Abby Saul
Overview
Abby Saul led two Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) initiatives as a member of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at Swarthmore College (Swarthmore).Swarthmore SJP was formerly known as Swarthmore Students for Peace and Justice in Palestine (Swarthmore SPJP) from 2010-2017.
Saul co-founded a Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) chapter at Swarthmore (Swarthmore JVP) in 2019. She has expressed support for terrorists, whitewashed violent protesters and opposed the Anti-Semitism Awareness Act (AAA), a bipartisan bill drafted in response to growing anti-Semitism in the United States.
She was also a leader with IfNotNow (INN) in 2018.
In the Fall of 2018, Saul published a thesis on contemporary anti-Semitism, in which she called on white “Jewish Americans… to be active accomplices in the liberation of all peoples, from the United States to Palestine, from the river to the sea.”
As of January 2020, Saul’s Linkedin page said that she received a bachelor’s degree from Swarthmore in Spanish and Peace and Conflict Studies, in 2019.
Her LinkedIn also said she was an “Assistant Educator” at SolBe Learning and a Hebrew teacher at Temple Shalom of Newton, in Newton, Massachusetts, since September 2019.
Her LinkedIn page also said she was a “Digital Media Fellow” at the Zinn Education Project, since September 2018, and that she interned for INN from May to July 2017.
In 2017, Saul travelled to Israel as part of a Swarthmore Israeli-Palestinian Conflict course taught by anti-Israel professor Sa’ed Atshan.
Swarthmore SJP Divestment Campaign
On October 9, 2018, Saul helped lead [00:00:09] a Swarthmore SJP rally to launch a campus divestment resolution. The resolution called on Swarthmore to divest from a number of companies doing business with Israel.At the rally, Saul said [00:00:58]: “We also know that colonization is ongoing… we want to recognize what is going on right now in Palestine as we speak… the violence of 1948 did not end in 1948.”
Saul led [00:01:59] the crowd in a moment of silence to “reflect on everything that’s happening from here to Palestine.”
Saul indicated on Facebook that she “went” to Swarthmore SJP’s November 20, 2018 event “SJP Teach in.” The event description called on students to “Come join us for a community teach in on our BDS campaign at Swarthmore! We have amassed over 800 signatures from community members, help us reach 1000 and learn more!”
On October 24, 2018, Swarthmore student newspaper “Voices” published a statement by Swarthmore SJP. The statement accused seven companies of being engaged in the “murder” of Palestinian civilians” and “the indiscriminate targeting of civilians.”
On December 12, 2018, Saul filmed and shared to Facebook a Swarthmore SJP rally where activists reportedly delivered a petition to Swarthmore President Valerie Smith, urging Swarthmore to “divest from Israeli apartheid.”
In the video, Saul addressed Smith, saying [00:01:02] that “If she supports BDS, we’re here to support her!” An SJP activist called [00:04:43] the protest “the biggest mobilization we’ve had in the history of SJP.”
Protesters at the rally chanted [00:06:00] “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free” and gave testimonials for every “100 signatures.”
“From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free” is a chant calling to dismantle the State of Israel. It has also been employed by Hamas leader Khaled Mashal to call for the replacement of Israel with an Islamic state.
In February 2019, Swarthmore SJP proposed their BDS resolution to Swarthmore’s Student Government Organization (SGO). On February 10, 2019, the BDS resolution failed to pass.
On February 11, 2019, Saul co-launched a chapter of JVP at Swarthmore with fellow Swarthmore SJP activist, Sydney Covitz.Saul was quoted in a Swarthmore student newspaper saying: “JVP is committed to organizing as Jewish Americans to fight and dismantle all forms of oppression, whether it be anti-semitism or islamophobia in the U.S., or whether it be the occupation and apartheid in Israel Palestine.”
On February 24, 2019, the SGO Executive Board and Senate reportedly hosted an open meeting on the failed BDS resolution, where Saul spoke on behalf of Swarthmore JVP.
Saul was quoted saying: “We thought it would be important to speak on our own as well as to fully support SJP’s BDS campaign using our positionality as Jews on campus.”
On March 3, 2019, the SGO held another meeting inviting student groups to again discuss the BDS resolution. SGO’s President Gilbert Orbea motioned to hold a vote among members on whether to make the meeting closed, that succeeded, after which SGO held a secret vote. At the secret vote, the SGO voted in support of the divestment resolution.
On March 12, 2018, President Smith released a statement to Swarthmore’s website in which she declined to change Swarthmore’s investment policies in accordance with the BDS resolution.
Swarthmore SJP -Boycotting Sabra Hummus
Saul promoted Swarthmore SJP’s 2018 campaign to boycott Sabra Hummus.In March 2018, Swarthmore SJP released a petition calling for an end to the sale of Sabra products at campus locations. Sabra Hummus is partially owned by an Israeli company, the Strauss Group.
The petition accused Sabra of supporting Israeli forces who commit “countless human rights violations,” including “arbitrary murders, assaults, incarcerations, evictions, and arrests of children.”
On March 3, 2018, Saul shared a photo on Facebook of a Sabra hummus container with the text: “Don’t buy into Israeli human right abuses: End The Sale Of Sabra Products.”
Saul commented: “It is morally unacceptable that Swarthmore should continue to support the international human rights violations of the Golani Brigade and Israeli Apartheid at large. By selling Sabra, Swarthmore is an accessory to the occupation of Palestine.”
Saul continued with a call to “deshelve all current Sabra products and end their future sale at Swarthmore College." The post linked to a petition to urge the boycott of Sabra products.
On March 21, 2018, Saul co-wrote an article with INN activist Marissa Cohen titled: “No Jewish Liberation with Israeli Occupation.” The article praised and promoted Swarthmore SJP’s Sabra boycott.
On April 4, 2018, Swarthmore SJP held a rally to express support for SJP members slated to meet with Swarthmore President Valerie Smith to push the Sabra boycott.
Saul indicated on Facebook that she “went” to Swarthmore SJP’s April 5, 2018, “SJP Open Meeting/Sabra Rally Follow-up.” The event description stated: “Come debrief about Wednesday's rally, hear updates on SJP's meeting with President Smith, and get involved with the campaign!!!”
In an April 12, 2018 article titled: “SJP Sabra Boycott Gains Traction,” Saul was quoted saying that a meeting was scheduled between members of SJP, Swarthmore President Valerie Smith, and Vice President of Finance Greg Brown to “discuss plans for a halt on the sale of Sabra Hummus on campus.”
On April 30, 2018, President Smith announced that Swarthmore would continue to sell Sabra products on campus and begin selling an alternative brand of hummus.
On May 2, 2018, Saul promoted to Facebook a Swarthmore SJP rally titled “SJP Apartheid Wall Rally,” aimed at halting the sale of Sabra Hummus on campus.
In her Facebook post, Saul quoted fellow Swarthmore SJP member Özsu Rişvanoğlu stating: “‘By selling Sabra, Swarthmore is an accessory to the occupation of Palestine. And by celebrating dialogue without taking meaningful action, President Smith's email is nothing more than empty talk.’”
In a May 3, 2018 article titled: “President Smith rejects Sabra boycott, SJP responds,” Saul was quoted saying: “On a personal level, I was deeply frustrated and disappointed with the email.”
Supporting Terrorists
On May 6, 2017, Saul was tagged in a Swarthmore SPJP Facebook participating in a “Saltwater Challenge.”Whitewashing Violent Protesters
On May 14, 2018, Saul shared an article on Facebook titled: “Gaza Killings: The names of the people shot dead by Israeli forces on Monday.”Saul commented: “there are no words for the absolute disgust i feel in my heart. if anyone on campus needs some snacks or a quiet place to color and decompress, message me.”
Saul indicated on Facebook that she “went” to a March 30, 2019 event titled: “Vigil for Gaza's Great March of Return,” hosted by Swarthmore SJP.
The event’s Facebook description called on participants to “Honor the lives of those murdered by Israeli military forces” on the “1-year anniversary of the ongoing Great March of Return, a series of massive nonviolent demonstrations.”
Opposing the Anti-Semitism Awareness Act
On April 3, 2019, Saul signed and shared to Facebook a JVP-authored petition that opposed the Anti-Semitism Awareness Act (AAA) of 2019.The AAA was introduced to the U.S. Senate in March 2019 and directed the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) to use the U.S. State Department’s definition of anti-Semitism when evaluating hostile environment complaints.
JVP’s petition described the bill as the “the Silencing Students Act."
Saul wrote: “The so-called ‘Antisemitism Awareness Act’ — aka the Silencing Students Act — is back in the Senate. This act would mandate the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights to utilize an extremely problematic definition of anti-Semitism when investigating college campuses."
Saul continued: “Because this is theoretically being done ‘to protect’ Jewish college students, we are circulating a petition among Jewish students to unequivocally reject this attack on free speech. Please sign and share widely! #FreeSpeechForFreePalestine #NotInOurName #NotMyJudaism."
JVP’s petition urged the U.S. Senate to reject the bill and “instead to take meaningful action to combat anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, anti-immigrant sentiment, and other forms of bigotry."
Anti-Israel Activism
On March 19, 2019, Saul posted a flyer for Israel Apartheid Week (IAW) to Facebook with the caption: “Join Swarthmore SJP over the next two weeks as part of Israeli Apartheid Week! #FreePalestine.”On April 12, 2018, Saul was a featured speaker at an Swarthmore SJP event titled: “On Anti-Semitism: A Student Panel.”
The event’s Facebook description said that Swarthmore SJP activists would answer questions such as: “How can we understand the conflation of Anti-Semitism and Anti-Zionism? What does all of this have to do with Jewish identity, the Occupation of Palestine, and the interconnection of these oppressions?”
Swarthmore Thesis
In the Fall of 2018, Saul presented her thesis titled: “Where Do We Go From Here? Anti-Semitism and Solidarity Organizing in the United States”to the Faculty of the Peace & Conflict Studies Prorgam at Swarthmore.In her “Acknowledgements” Saul thanked her adviser, Dr. Sa’ed Atshan, Assistant Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies at Swarthmore, for his “unwavering support, guidance, and commitment to my personal and academic growth.”
Atshan has praised inciters of violence and blamed Israel for Palestinian honor killings and persecution of LGBTQ+ people within Palestinian society.
In her thesis, Saul asked: “By better understanding anti-Semitism, how can we as Jewish Americans work to both hold our own community institutions accountable and ourselves remain accountable to those we are in solidarity with in the fight for justice and dignity for all?”
As part of her research, Saul conducted interviews with academics, organizers, including Adalah-NY organizer, Hannah Mermelstein, INN co-founder and organizerEmma Saltzberg, JVP Education Manager, Tallie Ben Daniel and journalists such as Phil Weiss, founder and co-editor of Mondoweiss on the current state of anti-Semitism in the United States.
In her thesis, Saul wrote: "I believe that the way we have traditionally understood anti-Semitism-as natural, eternal, and disconnected from other systems of violence; as defined by and limited to the experience of white Ashkenazi Jews; as well as conflated with any criticism of the State of Israel-is incomplete and ultimately dangerous."
Saul concluded: “Ultimately, I believe that it is absolutely necessary for (white) Jewish Americans to engage in not only deep self reflection but also direct action to truly liberate ourselves and to be active accomplices in the liberation of all peoples, from the United States to Palestine, from the river to the sea.”
Swarthmore SJP
Swarthmore SJP was formerly known as Swarthmore Students for Peace and Justice in Palestine (Swarthmore SPJP) from 2010-2017.Swarthmore SJP - Expressing Support for Terrorists
On March 26, 2019, Swarthmore SJP posted on Facebook in honor of Women’s History Month, celebrating “the resistance and resilience” of Khalida Jarrar as “a Palestinian feminist.”Khalida Jarrar is a senior member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terror organization. In 2017, Israel arrested Jarrar “on suspicion of involvement with terrorist activities.” In 2015, an Israeli military court sentenced Jarrar to 15 months in prison for calling to kidnap Israeli soldiers.
On March 24, 2019, Swarthmore SJP posted to Facebook celebrating Leila Khaled in honor of Women’s History Month.
Khaled, a leading member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terrorist organization, participated in the hijacking of TWA Flight 840 in 1969 and El Al Flight 219 in 1970.
On May 6, 2017, Swarthmore SPJP posted a video to Facebook of SPJP members taking part in the “Saltwater Challenge.”
The “Saltwater Challenge” was held in solidarity with over 1,000 Palestinian prisoners hunger-striking in Israeli prisons — most of whom were convicted for acts of terrorism.
The strike was initiated by Marwan Barghouti, who was serving five consecutive life sentences for his role in suicide bombings and shooting attacks during the second intifada. Barghouti led the Palestinian Authority (PA) terrorist Tanzim force and founded the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades.
Barghouti also financed the guitar-case bomb used in the Sbarro Cafe massacre, where 15 civilians were killed and 130 injured.
Swarthmore SJP - Promoting Anti-Israel Agitators
On March 28, 2019, Swarthmore SJP posted to Facebook celebrating Manal Tamimi in honor of Women’s History Month.Manal Tamimi has promoted anti-Semitic blood libels as well as terror support.
On September 21, 2018, Swarthmore SJP posted to Facebook promoting Dareen Tatour. In October 2015, Tatour was placed under house arrest for incitement to violence and for support of a terrorist organization on social media.
On March 19, 2018, Swarthmore SJP hosted anti-Israel activist David Sheen.
David Sheen, a Canadian-Israeli anti-Israel activist and filmmaker, works to portray Israel as an extremist racist state. To this end, Sheen has been accused of purposefully mistranslating Hebrew articles and advertisements to make Israelis appear racist.
Swarthmore SJP - Supporting Violent Protesters
On March 30, 2019, Swarthmore SJP held a “Vigil for Gaza's Great March of Return.” The event’s Facebook description called to “Honor the lives of those murdered by Israeli military forces” on the “1-year anniversary of the ongoing Great March of Return, a series of massive nonviolent demonstrations.”On March 30, 2018, some 30,000 Palestinians in Gaza approached Israel’s border to take part in “Land Day Protests” or the “March of Return.” The March of Return was organized and funded by Hamas as a campaign of violent protests along Israel’s border to spotlight the demand of Palestinians to “return” to Israel.
On May 17, 2018, Swarthmore SJP posted to Facebook: “for the past month and a half - and increasingly in the past couple of days - the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have been massacring Palestinians in Gaza who are nonviolently protesting for their rights. Over 100 demonstrators have been killed and thousands injured, among them a number of children, most by trained snipers with explicit orders to kill.”
On May 16, 2018, Hamas senior official Salah al-Bardawil stated that 50 out of 62 Gaza border protesters killed on May 14 were in fact Hamas operatives. Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) later claimed that three of its members were also killed at the May 14 protest.
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.
JVP
JVP was founded in Berkeley, California in 1996, as an activist group with an emphasis on the “Jewish tradition” of peace, social justice and human rights. The organization is currently led by Rebecca Vilkomerson and its board members include Israel critics Naomi Klein, Judith Butler, Noam Chomsky and Tony Kushner.
JVP, which generally employs civil disobedience tactics to disrupt pro-Israel speakers and events, consists of American Jews and non-Jewish “allies” highly critical of Israeli policies. A staunch supporter of the BDS movement, JVP claims to aim its campaigns at companies that either support the Israeli military (Hewlett-Packard) or are active in the West Bank (SodaStream).
Although several Jewish groups critical of Israeli policies, like J Street and Partners for a Progressive Israel, make efforts to operate within the mainstream American Jewish community, JVP functions outside. The group is often criticized for serving as a tokenized Jewish voice for the pro-Palestinian camp and is widely regarded as the BDS movement’s “Jewish wing.”
JVP denies the notion of “Jewish peoplehood” and has even gone so far as to refer to its own Ashkenazi (Jews who spent the Diaspora in European countries) leadership as “white supremacy inside of JVP.”
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has accused JVP of being “the largest and most influential Jewish anti-Zionist group in the United States,” and said the group “exploits Jewish culture and rituals to reassure its own supporters that opposition to Israel not only does not contradict, but is actually consistent with, Jewish value.”
The ADL also claimed that “JVP consistently co-sponsors rallies to oppose Israeli military policy that are marked by signs and slogans comparing Israel to Nazi Germany, demonizing Jews and voicing support for groups like Hamas and Hezbollah.”
According to the ADL website, JVP “uses its Jewish identity to shield the anti-Israel movement from allegations of anti-Semitism and provide it with a greater degree of legitimacy and credibility.”
IfNotNow (INN)
INN claims to be “young Jews angered by the overwhelmingly hawkish response of American Jewish institutions” to OPE. INN presents three demands on its website: “Stop the War on Gaza, End the Occupation, and Freedom and Dignity for All.”
INN defines “the Occupation as the military rule over Palestinians in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza,” which is land Israel has controlled for nearly 50 years since the 1967 Six-Day War. However, INN leaders have made [00:34:32] the claim [00:13:49] at protests that the occupation is 70 years long, referring to Israel’s founding in 1948.
INN actions have aimed to demonize [00:38:13] Israel, harass [00:05:44] mainstream American Jewish organizations like the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and decrease support for Israel among American Jews.
INN has used “public action and imaginative ritual” to achieve its goals, including disruptions where activists were arrested.
One of the high-profile arrests occurred at a May 2018 disruption at a U.S. Senator’s office in Washington, D.C. to protest legislation against the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.
At the same incident, INN used [00:07:17] the Jewish ritual of the Mourner’s Kaddish prayer to mourn [00:09:10] protesters who were killed during the Hamas-organized and funded Great March of Return riots on the Israel-Gaza border.
INN activists have also staged and promoted walk-offs from Birthright Israel trips, a heritage trip to Israel for young Jewish adults from across the world.
INN claims to take no position on the BDS movement and that it is “open to any who seek to shift the American Jewish public away from the status quo that upholds the Occupation.” However, INN organizes with pro-BDS, anti-Israel organizations including American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP).
Social Media and Weblinks
Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/100001238776626Twitter:https://twitter.com/abbysaul [Private]
LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/abby-saul/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/abbysaul2/ [Private]
