Jordan Yunker

Overview

Jordan Yunker was the research chair for Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at the University of Michigan, Dearborn (UM-Dearborn) in 2018.

Yunker attended the 2018 National SJP conference on November 16-18, 2018.

The 2018 National SJP conference was held on November 16-18, 2018 at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). The conference was themed “Radical Hope: Resistance in the Face of Adversity.” The conference website stated: “[t]he reason we can have hope is that Zionism...can be destroyed.”

As of June 2019, Yunker’s profile page on theodysseyonline.com said she was “a student UM-Dearborn in the Women's and Gender Studies department.”

Attending the National SJP 2018 Conference

On November 18, 2018, SJP UM Dearborn posted a Facebook and Instagram photo of Yunker at the National SJP conference in 2018, alongside 2018 SJP UM-Dearborn activists Jasmine Rabie and Susan Yaseen. The comment on the post read: “WHO’S BEAR? OUR BEAR 🐻🇵🇸.”

National SJP 2018 promoted a conference logo featuring a keffiyeh-wearing bear, looking toward a kite bearing the colors of the Palestinian flag.

On October 27, 2018, National SJP said the kite signified “the power in the Gaza March of Return.”

The Great Return March of 2018 was organized and funded by the terror group Hamas as a campaign of violent protests along Israel’s border to spotlight the demand of Palestinians to “return” to Israel.

Tens of thousands of rioters gathered on Israel’s Gaza border, attempting numerous breaches of Israel’s border fence, with leaders andparticipants declaring their intention to harm Jews.

Since March 2018, s Hamas’s “Kite Unit” and other March of Return participants sent hundreds of kites bearing incendiary devices and IEDs (improvised explosive devices) across Israel’s border to terrorize Israelis. The kites were often marked with swastikas.

By the time National SJP produced its 2018 conference logo highlighting the kites in October 2018, Gazan terror kites and balloons had ignited more than 1,300 fires in Israel, over seven months.

2018 National SJP - Celebrating Violence

During the 2018 National SJP conference, anti-Israel activist Mohammed Nabulsi led the attendees in the chant [00:00:52] “Long Live the Intifada! Intifada! Intifada!”

Since the early 2000’s, the term “intifada” has carried the connotation of violence. The second intifada was characterized by more than 120 suicide bombings targeting Israeli civilians on buses and in cafes.

Anti-Israel activist Omar Zahzah also reportedly [00:00:07] led National SJP attendees in chanting, in Arabic, “With our bodies and our blood, we will free Palestine.”

As of November 2018, the 2018 National SJP website glorified “radical hope and upfront defiance of Zionism,” citing as examples the “early revolts through the Intifadas to the Great Return March.”

The Great Return March of 2018 was organized and funded by the terror group Hamas as a campaign of violent protests along Israel’s border to spotlight the demand of Palestinians to “return” to Israel.

Tens of thousands of rioters gathered on Israel’s Gaza border, attempting numerous breaches of Israel’s border fence, with leaders andparticipants declaring their intention to harm Jews.

National SJP originally promoted a conference logo featuring a keffiyeh-wearing bear, looking toward a kite bearing the colors of the Palestinian flag.

On October 27, 2018, National SJP said the kite signified “the power in the Gaza March of Return.”

Since March 2018, March of Return participants and Hamas’s “Kite Unit” have sent hundreds of kites bearing incendiary devices and IEDs (improvised explosive devices) across the border into Israel to terrorize Israelis. The kites are often marked with swastikas.

By the time National SJP produced its 2018 conference logo highlighting the kites in October 2018, Gazan terror kites and balloons had ignited more than 1,300 fires in Israel, over seven months.

2018 National SJP - Undermining U.S. Support for Israel

On November 18, 2018, the US Palestine Community Network (USPCN) posted on Facebook the 2018 National SJP keynote speech by Hatem Abudayyeh, USPCN’s co-founder.

Abudayyeh has supported [00:08:45] convicted terrorists, praised terror organizations, called for Israel’s destruction and is an activist in theBoycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.

In his 2018 National SJP Keynote, Abudayyeh said [00:53:01] that the “specific role” of Palestinian and Arab students was to organize [00:53:42] in order to weaken “Zionist Israel” and force [00:54:23] the U.S. to “no longer provide it with diplomatic, political, financial and military cover and support.”

Abudayyeh predicted [00:55:37] that once U.S. support to Israel ends, National SJP attendees would return to Palestine as “conquering heroes,” end [00:54:38] the “occupation and colonization of all Arab lands including the Golan Heights” and replace “Zionist Israel” with a Palestinian state.

2018 National SJP - Whitewashing Terror Organizations

During his keynote speech, Abudayyeh also painted [00:14:01] terrorist organizations as “liberation movements” and “resistance organizations,” stating [00:14:21] “what we also know is that the majority of the resistance organizations in Palestine are on the U.S. state department list of foreign terrorist organizations.”

Abudayyeh also celebrated [00:52:00] that all of the “armed resistance” organizations in Gaza are part [00:52:14] of a “unified resistance in Gaza, that includes all of the resistance organizations, working together under a unified military command.”

2018 National SJP - Defending Terrorist Rasmea Odeh

During his keynote speech, Abudayyeh claimed [00:08:28] that pro-Israel organizations “go after students like you,” adding [00:08:20] “just like they went after my friend and colleague, Rasmea Odeh.”

Odeh was a key military operative with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terrorist organization. In 1969, she masterminded a PFLP supermarket bombing that killed two college students. She also attempted to bomb the British consulate in Jerusalem. Odeh later moved to the United States but was deported to Jordan in 2017 for immigration fraud.

Abudayyeh added that he was asked [00:08:45] to talk about Odeh’s case, and praised SJP and SDS students who organized [00:09:15] “absolutely valuable” events on behalf [00:9:11] of Odeh, “as she was fighting to stay in the U.S.”

2018 National SJP - Demonizing Israel and Jews

During his keynote speech, Abudayyeh defended [00:27:25] the “Irvine 11” — eleven Muslim Student Union (MSA) members who were arrested in 2010 for repeatedly shouting down former Israeli ambassador Michael Oren during an address at the University of California at Irvine (UC Irvine).

Abudayyeh referred [00:27:37] to Oren as a “racist fascist speaker, representative of a racist, fascist country.”

Abudayyeh went on to claim [00:29:48] that “today, even in the United States, Israel is finally being seen as the criminal, apartheid, racist state that it is.”

Abudayyeh also called for increased action in the face of President U.S. Donald Trump, and referred [00:48:41] to Jared Kushner, Trump’s Jewish son-in-law and senior advisor, as “that pig son-in-law of his.”

2018 National SJP - Excluding Students

The 2018 National SJP Conference welcomed only students who were verified and vouched for by an SJP (or otherwise named campus Palestine solidarity group). Media requests needed to be “approved by the NSJP press team” prior to the conference.

A November 7, 2018 Columbus Jewish News article reported that the Los Angeles City Council unanimously passed a resolution calling on UCLA to cancel the 2018 NSJP conference, stating that a “public university should not allow any group to implement a litmus test for event participation on their campus.”

On November 12, 2018, UCLA Chancellor Gene Block published an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times that criticized National SJP’s exclusion of members of pro-Israel student groups.

SJP UM Dearborn - Solidarity with a Terrorist

SJP UM-Dearborn has, since 2014, shown support for Rasmea Odeh, who faced deportation from the U.S. after reportedly lying on her naturalization papers about her terrorist activity.

In June 2016, SJP UM-Dearborn activists participated in a rally for Odeh, demanding the immigration fraud charges against her be dropped.

Odeh was a key military operative with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terrorist organization. In 1969, she masterminded a PFLP supermarket bombing that killed two college students. She also attempted to bomb the British consulate in Jerusalem. Odeh later moved to the United States but was deported to Jordan in 2017 for immigration fraud.

SJP UM Dearborn - Trivializing Anti-Semitism

On April 4, 2017, SJP UM-Dearborn issued a statement condemning an article written by Jordan Wohl, a Fellow of the UM-Dearborn Student Government (UMDSG).

In the article, Wohl objected to a BDS resolution authored by SJP UM-Dearborn president Susan Yaseen. He also objected to the scheduling of the student government debate on the divestment resolution for a Friday night, the Jewish Sabbath, when religiously-observant Jewish students at UM-Dearborn would effectively be prohibited from attending.

SJP UM-Dearborn responded by suggesting Wohl, who is Jewish, was a “non-Semite.” The group also accused him of bigotry and argued that “a Semite is someone who speaks a Semitic language, such as Arabic or Aramaic. Since the majority of SJP are Semites, to be anti-Semitic is a juxtaposition to our own bloodlines.”

SJP UM-Dearborn’s definition of the term “antisemite” varied greatly from the commonly accepted definition which is “hostility to, prejudice, or discrimination against Jews.”

SJP UM-Dearborn continued:“Furthermore, to be labeled as anti-Semitic by a non-Semite is a serious accusation that we take to heart and treat as bigotry.”

SJP UM Dearborn - Promoting BDS Resolutions on Campus

SJP UM Dearborn has promoted the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement at UM Dearborn since its founding in February 2013.

On February 4, 2017, SJP UM-Dearborn shared to Facebook a screenshot of an anti-Israel resolution proposed to the UM-Dearborn Student Government (UMDSG) titled: “Supporting the UNSC Resolution 2334 (2016) Regarding An End To Israeli settlements in Palestinian territories.”

That day, SJP UM-Dearborn posted on Facebook that the resolution had passed, and that the UMDSG president would be “issuing a statement against illegal Israeli settlements to the Board of Regents, as well as advocating for divestment from Israeli apartheid, and sending them a copy of this resolution.”

On March 13, 2017, the UMDSG shared a screenshot on Facebook of a BDS resolution, titled: “A Resolution To Divest from Ethically Reprehensible Companies That Violate Palestinian Rights,” which reportedly was unanimously passed by the UMDSG on March 13, 2017.

Both resolutions were authored by SJP UM-Dearborn activist Susan Yaseen and co-sponsored by SJP UM-Dearborn activists Michael Mchahwar and Jasmine Rabie.

The UMDSG scheduled the vote on the divestment resolution for a Friday night, March 10, 2017, during the Jewish Shabbat.

On March 29, 2017, UMDSG student Fellow Jordan Wohl wrote in an article that his request to the UMDSG to reschedule the resolution vote was rejected, effectively barring the presence of Jewish students who observe Shabbat.

On March 16, 2017, UMDSG president, Fiana Arbab reportedly presented a copy of the resolution at the Board of Regents Meeting and advocated for the University to divest from the companies named in the resolution.

During the meeting, Susan Yaseen reportedly “asked the board to reconsider forming a divestment committee to investigate investments by the University that may violate Palestinian rights.”

On April 18, 2017, an article in the Badger Herald noted that students at UM-Dearborn had “pushed for more than two years” unsuccessfully “to pass a similar resolution through their student government.” Yaseen reportedly said: “I’m aware that divestment is unlikely and that we maybe have 10 more years to go...But I believe we planted a seed, and [the movement] is going to continue to grow.”

SJP UM Dearborn - Defending Pro-BDS Professors

In November 2018, SJP UM-Dearborn activist Susan Yaseen drafted a student government resolution, endorsed by SJP UM-Dearborn that “defended the actions” of John Cheney-Lippold, who sparked major controversy in September 2018, when he reneged on his offerto write a recommendation letter for a student to study abroad in Israel.

The resolution also reportedly defended Lucy Evelyn Peterson, a graduate student instructor at the University of Michigan (UMICH) who, in 2018, reportedly reneged on her commitment to write a recommendation letter for a student because he was applying to study in Israel. Peterson reportedly cited that she pledged herself “to a boycott of Israeli institutions as a way of showing solidarity with Palestine.”

In an October 3, 2018 letter, UMICH disciplined Cheney-Lippold by issuing a number of sanctions, including ineligibility “for a salary increase for the 2018-2019 academic year.” Further, Cheney-Lippold’s sabbatical eligibility and credits were frozen for two years “until the Fall 2020 semester.”

On November 9, 2018, Susan Yaseen, in her capacity as the “Divestment Investigations Chair” of the UMDSG, reportedly drafted a student government resolution that “defended the actions” of Cheney-Lippold and Lucy Evelyn Peterson.

Yaseen’ resolution reportedly called “for a reversal of the disciplinary actions taken against the two instructors.” Yaseen reportedly said that “this resolution serves as a first step in the fight to ensure equal rights for Palestinian students.” The resolution passed the next day.

The University of Michigan’s Public Affairs Department reportedly responded to the controversy, saying that “Injecting personal politics into a decision regarding support for our students is counter to our values and expectations as an institution.”

The resolution reportedly called for “a reversal of the disciplinary actions taken against the two instructors.”

SJP UM Dearborn - Celebrating “International Quds Day”

On July 2, 2016, SJP UM-Dearborn shared a photo of SJP activists and wrote: “How did you spend international Quds Day? #FreePalestine”

SJP UM-Dearborn activist Susan Yaseen held a sign that read: “ISRAELI APARTHEID. Made in the U.S.A. BLOCK AID TO ISRAEL NOW.”

The Iranian government initiated International Quds Day in 1979, as an annual protest against Israel’s existence. The protest has historically been a platform for anti-Semitism.

SJP UM Dearborn - Demonizing Israel

On April 13, 2017, the UM-Dearborn student newspaper reported that SJP UM-Dearborn put fake parking tickets on students’ car windshields parked on campus in March. The tickest “were meant to serve as flyers for two events” organized by SJP UM-Dearborn.

SJP UM-Dearborn president, Susan Yaseen, said: “The purpose of this was to create an empathic connection between the student body and the Palestinian victims, sharing with them the reality of what the Palestinians go through on a daily basis. Palestinians do not receive any form of notices when they are forced to evacuate or have their houses demolished.”

Yaseen continued. “The tickets were designed to share that fear with the student body and spread awareness of the injustice occurring in Palestine.”

The fake ticket read: “Parking Violation... We regret to inform you that your vehicle will be towed in the next 24 Hours. We receive the right to demolish the vehicle under Code 269.2.C. We hereby release any liability for damage to any persons or effects including gross negligence. You will receive the charges of demolition and waste removal…”

The flyer concluded: “Palestinian homes are often destroyed so that new settlements can be built, and so that the state of Israel can expand past its borders by appropriating Palestinian land.”

On October 31, 2016, SJP UM-Dearborn held a “Zionism is Scary” bake sale on campus.

On October 6, 2016, SJP UM-Dearborn shared photos on Facebook of activists setting up a mock Israeli checkpoint. SJP activists put up a mock apartheid wall, simulating Israel’s security barrier, and dressed as Israeli soldiers.

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 May 12, 2016, SJP UM-Dearborn tweeted that “Israel's ‘Independence’ is not an event to be celebrated, but a TRAGEDY of displacement and ethnic cleansing!”

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.