Kirsten Gindler

Overview

Kirsten Gindler is student advisory board member at The Smart Museum of Art, for the University of Chicago (U of C).

Gindler graduated from U of C in 2015 and continues to campaign for Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) at U of C (JVP UChicago). On April 28, 2015, JVP UChicago’s Facebook page described Gindler — who was pictured deriding the route of Israel’s security fence —  as one of the group’s “leaders.” 

Gindler supports the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement and was a member of the 2016 UofC Divest campaign team.  

Gindler is a member of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at U of C (SJP U of C). 

Likening Israel to Nazi Germany

On April 5, 2016, Gindler posed in a photo campaign on Facebook promoting UofC Divest. Gindler described herself as "western Jew with no connection to the state of Israel." She employed the refrain “Never Again,” — a broad call against genocide, exemplified by the Nazis’ war of extermination against the Jews — to attack the Jewish State. Gindler said that, for her, the phrase “rings no truer than when applied to the Israeli occupation of Palestine.”

Gindler, in the same Facebook post, falsely claimed that Israel practices "apartheid."

Civil Disruption

On August 21, 2014, Gindler and other JVP members serially disrupted speakers, including the former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren, at a Jewish Federation / Jewish United Fund of Chicago fundraising event, during Israel’s Operation Protective Edge. 

Gindler accused Israel, misleadingly, of "killing children" while holding a banner which read “shame on Israel.”

JVP UChicago protesters outside the event chanted the slogans "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free," and “free, free Palestine, long live Palestine” — used by Hamas leader, Khaled Mashal and others to call for the replacementof Israel with an Arab, Islamic state.

Demonizing Israel

On August 10, 2014, during Israel’s Operation Protective Edge against Hamas, Gindler marched in a major Chicago protest where she held a JVP sign that read — "Jews Oppose Israel’s War on Civilians."

Hamas — which has been designated as a terrorist organization by the European Union, Australia, Egypt, Japan, the United States, and Canada — fired over 4,564 missiles and rockets — including Grad rockets — at Israeli population centers during the summer 2014 conflict.

The JVP sign that Gindler held also called on Israel to "End the Siege of Gaza" which Israel and Egypt implemented to stop Hamas from acquiring more weapons.

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 flotilla initiating a violent confrontation with Israeli forces. 

On April 28, 2015, Gindler on Facebook posed with a flyer which criticized the Israeli security fence constructed to stop terrorist violence following the Second Intifada.

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.

Accusations of Ethnic Cleansing

On May 13, 2015, Gindler appeared in a Facebook photo campaign promoting the SJP U of C Palestine Solidarity Week, which featured a JVP UChicago workshop titled, "Facing the Nakba." Photos from the event were posted on the Facebook page of SJP U of C showing JVP UChicago members holding up placards containing anti-Israel propaganda.

Gindler’s placard propagated the unique definition of "refugee" that UNRWA applies to Palestinian Arabs — and that accounts for the ever burgeoning numbers of Palestinian refugees. One placard stated that over 4.4 million Palestinian refugees are registered with the U.N. and others estimatedthe total number of Palestinian refugees at seven million.

On May 7, 2014 — a day after Israeli Independence Day — SJP U of C posted photos of their protest in which Gindler participated. She stood alongside other SJP U of C and JVP UChicago members who alleged Israel committed "ethnic cleansing" in the 1948 Israeli War of Independence.

On May 7, 2014, SJP U of C shared a poster on Facebook which complemented their protest objecting to Israel’s Independence Day and rejecting Israel’s right to exist. The poster urged: "Decolonize Palestine. Free Palestine." The poster also accused Zionists of “celebrating” and trying “to normalize ethnic cleansing.”

Supporting a Terrorist

On March 31, 2016, Gindler posed for a photo with unrepentant terrorist-murder Rasmea Odeh during the "kickoff night" of the UofC Divest campaign.

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.

U of C Divest

Promoting UofC Divest

SJP U of C - Supporting Terrorists

On May 16, 2016, SJP U of C approvingly posted on Facebook the U.S. Palestinian Community Network (USPCN) stance on Palestinian terrorism against Israel.

The text stated: "Regardless of the charges brought against them by occupying Israeli military courts, we stand in defense of all Palestinian prisoners." The text continued, “[t]hose held by Israel are all prisoners of conscience and national heroes, and we reject the criminalization of our resistance. To defend and advocate for them is to support the sacred right of the Palestinians to National Liberation and Independence.”

The USPCN post quoted by SJP U of C urged taking "immediate action" by registering to attend Rasmea Odeh’s next status hearing and labeled her a “beloved community icon.”

On March 17, 2016 the SJP U of C Facebook page’s cover photo featured a likeness of Rasmea Odeh. On April 23, 2015, JVP UChicago members attended a fundraising event for her.

The SJP U of C Facebook cover photo also included an image of domestic terrorist Assata Shakur, who was convicted of killing a NJ State trooper and grievously wounding another in 1973. Shakur escaped from prison in 1979 and managed to flee to Cuba in 1984 — where she resides today. She is listed on the FBI Most Wanted Terror List under her legal name, Joanne Deborah Chesimard.

Further, the SJP U of C Facebook cover photo included an image of Commandanta Ramona, a deceased leader of the militant separatist Mexican group the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN).

Lastly, the cover photo included an image of Angela Davis. Davis made the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitive List in 1970, after being charged as a principal in an aggravated kidnapping and first-degree murder — for purchasing the shotgun used in the abduction and killing of a judge. Davis was eventually arrested — but later acquitted.

SJP U of C – Idolizing Violence

On March 17, 2016 the SJP U of C Facebook page’s background photo featured a likeness of Rasmea Odeh. The SJP Facebook cover photo also included an image of domestic terrorist Assata Shakur, who was convicted of killing a NJ State trooper and grievously wounding another in 1973. Shakur escaped from prison in 1979 and managed to flee to Cuba in 1984 — where she resides today. She is listed on the FBI Most Wanted Terror List under her legal name, Joanne Deborah Chesimard.

Further, the The SJP U of C Facebook cover photo included an image of Commandanta Ramona, a deceased leader of the militant separatist Mexican group the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN).

Lastly, the SJP U of C cover photo also included an image of Angela Davis. Davis made the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitive List in 1970, after being charged as a principal in an aggravated kidnapping and first-degree murder — for purchasing the shotgun used in the abduction and killing of a judge.

SJP U of C and JVP UChicago - Exalting Terror

On November 2, 2015, JVP UChicago and SJP U of C erected a shrine honoring Palestinian terrorists killed during the upsurge of stabbings, car rammings and other terrorist attacks against Jews, that began in October 2015. 

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.

The shrine featured Palestinian terrorist Fadi Aloon, whom it portrayed as an innocent civilian was shot while "run[ning] from a racist mob." 

Fadi Aloon was shot by Israeli security forces after he stabbed a 15-year-old Israeli boy. Several hours before the attack, Aloon posted “Either martyrdom or victory” on his Facebook page. 

SJP U of C - Painting Assailants as Innocent Victims

On October 14, 2015, SJP U of C launched on Facebook an incendiary poster campaign memorializing people who were killed during riots or while perpetrating violence. The posters, reading: "MURDERED BY THE ISRAELI MILITARY" or “INJURED BY ISRAELI FORCES,” were hung in public spaces throughout the campus. The funerals of some of those memorialized also were exploited by Palestinian militants to foment yet further violence. The Facebook post whitewashed assailants as “victims of state violence.”

One poster memorialized 13-year old attempted-murderer Ahmad Manasra. 

Ahmed Manasra (sometimes spelled Mansara) and his 15-year-old cousin Hassan went on a stabbing spree in Jerusalem on October 12, 2015, during the Knife Intifada. They critically wounded a 13-year-old boy and moderately wounded a 25-year-old man. The spree ended when police shot Hassan and a passing motorist hit Ahmed. Ahmed was taken to an Israeli hospital. He admitted to investigators: “I went there to stab Jews.” He was later tried and convicted on two counts of attempted murder.

SJP U of C’s poster claimed — falsely— that Manasra was "shot and left to die."

Another poster portrayed Palestinian terrorist Fadi Aloon as "murdered by the Israeli police." 

Fadi Aloon was shot by Israeli security forces after he stabbed a 15-year-old Israeli boy. Several hours before the attack, Aloon posted “Either martyrdom or victory” on his Facebook page. 

JVP UChicago - Demonizing Israel

On October 6, 2015, JVP UChicago posted a misleading statement on Facebook concerning the then-current wave of religiously incited Palestinian murder of Israelis. The post described Israeli counter-terror measures as an "escalated level of collective punishment being imposed on Palestinians." The post then blamed Israel for the Palestinian terror attacks, alleging “Months of incitement by the Israeli government and decades of occupation, institutionalized discrimination, and displacement” led to the attacks. Finally, the post urged that “... economic pressure, and an end to unconditional US military and diplomatic aid to Israel are the path towards a long term resolution.”

JVP UChicago - Slandering the Jewish National Fund (JNF)

In late October 2015, JVP UChicago members protested against the Jewish National Fund (JNF). Demonstrators chanted, "JNF stop pretending, you’re promoting ethnic cleansing." One demonstrator claimed that the JNF steals water, resources and land from Palestinians, although the JNF purchased land from absentee landlords. Another demonstrator claimed that planting trees is “destructive to the land… and people of Palestine.” Protesters chanted “how do you spell justice? BDS!!” and accused Israel of Apartheid.

JVP UChicago- Boycotting Palestinian Livelihood

On April 23, 2014, JVP Chicago members joined a rally calling on a Boycott of the Israeli company, Sodastream. 

In February 2016, 500 Palestinians lost their jobs when Sodastream moved its factory from the West Bank to southern Israel. Although the company denied that BDS had an impact on the decision, the BDS movement took credit for the factory’s relocation.

SJP U of C -Spreading Hatred of Israel 

From October 26-30, 2015, SJP U of C launched its annual Israeli Apartheid Week — a five-day event dedicated to demonizing Israel.

One of the week’s events began with a panel moderated by John Mearsheimer, who is notorious for anti-Semitic claims that the “Israel Lobby” in the United States exercises undue influence over U.S. foreign policy and that the Lobby’s agenda is detrimental to U.S. interests.

The event also featured anti-police agitator Page May from We Charge Genocide and co-founder of the BDS movement Omar Barghouti, who rejects the existence of Israel.

On October 27, 2015, SJP U of C hosted a talk featuring Eliat Maoz, who propagated a blood libel, claiming that Israel’s wars with Hamas in Gaza are “a testing ground” for the weapons industry. Maoz described the “Occupied Palestinian Territories” as “the largest and most advanced weapon-testing laboratory,” and that Israel uses its operations as a means of marketing and exporting its technology and weapons abroad. 

On April 24, 2015 —  a day after Israeli Independence Day — SJP U of C posted photos of their protest with JVP UChicago members. The protesters held Israel responsible for the creation and continuation of the Palestinian refugee problem. One sign suggested that Israel is engaged in an “ongoing genocide, ethnic cleansing and apartheid.” 

SJP U of C - Hosting Anti-Israel Speakers

SJP U of C has a history of inviting Israel-haters to speak at events, including Dr. Leila Farsakh, Dr. Sa'ed Atshan and New York-based poet and writer Remi Kanazi.

On May 11, 2015, SJP U of C organized an event featuring Farsakh. Farsakh advocates for a one-state solution that would see the dissolution of Israel as a Jewish State. Farsakh attended Harvard's One State Conference in March 2012, where in response to a question concerning the fate of Israeli Jews were they to become disempowered by the voluntary dissolution of Israel, Farsakh reportedly suggested they could "reconnect with their Arabism."

On May 13, 2015, as part of Palestine Solidarity Week, SJP U of C organized an event featuring Atshan. Atshan has long rejected the two-state solution, does not accept that Israel is a democracy and wants the Jewish state to be dissolved and replaced with another. democratic state.

In 2012, Atshan wrote an article that accused Israel of "ethnic cleansing" and “colonization” — and roundly condemned Native American poet Joy Harjo for rejecting Palestinian calls to boycott Israel. Harjo posted on her Facebook page from Tel Aviv, saying: “Now my social media pages and message boxes are filled with a campaign to force a boycott, with messages of polarization, as if there is one way to poetry, resistance or empowerment.” Harjo went on to mention “an atmosphere of censure now in the ultimatum that I am being given to boycott.”

On January 17, 2012, SJP U of C hosted a panel event featuring Kanazi, condemning Israel’s 2008 - 2009 Operation Cast Lead. The event also featured Ali Abunimah, the co-founder of the anti-Israel online magazine Electronic Intifada.

SJP U of C - Propagating Blood Libels

On September 16, 2014, SJP U of C shared on Facebook an image of Palestinians massacred in the Sabra and Shatilla refugee camps in Lebanon by Lebanese Christian Phalangists — and suggested that Israel committed the massacre. The post further alleged that "63 noted Palestinian intellectuals in Sabra and Shatila were shot execution-style by Israeli forces."

On May 7, 2014, SJP U of C shared a poster on Facebook objecting to Israel’s Independence Day, and rejecting Israel’s right to exist. The poster urged: "Decolonize Palestine. Free Palestine." The poster accused Zionists of “celebrating” and trying “to normalize ethnic cleansing.” SJP U of C and JVP UChicago members paraded similar signs on the grounds of the U of C campus.

SJP U of C - Dedicating a Week to Israel-Hatred

From October 26-30, 2015, SJP U of C launched its annual Israeli Apartheid Week — a five-day event dedicated to demonizing Israel.

One of the events began with a panel moderated by John Mearsheimer, notorious for anti-Semitic claims that the "Israel Lobby" in the United States exercises undue influence over U.S. foreign policy and that the Lobby’s agenda is detrimental to U.S. interests.

The event also featured Black rights activist Page May from We Charge Genocide as well as Omar Barghouti. 

On October 27, 2015, SJP U of C hosted a talk featuring Eliat Maoz, who propagated a blood libel, claiming that Israel’s wars with Hamas in Gaza are "a testing ground" for the weapons industry. Maoz described the “Occupied Palestinian Territories” as “the largest and most advanced weapon-testing laboratory,” and that Israel uses its operations as a means of marketing and exporting its technology and weapons abroad.

SJP U of C - Disguising Anti-Semitism as Anti-Zionism

On July 20, 2014 — During Israel’s Operation Protective Edge — SJP U of C members attended an anti-Israel march and die in attended held in downtown Chicago. 

Demonstrators held signs bearing anti-Semitic claims, such as "Zionism is Nazism." One sign read: — “Well done Israel, Hitler would be proud of you.” Another said — “Stop doing what Hitler did to you.” Yet another read: — “Israel is a Racist, Genocidal state.” One placard propagated multiple blood libels, reading: — “Israel’s To Do List: use chemical weapons, murder children, attack the press, bomb refugee camps, block provisions of humanitarian aid.”

The demonstration was organized by the Coalition for Justice in Palestine (CJP) — a group formed at the time of the second Intifada, which includes Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP)-Chicago. SJP Chicago is, in turn, a "network forged by student activists organizing for Palestine on university campuses throughout Chicago," which includes SJP U of C.

On August 10, 2014, CJP organized another anti-Israel rally and die-in, attended by members of SJP U of C and JVP UChicago. SJP U of C member Jonah Rubin posed holding up a sign that accused Israel of apartheid. SJP U of C member Kirsten Gindler posed holding a JVP sign which accused Israel of waging a war on innocents: — "Jews Oppose Israel’s War on Civilians."

SJP U of C - Shutting down Free Speech

On February 21, 2016, SJP members opposed a lecture by Bassem Eid, founder of the Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group, who opposes the BDS movement. During the talk Eid was threatened with physical violence.

After Eid criticized the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Hamas for repression and human rights abuses against the Palestinians, protesters repeatedly interrupted Eid. A former student at Chicago’s Columbia College, who said he was from Gaza, yelled in Arabic, "I’m going to destroy this place!" Later, he said, “I’m going to kill this motherf**cker!” and “Wait until you go to your car!”

In October 2009, over a hundred SJP U of C and MSA U of C members disrupted a lecture by former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert visiting U of C, organized by the Harris School of Public Policy. Demonstrators shouted,"You deserve to be executed!" One agitator was dragged out by police, yelling “You’re a f**king snake! You goddamn pig!” The protesters turned violent against the police; some were arrested.

The anti-Israel agitators waved banners with Olmert’s likeness and the phrase "war criminal." Demonstrators denied Israel’s right to exist in any part of Palestine — chanting “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” Across the Palestinian political spectrum, from Hamas to the PA that phrase has always referred specifically to the destruction of Israel and expulsion of the Jews.

On February 26, 2013, SJP protested a talk by Israeli-American Law Professor Amos Guiora from the University of Utah. Protesters picketed and turned their chairs away from Guiora in the middle of his talk. One student continuously interrupted Guiora until being escorted out of the room.

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.

JVP

JVP was founded in Berkeley, California in 1996, as an activist group with an emphasis on the “Jewish tradition” of peace, social justice and human rights. The organization is currently led by Rebecca Vilkomerson and its board members include Israel critics Naomi Klein, Judith Butler, Noam Chomsky and Tony Kushner.

JVP, which generally employs civil disobedience tactics to disrupt pro-Israel speakers and events, consists of American Jews and non-Jewish “allies” highly critical of Israeli policies. A staunch supporter of the BDS movement, JVP claims to aim its campaigns at companies that either support the Israeli military (Hewlett-Packard) or are active in the West Bank (SodaStream).

Although several Jewish groups critical of Israeli policies, like J Street and Partners for a Progressive Israel, make efforts to operate within the mainstream American Jewish community, JVP functions outside. The group is often criticized for serving as a tokenized Jewish voice for the pro-Palestinian camp and is widely regarded as the BDS movement’s “Jewish wing.” 

JVP denies the notion of “Jewish peoplehood” and has even gone so far as to refer to its own Ashkenazi (Jews who spent the Diaspora in European countries) leadership as “white supremacy inside of JVP.”

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has accused JVP of being “the largest and most influential Jewish anti-Zionist group in the United States,” and said the group “exploits Jewish culture and rituals to reassure its own supporters that opposition to Israel not only does not contradict, but is actually consistent with, Jewish values.”

The ADL also claimed that “JVP consistently co-sponsors rallies to oppose Israeli military policy that are marked by signs and slogans  comparing Israel to Nazi Germany, demonizing Jews and voicing support for groups like Hamas and Hezbollah.”

According to the ADL website, JVP “uses its Jewish identity to shield the anti-Israel movement from allegations of anti-Semitism and provide it with a greater degree of legitimacy and credibility.”

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/gindler [Deleted]

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kginzzz

https://twitter.com/gindlerk [Deleted]

LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirsten-gindler-b8937131 [Deleted]