Betty Kishek

Overview

Betty Kishek [Betty Toleen Kishek] has spread bigotry, expressed support for terrorists, whitewashed violent protesters and spread hatred of Israel. She also defended an anti-Israel activist and is a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.

Kishek was a coordinator for Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at Florida State University (FSU) in 2014, and was an FSU SJP activist in 2013, and 2016.

Kishek was a member of the closed Facebook group “Tallahassee United for Justice in Palestine” since February 2014, and was a member of the closed Facebook group “Students for Justice in Palestine - UF. She is also a member of the Facebook group “Americans Against Genocide In Gaza (AAGG).”

As of November 2020, Kishek indicated on her Facebook “About” page that she was an “Attorney” at the Office of The Public Defender, 4th Judicial Circuit in Jacksonville, Florida, since August 2018.

Kisheks’ Facebook page also stated that she graduated from the University of Florida (UF) Fredric G. Levin College of Law in 2018. She was admitted to the Florida Bar on September 19, 2018.

As of February 2018, Kishek indicated on her LinkedInthat she received an associate’s degree from the University of North Florida (UNF) in 2013 and a bachelor’s degree in Middle Eastern Studies from FSU in 2015.

Kishek’s LinkedIn and Facebook pages listed her as a “Certified Legal Intern” at the Office of the State Attorney 8th Judicial Circuit in Florida from January 2018 - April 2018.

Betty Kishek is the sister of Albert Kishek, the 2017 secretary, treasurer and former president of FSU SJP.

As of September 2020, Kishek went by the name “Betty Toleen” on Facebook.

Bigotry

On June 8, 2013, Kishek tweeted: “Facebook and Yahood [Jews]- the cause of all the worlds problems.”

On October 2, 2013, Kishek tweeted: “Kuwaitis vs 3abeed dance competition in the middle of campus... Made my freakin life 😂😂

“Abeed,” meaning “slaves” in Arabic, is a derogatory term referring to Black people.

Support for Terrorists

On November 7, 2015, Kishek shared to Facebook a photo of Dania Irsheid, with the comment: “Inhumane and disgusting. Shame on zionists and more shame on those who support their goals to ethnically cleanse Palestinians.”

In October 2015, during the “Knife Intifada,” Dania Irsheid was shot by an Israeli police officer after she attempted to stab him.

In October 2015, there was an upsurge in violence across Israel incited by Palestinian political and religious leaders. The wave of stabbings, known as the “Knife Intifada,” was characterized by young Palestinians throughout the country stabbing and attempting to stab Israeli civilians.

On October 17, 2015, Kishek shared to Facebook an op-ed by terrorist Marwan Barghouti, in which he defended the Knife Intifada. Kishek commented: “Freedom for the Palestinians is long overdue.”

Marwan Barghouti is currently serving five consecutive life sentences for his role in suicide bombings and shooting attacks that killed five Israelis during the second intifada.

Barghouti led the Palestinian Authority (PA) terrorist Tanzim force and founded the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. He also financed the guitar-case bomb used in the Sbarro Cafe massacre, where 15 civilians were killed and 130 injured.

Kishek also retweeted a December 10, 2013 FSU SJP tweet that said: “Today we remember the martyrs, prisoners, & freedom fighters that dared to stand up for #Palestinian liberation.”

That tweet commemorated a spike in Palestinian terror attacks in Judea and Samaria, the week of December 4-11, 2013. The attacks included stabbing attacks, stonings and Molotov cocktail-throwing attacks that targeted civilians and security forces.

Whitewashing Violent Protesters

On May 15, 2018, Kishek posted to Facebook: “Today, our country celebrated opening a US embassy in Jerusalem...while Israel massacred and rained white phosphorus gas in broad daylight on defenseless, unarmed Palestinians. 58 Palestinians, 6 children, murdered at the hands of Israel and more then two thousand left with life-long injuries.”

Kishek added: “Donald Trump has moved the US embassy in occupied Jerusalem, the day before the 70th year mark of Israel’s illegal occupation and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. This was not a ‘clash’, this was a massacre; another episode in Israel’s 70 years of ethnically cleansing Palestinians of the land they claim as theirs.”

In May 2018, terror organization Hamas instigated the “March of Return.” Thousands of violent rioters attempted numerous breaches of Israel’s border fence with Gaza, seeking to harm Jews across the border. Media reports confirmed [00:00:20] protesters’ breaches and attempted breaches of the fence, some by armed Palestinians. On May 15, 2018, senior Hamas official Mahmoud Al-Zahhar said the Gaza protests were only a pretext of “peaceful resistance.”

Spreading Hatred of Israel

On July 20, 2020, Kishek posted to Facebook the allegation that Israel was built on stolen land, adding: “the U.S. continues to support Israel’s ethnic cleansing of Palestinians and the theft of their land.”

On March 15, 2017, Kishek posted to Facebook: “The UN has concluded that Israel has established an apartheid regime that dominates the Palestinian people as a whole,” adding: “Everyone should read the report.”

In March 2017, a UN commission composed of 18 Arab states produced a report claiming Israel established an “apartheid regime.” Anti-Israel professor Richard Falk co-authored the report. Soon after the report’s release, UN Secretary General Antonió Guterres ordered it withdrawn, claiming the report was published without consultation with Guterres’s office and it did not reflect the UN secretariat’s views.

On November 2, 2015, Kishek shared to Facebook a video of anti-Semitic activist Robert Martin demonizing Israel and Zionists. Kishek commented: “Listen to this man!”

In the video, Martin claimed [00:05:51] that Israel was kidnapping and butchering people as well as killing [00:00:42] “children on a regular basis.” Martin also declared [00:04:51] “The Zionists are a sick cult. They are the sickest cult that you and I have ever seen.”

On October 16, 2014, Kishek shared to Facebook an cartoon illustration of news cameras filming Israel, depicting as a crying baby wearing a Star of David, while Gaza is depicted as a mass of bloodied body parts.

Kishek retweeted a February 19, 2014 tweet of a graphic that bore text reading: “that's how israel plays its world cup!” and showed two images, side-by-side. The first was captioned “world cup in Brazil” and portrayed a contestant wearing a medal and holding a trophy aloft. The second was captioned “world cup in Israel” and portrayed Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wearing a medal shaped like a skull and holding aloft a trophy cup filled with dead and bleeding Palestinians.

On August 31, 2013, Kishek tweeted: “Every prez has one thing in common... they let israel dictate america or else they won't keep their seat as president.”

On August 29, 2013, Kishek tweeted: “Sick of US presidents a** kissing israel.”

Defending an Anti-Israel Activist

On November 23, 2017, Kishek shared to Facebook a video defending Reem’s bakery in Oakland, CA, which displayed a controversial mural of terrorist Rasmea Odeh. The video’ described Reem’s as a “Palestinian-owned bakery” that was “Loved by the community and widely celebrated,” under attack from “right-wing Israel supporters.”

Reem Assil is a BDS activist who runs a bakery in Oakland, California called “Reem’s California.” Assil’s bakery prominently features a controversial mural of terrorist Rasmea Odeh.

Odeh was a military operative with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), an internationally designated terrorist organization. In 1969, she masterminded a bombing that killed two university students in a Jerusalem supermarket. Odeh also attempted to bomb the British consulate.

In February 2019, Assil was listed as an activist with the Arab Resource and Organizing Center (AROC). In 2014, Assil participated in an AROC-organized initiative called “Block the Boat,” which sought to stop an Israeli cargo ship from docking in the San Francisco Bay.

FSU SJP Activism

On July 2, 2016, Kishek promoted on Facebook a workshop scheduled for July 23, 2016, titled “Overcoming Obstacles: for Palestine in Jax & Beyond,” co-hosted by FSU SJP.

The workshop featured Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) Florida Legislative & Government Affairs Director Laila Abdelaziz and U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation Policy Director Josh Ruebner.

On July 24, 2016, Kishek appeared in a group photo of the event alongside Ruebner and Abdelaziz.

On January 13, 2014, Kishek updated the Facebook event photo for an FSU SJP event featuring anti-Israel agitator Max Blumenthal. The event photo featured Blumenthal’s book, “Goliath.”

Blumenthal’s 2013 book, “Goliath: Life and Loathing in Greater Israel,”was dubbed “The Israel Hater’s Handbook” by Eric Alterman of the progressive magazine The Nation.

Also on January 13, 2014, Kishek tweeted: “Can't wait to see @MaxBlumenthal at FSU today #freepalestine.”

On January 10, 2014, Kishek promoted and hosted an FSU SJP film screening of thepropaganda film, “Where Should the Birds Fly,” that characterized [00:01:33] Israel’s Operation Cast Lead as “a massacre.”

Israel commenced Operation Cast Lead (OCL)in 2008-09 in order to stop Hamas rocket fire from Gaza targeting Israeli civilians. In 2010, Hamas admitted that nearly 700 of the Palestinian casualties in OCL were combatants.

On October 2, 2013, Kishek was featured in a FSU SJP photo on Facebook, tabling for FSU SJP during FSU’s “Market Wednesday.”

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.