Amy Hull

Overview

Amy Hull has marginalized Jewish students, demonized Israel and has shown support for the Boycott, Divestment Sanctions (BDS) movement.
 
As of April 2019, Hull was the vice president of the Aboriginal Students' Association (ASAY) at York University (York) in Toronto, for the 2019-2020 school year. Hull was also the vice president of ASAY at York for the 2017-2018 school year.
 
In 2019, Hull was also affiliated with Students Against Israeli Apartheid (SAIA) an alternative name for Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP).  
 
According to a November 2018 Huffington Post article, Hull was then a third-year student studying dance at York.
 
As of January, 2020, Hull went by the name “Amy Catherine” on Facebook. 

Marginalizing Jewish Students

On January 27, 2020, International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Hull represented ASAY during the York Federation of Students’ (YFS) Multicultural Week Parade. 

Hull opened the YFS Multicultural Week Parade ceremonies by burning sage while wearing a T-shirt that read: “Anti-Zionist Vibes Only.” 

York’s chapter of the Jewish student organization Hillel (Hillel York), posted about the incident on its Facebook page, stating: “This is just another example of the combative and discriminatory environment the YFS has created for Jewish and Zionist students.”

Hillel International is a Jewish campus organization serving college students at 850 universities worldwide.

The Facebook post continued: “Hillel York condemns this antisemitic act against the Jewish campus community, especially on International Holocaust Remembrance Day.”

ASAY commented on Hillel York’s Facebook post, writing: “Hi there, this is a photo of one of our members which was taken without consent, evidently for the purpose of spreading misinformation. We will not be tolerating this type of cyber-bullying and slander.”  
 
ASAY’s comment on Hillel York’s Facebook post continued: “Please see our statement on our Facebook page and consider your privilege as settlers on stolen Indigenous land.”
 
The since-deleted statement on ASAY’s Facebook page read: “As Indigenous people and community leaders it is our job to take a stand against all forms of settler colonialism, including Zionism, and to stand in solidarity with Indigenous people globally…”
 
ASAY’s statement continued: “Reconciliation and justice are impossible when Indigenous communities are under attack...we would like to remind you that anti-Indigenous harassment and attempts to shame Indigenous peoples fighting for self-determination in their Indigenous homelands, including Palestinians, are racist and unwelcome...”
 
ASAY’s statement went on to urge: “For further learning about solidarity between Indigenous peoples around the world and the Jewish community in Canada, please follow and support our colleagues at Independent Jewish Voices Canada [IJV].”
 
IJV has promoted Holocaust denial and has been accused of peddling “antisemitism under the guise of radical anti-Zionism.” The group has also promoted the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.

The following day, ASAY issued a public apology on its Facebook page and reposted their original comment to Hillel York, with revised language.

ASAY’s public Facebook apology said in part: “On behalf of ASAY and the Indigenous community we wish to extend our sincerest apology for the impact our organization's participation has had in recent events.”

ASAY’s Facebook apology continued: “Yesterday, Monday January 27, 2020 York Federation of Students (YFS) held an opening ceremony to commemorate the annual multicultural week. It was brought to our attention that one of our executive members made an independent decision which resulted in negatively impacting all student groups involved during this event. This was a personal statement which had a negative and far reaching impact on the York Community. Our organization is dedicated to peace, inclusivity and sovereignty...Immediate remediation measures are being taken under consultation with various groups, faculty and community members.”

The reposted ASAY comment on Hillel York’s Facebook page said, in part: “Our organization's involvement in recent events reopened wounds, evoked negative narratives and only served to further divide our community.”

ASAY’s reposted comment on Hillel York’s Facebook page continued: “While this was a personal statement we undertook responsibility as student leaders and community members to support all students on campus regardless of affiliation and denomination. Recent statements do not reflect our teachings and therefore go against our constitution as an organization.”

Anti-Israel Activity

As of January 13, 2020, Hull featured in the main photo on the SAIA website, protesting with the group against a November 20, 2019, event that featured pro-Israel speakers. The SAIA protest became violent and in its aftermath, SAIA was temporarily suspended from the York campus.
 
Hull was recorded protesting [00:00:01] at the event, holding up a kheffiyeh and Palestinian flag, giving the middle finger to pro-Israel counter-protestors and screaming [00:00:06] “F**k you” and “Free, free Palestine.”
 
As of February 2020, the SAIA website continued to display the photo featuring Hull and celebrated York’s reinstatement of the club’s privileges. 

Demonizing Israel

In a November 26, 2018 interview with Huffington Post Canada, Hull stated: “I want to change how we look at other Indigenous communities, like Palestine. It's a colonized space, just like Canada – there's a lot of death, a lot of children dying and we need to care about that.”
 
Hull retweeted a January 17, 2020 tweet that said: “The parallels between struggles of Palestinians and the Indigenous peoples of turtle island are so similar. Palestinians are our cousins and I will fight by their side until Palestine is free and all Palestinians have the right to return to their homeland.”
 

The “right of return” is a Palestinian demand discredited as a means to eliminate Israel. 

Supporting BDS

On November 27, 2018, Hull featured in a York Graduate Students' Association (YUGSA) tweet at a #YUDivest rally at York, wrapped in a Palestinian flag.

According to York SAIA, YUDivest is “a coalition of groups from the York community who are calling on York University's Board of Governors to divest from arms manufacturers.” 

The coalition began using the hashtag #YUDivest in September 2014, when Amnesty International at York, SAIA and the York Federation of Students initiated the call for divestment. They were later joined by YUGSA and YorkU Alumni for Social Justice. 

The York U chapter of the pro-Israel group StandWithUs reportedly said: “While YUDivest does not target Israel explicitly, anti-Israel activists are deeply involved in the campaign and are using it to advance their bigoted agenda.” 

#YUDivest rallies have been marked by Palestinian flags and their Twitter account has suggested that Israel is a human rights abuser like Saudi Arabia and Turkey. 

On May 12, 2018, #YUDivest tweeted that their coalition “supports the Palestinian demand for an arms embargo on Israel,” adding that “we will be attending the rally to commemorate #Nakba70 and in solidarity with the #GreatReturnMarch.”



Hall retweeted a January 15, 2020 tweet from a doctoral student, who said: “You can now read my full PhD dissertation: “Boycotts and Backlash: Canadian Opposition to Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) Movements from South Africa to Israel.”

The student’s dissertation compared the BDS campaign against Israel to the boycott against apartheid South Africa and specifically the opposition to both boycotts: “including the role of domestic lobbies and state-led propaganda campaigns, in an attempt to explain why the boycott campaign against South Africa appeared to be so successful, while the campaign against Israel has struggled to become popular.”

Hall retweeted a January 19, 2020 tweet from The BDS Movement that claimed: “Israel is creating 7 new nature reserves on stolen West Bank Palestinian land. Israeli apartheid is not “green.” Indigenous Palestinians living under Israeli occupation and apartheid have no control over our land or natural resources. #greenwashing #BDS.”

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.

Social Media and Weblinks

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/100001313566754 [Deleted]

Twitter:https://twitter.com/panikiskiaq [Private]

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/panikiskiaq/ [Private]