Gadeer Ayesh

Ayesh is a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.

As of September, 2022, Ayesh’s LinkedIn page said she was a Physician Assistant at Froedtert South Hospital and Health Care in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Ayesh’s LinkedIn also said she graduated from Marquette University with a bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Sciences in 2016, and from Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science with a Master of Science as a Physician Assistant in 2018.

Also as of September 2022, Ayesh’s LinkedIn said she was located in Schaumburg, Illinois.

As of the same date, Ayesh used the handle “@smrtypnts_ayesh” on Twitter.

Glorifying Violence

On November 29, 2015, during the “Knife Intifada,” Ayesh shared a video on Facebook titled: “Colors of the Intifada- Abstract Palestinian Art and Poetry.” Ayesh commented: “One word. Amazing.”

The video showed the painting of a mural, accompanied by narration of poetry that said [00:00:08]: “Then came the black, the night, the oppression… giving birth to the glint of a knife. Knives that are our tongues when the world is deaf to our alphabet. This is the intifada of the knife…”

In October 2015, there was an upsurge in violence across Israel incited by Palestinian political and religious leaders. The wave of stabbings, known as the “Knife Intifada,” was characterized by young Palestinians throughout the country stabbing and attempting to stab Israeli civilians.

Anti-Israel Activism

On February 29, 2016, Ayesh reportedly defended the slogan: “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” being displayed on SJP MU’s mock apartheid wall, by claiming it was “a call for free and equal rights for all.”

“From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be Free” is a chant used [00:02:47] to call for the elimination of 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. In April 2024, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution condemning the chant as antisemitic.

On February 28, 2016, Ayesh criticized MU on Facebook for “censoring its students” by removing the mock apartheid wall.

A Facebook event page by SJP MU promoting the mock apartheid wall claimed: “The Apartheid wall is a separation barrier built by the Israeli government to segregate the Palestinian people.”

Israel’s security barrier, 97 percent of which is a low chain-link barrier, was built as a deterrent to Palestinian terror attacks. The concrete portions of the fence were built in response to Palestinian sniper attacks.

On November 10, 2015, Ayesh led anti-Israel chanting at a protest of a Republicanpresidential debate. In a video from the protest, Ayesh claimed [00:01:05] that Israel was using U.S. financial aid “to kill millions - thousands - of Palestinians every year.”

On November 9, 2015, Ayesh participated in a protest in Milwaukee against the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), outside its annual conference. The protest was held by anti-Israel groups including SJP and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP).

Ayesh was quoted in Marquette Wire, MU’s student media source, as saying that AIPAC worked with the U.S. government “in support of sending money to Israel,” which Israel then used “for military use to help in their occupation and their massacre of Palestinian people.” 

The stated mission of AIPAC is to “strengthen, protect and promote the U.S.-Israel relationship in ways that enhance the security of the United States and Israel.”

On May 7, 2015, Ayesh promoted on a Facebook group an event co-sponsored by SJP MU, titled “Al-Nakba: Rally for the Right to Return!”

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. 

Promoting BDS

On March 10, 2016, Ayesh posted to Facebook: “For those who think BDS won't change a thing...nice to know that everything we do is actually making a difference!” Ayesh’s post linked to an article about security company G4S, which had been the target of a BDS campaign, announcing it would withdraw from Israel. G4S had said its decision was not due to BDS pressure.

On April 27, 2015, Ayesh posted to Instagram in reference to a BDS resolution by SJP MU: “No words can express how truly disappointed I am after today’s senate meeting…our bill got passed...but with 3/4 of it removed. I wonder, how can you pass a DIVESTMENT bill without the actually word 'divestment'...How can you call this a socially responsible bill when the only legitimate clauses we had, you took out. The legislation passed is now just a bunch of meaningless words. #MUDivest.”

SJP MU - Glorifying a Terrorist 2015

On December 1, 2015, SJP MU shared a Facebook post memorializing terrorist Mamoun al-Khatibas as a martyr. Al-Khatibas attempted to carry out a stabbing attack at a bus stop before he was shot dead.

SJP MU - Promoting Incitement 2015

SJP MU promoted an October 31, 2015 event by American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), titled: “Our Aqsa is Under Threat.”

The allegation that Jews “threaten” to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque has been a pretext for Arab attacks on Jews long before the existence of the modern Jewish state. Such propaganda has led to multiple periods of violence against Israeli civilians.

On October 24, 2015, SJP MU posted the hashtag #HandsoffAlAqsa on Facebook and linked to a video shared by Friends of Al Aqsa (FOA) with the description: “...Thousands held a strike in Israel calling for the protection of al Aqsa mosque #HandsOffAlAqsa #AlAqsaUnderAttack #SaveAlAqsa.”

SJP MU - BDS Campaign 2015

In March 2015, SJP MU launched a BDS campaign, MU Divest, along with 12 co-sponsoring student organizations, to call on MU to divest from companies “found to be in violation of human rights against Palestinians and others.” 

After the MU Student Government (MUSG) President revealed a document had been circulated on campus publicizing MUSG senators’ personal information, including religious and political beliefs, the MUSG Senate held the discussion and vote on MU Divest’s resolution in a closed-door executive session.

The resolution passed with a 25-3-0 vote, however references to divestment and the names of companies that MU Divest claimed were “in violation of Palestinian human rights” were removed from the bill. The new resolution called for MU to implement socially responsible investing. 

Then-president of SJP, Rawan Atari, reportedly said she was disappointed in the senate with the results of the meeting and said it would not be the end of SJP’s campaign for Marquette to divest.

Social Media and Weblinks

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gadeer.ayesh

Twitter: https://twitter.com/smrtypnts_ayesh

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gadeerayesh/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gadeer-ayesh-ms-pa-c-5698b3114/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@gadeerayesh