Ahlam Ashkar
Overview
Ahlam Ashkar promoted the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement at the University of Maryland (UMD), in 2019. Ashkar has also spread hatred of Israel on Twitter and on campus.As of July 2019, Ashkar’s LinkedIn page said she was the “President” of the Muslim Alliance for Social Change (MASC) at UMD, since August 2018. MASC UMD was a supporter of a BDS bill initiated by Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at UMD, in 2019.
As of July 2019, Ashkar’s LinkedIn page said she was a Public Health Science student at UMD from 2016-2020, and a Sports Medicine Intern at UMD since August 2018. She has been an intern at MCH-Learn since May 2019.
Ashkar’s LinkedIn page also said she was on the Transitional Volunteer Care Team at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center since June 2018, as well as a “Volunteer” at the ED & Wound Care Center at UM Laurel Regional Hospital, since October 2017.
Promoting BDS
On April 25, 2019, Ashkar was featured [03:17:13] in a Facebook video posted by the UMD Student Government Association (SGA), urging the SGA to pass a bill in support of BDS, launched by Divest UMD.Divest UMD is a campaign that calls on UMD to divest from companies that do business with Israel.
Ashkar said [03:17:19]: “As a Palestinian, ensuring the success of this initiative is vital. I know what it’s like to live under the Israeli, Zionist oppression. I know what it’s like to be walking through the checkpoint with a shotgun pointed right at me, at my mother, at my father, and my siblings.”
Ashkar continued [03:17:34]: “Any abnormal behavior results in nothing but death. It is dehumanizing. It is humiliating. But nonetheless, it works. They get pleasure out of this. The IDF gets pleasure out of this, but that's not something to be proud of.
Ashkar added [03:18:12]: “I hope you guys vote for this BDS bill and if you don’t we’ll be back again, and again, and again, you will not shut us out!”
Divest UMD is a campaign initiated by UMD student organizations, including SJP UMD and UMD MASC, that calls on UMD to divest from companies that do business with Israel.
On April 25, 2019, Divest UMD announced on Facebook that following a UMD student government vote, the BDS bill failed to pass with “a vote of 9 for, 25 against, and 2 abstentions.”
Spreading Hatred of Israel
On August 8, 2015, Ashkar tweeted: “‘It's not a war when the other side does not have an army. It's called a holocaust.’ #FreePalestine.”Ashkar retweeted an April 16, 2019 tweet that read: “Masjid AlAqsa is 128 years older than Notre Dame, one of Islams holiest sites, and is literally under attack all the time. It was burning the same night the Cathedral, but no one gives a shit cause it's in Palestine.”
Ashkar retweeted an October 11, 2018 tweet that read: “The truth behind this photo: Israeli media used this photo of an Israeli soldier giving water to an elderly Palestinian woman... what they didn’t report was moments later the soldier shot the 74 year old woman in the back of the head and left her to bleed to death.”
The tweet referred to a libelous photo, circulated online, claiming that an Israeli soldier gave a 74-year-old Palestinian woman water before shooting her in the head.
Ashkar retweeted a September 7, 2018 tweet by Omar Silwadi, that featured a cartoon of someone lifting up his shoe with a speech bubble that read: “Damn! I stepped in some crap…” A second image shows an Israeli flag on the bottom of his shoe.
Omar Silwadi [Omar Abdalla] has spread anti-Semitism on social media.
In July 2015, Silwadi tweeted: “They should use a Jew as the subway mascot, nose big enough to be a five dollar foot long.”
Ashkar retweeted another tweet by Silwadi, posted on March 20, 2017, that read: “Israel” in reply to a tweet that read: “type ‘trash’ with your eyes closed.”
Spreading Hatred of Israel on Campus
On May 14, 2019, SJP UMD shared a group photo on Instagram that featured Ashkar alongside SJP UMD activists. The caption on the photo read: “Last week, we boycotted Israel Fest and held a teach-in about Palestinian human rights! #boycottisraelfest #freepalestine.”“Israel Fest” at UMD is an annual campus event designed “to celebrate and educate students on Israeli culture,” hosted by the Jewish Student Union.
On May 11, 2019, SJP UMD reportedly held a teach-in to “boycott the annual celebration of Israel Fest.” SJP UMD’s teach-in involved activists gathering by a mock “Israeli Apartheid Wall” and chanting: “Displacing lives since ‘48, nothing here to celebrate!”
Ashkar retweeted a May 2, 2019 Divest UMD tweet that read: “BOYCOTT ISRAEL FEST! Instead, attend SJP’s teach-in to learn more about how you can support human rights! When: 3pm on May 9th, 2019 Where: Mckeldin Steps
#BoycottIsraelFest.”
The tweet linked to a Facebook event page co-organized by SJP UMD titled: “Boycott Israel Fest & Palestine Teach-In” on May 9, 2019.
The Facebook event page description said: “This year, choose NOT to be complicit in apartheid, genocide, and the illegal occupation of Palestine. Instead of normalizing Palestinian oppression, SJP is calling for a boycott of Israel Fest by the UMD community.”
The description continued: “What do we mean by boycott? ⁃ Walk around the festival instead of through ⁃ Refuse to take flyers and materials that are handed out ⁃ Refuse to take part in the activities (includes camel ride)...”
SJP UMD - Supporting Terrorists
On April 8, 2018, SJP UMD shared a photo on Instagram of Ghassan Kanafani and wrote: “Today is the birthday of legendary Palestinian author and PFLP member Ghassan Kanafani (1936-72).”Kanafani was a leading member and spokesperson for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) during the terrorist organization’s early years. Kanafani announced the PFLP’s responsibility for the Lod Airport Massacre of May 1972 and was linked to the airport attackers. The attack killed 26 people and wounded 80 others.
On March 9, 2018, SJP UMD shared a poster on Instagram produced by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and wrote: “Poster of the First Martyr of the Intifada #sjp #intifada.”
The caption on the poster read: “Hatem Al Sesi First Martyr of the Intifada for Freedom and Independence.”
Hatem al-Sisi was killed after he reportedly attemptedto drop a homemade bomb on an Israeli military vehicle during the first intifada.
On the same day, SJP UMD shared another PFLP poster on Instagram and wrote: “Today is Martyr’s day A day to remember all who sacrificed themselves for their people and for human rights #sjp.”
SJP UMD - Promoting Anti-Israel Agitators
On February 14, 2019, SJP UMD shared a group photo on Instagram featuring activists standing in front of a blackboard with “#IStandWithIlhan” written on it.SJP UMD commented: “UMD SJP supports Rep. Ilhan Omar in calling out AIPAC’s role in influencing US policy towards apartheid Israel! #istandwithilhan.”
On March 7, 2019, SJP UMD shared a group photo on Instagram of SJP activists with Eran Efrati, holding a Palestinian flag.
SJP UMD commented: “It was eye-opening and intriguing to hear from Eran Efrati about the deadly exchange between US Police forces and the Israeli Defense Forces! #freepalestine.”
Eran Efrati is an executive board member of Researching the Israeli American Alliance (RIAA) and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP).
RAIA, in partnership with JVP, produced the Deadly Exchange report, which claimed to reveal “the extent of massive training programs between U.S. law enforcement and Israeli police, military, and the Shin Bet.”
In 2017, JVP launched the “Deadly Exchange (DX)” campaign, which accused American Jewish organizations of promoting human rights abuses. JVP also released a video that blamed [00:04:04] U.S.-based Jewish organizations for violence that occurs against Black and Brown communities, immigrants and activists in the U.S.
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.
