Alaina Taylor
Overview
Alaina Taylor has expressed support for terrorists as an activist with Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement at George Washington University (GWU).Taylor promoted [00:02:24] the 2018 BDS campaign run by SJP at GWU activists, under the tagline #DivestThisTime.
She is also affiliated with the anti-Israel CODEPINK organization.
As of January 2019, Taylor’s LinkedIn page said she was attending American University Washington College of Law from 2018 - 2021 and that she graduated from GWU in 2018, with a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Government.
In July 2018, Taylor used the alias “Laina Tay” on Facebook. As of January 2019, she used the name “Alaina Taylor” on Facebook.
Expressing Support for Terrorists
On May 12, 2017, Taylor appeared [00:00:53] in a Facebook video with SJP at GWU activists participating in the “Saltwater Challenge” in support of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jail.BDS Activism
On April 23, 2018, Taylor spoke [01:17:42] before the GWU Student Association (SA) in favor of an anti-Israel BDS resolution associated with the #DivestThisTime campaign, where she repeatedly demonized the Israeli-Egyptian blockade of Gaza.The United Nations approved [pp. 39–41] the Israeli-Egyptian blockade of Gaza in 2011 as a security measure to stop Hamas from acquiring sophisticated rockets. Multiple flotillas have attempted to breach the blockade, with at least one flotilla initiating a violent confrontation with Israeli forces.
The BDS resolution passed [00:21:53] with 18 votes for, six against and six abstentions via a secret ballot.
The resolution implied that “Israel is the worst apartheid regime” and that Israel imposes “forced labour” on Palestinians. It also implied that Israel divides “its population along racial lines by the creation of separate reserves and ghettos for the members of a racial group or groups.”
The resolution portrayed Israeli military campaigns against Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) as deliberate attempts to kill children and civilians. It also singled out Israel for alleged violations of the Geneva Convention and war crimes.
Israel commenced Operations Cast Lead (OCL), Pillar of Defense (OPD) and Protective Edge (OPE) in 2008-09, 2012 and 2014, respectively, in order to stop Hamas rocket fire from Gaza targeting Israeli civilians.
Three of the resolution’s four co-sponsors voted [00:09:59] against an amendment [00:07:15] acknowledging that “Israel is a state and has the right to exist” and that Israelis have the “right to safety, security and self-determination.” The fourth co-sponsor abstained.
On March 28, 2018, Taylor featured in a photo published on the #DivestThisTime Facebook page.
On March 24, 2018, Taylor featured [00:02:24] in a Facebook video, promoting #DivestThisTime.
Anti-Israel Activism
From May 2017 to May 2018, Taylor indicated on Facebook that she “went” to 13 anti-Israel events, including seven that SJP at GWU organized.On May 14, 2018, Taylor indicated on Facebook that she “went” to a rally was described as an “emergency vigil for the over 40 Palestinians massacred in Gaza today... ”
In May 2018, violent riots, instigated by Hamas on the Israeli-Gaza border, saw thousands of rioters attempting to breach the border fence.
The “right of return” is a Palestinian demand discredited as a means to eliminate Israel.
Media reports confirmed [00:00:20] the Gaza protesters’ breaches and attempted breaches of Israel’s border fence, some by armed Palestinians. One Hamas leader declared [00:00:30]: “We will take down the border [with Israel] and we will tear their hearts from their bodies.”
On March 23, 2018, Taylor indicated on Facebook that she “went” to an SJP at GWU event featuring anti-Israel poet Remi Kanazi.
On May 22, 2018, Taylor indicated on Facebook that she “went” to an SJP at GWU event titled: “Palestine 101: Israeli Apartheid.”
On March 21, 2018, Taylor indicated on Facebook that she “went” to an SJP at GWU event featuring anti-Israel professor Saed Atshan.
On March 20, 2018, Taylor indicated on Facebook that she “went” to an SJP at GWU event titled: “From DC to Palestine Forced Displacement is a Crime.”
On March 4, 2018, Taylor indicated on Facebook that she “went” to a rally titled “March to #SupportPalestineInDC2018.” SJP at GWU was among five groups that organized activists from GWU to attend the rally, which protested the annual American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) conference.
Abbas Hamideh, the head of Al-Awda - The Palestine Right of Return Movement, organized the rally. Hamideh has been called out for spreading anti-Semitism and expressing support for terrorists on social media.
On March 4, 2018, Taylor appeared [00:03:32] in a Youtube video from that year’s anti-AIPAC rally. Hamideh organized the event where he said [00:02:23]: “There is no other classification for AIPAC other than being a criminal lobby that controls American foreign affairs and, in particular, fully responsible for the illegal occupation of Palestine.”
On December 14, 2017, Taylor posted a photo on Facebook with a banner that said: “Hands Off Jerusalem.”
The phrase was createdto protest United States President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and to relocate the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
On December 7, 2017, Taylor indicated on Facebook that she “went” to an SJP at GWU fundraising event.
On December 6, 2017, Taylor indicated on Facebook that she “went” to an American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) event titled: “Rally to Tell Trump: Jerusalem is NOT the Capital of Israel!”
#DivestThisTime at GWU 2018 - Instigated by SJP at GWU
On March 24, 2018, student groups at GWU launched the second BDS campaign in two years; both were titled “#DivestThisTime.” Activists with Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at GWU (SJP at GWU) led both campaigns.On the campaign launch day, #DivestThisTime released a Facebook promotional video, in which activists alleged [00:01:23] that Israel has committed “crimes against humanity.” They also claimed [00:03:34] that Palestinians are “bombed every day” and blamed Israel [00:02:06] for police violence against black Americans in Ferguson, Missouri.
SJP at GWU held five events leading up to the launch of #DivestThisTime, which formed part of its 2018 Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW). IAW is presented as “an international series of events that seek to raise awareness of Israel’s settler-colonial project and apartheid system over the Palestinian people” and build support for the BDS movement.
#DivestThisTime at GWU 2018 - Demonizing Israel
During the hearing, many Jewish students said [01:09:05] they experienced [01:24:45] anti-Semitism related to #DivestThisTime. One student spoke [00:50:40] about the Jewish community’s pain when “this hateful and divisive resolution was proposed over Passover.” One Jewish Israeli-American student said [00:48:05] it “creates an environment where I am made to feel that my identity is taboo” at GWU.
One black Jewish student said [01:39:24] that an SJP activist told him he was “weaponizing” his identity when he asked why a clause mentioning the “discriminatory conditions black people face in the Gaza Strip under Palestinian leadership” was omitted from the resolution.
SJP at GWU activists mocked [00:52:48] or dismissed [00:39:50] concerns over anti-Semitism. Other resolution supporters voiced agreement [00:45:40] with the SJP at GWU activists, including one who claimed [01:04:13] that resolution opponents were stoking “racial fears and sowing the divisions.”
A number of Jewish students walked out [00:35:19] of the hearing to protest [00:33:21] the resolution and to protest the SA’s inaction to combat anti-Semitism within its own ranks.
On April 24, 2018, three of the four resolution co-sponsors — Joshua Gomez, Eden Vitoff and Shaheera Jalil Albasit — voted [00:09:59] against an amendment [00:07:15] that said: “Palestinians and Israelis, like all people, have the right to safety, security, and self-determination” and “Israel is a state and has the right to exist.” Jessica Martinez, the other co-sponsor, abstained [00:10:06].
On May 10, 2018, Al Jazeera published a report on Youtube about #DivestThisTime. SJP at GWU activists spoke [00:01:47] to passers-by on campus and stood next to a display [00:01:43] labeled the “Israeli Apartheid Wall” that demonized Israel’s security barrier.
Israel’s security barrier, 97 percent of which is a low chain-link barrier, was built as a deterrent to Palestinian terror attacks. The concrete portions of the fence were built in response to Palestinian sniper attacks.
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.
Code Pink
CODEPINK is a U.S.-based activist group founded in 2002 by Jodie Evans, Medea Benjamin and other activists to oppose the American invasion of Iraq in 2003.
The group actively opposes “U.S. support for the Israeli occupation of Palestine” and has been criticized for maintaining close ties to Hamas. CODEPINK also promotes the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.
CODEPINK has led a number of solidarity delegations to Gaza under Hamas protection. In March 2014, CODEPINK also helped organize an “International Women's Day” delegation to Gaza. However, upon arriving at the Cairo airport on March 3, 2014, Benjamin was detained by Egyptian authorities and refused entry into Gaza. She was then forcibly deported to Turkey.
CODEPINKBDS campaigns have targeted RE/MAX, Ahava, SodaStream, Hewlett Packard and Airbnb. On November 20, 2016, CODEPINK leader Ariel Gold disrupted a speech given by the actor Ashton Kutcher, an Airbnb investor who defended the company. Gold was escorted off the stage by security.
In September 2008, a number of CODEPINK leaders met with former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a notorious anti-Semite and Holocaust denier. CODEPINK reportedly initiated its anti-Israel campaign followeding meeting. In November 2008, Jodie Evans and a CODEPINK contingent visited Iran at the personal invitation of Ahmadinejad.
