Jacob Firman
Jacob Firman justified anti-Semitism, spread hatred of Israel and engaged in anti-Israel activism as an activist with Students for a Free Palestine (SFP), an affiliate of the anti-Israel campus group Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at Oberlin College and Conservatory (Oberlin), in 2015-2016.
Jacob Firman is a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.
Jacob Firman graduated from Oberlin with a bachelor's degree in 2016.
Oberlin is located in Oberlin, Ohio.
On March 15, 2016, Jacob Firman co-authored a letter in support of Joy Karega, published in The Oberlin Review.
The letter stated: "...We strongly believe that Professor Karega should not be fired nor removed from tenure consideration...".
Karega claimed on Facebook that Israel created ISIS, perpetrated 9/11 and executed the Charlie Hebdo attacks. She also posted anti-Semitic conspiracy theories on the platform.
Oberlin placed Karega on administrative leave pending an investigation into the anti-Semitic statements she made on social media, followed by her dismissal from the university.
On October 9, 2015, Jacob Firman co-authored a pro-BDS letter published in The Oberlin Review, titled: "Board of Trustees Condones Violence."
The letter also accused Israel of "ongoing occupation" and carrying out a "blockade of Gaza."
The United Nations approved [pp. 39–41] the Israeli-Egyptian blockade of Gaza in 2011 as a security measure to stop Hamas from acquiring sophisticated rockets. Multiple flotillas have attempted to breach the blockade, with at least one initiating a violent confrontation with Israeli forces.
Following Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, the Israeli military discovered that Hamas went around the blockade by smuggling weaponry through tunnels under the Philadelphi corridor separating Gaza from Egypt.
SJP is the leading 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, who has spread anti-Semitism and defended the Hamas terror group.
SJP organizes anti-Israel campus campaigns, including running annual Israel Apartheid Weeks and pushing the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement. SJP activists have reportedly physically assaulted, intimidated and harassed Jewish students, and SJP chapters have often endorsed and campaigned for terrorists.
The Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement was founded by pro-terror activist Omar Barghouti in 2005 to turn “Israel into a pariah state, as South Africa once was.” Barghouti has also called for Israel's destruction and the BDS movement demands would result in that same goal.
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 infiltrating university campuses through lobbying for “BDS resolutions.” In these cases, student governments propose resolutions to boycott or divestment from Israel or Israeli-affiliated entities. 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 and pro-terror activism on campus.