Afia Khan
Overview
Afia Khan promoted an anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) campaign at Stanford University (Stanford) and was affiliated with Stanford Out of Occupied Palestine (SOOP) from 2014 to 2015.
As of 2015, SOOP was reportedly a coalition of 19 student groups campaigning for Stanford to “divest from corporations profiting from human rights abuses in occupied Palestine.” The campaign was initiated [00:12:16] by Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) Stanford.
As of May 2020, SOOP’s Facebook page said its mission was “To end Stanford's investments in corporations which profit from the Israeli Occupation of the Palestinian Territories.”
As of May 2020, Khan’s LinkedIn page said she was studying for a Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine (UChicago Pritzker), slated to graduate in 2020. It also said she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Stanford in 2016.
Promoting Divestment at Stanford
Khan co-signed a SOOP op-ed, published on October 26, 2014, in The Stanford Daily student newspaper, titled: “Stanford must divest from the occupation of Palestine” that suggested Israel’s Operation Protective Edge (OPE) was not self-defense.
Israel commenced OPE in July 2014 to stop rocket fire targeting Israeli civilians and to destroy Hamas attack tunnels.
SOOP published a BDS resolution on January 27, 2015, that called on Stanford to divest from companies it claimed “violate international humanitarian law by: maintaining the illegal infrastructure of the Israeli occupation…facilitating Israel and Egypt’s collective punishment of Palestinian civilians…[and] facilitating state repression against Palestinians.”
Khan wrote an article for the Stanford Review, that was published on February 5, 2015, in support of SOOP’s divestment campaign, titled: “For the Skeptics: Why Divest?”
Khan claimed it was a “misconception” that SOOP were “asking our peers to indict a nation, to divest from the state of Israel” or that the campaign took “a stance on the global Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement.”
Her article also dismissed concerns: “... that by divesting, Stanford will delegitimize Israel, marginalize Jewish students, and fragment our community.”
Khan described organizations targeted by the campaign as “corporations complicit in state-sponsored repression” that included “unjust incarceration, disproportionate force against protesters, and torture.”
Khan also suggested that Israel was using “security concerns” to “legitimize punishing the innocent.”
On February 7, 2015, Khan shared her February 5, 2015 Stanford Daily article to Facebook and encouraged readers to sign SOOP’s Divest petition. Khan was the 13th person to sign.
The petition called on the Stanford University Board of Trustees to divest from companies that it claimed were “complicit in the infrastructure of occupation, collective punishment, state-sponsored repression, and unjust incarceration in Palestine.”
Khan wrote in her Facebook post that deciding on divestment was “deciding whether you want to take a stance for human rights--or choose to continue being complicit in a structure of occupation that systematically violates those rights.”
Khan featured [00:01:29] as President of Stanford’s Muslim Student Awareness Network (MSAN), in a video posted on February 9, 2015 to YouTube by SOOP member Tefan Yusuf. In the video, various Stanford student groups expressed [00:03:59] their support for SOOP’s BDS campaign.
Also on February 9, 2015, Khan set her Facebook profile picture to an image promoting SOOP’s campaign and the details of the Stanford Undergraduate Senate hearing where the Senate would vote on SOOP’s BDS resolution.
The SOOP BDS resolution initially failed [00:00:42] at the Senate hearing on February 10, 2015, but was later brought forward in a motion calling for a re-vote and passed on February 17, 2015.
Later, on April 14, 2015, the Stanford Board of Trustees announced that it would take no action based on the SOOP BDS Resolution, despite an SJP Stanford request for the Board to do so.
In accordance with the board’s Statement on Investment Responsibility, the board said in its statement on the resolution that they focused on “questions of divisiveness and negative impact” and determined that acting on the request would be “likely to impair the capacity of the University to carry out its educational mission.”
The campaign was initiated [00:12:16] by Stanford Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and promoted on social media under the hashtag “#Stanford Divest.”
As of January 2020, SOOP’s Facebook page said its mission was “To end Stanford's investments in corporations which profit from the Israeli Occupation of the Palestinian Territories.”
SOOP has reportedly stated that it is not connected to the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement and is focused on “selective divestment.” However, the coalition has reportedly disseminated BDS materials and promoted a video that solicited donations for BDS.
The resolution, titled: “A Resolution to Divest from Companies Violating Human Rights in Occupied Palestine,” was co-authored by Ramah Awad, SOOP leader and co-president of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at Stanford (SJP Stanford) at the time and then-members of SOOP, Clayton Evans, Laura Perez and Emma Hartung.
The resolution called for Stanford University Trustees to divest from companies that it alleged: “violate international humanitarian law by: maintaining the illegal infrastructure of the Israeli occupation.”
The resolution also called for divestment from companies it claimed facilitates Israel’s “collective punishment of Palestinian civilians…[and] state repression against Palestinians.”
On February 8, 2015, The Stanford Review, a student-run political magazine reported that the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings showed no evidence that Stanford has been invested in any of the companies that SOOP targeted for divestment over the last ten years, with the exception of Raytheon, for one filing period.
The resolution initially failed [00:00:42] to garner the required 66% majority senate approval, in a vote held on February 10, 2015.
Senate Chair Ana Ordonez then brought forward a motion calling for a re-vote. Ordonez reportedly initially abstained from voting and was later quoted in the student newspaper, the Stanford Daily, as saying: “Now that the noise has subsided, I know that I voted incorrectly.”
Ordonez voted in favor of the resolution in the re-vote, which passed on February 17, 2015. However, the Stanford Board of Trustees later announced on April 14, 2015, that Stanford would take no action on SJP’s request.
In accordance with the board’s Statement on Investment Responsibility, the board said in its statement on the resolution that they focused on “questions of divisiveness and negative impact” and determined that acting on the request would be “likely to impair the capacity of the University to carry out its educational mission.”
The video featured members of student groups, including [00:03:38] SJP Stanford, expressing why they support “#StanfordDivest.” Ramah Awad, SOOP leader and co-president of SJP Stanford at the time, said [00:03:45]: “We recognize divestment as one step on that path to liberation.”
On January 23, 2015, SOOP posted a photo album on Facebook titled: “Human of ‘Out of Occupied Palestine,’” which featured photos of Stanford students holding posters with anti-Israel messages and showing support for #StanfordDivest.
One photo showed a student holding a sign which read: “I support divestment because collective punishment is a war crime.” Another sign read: “There are better & more commendable ways to fiscally profit that doesn’t contribute to the displacement & exploitation of human lives.”
On January 21, 2015, SOOP reportedly organized a panel discussion to promote its BDS petition, which called for Stanford’s divestment from corporations that allegedly “facilitate human rights violations in Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian Territories.”
On January 9, 2015, SOOP published a Youtube video titled: “FilasteenFridays: Collective Punishment in the Palestinian Territories.” The video urged Stanford students to support their BDS campaign as “the only way to show true moral neutrality.”
On January 8, 2015, SOOP hosted an informational event titled: “Case for Divestment from the Occupation of Palestine.”
The event’s Facebook description said it would include an explanation of SOOP’s “divestment criteria, followed by a moderated discussion with some of the campaign organizers.”
Israel commenced OPE in July 2014 to stop rocket fire targeting Israeli civilians and to destroy Hamas attack tunnels.
SOOP published a BDS resolution on January 27, 2015, that called on Stanford to divest from companies it claimed “violate international humanitarian law by: maintaining the illegal infrastructure of the Israeli occupation…facilitating Israel and Egypt’s collective punishment of Palestinian civilians…[and] facilitating state repression against Palestinians.”
Khan wrote an article for the Stanford Review, that was published on February 5, 2015, in support of SOOP’s divestment campaign, titled: “For the Skeptics: Why Divest?”
Khan claimed it was a “misconception” that SOOP were “asking our peers to indict a nation, to divest from the state of Israel” or that the campaign took “a stance on the global Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement.”
Her article also dismissed concerns: “... that by divesting, Stanford will delegitimize Israel, marginalize Jewish students, and fragment our community.”
Khan described organizations targeted by the campaign as “corporations complicit in state-sponsored repression” that included “unjust incarceration, disproportionate force against protesters, and torture.”
Khan also suggested that Israel was using “security concerns” to “legitimize punishing the innocent.”
On February 7, 2015, Khan shared her February 5, 2015 Stanford Daily article to Facebook and encouraged readers to sign SOOP’s Divest petition. Khan was the 13th person to sign.
The petition called on the Stanford University Board of Trustees to divest from companies that it claimed were “complicit in the infrastructure of occupation, collective punishment, state-sponsored repression, and unjust incarceration in Palestine.”
Khan wrote in her Facebook post that deciding on divestment was “deciding whether you want to take a stance for human rights--or choose to continue being complicit in a structure of occupation that systematically violates those rights.”
Khan featured [00:01:29] as President of Stanford’s Muslim Student Awareness Network (MSAN), in a video posted on February 9, 2015 to YouTube by SOOP member Tefan Yusuf. In the video, various Stanford student groups expressed [00:03:59] their support for SOOP’s BDS campaign.
Also on February 9, 2015, Khan set her Facebook profile picture to an image promoting SOOP’s campaign and the details of the Stanford Undergraduate Senate hearing where the Senate would vote on SOOP’s BDS resolution.
The SOOP BDS resolution initially failed [00:00:42] at the Senate hearing on February 10, 2015, but was later brought forward in a motion calling for a re-vote and passed on February 17, 2015.
Later, on April 14, 2015, the Stanford Board of Trustees announced that it would take no action based on the SOOP BDS Resolution, despite an SJP Stanford request for the Board to do so.
In accordance with the board’s Statement on Investment Responsibility, the board said in its statement on the resolution that they focused on “questions of divisiveness and negative impact” and determined that acting on the request would be “likely to impair the capacity of the University to carry out its educational mission.”
SOOP #Stanford Divest
Stanford Out of Occupied Palestine (SOOP) was reportedly a coalition of 19 student groups campaigning for Stanford University (Stanford) to “divest from corporations profiting from human rights abuses in occupied Palestine.”The campaign was initiated [00:12:16] by Stanford Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and promoted on social media under the hashtag “#Stanford Divest.”
As of January 2020, SOOP’s Facebook page said its mission was “To end Stanford's investments in corporations which profit from the Israeli Occupation of the Palestinian Territories.”
SOOP has reportedly stated that it is not connected to the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement and is focused on “selective divestment.” However, the coalition has reportedly disseminated BDS materials and promoted a video that solicited donations for BDS.
SOOP - 2015 Divestment Campaign
In February 2015, members of SOOP presented a petition and a divestment resolution to the Associated Students of Stanford University (ASSU) Undergraduate Senate to further the agenda of the Boycott, Divestment Sanctions (BDS) movement.The resolution, titled: “A Resolution to Divest from Companies Violating Human Rights in Occupied Palestine,” was co-authored by Ramah Awad, SOOP leader and co-president of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at Stanford (SJP Stanford) at the time and then-members of SOOP, Clayton Evans, Laura Perez and Emma Hartung.
The resolution called for Stanford University Trustees to divest from companies that it alleged: “violate international humanitarian law by: maintaining the illegal infrastructure of the Israeli occupation.”
The resolution also called for divestment from companies it claimed facilitates Israel’s “collective punishment of Palestinian civilians…[and] state repression against Palestinians.”
On February 8, 2015, The Stanford Review, a student-run political magazine reported that the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings showed no evidence that Stanford has been invested in any of the companies that SOOP targeted for divestment over the last ten years, with the exception of Raytheon, for one filing period.
The resolution initially failed [00:00:42] to garner the required 66% majority senate approval, in a vote held on February 10, 2015.
Senate Chair Ana Ordonez then brought forward a motion calling for a re-vote. Ordonez reportedly initially abstained from voting and was later quoted in the student newspaper, the Stanford Daily, as saying: “Now that the noise has subsided, I know that I voted incorrectly.”
Ordonez voted in favor of the resolution in the re-vote, which passed on February 17, 2015. However, the Stanford Board of Trustees later announced on April 14, 2015, that Stanford would take no action on SJP’s request.
In accordance with the board’s Statement on Investment Responsibility, the board said in its statement on the resolution that they focused on “questions of divisiveness and negative impact” and determined that acting on the request would be “likely to impair the capacity of the University to carry out its educational mission.”
SOOP - Promoting BDS
On February 10, 2015, SOOP promoted a BDS Youtube video on Facebook, titled: “Stanford Student Groups Support #StanfordDivest.”The video featured members of student groups, including [00:03:38] SJP Stanford, expressing why they support “#StanfordDivest.” Ramah Awad, SOOP leader and co-president of SJP Stanford at the time, said [00:03:45]: “We recognize divestment as one step on that path to liberation.”
On January 23, 2015, SOOP posted a photo album on Facebook titled: “Human of ‘Out of Occupied Palestine,’” which featured photos of Stanford students holding posters with anti-Israel messages and showing support for #StanfordDivest.
One photo showed a student holding a sign which read: “I support divestment because collective punishment is a war crime.” Another sign read: “There are better & more commendable ways to fiscally profit that doesn’t contribute to the displacement & exploitation of human lives.”
On January 21, 2015, SOOP reportedly organized a panel discussion to promote its BDS petition, which called for Stanford’s divestment from corporations that allegedly “facilitate human rights violations in Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian Territories.”
On January 9, 2015, SOOP published a Youtube video titled: “FilasteenFridays: Collective Punishment in the Palestinian Territories.” The video urged Stanford students to support their BDS campaign as “the only way to show true moral neutrality.”
On January 8, 2015, SOOP hosted an informational event titled: “Case for Divestment from the Occupation of Palestine.”
The event’s Facebook description said it would include an explanation of SOOP’s “divestment criteria, followed by a moderated discussion with some of the campaign organizers.”
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.
Social Media and Weblinks
Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/1614743773LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/afia-khan-24a51b87
Blog: http://www.afiathinks.com
- Status:
- Student
- University:
- Stanford
- Organizations:
- BDS,
- SJP,
- more...
- SOOP
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- Last Modified:
- 06/23/2025
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