Frances Cava Humphrey

Overview

Frances Cava Humphrey spread hatred of Israel while speaking at a January 2023 anti-Israel rally. 

As of February 2023, Humphrey’s LinkedIn page said Humphrey was an organizer with Malaya Movement Texas. 

As of the same date, Humphrey’s LinkedIn said Humphrey graduated from Simmons University (Simmons) with a bachelor's degree in art history and art administration in 2020. 

As of February 2023, Humphrey’s LinkedIn said Humphrey had been working as an administrative assistant at the George Washington Carver Museum and Cultural Center since April 2022.

As of the same date, Humphrey’s LinkedIn said Humphrey was located in Austin, Texas. 

January 23, 2023 - Spreading Hatred of Israel

On January 23, 2023, Humphrey spoke [00:09:17] at an anti-Israel rally in Austin, Texas, outside the Israeli American Council (IAC) summit in the Fairmount Hotel. The rally was dubbed “Shutdown IAC.”

Other speakers and protestors included Mohammed Nabulsi, Lina Assi, Khaled Shihabi, and Nidaa Lafi. Speakers at the rally promoted [00:03:32] the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.

At the rally, Humphrey spoke [00:08:45] on behalf of Malaya Movement Texas. 

Humphrey accused [00:09:06] Israel of a “genocidal attack against Palestinians” and of being [00:09:17] a “fascist regime that continues to violate the rights and dignity of the Palestinian people.” Humphrey also referred [00:09:02] to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) as “the Zionist Occupation Forces.”  

Humphrey then said [00:09:43]: “We speak against the IAC's normalization of the Israeli apartheid state. We speak against the normalization of the gross and genocidal acts against Palestinians.” 

Humphrey also demanded [00:09:28] to “shut down the dangerous sham known as the Israeli American Council.” Humphrey read off [00:01:12] a list of people that Humphrey called [00:01:07] “war criminals, supporters of human rights abuses, anti-Palestinian bigots, and normalizers” while the crowd booed each name. 

Proponents of the “anti-normalization” policy seek to police all interactions between Israelis and Palestinians and shut down all conversations and interactions perceived as being ideologically unaligned with their own agenda. They believe “liberal Zionist” dialogue with Palestinians “normalizes” entrenched power dynamics. This policy was originally dictated by the BDS National Committee (BNC), which prioritized the “Monitoring & Rapid Response” against interactions that recognize or cooperate with “Israel’s regime.”

Humphrey concluded [00:01:35] by leading chants: “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free! … From Palestine to the Philippines, stop the U.S. war machine!” 

“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.

During the rally, protesters chanted: “Occupation is a crime, Zionism is a curse!”

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.

Protesters also chanted: “Israel, Israel, you can’t hide, we charge you with genocide!” and “Intifada intifada, long live the intifada!” 

The term “intifada,” which translates from Arabic as “uprising” or “insurrection,” carries the connotation of violence. Palestinian intifadas waged against Israel have been marked since 1987 by hundreds of hijackings, shootings, stabbings, bombings and suicide missions.