Azka Fayyaz

Overview

Azka Fayyaz is a member of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at the University of California, Davis (UC Davis).

She is the UC Davis' delegate for the West Coast's Muslim Student Association (MSA) and is involved with the Pakistani Student Association (PSA), Afghan Student Association (ASA) and Arab Student Union (ASU).

Fayyaz is also a very active member of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement on the UC Davis campus, using her position as ASUCD senator to promote divestment.

On January 29, 2015 Fayyaz became the focal point of a national controversy over statements she made during and following a UC Davis senate hearing. The hearing was called in order to pass a resolution calling for the University of California Board of Regents to divest from "corporations that aid in the Israeli occupation of Palestine and illegal settlements in Palestinian territories."

An hour and twenty six minutes into the hearing, Fayyaz —speaking as a ASUCD senator— stated: "You can’t have coexistence with Zionists. Their purpose of Zionism is discrimination, elimination and ethnic cleansing of a group of people...So if you want to talk about coexistence, I’m not talking with you because you’re going to try to kill me. I’m Muslim."

Fayyaz is a student at UC Davis pursuing a degree in Political Science. She is also a student senator for Associated Students University of California Davis (ASUCD) and is a member of the ASUCD External Affairs Commission

Pushing BDS on Campus

Fayyaz introduced the student senate divestment resolution at UC Davis in January 2015 and was a co-author of a follow-up resolution in May 2015. The January 2015 divestment resolution was introduced after the initial attempt to pass the resolution failed, in April 2014.

The April 2014 resolution called on UC to divest from holdings in companies "that aid in the Israeli occupation of Palestine and illegal settlements in Palestinian territories," including Caterpillar, G4S PLC and Veolia Environment. The resolution failed, with the senate evenly divided. The ASUCD Vice President refused to break the tie.

Eight months later, another hearing was called to push the resolution. Following speeches from those supporting and opposing the bill, the anti-divestment advocates —about a third of the attendees— participated in a walk-out. As they left, a large group of pro-divestment promoters hollered "Allahu Akhbar!" The January 2015 resolution passed, 8-2-2.

Following the resolution vote, which passed 8-2-2, Fayyaz wrote on her Facebook page, "Hamas & Shariah law have taken over UC Davis. Brb crying over the resilience." Following backlash against her post, Fayyaz wrote again on her Facebook page the same night, "Israel will fall insha’Allah [God willing] #UCDDivest."

Later, in an open letter to the student community, Fayyaz insisted her "Hamas & Shariah law" comment was "satirical”— and then attacked “the leadership of AEPi, the Jewish fraternity at UC Davis, and Aggies for Israel,” claiming they reported the contents of her profile to “the Zionist lobby groups which they have been paid to represent.”

Two days following Fayyaz's statements and the resolution vote, unidentified vandals spray-painted two large swastikas on a house belonging to the Jewish fraternity, Alpha Epsilon Pi (AEPi).

On January 30 2015, UC Davis Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi issued a statement that the resolution to divest did not reflect the position of UC Davis or the University of California system. The Board and Office of the President had earlier issued a statement affirming the Board’s position that student calls to action would not be entertained. UC Davis’ investment policy is set by the UC Board of Regents.

The January 2015 resolution was overturned as unconstitutional by the university’s Court of Associated Students, on the grounds that it was "primarily a political document" with insufficient relevance to student welfare on campus.

In May 2015, Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) responded by proposing a new resolution alleging that "enabling Israel’s occupation of Palestine compromises the integrity of students’ education." The May 2015 resolution passed, 10-0-2.

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.

MSA

The MSA was established by members of the Muslim Brotherhood in January 1963 at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, with the goal of "spreading Islam as students in North America." A 2004 FBI investigation uncovered an internal Muslim Brotherhood document in which a brotherhood leader identified the MSA as "one of our organizations."

The MSA reportedly has “nearly 600 chapters” located in the United States and Canada, and is “the most visible and influential Islamic student organization in North America,” boasting conferences, special events, publications, websites and other activities.

The organization includes a number of previous chapter presidents with explicit links to terrorist groups. Included are al-Qaeda cleric Anwar al-Awlaki (Colorado State University), Somali al-Shabaab militant leader Omar Shafik Hammami (University of South Alabama) and Pakistani Taliban recruiter Ramy Zamzam of the MSA's Washington, D.C. council.

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.