Ezra Stein
Overview
Stein was an activist forStudents for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at Cornell in 2018-2019.
In 2019, Stein was affiliated with Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) at Cornell (JVP Cornell) and with Climate Justice Cornell (CJC Cornell).
CJC officially endorsed Cornell SJP’s divestment campaign in 2019.
On March 31, 2019, Stein’s Facebook bio said he was studying Computer Science at Cornell. He reportedly graduated from Cornell in 2020.
As of March 2022, Stein was a Software Engineer at MathWorks in Natick, Massachusetts.
Demonizing Israel
On March 25, 2019, Stein co-authored an opinion article in the Cornell Daily Sun titled: “GUEST ROOM | A Jewish Case for Divestment,” along with fellow Cornell SJP activists Julian Goldberg, Max Greenberg and Sophia Roshal.In the article, the authors said they must “voice our unequivocal opposition to the State of Israel as it exists now” and “we all have to take some stance on this issue. And the only stance compatible with progressive values, anti-racism, and concern for human dignity is to stand with Palestine.”
Stein with his co-authors dismissed the idea that the State of Israel “has done anything to protect Jews around the world against antisemitism” as “unhistorical” and claimed the Jewish State “…actively makes life for Jews in the diaspora more dangerous.”
The authors went on to allege that Israel promotes a “disturbing racial ideology,” ���regularly raids schools” and “deliberately targets women and children with sniper fire at the border, and denies millions of their basic civil rights.”
Endorsing Anti-Israel Agitators
Stein indicated on Facebook that he “went” to a March 25, 2019 event titled: “An Evening with Remi Kanazi,” hosted by Cornell SJP.Poet Remi Kanazi is known for his aggressively anti-Israel spoken-word performances. He has supported terrorism and has compared Israel to both ISIS and the Ku Klux Klan.
On February 12, 2018, Stein featured in a photo posted to Facebook by Cornell SJP at a campus rally in support of anti-Israel agitator Ahed Tamimi. At the rally, Stein held a sign that said: “Free Ahed. Slap an IDF [Israel Defense Forces].”
Anti-Israel Activism
Stein indicated on Facebook that he “went” to a May 3, 2019 event titled: “Deconstructing Zionism: a Conversation with Jeff Cohen,” hosted by Cornell SJP.Zionism is the belief that Jews have the right to self-determination in their own national home, and the right to develop their national culture.
Stein indicated on Facebook that he “went” to a March 28, 2019 event co-sponsored by Cornell SJP, titled: “Tell the SA [Student Assembly]: Divest from Israel.”
The event’s Facebook description explained: “This Thursday the SA will be bringing a resolution urging Cornell to divest from companies that profit off of the illegal and brutal military occupation of Palestine and other human rights violations by the State of Israel.”
Stein indicated on Facebook that he “went” to a March 20, 2019 event titled: “Greenwashing of the Occupation of Palestine,” co-hosted by Cornell SJP.
"Greenwashing" is a claim by anti-Israel activists that Israel manipulates the environmentalist agenda to deflect international attention from Israel's alleged "persecution of the Palestinians."
Stein indicated on Facebook that he “went” to a February 21, 2019 event titled: “Palestine 101,” hosted by Cornell SJP.
The event’s Facebook description said: “this teach-in will cover basic Palestinian history, resistance to the violent military-occupation, Israel's qualification as an apartheid-state, and the United States' (and Cornell's) involvement in Israel's war crimes and human rights violations.”
Stein indicated on Facebook that he “went” to an April 25, 2018 event titled: “Stand with Gaza,” hosted by Cornell Collective for Justice in Palestine (CCJP).
The event’s Facebook description said: “Israeli forces have killed dozens of non-violent Palestinian protesters and injured thousands more in Gaza since the Great March of Return demonstrations began on March 30th of this year. We ask that you stand with us in solidarity with Gaza's brave demonstrators and against Israel.”
Pushing BDS on Campus
In 2019, Stein helped advance Cornell SJP’s anti-Israel divestment campaign S.A. Resolution 36, “Urging Cornell to Divest from Companies Profiting from the Occupation of Palestine and Human Rights Violation.”Cornell SJP’s resolution called on Cornell to divest from Cornell Tech’s partnership with the Technion. Cornell Tech is Cornell’s technology, business, law and design campus.
Cornell SJP also called on the university to divest from Tata Motors, Ingersoll-Rand, Raytheon, G4S, and Hewlett-Packard and any other companies SJP Cornell claimed “profit directly from Israeli military occupation.”
Cornell SJP also said: “We will publicly name endowment investments…and hold university leadership responsible for complicity in crimes of apartheid.”
On February 18, 2019, Stein and other Cornell SJP activists delivered a letter to Cornell’s President Martha Pollack calling on the University to “divest from companies profiting from morally reprehensible human rights violations in Palestine.”
On the same day, Cornell SJP posted to Facebook several photos of Stein and other activists holding a Palestinian flag, while wearing Palestinian keffiyehs and BDS pins.
On March 28, 2019, Stein participated as a “community member” in a Cornell Student Assembly (SA) meeting during which he indicated his support for the Cornell SJP BDS resolution.
On April 11, 2019, Cornell SJP presented their divestment initiative to Cornell’s Student Assembly (SA). During the discussion, Mahfuza Shovik, a resolution sponsor, denied [00:23:03] the resolution was part of the BDS movement.
SA senators used a secret ballot to vote in favor of the resolution, but the resolution failed to pass after a “community vote” (SA by-laws, section 7) was cast.
When anti-Israel activists initiate a BDS resolution, Jewish students become increasingly fearful. Not only are BDS resolutions intrinsically anti-Semitic, they also create a toxic anti-Semitic environment on campus.
When a student senator votes for a secret ballot, it comes after Jewish students have expressed their pain in front of that senator and the entire student government, sometimes over several weeks. Voting for a secret ballot dismisses Jewish fears in favor of an SJP-led strategy.
Since 2015, Canary Mission has scrutinized and publicized the latent anti-Semitism of SJP activists and their role in managing BDS campaigns. Secret ballots allow student senators to vote for BDS resolutions, without any degree of democratic scrutiny.
Cornell SJP - Overview
Cornell SJP has dismissed anti-Semitism, supported anti-Israel violence and whitewashed terrorists. The student group has also disrupted Israel Day campus events multiple times, demonized Israel and campaigned for the BDS movement.Cornell SJP activists wrote an anti-Israel statement and presented it at Cornell’s Student Assembly (SA) in May 2021.
Cornell SJP - Glorifying Terrorist Ghassan Kanafani 2019-2020
On January 28, 2020, Cornell SJP shared to their Facebook a post from a local communist collective known as the Central Ohio Revolutionary Socialists (CORS), glorifying terrorist Ghassan Kanafani and promoting Kanafani’s rejection of any negotiations with Israel.Kanafani was a leading member and spokesperson for the terrorist organization, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) during their formative years. Kanafani was also involved in the Lod Airport Massacre near Tel Aviv, for which PFLP took responsibility.
Cornell SJP - Demonizing Israel 2019-2020
On February 21, 2020, during the worldwide coronavirus pandemic, Cornell SJP hosted a webinar titled: “Mental Health Under Siege - the Case of Palestine” given by four members of the Palestine Global Mental Health Network (PGMHN) steering committee.The Facebook event description accused Israel of “political violence, institutional racism, and internal colonialism,” claiming that Israel does not “just target the physical living conditions of the Palestinians, but aims to break the very fabric of their society, their souls, and their psyche as well.”
One of the speakers, Mustafa Qassoqsi, described [00:11:53] the founding of the state of Israel as the “colonization of Palestine by European Jews” and accused [00:13:15] Israel of “settler colonialism” and [00:15:00] “ethnic cleansing.”
Another presenter, Samah Jabr, head of the Mental Health Unit within the Palestinian Ministry of Health, claimed [00:38:15] that Israel’s humanitarian aid to Gaza is a “deceiving mask for sadistic intentions.”
Rana Nashashibi, a psychologist living and practicing in Jerusalem, alleged [00:46:54] that the Gaza Strip and most of the West Bank today is “very much like a huge, overcrowded prison, whose inmates are kept in check by heavily armed guards at the gates.”
Nashashibi added [00:47:11]: “If…this prison were to be called anything, it would be ‘a ghetto.’”
On November 22, 2019, Cornell SJP hosted an event titled: “Teach-in Gaza: Life inside the world's largest open air prison.”
The event description on Facebook said: “we will be discussing the history of Gaza from the Nakba to the Great March of Return to last week's military aggression by Israel. Learn more about U.S ally Israel's role in creating the world's largest open air prison...and how Palestinians today are fighting back for their lands.”
The term “Nakba” is generally translated as “catastrophe” in Arabic, referring to the outcome of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. It is a term often used to delegitimize the creation of the State of Israel by defining it as a catastrophe.
The “right of return” is a Palestinian demand discredited as a means to eliminate Israel.
In November 2019, Israel launched Operation Black Belt to stop rocket attacks from Gaza into Israel. From November 12 to November 14, 2019, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terror group sent hundreds of rockets into Israel, targeting major civilian population centers.
Cornell SJP - Disrupting Israeli Independence Day2016-2017
On May 2, 2017, Cornell’s student newspaper, The Cornell Daily Sun, reported that Cornell SJP disrupted Cornell Hillel’s Israeli Independence Day celebration in Anabel Taylor Hall by holding a “die-in” protest in the middle of the event.Cornell SJP activists were granted entrance to the event venue after they assured campus police they would not disrupt the Hillel event. However, within minutes of entering the hall, four members of Cornell SJP held up a sign that read: “Celebrating 69 years of Genocide,” while others handed out flyers or lay on the floor, simulating corpses.
Cornell SJP members reportedly distributed flyers that said: “the modern day Jewish state was founded on the expulsion of the indigenous population.”
Cornell SJP - Endorsing an Anti-Israel Agitator 2017-2018
On February 12, 2018, Cornell SJP held a protest rally on behalf of anti-Israel agitator Ahed Tamimi, calling for her release from Israeli detention. During the event, protesters held signs that said: “Free Ahed,” “Free Palestine” and “Israeli Occupation is Apartheid.”Ahed Tamimi, who has a long history of physically attacking Israeli soldiers, was detained after she was filmed punching and kicking Israeli soldiers. She is the daughter of Bassem Tamimi, who is notorious for exploiting young children as political props in staged confrontations with Israeli soldiers.
On February 21, 2018, Cornell SJP hosted a “letter writing for Ahed Tamimi” event. That same day, Cornell SJP posted to Facebook: “Letter writing for Ahed Tamimi happening right now on Ho Plaza! Stop by anytime before 4pm!!”
Later that day, Cornell SJP posted to Facebook: “Thank you for all of you who stopped by to write some words of support in solidarity with Ahed Tamimi, who has become the symbol of the Palestinian resistance headed the youth and children against the occupation and apartheid in Palestinian Lands.”
Cornell SJP - BDS Overview
In February 2019, Cornell SJP launched an anti-Israel divestment campaign, calling on the University to divest from Technion Israel Institute of Technology (Technion) and any companies which Cornell SJP claimed “profit directly from Israeli military occupation.”Cornell SJPmembers tried to [00:23:03] deny that the resolution was part of the larger BDS movement, a tactic encouraged [00:58:53] by BDS-founder Omar Barghouti. Cornell senators also used a secret ballot to vote on the bill. The bill ultimately failed to pass.
In October 2019, Cornell SJP moved to direct confrontation, disrupting the quarterly meeting of Cornell’s Board of Trustees and calling on the Board to “sever ties” with the Technion. Cornell SJP also called to eliminate the Board’s power of discretion in investments in “the occupation of Palestine.”
Cornell SJP - Divestment Campaign 2018-2019
In February 2019, Cornell SJP launched an anti-Israel divestment campaign, introducing and pushing S.A. Resolution 36, “Urging Cornell to Divest from Companies Profiting from the Occupation of Palestine and Human Rights Violation.”Cornell SJP’s resolution called on Cornell to divest from Cornell Tech’s partnership with the Technion. Cornell Tech is Cornell’s technology, business, law and design campus.
Cornell SJP also called on the university to divest from Tata Motors, Ingersoll-Rand, Raytheon, G4S, and Hewlett-Packard and any other companies SJP Cornell claimed “profit directly from Israeli military occupation.”
Cornell SJP also said: “We will publicly name endowment investments…and hold university leadership responsible for complicity in crimes of apartheid.”
On February 18, 2019, Cornell SJP delivered a letter to Cornell’s President Martha Pollack calling on the University to “divest from companies profiting from morally reprehensible human rights violations in Palestine.”
On April 11, 2019, Cornell SJP presented their divestment initiative to Cornell’s Student Assembly (SA). During the discussion, Mahfuza Shovik, a resolution sponsor, denied [00:23:03] the resolution was part of the BDS movement.
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.
JVP
JVP was founded in Berkeley, California in 1996, as an activist group with an emphasis on the “Jewish tradition” of peace, social justice and human rights. The organization is currently led by Rebecca Vilkomerson and its board members include Israel critics Naomi Klein, Judith Butler, Noam Chomsky and Tony Kushner.
JVP, which generally employs civil disobedience tactics to disrupt pro-Israel speakers and events, consists of American Jews and non-Jewish “allies” highly critical of Israeli policies. A staunch supporter of the BDS movement, JVP claims to aim its campaigns at companies that either support the Israeli military (Hewlett-Packard) or are active in the West Bank (SodaStream).
Although several Jewish groups critical of Israeli policies, like J Street and Partners for a Progressive Israel, make efforts to operate within the mainstream American Jewish community, JVP functions outside. The group is often criticized for serving as a tokenized Jewish voice for the pro-Palestinian camp and is widely regarded as the BDS movement’s “Jewish wing.”
JVP denies the notion of “Jewish peoplehood” and has even gone so far as to refer to its own Ashkenazi (Jews who spent the Diaspora in European countries) leadership as “white supremacy inside of JVP.”
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has accused JVP of being “the largest and most influential Jewish anti-Zionist group in the United States,” and said the group “exploits Jewish culture and rituals to reassure its own supporters that opposition to Israel not only does not contradict, but is actually consistent with, Jewish value.”
The ADL also claimed that “JVP consistently co-sponsors rallies to oppose Israeli military policy that are marked by signs and slogans comparing Israel to Nazi Germany, demonizing Jews and voicing support for groups like Hamas and Hezbollah.”
According to the ADL website, JVP “uses its Jewish identity to shield the anti-Israel movement from allegations of anti-Semitism and provide it with a greater degree of legitimacy and credibility.”
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.
