Aya Charafeddine
Overview
Aya Charafeddine participated in an anti-Israel “die-in” and demonstrated [00:00:11] in support of violent protesters as an activist for Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at New York University (NYU) (NYU SJP).She has also endorsed an anti-Israel agitator and promoted the Boycott, Divestment Sanctions (BDS) movement
Charafeddine was listed on NYU SJP’s organization page as the 2018-2019 treasurer. She was reportedly also the treasurer in 2016.
Charafeddine also attended events that advocated for the anti-Israel organization, Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP)’s Deadly Exchange campaign, as well as the #returnthebirthright initiative launched by JVP against the Birthright Jewish heritage tour.
Participating in a “Die-In”
On May 9, 2019, Charafeddine participated in a “die-in,” hosted by NYU SJP, next to Realize Israel’s annual celebration of Israeli Independence Day.The event’s Facebook description said: “Zionists will be holding a rave for Israeli Independence this Thursday, May 9th, in Washington Square Park. Show up to educate and speak out against the lack of acknowledgement of the expulsion, massacre, and destruction of Palestinians and their homes. Bring your flags! Bring your banners!”
As students celebrated at the Realize Israel event, Charafeddine and other NYU SJP activists laid [00:01:37] on the ground and reportedly “held signs with the names of depopulated Palestinian villages to protest Israel’s expansion into the region.”
Supporting Violent Protesters
On March 30, 2018, Charafeddine participated [00:00:11] in a demonstration co-sponsored by NYU SJP, NYU JVP, Al Awda-NY and other anti-Israel groups, titled: “Emergency Rally: Solidarity with Gaza #GreatMarchofReturn.”She also promoted the event on Facebook. At the demonstration, participants called for [00:00:29] the destruction of Israel.
On March 30, 2018, some 30,000 Palestinians in Gaza approached Israel’s border to take part in “Land Day Protests” or the “March of Return.” The violent demonstrations were instigated by Hamas on the Israeli-Gaza border. Participants declared their intention to harm Jews across the border under the pretext of “peaceful resistance.”
March participants sent scores of kites bearing explosive devices across Israel’s border to burn Israeli crops and homes. Rioters also made numerous attempts to breach Israel’s border fence, which caused the Israeli Defense Forces to respond with live fire.
Endorsing an Anti-Israel Agitator
Charafeddine indicated on Facebook that she “went” to a February 5, 2018 event, titled: “SJP JVP Semester Kickoff: Free Palestinian Prisoners.”The Facebook event description said: “We'll be discussing the conflict and write letters to Ahed Tamimi and other unjustly incarcerated Palestinian children.”
Promoting BDS
On April 9, 2018, Charafeddine shared an NYU SJP post to Facebook announcing a coalition of 50 NYU student groups who pledged to support the BDS movement.NYU SJP’s post included a link to an article reporting that student groups at NYU endorsed a BDS resolution against Israeli products, academic institutions and advocacy groups. The resolution also boycotted NYU pro-Israel clubs, and called on NYU to divest from entities “complicit in the Israeli occupation of Palestine.”
Charafeddine indicated on Facebook that she “went” to a November 14, 2018 event co-hosted NYU SJP and NYU JVP, titled, “BDS 101.”
The Facebook event description said: “Please join Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace for a discussion about the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement and its significance in Palestine liberation.”
Charafeddine indicated on Facebook that she “went” to an October 24, 2018 event titled: “The Assault on the Right to Boycott.”
Anti-Israel Professor Jasbir Puar was listed among the panel of speakers at the event who discussed “the suppression of the right to boycott as it relates to the BDS movement for Palestine.”
Puar is on the Advisory Board of the U.S. Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (USACBI), “a U.S. campaign focused specifically on a boycott of Israeli academic and cultural institutions.” Puar applauded the American Studies Association (ASA)’s move for an Academic Boycott of Israeli universities.
Charafeddine indicated on Facebook that she went to an April 24, 2018 “E-Mail-In Action” event, hosted by NYU SJP and NYU JVP, titled: “BDS Work-in at the library.”
The Facebook event description urged: “Come out ...for a fun fun fun and easy action to put pressure on NYU admin and the Board of Trustees to divest from Israeli apartheid!” and went on to say “Today we are sending emails to Andy Hamilton and other NYU admins involved in the University's finances to demand that NYU divest from Israeli apartheid!”
From April 15-21, 2018, NYU SJP and NYU JVP hosted NYU Israeli Apartheid Week 2018.
Charafeddine indicated on Facebook that she “went” to an April 16, 2018 informational event co-sponsored by NYU SJP and NYU JVP, titled: “BDS 101 + 102.”
Charafeddine also indicated on Facebook that she “went” to Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) 2017, from March 20-24, 2017.
The Facebook event description said: “IAW will be an opportunity to reflect on this resistance and further advance BDS campaigns for the continued growth and impact of the movement.”
JVP Activism
Charafeddine indicated on Facebook that she “went” to an April 16, 2019 event hosted by NYU SJP titled, “The Deadly Exchange: Fighting Surveillance, Reclaiming Safety” as part of IAW 2019.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.
The event’s Facebook description said: “Come listen for a discussion on ‘The Deadly Exchange’, or the security partnerships between the IDF and local police forces across the United States. Learn how topics of Islamophobia, ‘border security’, and the surveillance state in the United States are bolstered by alliances by Israeli security forces.”
Charafeddine indicated on Facebook that she “went” to an April 18, 2018 event co-hosted by NYU SJP titled, “IAW 2018: War, Deportations, and Deadly Exchanges” as part of IAW 2018.
The event’s Facebook description said: “Join us for a teach-in and discussion regarding the transnational military/prison industrial complex and its disturbing manifestations in the US, Palestine/Israel, and beyond!”
Charafeddine indicated on Facebook that she “went” to NYU JVP’s first official campus event on November 8, 2017, titled: “Jewish Voice for Peace Showcase.”
The event’s Facebook description said:“...we'll discuss what it means to be in Jewish Voice for Peace and our #ReturnTheBirthright campaign.”
In September of 2017, JVP issued its #ReturntheBirthright campaign manifesto, calling on American Jews to boycott the Birthright Israel (Birthright) program. JVP’s anti-Birthright campaign was launched precisely to coincide with “the very moment that college students across America are returning to campus and registration for Birthright winter visits are underway.”
The #returnthebirthright manifesto accused Israel of “ethnic cleansing” and alleged, “the modern state of Israel is predicated on the ongoing erasure of Palestinians.”
Anti-Israel Activity
At the event, which Barghouti attended via video link, he said [00:00:01]: “When I heard that the divestment resolution passed with 50 groups supporting it I said NYU must be called the student capital of the BDS movement of the world.”
Barghouti, the founder of the BDS movement, has claimed [00:04:28] that international law grants everyone with Palestinian ancestry the unqualified right to settle in Israel. Barghouti has also insisted [01:18:21]that the demands of BDS are “inflexible” and “non-negotiable,” and if people object, then “tough.”
Zochrot is a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) in Israel that calls for the right of return and promotes the Nakba.
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.
Charafeddine indicated on Facebook that she “went” to an April 26, 2018 lecture given by anti-Israel Professor Norman Finkelstein on “the Urgent Situation in Gaza” co-hosted by NYU SJP and NYU JVP.
In May 2018 it was reported that at the February event Finkelstein had used Nazi imagery to describe Israel policy and compared Gaza to a “concentration camp.”
During his talk, Finkelstein also reportedly said: “Israel has no right to a response...it had been poisoning children via the water supply...You have only one obligation...and that’s to open the gates to that prison, to open the gates of that concentration camp.”
NYU SJP Expressing Supporting for Terrorists
On July 22, 2018, NYU SJP tweeted: “#freekhalidajarrar” and attached a link to a petition, signed by 275 organizations including NYU SJP, to free Khalida Jarrar from detention in Israeli military jail.Khalida Jarrar is a senior member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terror organization. She has reportedly been the head of the PFLP in the West Bank since 2016. In 2015, an Israeli military court sentenced Jarrar to 15 months in prison for calling to kidnap Israeli soldiers. Israel arrested Jarrar again in 2017 “on suspicion of involvement with terrorist activities and violent public disturbances.” In 2019, she was arrested by Israel with 50 other PFLP operatives following a deadly 2018 bombing attack.
On August 13, 2017, NYU SJP posted on Facebook: “Solidarity with Rasmea [Odeh]!”
Odeh was a key military operative with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terrorist organization. In 1969, she masterminded a PFLP supermarket bombing that killed two college students. She also attempted to bomb the British consulate in Jerusalem. Odeh later moved to the United States but was deported to Jordan in 2017 for immigration fraud.
NYU SJP’s Facebook post included a video, posted by US Palestinian Community Network (USPCN), of a farewell event for Odeh, before she was deported to Jordan in for immigration fraud.
On May 5, 2017, NYU SJP hosted an on-campus demonstration, titled: “Here We Will Stay,” during which activists expressed [00:01:32] solidarity with then-hunger striking Palestinians in Israeli prisons and requested [00:01:37] that activists use the hashtag #dignitystrike for on-line support of those resisting in Israeli jails.
“Dignity Strike” refers to a hunger strike initiated by Marwan Barghouti on April 16, 2017. More than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners participated in the strike – most them also convicted for acts of terrorism. Barghouti headed the Palestinian Authority (PA) terrorist Tanzim force and founded the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. He was sentenced to five consecutive life terms by an Israeli civilian court for some of his crimes, including his role in the Sbarro Cafe bombing.
At the demonstration, protestors chanted [00:00:56] “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free.”
“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.
NYU SJP Support for Anti-Israel Agitators
On March 13, 2019, NYU SJP posted to Facebook an image from a petition calling to “Disinvite Linda Sarsour” and wrote: “This is just a list of Islamophobes. As always, solidarity with Linda Sarsour!”On July 26, 2018, NYU SJP posted to Facebook a statement supporting Ahed Tamimi’s release from Israeli prison.
NYU SJP Supporting Violent Protestors
On March 30, 2018, SJP NYU co-hosted an event titled: “Emergency rally: solidarity with Gaza #GreatMarchofReturn.”Birthright Israel is a heritage trip to Israel for Jewish young adults from across the world.
The event’s Facebook description said: “We'll be outside Birthright’s gala to say loud and clear- Boycott Birthright, end the Gaza massacres and let Palestinian refugees return home!”
On April 6, 2018, SJP NYU co-hosted a “rally in support of the heroic Palestinians in Gaza and throughout historic Palestine participating in the #GreatReturnMarch and honor the martyrs who gave their lives fighting for liberation and return!”
Most of the Gazans who died between March 30 and April 6, 2018, were identified as terror operatives who were killed while carrying out terrorist attacks, rioting against IDF forces or attempting to breach the border fence between Israel and the Gaza Strip.
On May 19, 2018, NYU SJP co-sponsored an event titled: “70 years of Nakba - Remember, Resist, Return - Palestine.”
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 event’s Facebook description said: “Monday, May 14, Israeli forces killed over 60 Palestinians in besieged Gaza and wounded thousands.”
On May 16, 2018, a Hamas senior official, Salah al-Bardawil, stated that 50 out of 62 protesters killed during the May 14 Gaza border protest were Hamas operatives. Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) also claimed that three of its members were killed at the same protest.
On July 21, 2018, NYU SJP minimized the use of “flaming kites” by protesters on Twitter.
Since March 2018, Hamas’s “Kite Unit,” along with other March of Return participants, sent hundreds of kites that carried incendiary devices and IEDs (improvised explosive devices) across Israel’s border to terrorize Israelis. Multiple kites were marked with swastikas. These kites burned over 3500 acres of Israeli territory.
NYU SJP Anti-Israel Activity
On May 9, 2019, NYU SJP staged a “die-in” protest, next to Realize Israel’s annual "Rave in the Park" event celebrating Israeli Independence Day. Realize Israel is a pro-Israel club at NYU.The Facebook description of the protest, titled: “ACTION: Resisting the Celebration of Apartheid,” said: “speak out against the lack of acknowledgement of the expulsion, massacre, and destruction of Palestinians and their homes.”
NYU SJP also called Israel’s Independence on Twitter an “act of ethnic cleansing and apartheid.”
On April 18, 2019, NYU SJP posted a photo on Facebook of students with their faces obscured by emojis, in front of a table featuring the Israeli flag and a banner that said: “Jews are Indigenous to the Land of Israel CHANGE MY MIND.”
The Facebook post said: “Thumbs Up If You’re a Racist: they intimidated to sue us because they don’t like getting called out version!”
NYU SJP’s post referred to anoriginal version of the NYU SJP post which reportedly showed the faces of the pro-Israel students and said: “Thumbs Up If You’re a Racist.”
On April 27, 2018, NYU SJP organized a protest against the annual “Rave in the Park” celebration of Israel’s Independence Day. The protest’s Facebook description said: “We refuse to let such a disturbing public celebration of colonialism and apartheid on our campus and in our park go by without a response.”
During the protest, activists chanted [00:04:55]: "Intifada, Intifada, Long live the Intifada" and two protestors were reportedly arrested and charged with reckless endangerment and assault after grabbing [00:00:41] a microphone and an Israeli flag out of the hands of a student singing the Israeli national anthem.
Other protesters wiped [00:00:10] their feet on the Israeli flag and stomped on it.
That same day, NYU SJP posted to Facebook, urging anyone “angered at this celebratory event” to file a noise complaint with the police.
NYU SJP hosted Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) 2017, from March 20-24, 2017.
During IAW 2017, NYU SJP exhibited a mock apartheid wall, with text that demonized Israel, simulating 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.
NYU SJP 2018 Divestment Campaign
On November 1, 2018, members of NYU SJP presented a divestment bill to the NYU Student Government Association (SGA), to further the agenda of the Boycott, Divestment Sanctions (BDS) movement.The resolution was co-authored by then-student senators and members of SJP, Rose Asaf, Leen Dweik and then-student senator Bayan Abubakr, who was reportedly a member ofNYU SJP.
The resolution demonized Israel, invoked the “threefold” goals of the BDS movement and was passed by the SGA on December 6, 2018, using a secret ballot. NYU’s administration opposed the BDS resolution.
NYU’s then-President Andrew Hamilton said: “‘A boycott of Israeli academics and institutions is contrary to our core principles of academic freedom, antithetical to the free exchange of ideas, and at odds with the University's position on this matter...and divestment from Israeli-related investments is not under consideration.’”
NYU SJP Promoting BDS
On April 15, 2019, NYU SJP hosted an event featuring a panel that included Omar Barghouti. The panel was moderated by Leen Dweik, then-President of NYU SJP.On November 19, 2018, NYU SJP wrote on Facebook: “When we fight, we win.BDS works” and attached an article in the post reporting the decision by Airbnb Inc. to remove listings in Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
On October 24. 2018, NYU SJP hosted a panel about BDS where anti-Israel Professor Jasbir Puar was listed among the panel of speakers. Puar is on the Advisory Board of the U.S. Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (USACBI) and applauded the American Studies Association (ASA)’s move for an Academic Boycott of Israeli universities.
NYU SJP hosted NYU Israel Apartheid Week (IAW) 2018, from April 15-21, 2018. The Facebook event description said: “IAW will be an opportunity to reflect on this history of resistance and further advance BDS campaigns for the continued growth and impact of the movement.”
On April 9, 2018, NYU SJP posted to Facebook: “We are proud to announce a coalition of 50 NYU student groups who have pledged to support the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement for Palestinian human rights by pledging not to spend NYU club funds on Israeli goods, to boycott pro-Israel groups at NYU and off campus, and to call on NYU to divest from companies that profit off the violation of Palestinian human rights.
Support for JVP’s Deadly Exchange Campaign
On April 16, 2019, NYU SJP hosted an event titled: “The Deadly Exchange: Fighting Surveillance, Reclaiming Safety.”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.
The Facebook event description said: “Learn how topics of Islamophobia, ‘border security’, and the surveillance state in the United States are bolstered by alliances by Israeli security forces.”
On April 18, 2018, NYU SJP co-hosted an event titled: “IAW 2018: War, Deportations, and Deadly Exchanges,” as part of that year’s IAW on campus.
On April 13, 2018, NYU SJP tweeted: “We call for an end to these deadly exchange trips, which are primarily facilitated by @ADL_National and pro-Israel groups, such as @birthright, which runs a trip for Jewish cops.
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.
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.
JVP
JVP was founded in Berkeley, California in 1996, as an activist group with an emphasis on the “Jewish tradition” of peace, social justice and human rights. The organization is currently led by Rebecca Vilkomerson and its board members include Israel critics Naomi Klein, Judith Butler, Noam Chomsky and Tony Kushner.
JVP, which generally employs civil disobedience tactics to disrupt pro-Israel speakers and events, consists of American Jews and non-Jewish “allies” highly critical of Israeli policies. A staunch supporter of the BDS movement, JVP claims to aim its campaigns at companies that either support the Israeli military (Hewlett-Packard) or are active in the West Bank (SodaStream).
Although several Jewish groups critical of Israeli policies, like J Street and Partners for a Progressive Israel, make efforts to operate within the mainstream American Jewish community, JVP functions outside. The group is often criticized for serving as a tokenized Jewish voice for the pro-Palestinian camp and is widely regarded as the BDS movement’s “Jewish wing.”
JVP denies the notion of “Jewish peoplehood” and has even gone so far as to refer to its own Ashkenazi (Jews who spent the Diaspora in European countries) leadership as “white supremacy inside of JVP.”
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has accused JVP of being “the largest and most influential Jewish anti-Zionist group in the United States,” and said the group “exploits Jewish culture and rituals to reassure its own supporters that opposition to Israel not only does not contradict, but is actually consistent with, Jewish values.”
The ADL also claimed that “JVP consistently co-sponsors rallies to oppose Israeli military policy that are marked by signs and slogans comparing Israel to Nazi Germany, demonizing Jews and voicing support for groups like Hamas and Hezbollah.”
According to the ADL website, JVP “uses its Jewish identity to shield the anti-Israel movement from allegations of anti-Semitism and provide it with a greater degree of legitimacy and credibility.”
Social Media and Weblinks
Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/100005749629169 [Deleted]Twitter:https://twitter.com/ayo0oya2001
