Ekela Autry

Overview

Ekela Autry participated in a Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) campaign at Stanford University (Stanford) and spread hatred of Israel online. She was also the press contact for Stanford Out of Occupied Palestine (SOOP) in 2015.

SOOP defines itself as a coalition of 19 student groups promoting divestment from "human rights abuses in Palestine & around the world."

SOOP disseminates BDS materials and solicits donations for BDS, but has claimed that it is not connected to the BDS movement and favors what it calls "selective divestment."

As of April 2021, Autry’s LinkedIn page said she worked as a “Staff II Geologist” at Terraphase Engineering Inc in Oakland, California, since September 2019. Her LinkedIn page also stated that she graduated from Stanford with a bachelor’s degree in “Geology/Earth Science” in 2017.

BDS Activism

Autry co-signed a December 23, 2014 SOOP letter titled: “Searching for partners for justice on campus” that promoted the “call” of the BDS movement to “implement divestment initiatives against Israel.”

In 2015, Autry was the press contact for SOOP, when they led a seven-week campaign that culminated in a proposed resolution to the Stanford Undergraduate Senate to divest from corporations that "maintain the occupation of Palestine."

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings revealed that Stanford was invested in none of the companies SOOP targeted for divestment.

The resolution, titled: “A Resolution to Divest from Companies Violating Human Rights in Occupied Palestine,” was co-authored by Ramah Awad, SOOP leader and co-president of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at Stanford (SJP Stanford) at the time and then-members of SOOP, Clayton Evans, Laura Perez and Emma Hartung.

The resolution called for Stanford University Trustees to divest from companies that it alleged: “violate international humanitarian law by: maintaining the illegal infrastructure of the Israeli occupation.”

The resolution also called for divestment from companies it claimed facilitates Israel’s “collective punishment of Palestinian civilians…[and] state repression against Palestinians.”

On January 6, 2015, Autry updated her cover photo to promote SOOP’s divestment campaign.

On January 21, 2015, SOOP reportedly coordinated a panel discussion of 11 student groups, to promote their divestment petition, which Autry signed.

On February 5, 2015, Autry shared SOOP’s Facebook page and wrote: “If you want to stay updated on our divestment campaign and check out more articles, photos, perspectives on why this is happening then check out our facebook page...or our website... #StanfordDivest.”

On February 6, 2015, Autry was tagged in a SOOP Facebook post that referred to her as their “friend and partner in the struggle.” SOOP ascribed a quote to her that read: “now I attend a world class university that is invested in companies that enable and profit from the occupation and human suffering. This divestment campaign is finally my chance to DO something…”

On February 9, 2015 Autry posted a graphic to Facebook promoting SOOP divestment campaign with details of the Senate Hearing for SOOP’s divestment campaign that took place on February 10, 2015. She also encouraged readers to: “Sign the petition while you’re at it.”

On February 10, 2015, Autry featured in a SOOP Facebook photo alongside other activists. The Facebook post read: “So excited for divestment, we can't sleep... #StanfordDivest.”

Again on February 10, 2015, Autry wrote on Facebook: “Cuz duh and or hello, you should care about our university's investments in human rights violations. #StanfordDivest.” The Facebook post included a graphic titled: “10 Reasons why Stanford should Divest from Occupied Palestine.”

Also on February 10, 2015, Autry was quoted in an article published to SOOP’s website saying: “As members of Stanford community, we are proud to be in solidarity with the Palestinian people… No rest ‘till we divest!”

She also reportedly said: “The campus movement for Stanford to divest from companies complicit in the suffering of the Palestinian people will continue… As long as Palestine is occupied, our work must continue.”

On the same date, Autry shared SOOP’s divestment campaign video to Facebook and wrote: “19 student groups #StanfordDivest.”

The SOOP BDS resolution initially failed [00:00:42] at the Senate hearing on February 10, 2015, but was later brought forward in a motion calling for a re-vote and passed on February 17, 2015.

On February 11, 2015, Autry posted to Facebook: “I cried three times throughout the day of the hearing. As I become more active in seeking help and outside resources… I broke down after this senate hearing...This is not over. We will continue this fight until students with families directly effected [sic] by the occupation can know that their university is not investing in that suffering. This is just the beginning. #StanfordDivest.”

On February 15, 2015, Autry posted to Facebook: “I personally don't think our university should be invested in companies that profit from humans rights violations. Hbu [How about you]? Check out our page soopalestine.org for more info and sign the petition if you agree. Stay updated by checking out our social media...”

On February 18, 2015, Autry posted to Facebook: “After six long grueling weeks #StanfordDivest finally passes. Thank you so much to everyone who made this possible.”

Later, on April 14, 2015, the Stanford Board of Trustees announced that it would take no action based on the SOOP BDS Resolution, despite an SJP Stanford request for the Board to do so.

The board said that, In accordance with the board’s Statement on Investment Responsibility,they focused on “questions of divisiveness and negative impact” and determined that acting on SJP’s request would be “likely to impair the capacity of the University to carry out its educational mission.”

Spreading Hatred of Israel

On September 21, 2020, Autry tweeted: “Had a dream that I flirted and hooked up with a Zionist

.”

Autry retweeted a September 3, 2020 tweet that said: “people on birthright be like ‘i’m home

’ while eating traditional Palestinian food and drinking stolen Palestinian water in an artificial forest planted on top of an ethnically-cleansed Palestinian village.”

Birthright Israel is a heritage trip to Israel for Jewish young adults from across the world.

On May 22, 2015, Autry shared on Facebook an article written by SOOP activist Manny Thompson titled: “Israel has no right to exist - and neither does the U.S.”

The article said: “If we are working towards a world in which Black and Palestinian people are finally free, then by definition we are working towards a world in which both these states [America and Israel] no longer exist.”

Thompson’s article also claimed that Israel and the U.S. are “settler colonial states” which “discriminate by design” and “share founding values… which justify and require their ethnic cleansing of indigenous populations.”

Thompson’s article also condemned Israel for the assassination of Ghassan Kanafani.

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.

SOOP #Stanford Divest

Stanford Out of Occupied Palestine (SOOP) was reportedly a coalition of 19 student groups campaigning for Stanford University (Stanford) to “divest from corporations profiting from human rights abuses in occupied Palestine.”

The campaign was initiated [00:12:16] by Stanford Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and promoted on social media under the hashtag “#Stanford Divest.”

As of January 2020, SOOP’s Facebook page said its mission was “To end Stanford's investments in corporations which profit from the Israeli Occupation of the Palestinian Territories.”

SOOP has reportedly stated that it is not connected to the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement and is focused on “selective divestment.” However, the coalition has reportedly disseminated BDS materials and promoted a video that solicited donations for BDS.

SOOP - Promoting BDS

On February 10, 2015, SOOP promoted a BDS Youtube video on Facebook, titled: “Stanford Student Groups Support #StanfordDivest.”

The video featured members of student groups, including [00:03:38] SJP Stanford, expressing why they support “#StanfordDivest.” Ramah Awad, SOOP leader and co-president of SJP Stanford at the time, said [00:03:45]: “We recognize divestment as one step on that path to liberation.”

On January 23, 2015, SOOP posted a photo album on Facebook titled: “Human of ‘Out of Occupied Palestine,’” which featured photos of Stanford students holding posters with anti-Israel messages and showing support for #StanfordDivest.

One photo showed a student holding a sign which read: “I support divestment because collective punishment is a war crime.” Another sign read: “There are better & more commendable ways to fiscally profit that doesn’t contribute to the displacement & exploitation of human lives.”

On January 21, 2015, SOOP reportedly organized a panel discussion to promote its BDS petition, which called for Stanford’s divestment from corporations that allegedly “facilitate human rights violations in Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian Territories.”

On January 9, 2015, SOOP published a Youtube video titled: “FilasteenFridays: Collective Punishment in the Palestinian Territories.” The video urged Stanford students to support their BDS campaign as “the only way to show true moral neutrality.”

On January 8, 2015, SOOP hosted an informational event titled: “Case for Divestment from the Occupation of Palestine.”

The event’s Facebook description said it would include an explanation of SOOP’s “divestment criteria, followed by a moderated discussion with some of the campaign organizers.”

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.