In April 2015, the co-founder of “Muslims for Justice” at UNC wrote a letter published in the campus paper, the Daily Tar Heel, which protested the fact that David Horowitz had been invited by the College Republicans to speak on campus. The letter falsely labeled Horowitz as “a prominent member of the Islamophobia network as documented by the Center for American Progress.” The “Islamophobia network” is an invention of the Muslim Brotherhood to silence critics of Islamic terror. (SJP co-founder and Brotherhood agent Hatem Bazian is also the head of UC Berkeley’s “Islamophobia Studies Program.”) The letter did state correctly that Horowitz in his address “linked Muslim Students’ Association and Students for Justice in Palestine to terrorism” but did not address any of the multitude of evidence Horowitz provided to back up this assertion.
On March 10, 2015, UNC SJP promoted “Buycott” and BDS apps on its Facebook page. These apps make it easier for consumers to boycott Israeli products, and support the Hamas promoted and funded BDS movement against Israel.
On February 5, 2015, Steven Salaita, who was fired from the University of Illinois for his numerous bigoted statements about Jews and Israelis, gave a talk at UNC on “Academic Freedom and the Corporate University.” During his address, according to the Amcha Initiative, Salaita “demonized Israel, falsely accusing it of barbarity, brutality and depravity, and of perpetrating war crimes and mass slaughter, and he delegitimized Israel by falsely accusing it of settler colonialism.” Salaita also promoted the Hamas-supported and funded BDS movement against Israel and “falsely accused Zionists of making ‘phony claims of antisemitism’ to mask Israel’s war crimes and shut down all criticism of Israel.” Salaita’s speech was co-sponsored by UNC SJP and several UNC departments including Asian Studies, anthropology and sociology.
In February 2015, UNC SJP held a “Short film night: Recent docs and dramas from and about Palestine” as part of the celebration of “Israeli Apartheid Week,” an anti-Israel hate fest meant to demonize the Jewish state.
On January 29, 2015, SJP at UNC-CH staged a mass walkout of about 70 students from a pro-Israel event hosted by Christians United for Israel which featured speaker Dumisani Washington. SJP’s refusal to engage and ask questions at a pro-Israel event echoes Hamas’s policy of anti-normalization under which they will not negotiate or agree to civil relations with groups supporting the state of Israel.
