Fiana Arbab
Overview
Fiana Arbab [Syeda Fiana Arbab] is a supporter of the Boycott Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement. She promoted a controversial divestment resolution that urged the University of Michigan, Dearborn (UM-Dearborn) to divest from companies that do business with Israel, while she served as the President of the UM-Dearborn Student Government (UMDSG) in 2017.In 2014 and 2015, Arbab was affiliated with the Muslim Student Association (MSA) at UM-Dearborn.
As of June 2019, Arbab’s LinkedIn page said she was a Lead Policy Fellow at Georgia Shift and the “Field Organizer at Stephanie Chang for Senate” since September 2018.
As of June 2019, Arbab’s Facebook page said she was the “Fund Development Officer” for Narratives of Pain since January 2019, and a “Board Member” of the Women's March Michigan since September 2018. Her Facebook also said she studied Psychology and Women's Studies at UM-Dearborn as a member of the “Class of 2017.”
Promoting a Campus BDS Resolution
On February 4, 2017, SJP UM-Dearborn shared to Facebook a screenshot of an anti-Israel resolution proposed to the UM-Dearborn Student Government (UMDSG) titled: “Supporting the UNSC Resolution 2334 (2016) Regarding An End To Israeli settlements in Palestinian territories.”That day, SJP UM-Dearborn posted on Facebook that the resolution had passed, and that the UMDSG president would be “issuing a statement against illegal Israeli settlements to the Board of Regents, as well as advocating for divestment from Israeli apartheid, and sending them a copy of this resolution.”
On February 14, 2017, Arbab shared a photo of herself on Facebook with a graphic and a caption, produced by SJP UM-Dearborn, that read: “The Time to Divest is Now.”
On March 13, 2017, the UMDSG shared a screenshot on Facebook of a BDS resolution, titled: “A Resolution To Divest from Ethically Reprehensible Companies That Violate Palestinian Rights,” which reportedly was unanimously passed by the UMDSG on March 13, 2017.
Both resolutions were authored by SJP UM-Dearborn activist Susan Yaseen and co-sponsored by SJP UM-Dearborn activists Michael Mchahwar and Jasmine Rabie.
The UMDSG scheduled the vote on the divestment resolution for a Friday night, March 10, 2017, during the Jewish Shabbat.
On March 29, 2017, UMDSG student Fellow Jordan Wohl wrote in an article that his request to the UMDSG to reschedule the resolution vote was rejected, effectively barring the presence of Jewish students who observe Shabbat.
On March 16, 2017, Arbab reportedly presented a copy of the resolution at the Board of Regents Meeting and advocated for the University to divest from the companies named in the resolution.
During the meeting, Susan Yaseen reportedly “asked the board to reconsider forming a divestment committee to investigate investments by the University that may violate Palestinian rights.”
On April 18, 2017, an article in the Badger Herald noted that students at UM-Dearborn had “pushed for more than two years” unsuccessfully “to pass a similar resolution through their student government.” Yaseen reportedly said: “I’m aware that divestment is unlikely and that we maybe have 10 more years to go...But I believe we planted a seed, and [the movement] is going to continue to grow.”
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.
Social Media and Weblinks
Facebook:www.facebook.com/1322975235Twitter: https://twitter.com/FianaArbab
LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/syeda-fiana-arbab-2084b580/
Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/fianaarbab/
