Ayesha Amsa
Overview
Ayesha Amsa promoted the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement at the University of Maryland (UMD), in 2019. She was an activist with Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at UMD in 2019 and 2018.As of August 2019, Amsa’s LinkedIn page said she was a Public Policy student at UMD from 2017 - 2021.
Amsa’s LinkedIn page also said she was on the Diversity and Inclusion Committee of the UMD Student Government Association (SGA) since August 2018 and the President and Communications Chair of Scholars Promoting and Revitalizing Care (SPARC).
Amsa also wrote on LinkedIn that she was an Office Assistant at the Maryland Language Science Center since October 2018.
Promoting BDS
On April 24, 2019, Amsa featured [03:26:43] in a Facebook video, urging the UMD SGA to pass a BDS bill. The bill was launched by Divest UMD.Divest UMD is a campaign that calls on UMD to divest from companies that do business with Israel.
In the video, Amsa said [03:27:37]: “Pass BDS! Free Palestine! Because the mental health of Palestinians should matter too.”
On April 25, 2019, Divest UMD announced on Facebook that following a UMD student government vote, the BDS bill failed to pass with “a vote of 9 for, 25 against, and 2 abstentions.”
SJP Activism
On February 14, 2019, SJP UMD shared a group photo on Instagram featuring Amsa alongside SJP UMD activists, standing in front of a blackboard with “#IStandWithIlhan” written on it.SJP UMD commented: “UMD SJP supports Rep. Ilhan Omar in calling out AIPAC’s role in influencing US policy towards apartheid Israel! #istandwithilhan.”
On October 20, 2018, SJP UMD shared a photo on Instagram of Amsa and SJP UMD activists tabling on campus, with the comment: “We had a good time tabling today outside Stamp! Always nice to talk to people about SJP and BDS.”
On September 14, 2018, SJP UMD activist Nicholas Galloway tweeted a group photo of Amsa with Benjamin Ladraa and SJP UMD activists. The photo was taken at an SJP UMD-organized event, titled: “An Evening with Benjamin Ladraa,” held the previous day.
Benjamin Ladraa, in 2017-2018, undertook a solo “walk for Palestine” to spread hatred of Israel. Ladraa also conducted an international anti-Israel speaking tour, defended terrorists, promoted the violent March of Return, and advocated for anti-Israel agitators.
Amsa indicated on Facebook that she “went” to an SJP UMD-organized “Teach-In: Boycott Israel Fest” on April 19, 2018.
The Facebook event page description said: “This year, we ask that you choose not to be complicit in apartheid, genocide, and the enduring illegal occupation of Palestine. Instead of normalizing Palestinian oppression, SJP calls for a massive boycott of Israel Fest by the UMD community, and ask that you attend our teach-in instead, to learn more about why we are boycotting and how you can support human rights.”
“Israel Fest” at UMD is an annual campus event designed “to celebrate and educate students on Israeli culture,” hosted by the Jewish Student Union.
SJP UMD - Supporting Terrorists
On April 8, 2018, SJP UMD shared a photo on Instagram of Ghassan Kanafani and wrote: “Today is the birthday of legendary Palestinian author and PFLP member Ghassan Kanafani (1936-72).”Kanafani was a leading member and spokesperson for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) during the terrorist organization’s early years. Kanafani announced the PFLP’s responsibility for the Lod Airport Massacre of May 1972 and was linked to the airport attackers. The attack killed 26 people and wounded 80 others.
On March 9, 2018, SJP UMD shared a poster on Instagram produced by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and wrote: “Poster of the First Martyr of the Intifada #sjp #intifada.”
The caption on the poster read: “Hatem Al Sesi First Martyr of the Intifada for Freedom and Independence.”
Hatem al-Sisi was killed after he reportedly attemptedto drop a homemade bomb on an Israeli military vehicle during the first intifada.
On the same day, SJP UMD shared another PFLP poster on Instagram and wrote: “Today is Martyr’s day A day to remember all who sacrificed themselves for their people and for human rights #sjp.”
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/100018427411727Twitter:https://twitter.com/x_ahseya
Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/ahseya_x/ [Private]
