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Atefeh Rokhvand
Atefeh Rokhvand is an anti-Israel activist who has harassed a public official's family, called for Israel's destruction, promoted incitement and spread hatred of Zionists. She has also disrupted [00:00:11] an event featuring the U.S. Secretary of State.
In May 2024, Rokhvand was named as a defendant in a lawsuit filed by a rabbi whose public prayer service held outside the Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C. was disrupted by Rokhvanda and other anti-Israel activists.
Rokhvand's activism and social media posts took place during Israel’s war against Hamas terrorists. Israel launched the war, called called “Swords of Iron,” after a series of Hamas terror attacks and war crimes against Israeli civilians, including mass murder, torture, rape, beheadings and kidnappings.
The atrocities were executed on October 7, 2023, and left approximately 1,200 Israelis dead, hundreds kidnapped and thousands wounded.
As of February 2025, Rokhvand's Instagram bio said she was the founder of the anti-Israel group Teachers Against Genocide.
In January 2024, during Israel's war against Hamas, CODEPINK, an anti-Israel organization, endorsed Rokhvand's Teachers Against Genocide initiative of "leading a group of children, ranging from toddlers to teens, to visit congressional offices in Washington, D.C.," which "aims to advocate for a ceasefire in Gaza and to call for a halt in funding to Israel."
Also as of February 2025, Rokhvand's Instagram bio said: "...🍉..."
The watermelon has been appropriated by anti-Israel activists as a symbol of Palestinian "resistance" to "Israeli occupation," as it shares the Pan-Arab colors. It has been depicted in art, used on flags at protests and posted online. It gained popularity following the Hamas terror attacks of October 7, 2023.
In May 2024, Rokhvand shared on Instagram a guide on how to set up an anti-Israel encampment, which Hazami Barmada, a fellow anti-Israel activist, claimed [00:01:04] was used by a "lot of nonprofits."
In December 2024, Rokhvand was featured as a speaker at a conference organized by the anti-Israel campus group Muslim Student Association (MSA).
In February 2025, TMJ News Network reported [00:00:10] that Rokhvand was a member of the anti-Israel group "Die-In For Humanity," which is based in the Washington, D.C. area.
Rokhvand is a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.
As of December 2024, Rokhvand was listed online as a "career elementary school teacher."
Rokhvand graduated from George Mason University (Mason) with a bachelor's degree in global affairs in 2018. Mason is located in Fairfax County, Virginia.
As of May 2024, Rokhvand was located in Nokesville, Virginia.
On February 21, 2024, referring to the encampment she and other anti-Israel activists had set up outside the house of then-U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Rokhvand wrote on Instagram: "FIRST LADY OF GENOCIDE: Evan Ryan, wife of Secretary of State Antony Blinken. She works for the administration too, and is complicit in genocide...#freepalestine #genocide #kibbutzblinken..."
Rokhvand's post included a video of anti-Israel protesters waving Palestinian flags and screaming [00:00:01] at Blinken's wife outside their residence: "Shame! Shame!" and [00:00:13]: "Baby killer! First lady of genocide!"
On March 15, 2024, Rokhvand posted on Instagram a video featuring a series of photos from the same encampment and wrote: "Day 50 at Bloody Blinken's house, aka Kibbutz Blinken...Blinken is a war criminal who lives amidst us, and until there is a permanent ceasefire, we're not leaving."
Rokhvand's post also read: "Since Day 1, we've been his 'wakey wakey' morning alarm and his 'secretary of genocide' evening lullaby, not to mention his daily reminders of the blood he's spilling every day. / No ceasefire, no sleep!..."
On April 10, 2024, Rokhvand posted on Instagram: "...Use what you have, whether it's your voice or whatever else to keep raising awareness about Palestine and against the murderous, barbaric, savage, racist, terrorist, illegal entity of israel. Their crimes are too many to list, but after 6 months and 76 years, one thing is clear: zionism has got to go. It's EVERYONE against zionists and we need to tackle it through every angle and avenue..."
The modern State of Israel was founded 76 years earlier, in 1948.
Rokhvand's post included a video of herself outside the Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C. leading [00:00:01] the chant: "Embassy of genocide! Embassy of genocide!...Embassy of apartheid! Embassy of apartheid! Shame! Shame! shame on you! From the terror that you do!"
On December 20, 2023, Rokhvand posted on Instagram: "...Palestine WILL be free, 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.
On June 26, 2024, Rokhvand shared on Instagram a video of herself, Hazami Barmada and other anti-Israel activists chanting [00:00:25]: "We are here to globalize the intifada! We are here to globalize the intifada!" Their action occurred [00:00:02] at the "Kibbutz Blinken" encampment.
The call to globalize the intifada has been described as “the language of incitement.”
The term “intifada,” which translates from Arabic as “uprising” or “insurrection,” carries the connotation of violence. Palestinian intifadas waged against Israel have been marked since 1987 by hundreds of hijackings, shootings, stabbings, bombings and suicide missions.
In a video shared on Instagram on December 19, 2023, Rokhvand spoke in what appeared to be outside the office of U.S. Congresswoman Elise Stefanik.
During her speech, Rokhvand condemned [00:00:03] Stefanik's definition of intifada as "violence against civilians and the genocide of Jews."
On May 16, 2024, Rokhvand was tagged as a collaborator in a post that read: "Bloody bloody I.sr.ael. / Earlier today a 'friends of the IOF' event was canceled last minute at the embassy of d*ath due to 'security concerns.' / Translation: Zio.nists and their depraved war machine are afraid of the entire world waking up to the vicious m*rder, apartheid, and oppression they have subjected Palestinians to for over 75 years. The jig is up."
“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.
The modern State of Israel was founded 75 years earlier, in 1948.
Rokhvand was a named defendant in a lawsuit filed on May 1, 2024, by Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld. The complaint was based on an incident that occurred on March 22, 2024, when Rokhvand participated [00:00:08] in the disruption of a prayer service in front of the Israeli embassy in Washington D.C., by blaring sirens and bullhorns.
The rabbi and a group of his congregants assembled on a Jewish holy day in order to pray for the Israeli hostages kidnapped by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023.
The complaint alleged (p. 1) that the "physical attack consisted of using speakers, sirens, and other sound-emitting devices to produce siren-like sounds in the range of 95-100 decibels—more than 1,000 times the noise level permitted under D.C. law— with the purpose and intent to injure Rabbi Herzfeld."
Rokhvand was charged (p.3) with "assault, battery, outrage, and other violations." The complaint claimed (p.9) that "Rabbi Herzfeld suffered acute acoustic trauma at the time of the incident, as well as injury from the cumulative effects such trauma has on premature and permanent hearing loss."
The complaint also claimed (p. 11) that "Herzfeld was subjected to acts of intimidation and harassment, and he was the victim of violence directed against his person...motivated by religious and/or ethnic animosity, and/or by animosity with respect to political affiliation."
On February 23, 2025, VINnews reported that Rokhvand and another anti-Israel activist were ordered to pay $182,000 in legal fees to the same rabbi in another case where the activists had initially "sought a restraining order against" the rabbi accusing him of "stalking" them. The judge "determined that the activists’ legal action lacked merit."
The Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement was founded by pro-terror activist Omar Barghouti in 2005 to turn “Israel into a pariah state, as South Africa once was.” Barghouti has also called for Israel's destruction and the BDS movement demands would result in that same goal.
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 infiltrating university campuses through lobbying for “BDS resolutions.” In these cases, student governments propose resolutions to boycott or divestment from Israel or Israeli-affiliated entities. 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 and pro-terror activism on campus.
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