Amin Niknam / Professional / 2016
Amin Niknam Occupation: Professional University: UMN Organization(s): SJP , BDS Close Connection(s): Nora Abdelal , Genaan Abdelall , Yasmine Abusaif , Nicholas Alexander , Ahmed Ahmed Ali , Bayan Alnimazi , Saima Bachani , Sadok Benabdallah , Manuel Berduc , Alaina Desalvo , Siddig Elsheikh , Amin ElGeberti , Ilana Grossof , Adnan Khan , Mariam ElKhatib , Sara Halimah , Amanda Hassan , Mohammed Hassan , Sabrina Jeylanii , Huda Khatoon , Jeremy Levinger , Amina Maameri , Mahmoud Mire , Inari Mohammed , Suheila Musani, Motaz Nashawaty , Nora Nashawaty , Fatuma Qorane, Rula Rashid , Zahra Sharif , Mohamed Yousif Overview Amin Niknam is a graduate of the University of Minnesota (UMN) and works as a Pharmacy Technician at Cub. Niknam attended and participated in the events of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at UMN (SJP UMN) . He supports the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement. On February 15, 2016, Niknam changed his Facebook profile photo to a UMN Divest campaign graphic drafted by SJP UMN . Demonizing the U.S. Israeli Relationship On October 22, 2014, Niknam shared on Facebook an AlJazeera+ video that attacked the United States’ alliance with Israel. The video insinuated that there is something sinister and sleazy about the alliance and demonized U.S. aid to Israel. Claiming, falsely , that “Israel gets more than half of all U.S. foreign aid,” the video went on to quote Steven Walt, notorious for his antiSemitic accusations about undue influence of the “Zionist Lobby” on U.S. foreign policy. The article misleadingly stated that the joint U.S. Israel “Iron Dome” missile defense project “cost” the United States $720 Million dollars — and questioned Israel’s defense needs. The video implies that U.S. aid to israel — and the allies’ special relationship — should be ended. SJP UMN SJP UMN was founded in January 2011 and serves as a platform for other antiIsrael initiatives, like the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement, Minnesota Break the Bonds and the AntiWar Committee (AWC) . www.canarymission.org 1/8
Amin Niknam / Professional / 2016
Spreading Lies On October 13, 2015, following a month of spiraling violence against Israeli civilians , SJP UMN lied that a 13year old attemptedmurderer , Ahmad Manasra, was killed — following his stabbing spree in Jerusalem. SJP UMN said: “[w]e cannot ignore these constant, heinous crimes, acts of racism, hatred, and inhumanity Palestinians are subjected to by Israeli settlers.” SJP UMN added: “Rest in peace Ahmad. To the highest heavens.” Mansara, however, is alive — and confessed to stabbing two Israelis, critically injuring a 13year old boy. On October 16, 2015, SJP UMN held a diein on campus to “pay respects to the Palestinian martyrs,” many of whom died while attempting to murder Israeli civilians — and falsely accused Israel of illegal occupation and ethnic cleansing . In April 2015, SJP UMN tweeted , fraudulently, that “only white Jews” are allowed to live in Israel. In 2011 SJP UMN disseminated the libel that former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon orchestrated a massacre in Lebanon — decades after that claim was admitted to be false by Time Magazine — which Sharon sued for committing the same libel in 1986. Time Magazine acknowledged that the claim was fabricated and apologized. Also in 2011, SJP UMN began its annual schedule of bringing Israeli Apartheid Week to UMN’s campus. The event features : “dieins,” false claims that Israel is an “apartheid state,” and the construction of a mock “Apartheid Wall” in front of the student union building, to mischaracterize Israel’s security fence . Inciting Violence and Mocking I n November 2015, SJP UMN tweeted that Israel is “trying to take Al Aqsa under the guise of 'sharing.'” Such propaganda was the excuse for an upsurge in violence by Palestinian Arabs that flared in the fall of 2015. Hamas also called on Palestinians to violently “rise up and defend AlAqsa.” Likewise, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas praised those willing to martyr themselves for AlAqsa and declared that Jews would not be allowed to “desecrate” Al Aqsa with their “filthy feet.” Similar allegations have been a traditional pretext for Arab attacks on Jews well before the existence of Israel. On April 29, 2015, a proIsrael student group’s celebration of Israel’s independence day was defaced on UMN’s campus. SJP UMN released a statement denying any involvement in the vandalism, but added that “Israel’s ‘birthday’ is established on the exile of an entire people.” SJP’s treasurer Rula Rashid visited the proIsrael’s group’s table and said “you stole our land,” the day before the defacement. www.canarymission.org 2/8
Amin Niknam / Professional / 2016
In February 2012, SJP UMN posted a video called “ Sh*t Zionists Say ” mocking and ridiculing proIsrael supporters for feeling attacked and unsafe (0:16). Insulting Jewish Heritage In March 2015, SJP UMN launched a negativ e “ Birthright campaign ” in UMN’s student union building — handing out pamphlets to discourage Jewish students from participating in a sponsored trip to Israel encouraging Jewish identity. The campaign’s slogan was “Don’t Trip.” On April 9, 2015, SJP officer Sara Halimah wrote an article defending SJP UMN’s Israeli Apartheid Week in the Minnesota Daily. Halimah presumed to define Zionism and Judaism — denying the Jews’ right to national selfdetermination and millennia of Jewish aspiration for return to their ancestral Homeland . Shutting Down Free Speech In April 2015, SJP UMN declared its refusal to dialogue with Israelis or proIsrael organizations, unless the purpose of talking would “explicitly aim to expose and resist the occupation and all forms of discrimination and oppression against the Palestinian people.” On November 3 2015, SJP UMN endorsed the disruption of a talk on ethics and the law of war to be given by Israeli law professor, Moshe Halbertal. For more than 30 minutes, protesters prevented Halbertal from speaking — by constantly interrupting his attempts to begin. One young woman came screaming back into the lecture — following her ejection by campus security — and three protesters were eventually arrested and incarcerated. Outside the lecture hall, other protesters — members of the AWC, Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and SJP UMN — chanted “ Free, free Palestine ,” so loudly that it was difficult to hear Halbertal. The protest was organized by the AntiWar Committee (AWC) , an organization whose main campaign is ending US aid to Israel — and that also supports terroristmurderer Rasmea Odeh , who was a key military operative with the terrorist group the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) . Disguising AntiSemitism as AntiZionism In December 2014, SJP UMN claimed there was “an endless list of similarities between Nazi Germany and Israel. ” Such demonization of Israel falls under the State Department’s definition of antiSemitism . The likening of Israel to Nazi Germany
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Amin Niknam / Professional / 2016
remains a staple of modern European antiSemitism and contributed to a spike in antiSemitic violence in 2014. In September 2011, SJP UMN posted a hatefilled libelous tirade — directing its Facebook followers to “READ IT & SHARE IT.” Among other lies, the post alleged that Israel controls America, echoing an ageold canard about Jewish control over foreign governments — popularized in recent years by Professors John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt. In April 2015, SJP UMN hosted professor Steven Salaita . Salaita made national news after the University of Illinois retracted a job offer due to a string of hateful antiSemitic and antiIsrael tweets that he posted. One tweet posted shortly after three teenage Israeli students were kidnapped read , "You may be too refined to say it, but I’m not: I wish all the f**king West Bank settlers would go missing.” A month later, he tweeted , "Zionists: transforming "antisemitism" from something horrible into something honorable since 1948." Salaita also tweeted "There's something profoundly sexual to the Zionist pleasure w/#Israel's aggression. Sublimation through bloodletting, a common perversion." Salaita also tweeted on July 19, 2014, “At this point, if Netanyahu appeared on TV with a necklace made from the teeth of Palestinian children, would anybody be surprised?” In October 2015, SJP UMN painted a map on the Washington Avenue Bridge that featured a map of Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip, with no internal borders, and covered with a keffiyeh — visually eradicating the Jewish State. Smearing Israel On March 4, 2015, SJP UMN hosted a talk with Mondoweiss correspondent Dan Cohen, who teamed up with antiSemitic journalist Max Blumenthal to create a documentary on Gaza. Blumenthal blamed Israel exclusivel y for the conflict in Gaza — and spoke of the “illegal conquest of Israel in Gaza,” despite Israel’s complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in 2005. Max Blumenthal’s book “Goliath: Life and Loathing in Greater Israel” has been dubbed “The Israel Hater’s Handbook” by Eric Alterman of progressive magazine The Nation. During his talk, Cohen dismissed Israeli civilians’ safety concerns in the face of unrelenting Hamas rocket attacks, describing the 2014 Gaza War as “ not an attack on Hamas... This was an attack on Palestinian society." Hamas — which has been designated as a terrorist organization by the European Union, Australia, Egypt, Japan, the United States, and Canada — fired over 4,564 missiles rockets — including Grad rockets — at Israeli population centers during the Gaza War. Cohen also spread a blood libel that Israeli soldiers “ took revenge ” and intentionally shot civilians. www.canarymission.org 4/8
Amin Niknam / Professional / 2016
In January 2015, Cohen tweeted a photo with Palestinian children in Gaza, alongside the caption “ Selfie with the greatest threat to Israel.” Since 2012, thousands of Gazan children have received military training in Hamas summer camps. The camps, dubbed by Palestinian journalist Khaled Abu Toameh “ Hamas’ Child Abuse Camps ,” prepare children to launch attacks on Israel. Hamas leaders have bragged that 17,000 young teenagers are ready for war, saying “They [the children] are strong soldiers; proving their potential with Allah’s help. You will see them in Haifa and Tel Aviv.” (1:52) One military trainer explained , “We train children how to use all types of weapons machine guns, antiaircraft; tunnel warfare; in guerilla warfare; to fight the enemy with Allah’s help.” (4:30) Defending Terrorists In November 2014, SJP UMN objected to calling unrepentant terroristmurderer Rasmea Odeh a “terrorist.” Odeh was a key military operative with the terrorist group the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) . In 1969 the PFLP bombed a Jerusalem supermarket, killing two South African students. Odeh also attempted to bomb the British consulate. Odeh was tried and convicted for her involvement in both bombings and sentenced to life imprisonment by an Israeli court. After being released in a prisoner swap, she emigrated to the U.S. Odeh was convicted by a Michigan federal jury in November 2014 for immigration fraud, having omitted details of her prior conviction and life sentence, of which she served 10 years. Odeh was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison, fined and ordered to be deported following her prison term. In February of 2106, Odeh’s immigration fraud case was sent back to the district court, to examine whether traumarelated, repressed memories, contributed to Odeh’s failure to disclose her prior conviction. SJP UMN also tweeted the allegation that Odeh was “raped into” confessing to the two bombings in Israel. In reality, Odeh confessed , i n a highly detailed account, the day following her arrest. One of Odeh’s coconspirators also directly implicated Odeh as the mastermind, in a 2004 documentary. In 2012, SJP UMN expressed support for Khader Adnan , a senior member of terrorist organization Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) , which “is dedicated to the violent destruction of Israel.” Islamic Jihad has no ‘political wing’ or ‘social wing’, just a ‘military wing’ that focuses solely on promoting terrorism and the murder of Israelis. It is reported that the group is backed by Iran and has killed dozens of Israelis in suicide bombings and other attacks.
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Amin Niknam / Professional / 2016
A 2007 YouTube video shows Adnan praising and encouraging suicide bombings: "Who among you will carry the next explosive belt? Who among you will fire the next bullets? Who among you will have his body parts blown all over?" Adnan has been arrested numerous times by the Palestinian Authority — once for encouraging students to hurl stones at a visiting French Prime Minister, Lionel Jospin. Israel has also arrested him f or “activities that threaten regional security." In January 2016, SJP UMN also expressed support for Muhammad alQiq , who has been imprisoned for Hamas terrorrelated activities. BDS at UMN On February 16, 2016, SJP UMN launched a divestment campaign and petition demanding the Minnesota Student Association (MSA) and UMN divest from four companies that provide equipment, supplies and weapons for Israelis. According to UMN Chief Investment officer, UMN “has no direct exposure to any of the four stocks targeted by Students for Justice in Palestine’s divestment resolution. ” On March 8, 2016, UMN student representatives voted to strike down SJP UMN’s divestment resolution. Since its founding, SJP UMN has promoted the boycott of Israel and organizations like the Minnesota Break the Bonds (MN BBC) . The MN BBC, formed in 2006 in response to the 2005 BDS call for international solidarity, has been involved in a multiyear statewide campaign to pressure the state of Minnesota to break economic ties with Israeli holdings. Another of MN BBC’s goals was to “to serve as a model for organizations in other states and municipalities that are attempting to divest of Israel bonds.” In October 2012, SJP UMN launched a petition to promote an antiIsrael protest against an exhibition basketball game between the Minnesota Timberwolves and a professional Israeli basketball team — Maccabi Haifa. The protest was organized by MN BBC, which sent a letter to each TWolves player asking them "to boycott the exhibition game against MaccabiHaifa, the Israeli team that you are scheduled to play next Tuesday." Per the Minnesota Police repor t , written after the exhibition game, Target Center security reported numerous disturbances occurring in the stands amongst fans, involving flags, offensive banners and racial taunting. www.canarymission.org 6/8
Amin Niknam / Professional / 2016
SJP SJP was cofounded in 2001, at UC Berkeley, by Hatem Bazian and Snehal Shingavi . Their intention was to advance the radical antiIsrael mission of the Muslim Brotherhood, but masked as a secular organization. SJP members frequently intimidate and harass Jews and proIsrael students. SJP Members have physically assaulted Jewish students, possibly vandalized communal property and violently disrupted pro Israel speakers and events. SJPrun rallies regularly include hatespeech and chants such as”Long Live The Intifada” and "From the River to the Sea Palestine will be Free" — calls for violence and for the destruction of the Jewish State. SJP runs inflammatory campaigns against Israel including Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) resolutions, IsraelApartheid initiatives , drives comparing Israel to Nazi Germany, mock checkpoints and "dieins" , as well as rallies and protests . SJP chapters regularly host speakers who use language considered antiSemitic by the U.S. State Department. Chapter events routinely include individuals and organizations linked to terrorist activity and call for violence against Jews. When confronted, SJP demonizes and defames critics , branding attacks against them as “Islamophobic” — a term popularized by cofounder Hatem Bazian . SJP is rapidly creating a hostile and unsafe environment on U.S. campuses . For this reason, it has been labeled by some as “ Hamas on Campus .” BDS The BDS movement was cofounded in 2005 by Omar Barghouti . The movement is selfdescribed as "a campaign of boycotts, divestment and sanctions against Israel until it complies with international law and Palestinian rights.” Campaigns include compelling institutions and individuals to divest from Israeliaffiliated companies, academic boycotts , antiIsrael rallies and protests . The group’s most notable achievement has been the infiltration of university campuses through lobbying for "BDS resolutions." In these cases, backed by university antiIsrael affiliates, the university student government has been brought to vote on some sort of boycott of and divestment from Israel and Israeliaffiliated organizations. These resolutions, although nonbinding, have been passed by student governments o n numerous North American campuses. www.canarymission.org 7/8
Amin Niknam / Professional / 2016
BDS activity is often aggressive and disruptive . It is documented that universities that pass BDS resolutions see a marked increase in antiSemitism on campus. In 2013, the student government of the University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB) debated a BDS resolution. Reports emerged of threats of violence, the spitting on a female student senator, and theft of the personal property of antiBDS activists. As a result, the student government chose to vote via a "secret ballot" in order to ensure their own safety. Barghouti and the BDS movement are proponents of the radical " onestate solution " that has been denounced as a scheme to dissolve Israel as the Jewish State. B arghouti has been quoted as saying, "Good riddance! The twostate solution for the PalestinianIsraeli conflict is finally dead”, and that in a onestate “by definition, Jews will be a minority.” The organization is affiliated with numerous antiIsrael groups worldwide, including ones that have been labeled terrorist organizations . T he Jerusalem Post claims the BDS movement receives directives from Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood and the movement is considered extreme even by Palestinian Authority President, Mahmoud Abbas, who stated his opposition to a BDS boycott of Israel in 2013. Social media and Web Links Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amin.niknam Twitter: https://twitter.com/amin_o_acid Videos Why UMN Divest? UMN Divest Resolution Meeting SJP UMN Divestment Voting
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