Jeslyn Zakes

Zakes’s LinkedIn page also said she was an intern at Women for Women International since January 2018, and a server at The Grapevine Restaurant and Catering since June 2016. 

   

BDS Activism

On April 23, 2018, Zakes spoke [00:31:35] before the GWU Student Association (SA) to promote an anti-Israel BDS resolution associated with the #DivestThisTime campaign.

Zakes, who alleged [00:31:40] to speak on behalf of an anonymous Palestinian student, accused [00:32:44] Israel of “racism and oppression.” She characterized [00:31:54] Israeli military operations during the second Intifada and against Hamas in 2008-2009 and 2014 as “random attacks” by Israel.

The second intifada (2000-2005) was characterized by more than 120 suicide bombings targeting Israeli civilians on buses and in cafes.

Israel commenced Operations Cast Lead (OCL), Pillar of Defense (OPD) and Protective Edge (OPE) in 2008-09, 2012 and 2014, respectively, in order to stop Hamas rocket fire from Gaza targeting Israeli civilians.

The 2018 GWU BDS resolution passed [00:21:53] with 18 votes for, six against and six abstentions via a secret ballot.  

The resolution implied that “Israel is the worst apartheid regime” and that Israel imposes “forced labour” on Palestinians. It also implied that Israel divides “its population along racial lines by the creation of separate reserves and ghettos for the members of a racial group or groups.”

The resolution portrayed Israeli military campaigns against Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) as deliberate attempts to kill children and civilians. It also singled out Israel for alleged violations of the Geneva Convention and war crimes.

Three of the resolution’s four co-sponsors voted [00:09:59] against an amendment [00:07:15] acknowledging that “Israel is a state and has the right to exist” and that Israelis have the “right to safety, security and self-determination.” The fourth co-sponsor abstained.  

On April 2, 2018, Zakes featured in a Facebook photo on the #DivestThisTime Facebook page.

On March 24, 2018, Zakes spoke [00:02:41] in that year’s #DivestThisTime Facebook promotional video.

Anti-Israel Activism

On March 23, 2018, Zakes indicated on Facebook that she “went” to an SJP at GWU event featuring anti-Israel poet Remi Kanazi.

On May 22, 2018, Zakes indicated on Facebook that she “went” to an SJP at GWU event titled: “Palestine 101: Israeli Apartheid.”

On March 21, 2018, Zakes indicated on Facebook that she “went” to an SJP at GWU event featuring anti-Israel professor Saed Atshan.

On March 20, 2018, Zakes indicated on Facebook that she “went” to an SJP at GWU event, titled “From DC to Palestine Forced Displacement is a Crime.”

On March 4, 2018, Zakes appeared [00:01:02] in a Youtube video from a rally against the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).

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.”

Abbas Hamideh, the head of Al-Awda - The Palestine Right of Return Movement, organized the rally. Hamideh has been called out for spreading anti-Semitism and expressing support for terrorists on social media.

At the rally, Hamideh said [00:02:23]: “There is no other classification for AIPAC other than being a criminal lobby that controls American foreign affairs and, in particular, fully responsible for the illegal occupation of Palestine.”  

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.