Andrew Berezhansky

Overview

Andrew Berezhansky called for Israel’s destruction as an anti-Israel rally speaker. He has also spread incitement, promoted hatred of Israel and opposed the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism.

Berezhansky engaged in activism with the Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice (John Jay SJP) in 2022. John Jay is part of the City University of New York (CUNY), located in New York, New York.

Berezhansky is a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.

Berezhansky was affiliated with the pro-terror activist group Within Our Lifetime (WOL) in 2021, 2022 and 2023. He was also affiliated with the anti-Israel group, the Jewish Law Students Association (JLSA) at the CUNY School of Law (CUNY JLSA) in 2021.

Berezhansky was the student council president at John Jay for the 2021-2022 academic year and its vice president for the 2020-2021 academic year. He served as an alternate delegate on the CUNY University Student Senate (CUNY USS) during the 2020-2021 academic year.

As of April 2024, Berezhansky’s LinkedIn profile said he had been a part-time associate banker at JPMorgan Chase & Co. since June 2023, in Brooklyn, New York.

As of the same date, Berezhansky’s LinkedIn also said he had been self-employed at On The Run Tutoring since August 2022. His LinkedIn said the company provides “tutoring for students K-12 and in College in Math, Reading Comprehension and Writing” and offers “various homework support services.”

Also as of April 2024, Berezhansky’s LinkedIn said he graduated from John Jay with a bachelor’s and master’s degree both in economics, in 2021 and 2022, respectively.

As of the same date, Berezhansky’s LinkedIn said he was located in Brooklyn, New York.

As of April 2024, Berezhansky used the handle “@andrew_activistsky” on Instagram.

5/28/2021 - Calling for Israel’s Destruction at a WOL Rally

On May 28, 2021, Berezhansky called [00:01:32] for Israel’s destruction as a featured speaker at a WOL rally on the John Jay campus, where he read a CUNY JLSA statement calling for “a free and just Palestine from the River to the Sea.”

“From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be Free” is a chant used [00:02:47] to call for the elimination of 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 April 2024, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution condemning the chant as antisemitic.

Berezhansky read a CUNY JLSA “statement of solidarity with the Palestinian comrades” as the vice president of the John Jay student council and its president-elect.

In his speech, Berezhansky referred to Zionism as [00:00:32] “a form of settler-colonialism” and a [00:00:43] “violent political ideology.”

Zionism is the belief that Jews have the right to self-determination in their own national home, and the right to develop their national culture.

Berezhansky further said [00:00:55]: “But we know that our safety will never come through ethnic cleansing, it will never come through apartheid…and it will never come from the ideology of Jewish supremacy.”

Berezhansky later said [00:01:32] on behalf of CUNY JLSA: “We are here to demand the Palestinian right of return, a free and just Palestine from the River to the Sea and for the ongoing end to the Nakba.”

The “right of return” is a Palestinian demand discredited as a means to eliminate Israel. International law mandates no absolute right of return and UN Resolution 194, which defined principles for “refugees wishing to return to their homes,” was unanimously rejected by Arab nations following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.

The term “Nakba” is generally translated as “catastrophe” in Arabic, referring to the outcome of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. It is a term often used to delegitimize the creation of the State of Israel by defining it as a catastrophe.

The rally took place about one week after the end of an Israeli operation against terrorist groups in Gaza.

In May 2021, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorists fired over 4,300 rockets from Gaza at major population centers in Israel. Israel responded by launching “Operation Guardian of the Walls (OGW),” carrying out targeted military strikes in Gaza.

Spreading Incitement

On May 11, 2021, during OGW, Berezhansky posted on Instagram a series of anti-Israel graphics and wrote: “...I would like to take this moment to bring awareness and stand in solidarity with our Palestinian brothers and sisters who are being ethnically cleansed, murdered and erased by far right Jewish supremacist groups and by the Israeli Occupation Force…Zionism is a toxic ethno-nationalist movement that has no place in today’s world…#savesheikhjarrah….”

“Israeli Occupation Forces,” or “IOF,” is a derogatory name for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) used by anti-Israel activists to demonize Israel’s army.

In May 2021, Palestinian violence erupted in anticipation of an Israel High Court ruling on eviction proceedings concerning over 70 Palestinian tenants illegally residing in Jewish-owned properties in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah.

Hatred of Israel

In June 2023, Berezhansky signed a WOL statement titled: “Defend CUNY Organizing, Stand for Palestine: #WeStandWithFatima.”

The statement defended Fatima Mohammed for her CUNY Law commencement speech in May 2023, where she promoted violence, spread hatred of Israel and the police, honored terrorist financiers and promoted BDS. Mohammed is an activist with WOL, where she has glorified terrorists and called for Israel’s destruction. The CUNY Board of Trustees condemned Mohammed’s speech.

The statement referred to Mohammed’s address as a “principled speech against zionist settler-colonialism, capitalism, and racist police violence” and that it “was a statement that rang true in all people of conscience.”

As of July 9, 2022, Berezhansky had signed an anti-Israel statement titled: “Not In Our Name: Anti-Zionist Jewish Coalition at CUNY.”

The statement said [p. 1]: “We stand to uphold their demands for global liberation, resistance by any means necessary” and referred to Israel as an “illegitimate state.”

Among Palestinians and anti-Israel activists, the term “resistance” can be a euphemism for nationalistic terror. It is often used to excuse or even glorify anti-Israel and anti- Semitic violence.

The statement continued [p. 2]: “We define Zionism as a 150-year-old political ideology built with inspiration from European colonialism, ethnic nationalism, and white supremacy since its conception” and referred to Israel as a “settler colonial apartheid regime.”

The statement also claimed [p. 2] Israel was funding “Nazi militia groups abroad.”

Opposing the IHRA Definition of Anti-Semitism

In April 2021, Berezhansky signed an open letter titled: “Open Letter to the CUNY Community Re: USS IHRA resolution.”

The letter stated: “We, the Jewish Law Students Association (JLSA) at CUNY Law, and our allies, write to convey our concern and alarm over the recent introduction on 3/14/21 of the University Student Senate (USS) Resolution ‘Condemning Anti-Semitism and Supporting the CUNY Jewish Community.’ We respectfully oppose this resolution, and urge the USS and our CUNY community to do the same. / This resolution adopts a definition of antisemitism put forth by the the [sic] International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA).”

The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) highlights multiple forms of contemporary anti-Semitism related to Israel, including “Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor” and “Applying double standards by requiring of it a behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation.” The U.S. State Department adopted the IHRA’s working definition of anti-Semitism in 2016. Over 40 other countries have adopted the definition as well.

The IHRA also highlights another form of anti-Semitism: “Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis.”

On April 11, 2021, CUNY USS posted a Zoom meeting on Facebook where they debated adopting two different definitions of anti-Semitism.

The JLSA definition of anti-Semitism was presented to the CUNY USS as part of a larger resolution submitted by CUNY JLSA and CUNY Law SJP. The resolution claimed [p. 3]: “antisemitism is not an exceptional form of bigotry.”

During the discussion portion of the meeting, Berezhansky advocated [00:32:36] against the IHRA resolution. He then voted [04:54:35] in favor of passing the JLSA resolution.

Anti-Israel Activism (SJP, WOL)

On July 5, 2022, Berezhansky posted [slide 7] a graphic on Instagram that said as the student council president, he “aided and facilitated in the organizing of..the Palestinian Lives Conference in Collaboration with Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP).”

On May 15, 2022, Berezhansky participated [slides 5-7] in a WOL rally in Brooklyn titled: “Nakba 74.”

At the protest, WOL founder Nerdeen Kiswani addressed the crowd and said [00:01:29]: “The Israeli Zionist colonizer knows no bounds. They squat on our land and kill our people because they have nothing less than complete genocide and annihilation planned for the Palestinian people.”

Berezhansky posted [slide 6] on his Instagram Stories Highlights titled “5/15/22

,” a group photo from the rally showing him next to anti-Israel John Jay professor Corinna Mullin.

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.

WOL

Within Our Lifetime (WOL) is a pro-terror activist group in New York City dedicated to Israel’s destruction within the lifetime of its members.

Acts of violence and physical confrontations with police have frequently occurred at WOL protests and marches. WOL uses harassment campaigns to target pro-Israel organizations or companies that do business with Israel, making it a part of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.

Multiple activists who have either burned Israeli flags or led chants at WOL rallies were later jailed for violent anti-Semitic hate crimes, including Saadah Masoud and Waseem Awawdeh. In Masoud’s case, he received 18 months in jail for an anti-Semitic assault at an April 2022 WOL rally and two other anti-Semitic assaults in 2021.

WOL promotes “resistance” against Israel “by any means necessary,” calls to “Globalize the Intifada,” spreads incitement and idolizes [00:34:06] Palestinian terrorists like Leila Khaled and others at rallies and online events.

WOL was founded by Nerdeen Kiswani and Dan Cione in 2015. Kiswani is a frequent speaker at WOL rallies where she has promoted terrorism against Israelis and called for the death of Zionists. She has also provided support for Masoud and other activists following their arrests.

WOL began as the New York City chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), going by NYC SJP, but changed its name in 2018. The group is not found to be registered in any U.S. state as a nonprofit organization under its official name. Nor is there any listing for WOL under its name on the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) website for tax-exempt organizations.