Esra Bengizi

Overview

Esra Bengizi has idolized Hitler and spread anti-Semitism as well as hatred of Israel. Bengizi is a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement and was an activist with the Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR) at McMaster University (McMaster) in 2015 and 2016.

SPHR is an alternative name for Students For Justice In Palestine (SJP). For more information, see the McMaster SPHR Chapter Profile.

In 2023, Bengizi was affiliated [pg 56] with the Middle Eastern Studies Association (MESA). In June 2017, Bengizi was a member of the Muslim Student Association (MSA) Facebook group at McMaster. She was also an activist with McMaster Muslims for Peace and Justice (MMPJ) in 2016.

As of October 2023, Bengizi’s LinkedIn profile said she has been the vice chair of the University of Toronto (UofT)’s equity and advocacy committee since October 2020. She has also been a graduate student representative of UofT’s “Equity & Diversity” for their French department. She served as the humanities representative of McMaster’s Students Union (MSU) from “Mar 2016 - Mar 2017.”

Also as of October 2023, Bengizi’s LinkedIn said she has been a doctoral student at UofT since August 2020, and that she graduated from McMaster with a master’s degree in French language and literature in 2019. Her LinkedIn also said that she studied for her bachelor’s degree in English & cultural studies and French from 2013-2018.

As of the same date, Bengizi was listed on the Women of Color Advancing Peace, Security, and Conflict Transformation (WCAPS) website as a co-coordinator of the group’s Canada Chapter Co-ordinator. Her LinkedIn said that she has been working as a co-director at WCAPS since “Feb 2021.”

Bengizi’s LinkedIn also said that she was a lecturer at the Université Paris Nanterre from “Sep 2019 - Aug 2020.”Her LinkedIn profile also said she was a teaching assistant at Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board from “Nov 2017 - Jun 2018.”

Her LinkedIn stated that she was located in the Greater Paris Metropolitan Region.

Idolizing Hitler

On May 22, 2014, Bengizi tweeted: “You'd be stupid if you think Hitler wasn't a great leader.”

On June 22, 2014, Bengizi tweeted a photo of Hitler and wrote: “This might just be the best picture ever

#Hitler #Deutschland.”

On July 5, 2014, Bengizi tweeted: “I literally ask this every day.” in response to a tweet that read: “Where is hitler when u need one?”

In the same thread, Bengizi tweeted: “hitler did more than just kill. He was also a great leader & role model to many. And all governments kill innocent people everyday

.”

On October 8, 2014, Bengizi tweeted: “What Hitler did was wrong but I admire him as an individual he was extraordinarily intelligent, persuasive, deceptive & driven.”

On December 21, 2014, Bengizi tweeted: “Oh how I wish I could have a conversation with Hitler. I have so many questions to ask him

.”

On January 24, 2015, Bengizi tweeted a photo of Hitler as a spoof Valentines day card, with text that read “jew da one / to: / from:” Bengizi captioned the post: “

.”

On April 8, 2015, Bengizi tweeted a Vine, featuring a short video clip of Hitler with a voice-over parody of the pop song “Uptown Funk,” with the lyrics: “stop, wait a minute, heat the oven, put the Jews in it… This is that Auschwitz.” Bengizi wrote: “I've never laughed so hard in my life

.”

On April 12, 2015, Bengizi tweeted: “I wanna go back in time and have coffee with Freud, Plato & Hitler

.”

On July 11, 2015, Bengizi tweeted a graphic that included a photo of Hitler and a fabricated quote attributed to Hitler that said: “The only religion I respect is Islam, the only prophet I admire is Mohammed.” She captioned the post: “

.”

Anti-Semitism

On May 15, 2014, Bengizi tweeted: “I'm actually going to the rule the world and get rid of anyone who doesn't have basic common sense or if you're yahoodi [jewish] #QueenE.”

On July 6, 2014, during Israel’s Operation Protective Edge (OPE), Bengizi tweeted to the then-McMaster SPHR president Lina Assi: “@heeyLINA they're [Israel] such hypocrites! They're doing to the Palestinians what Hitler did to the jews

.”

The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) highlights as one possible contemporary example of anti-Semitism: “Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis.” The U.S. State Department adopted the IHRA’s working definition of anti-Semitism in 2016. Over 40 countries have adopted the definition as well.

Israel commenced Operation Protective Edge (OPE) in July 2014, to stop rocket fire targeting Israeli civilians and to destroy Hamas attack tunnels.

The tweet was in response to a tweet from the “PM [Prime minister] of Israel,” who condemned the Hamas kidnapping and murder of three Jewish teenagers in June 2014.

On June 12, 2014, three teenage boys, Naftali Frenkel, Gilad Shaer and Eyal Yifrah, were kidnapped and murdered in an operation organized by Hamas. A Hamas official claimed the organization was responsible for the kidnapping and murder.

On July 3, 2014, Bengizi tweeted: “@netanyahu meanwhile you do this to innocent Palestinians everyday. Holocaust all over again” in response to a tweet from Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, condemning Hamas for kidnapping and murdering the three teenage boys.

Hatred of Israel

On December 12, 2017, Bengizi tweeted: “@shirimoshe I am anti-Israel and proud. I don’t support settler colonialists who murder innocent people…

On August 9, 2014, Bengizi tweeted: “So glad Starbucks released a statement clarifying that they have no affiliation with Israel

now I can continue having it with no regrets

.”

On July 17, 2014, during Israel’s OPE, Bengizi tweeted: “@IDFSpokespersonI hope Hamas terrorizes you the way you terrorize the Palestinians.”

Hamas has been designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S., Canada, European Union, Israel and other countries. Founded in 1987, it has killed thousands of Israeli civilians through mass shootings and suicide bombings. Hamas has also kidnapped children, families and the elderly and held them hostage in Gaza. It has desecrated [slide 2] dead bodies and launched numerous rocket attacks against Israeli civilians.

On July 13, 2014, Bengizi tweeted: “this is why I hate Harper! He's Americas puppet & loves Israel.”

Anti-Israel Activism (SPHR)

Bengizi indicated on Facebook that she attended the SPHR screening of the film “Omar.” The event took place on November 3, 2016.

Bengizi indicated on Facebook that she attended an Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) event co-hosted by McMaster SPHR and MMPJ and titled: “Apartheid: Live!.” The event took place on March 9, 2016.

Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) is presented internationally as a “series of events that seeks to raise awareness of…Israel’s settler-colonial project and apartheid system over the Palestinian people.” One of its goals is to build support for the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement. IAW has been renamed Palestine Awareness Week.

On October 16, 2015, Bengizi indicated on Facebook that she attended an anti-Israel rally, titled: “End the Occupation: Justice, Freedom, Equality.” The rally was co-sponsored by McMaster SPHR and held outside the Israeli consulate in Toronto,

At the rally, protesters chanted [00:00:23] “viva, viva intifada” and [00:00:35] “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”

Since the early 2000s, the term “intifada,” which translates from Arabic as “uprising” or “insurrection,” has carried the connotation of violence.

“From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free” is a chant calling to dismantle 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.

On March 13, 2015, Bengizi tweeted a photo of a “die-in,” adding: “#NotOnMyCampus Proud of McMaster students for supporting Palestine

.”

On March 13, 2015, McMaster SPHR leaders organized and spoke at a “die-in” held to protest a delegation of Israeli students who were visiting the campus to promote dialogue.

Bengizi indicated on Facebook that she attended an IAW event titled: “Occupied Palestine Visits MAC.” The event was co-hosted by McMaster SPHR and MMPJ and took place on March 9, 2015.

SPHR

SPHR was formed in 1999 via a merger between the Concordia Centre for Palestinian Human Rights (CCPHR) at Concordia and the Palestinian Solidarity Committee (PSC) at McGill University. The group gained notoriety after instigating a riot at Concordia University, that forced then former (and current) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to cancel a speech scheduled for September 9, 2002. Ticket holders later reported that the protesters subjected them to antisemitic slogans and physical attacks. A holocaust survivor was kicked in the groin and a local Rabbi with his wife were assaulted and spat on.

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.