Isabelle El-Yateem

Overview

Isabelle El-Yateem was the marketing director of a Palestinian Student Association (PSA) chapter that expressed support for Hamas terrorists in October 2023. El-Yateem has called for Israel’s destruction and engaged in anti-Israel activism.

El-Yateem’s PSA chapter showed support for Hamas following a series of Hamas terror atrocities and war crimes against Israeli civilians, including mass murder, torture, rape, beheadings and kidnappings, which were executed on October 7, 2023. 

The Hamas terror attacks left approximately 1,200 Israelis dead, hundreds kidnapped and thousands wounded. Israel retaliated with a war called “Swords of Iron.”


As of July 2024, El-Yateem had served as the marketing director of the PSA chapter at the University of Central Florida (UCF) (UCF-PSA) since January 2024. UCF is located in Orlando, Florida.

During El-Yateem's tenure as marketing director, UCF-PSA supported the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement. 

As of January 2024, El-Yateem was listed online as a student majoring in biology at UCF. As of July 2024, her Instagram bio said she was slated to graduate in 2026.

As of July 2024, El-Yateem’s online bio said that she “aspires to be a surgeon” and her Facebook About page said she was located in Boynton Beach, Florida.

Support for Hamas Terrorists

On October 31, 2023, UCF-PSA issued a statement on Instagram, weeks after Hamas attacked Israel, that said [slide 1] “We firmly stand in solidarity with the ongoing struggle for Palestinian liberation…”

On Saturday, October 7, 2023, approximately 2,900 heavily armed Hamas terrorists breached Israel’s border with Gaza. They executed numerous war crimes on civilians, including mass murder, beheadings of children, rape of men and women, torture, kidnappings and mutilation. Hamas broadcast videos of their butchery on social media, often to victims’ accounts for families to see. Israel retaliated with a war called “Swords of Iron.” As of November 10, 2023, approximately 1,200 Israelis, the vast majority of them civilians, were murdered during the attacks. Hamas kidnapped 242 Israelis, including at least 30 children. At least 3,500 people were wounded, many severely.
UCF-PSA’s Instagram statement also accused [slide 2] Israel of “ongoing apartheid and ethnic cleansing” and demonized [slide 1] Israel for “Building walls and checkpoints,” referring to Israel’s security barrier. 

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.

Israeli checkpoints were built to prevent terror attacks, such as suicide bombings, against Israel's civilian population.

The statement also accused [slide 1] Israel of “Nakba” and claimed that “Gaza is the largest open-air prison” and that Gazans were “held under a suffocating blockade.” 

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.

Referring to Gaza as an "open-air prison" is a way to delegitimize the United Nations-approved [pp. 39–41] joint Israeli-Egyptian blockade of the Gaza Strip imposed in 2011 to prevent Hamas from acquiring more sophisticated rockets.

Calling for Israel’s Destruction

As of July 2024, El-Yateem’s Instagram bio said: “ #freepalestine من النهر إلى البحر [From the river to the sea].”

“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.

Anti-Israel Activism (UCF-PSA)

On April 26, 2024, UCF-PSA held an anti-Israel protest titled: “Solidarity with Gaza! End the Occupation!”    

At the protest, anti-Israel activists held signs that read [slide 22]: “LAND YOU HAVE TO KILL FOR IS NOT YOURS, LAND YOU HAVE TO DIE FOR IS” and [slide 23]: “NO! GENOCIDE ON OUR DIME! FREE PALESTINE!”


The watermelon has been appropriated by anti-Israel activists as a symbol of Palestinian "resistance" to "Israeli occupation," as it shares the colors with the flag of Palestine. It has been depicted in art, used on flags at protests and posted online.  

On April 12, 2024, UCF-PSA held a teach-in titled: “Black and Palestinian solidarity.” The flyer for the event featured a photo of an anti-Israel protester with a sign that said: “STOP U.S. FUNDED GENOCIDE.” 

On March 2, 2024, the UCF-PSA posted a video captioned: “This must be the best boycott video I have seen so far ” and below: “FREE PALESTINE / BOYCOTT ISRAEL.” 

On February 14, 2024, UCF-PSA posted on Instagram: “VOICES FROM PALESTINE / STORIES AMID OCCUPATION / We are looking for people willing to share stories of their Palestinian heritage and family experiences under the occupation / SHARE YOUR STORIES IN SHORT VIDEO INTERVIEWS.” 

On January 29, 2024, UCF-PSA organized a “March for Palestine” on campus.  

At the protest, one of the signs read: “It all started in 1948 / Ceasefire Now.”

The modern State of Israel was founded in 1948.

Another sign read: “‘Through Resistance we find our FREEDOM’ - Mahmoud Darwish,” below was the Palestinian flag. 

Anti-Israel activists use the term “resistance” to refer to violence and terror perpetrated against Israeli civilians and their allies. It is used to glorify anti-Israel and anti-Semitic violence. Anti-Israel activists chant slogans such as: “Resistance by any means necessary!” and “Resistance is justified when people are occupied!” in response to terror attacks.

On January 20, 2024, UCF-PSA posted on Instagram a guide titled: “How you can strike for Palestine.” 

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:https://www.facebook.com/isabelle.elyateem.3

Twitter:https://twitter.com/isa_elyateem

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/isabelle.elyateem/ [Private]

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

YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/@isabelleelyateem9826