Leena Widdi

Overview

Leena Widdi was arrested for defacing a poster supporting Israel. She has demonized Israel, as well as the New York Police Department (NYPD) and expressed support for the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.

She was the Founder and President of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at John Jay College (John Jay SJP) in 2012, was active in 2013 and was its Secretary in 2014. She was also reportedly a coordinating committee member of National Students for Justice in Palestine.

Widdi also co-founded [00:04:35] Within Our Lifetime (WOL), formerly known as New York City SJP (NYC SJP), after graduating from John Jay College and was Deputy Chair of NYC SJP in 2016.

As of August 2019, Widdi’s LinkedIn page said she was a Legal Intern at “Brooklyn Defender Services-Family Defense Practice” and was slated to receive her law degree from Fordham University School of Law, in 2019.

As of the same date, Widdi’s LinkedIn also said she graduated from John Jay College of Criminal Justice, part of the City University of New York (CUNY), with a degree in International Human Rights and Middle Eastern Studies, in 2015.

Arrest

On September 25, 2012, Widdi was arrested in Manhattan along with four other anti-Israel activists for defacing a subway ad that had the slogan: “Support Israel, defeat jihad.”

Widdi and the activists were reportedly charged with “violating local law and unlawful posting of an advertisement” and “all received summonses.”

Demonizing Israel

In April 2016, Widdi reportedly represented NYC SJP at an event promoting a one-state solution, as part of Israel Apartheid Week on Pace University’s Pleasantville campus. Two other NYC SJP activists, Dan Cione and Nerdeen Kiswani also presented at the event.

Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) is presented internationally as a “series of events that seeks to raise awareness of…Israel’s settler-colonial project and apartheid system over the Palestinian people.” One of its goals is to build support for the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement. IAW has been renamed Palestine Awareness Week.

At the event, Widdi reportedly “said that one state would integrate Israelis into Palestinian society” but also said: “We can’t accept a state that prioritizes any religion or culture anywhere in the world.”

On June 2, 2015, Widdi posted a photo on Facebook of her graduation cap that had the slogan: “WE WILL RETURN” on it. She wrote that it “refers to the right of return of the 6.5 million Palestinian refugees and their descendants... We WILL return to a free Palestine.”

The “right of return” is a Palestinian demand discredited as a means to eliminate Israel. International law mandates no absolute right of return and UN Resolution 194, which defined principles for “refugees wishing to return to their homes,” was unanimously rejected by Arab nations following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.

On May 31, 2015, Widdi was a featured speaker at a CUNY SJP panel discussion at John Jay, titled: “Revitalizing the One State Solution.”

During the discussion, Widdi claimed [00:01:33] that “the Israeli government clings to the two state-solution because…it also gives off this facade that they’re actually working towards a diplomatic solution” and said [00:02:01] American politicians need the two state solution “because it hides the fact that they really can’t disobey Israel…they really are just doing whatever Israel wants.”

Widdi went on to say [00:02:28] that “the idea of a Jewish state itself is inherently unjust” and referred [00:06:09] to Israel as a “religious supremacist state.”

Cione, also speaking on the panel, said: [00:13:43] “Some of the Executive Committee of the PFLP actually support a two-state solution, as a stepping stone to complete liberation of all the land.”

Cione continued [00:15:06] that “BDS is, de facto, one state solution, ‘cause BDS calls for the return of the refugees and...once the refugees are back in Palestine that's it; it's one state.”

Kiswani, speaking later, confirmed [00:34:58] “With the right of return there will be no place for Israeli nationalism.”

On May 15, 2015, Widdi posted on Facebook about her senior thesis titled: "Modern Day Genocide: Can Israel Be Guilty of Genocide Against the Palestinian People?" Widdi wrote in her Facebook post that her thesis explored: “the applicability of the UN convention on Genocide” to Israel’s “historic and ongoing crimes since the Nakba.”

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.

Widdi also wrote in the Facebook post: “according to the [Geneva] Convention, it actually isn't an easy case to make for genocide, but that's simply because the Convention is insufficient at protecting anything that isn't identical to the Nazi Holocaust. I suggested, however, that the Convention be revised to protect against atrocities like those in Palestine…”

She accused Israel in her Facebook post of a “subtle genocide” and referred to “a slow-motion extension of the Genocide of 1948.”

On March 13, 2014, Widdi shared an image on Facebook that said: “My name is Saji Darwish. Today I was shot in the head by the IOF soldiers while feeding my goats. You will not read about this in western media, because I am a Palestinian.”

In March 2014, Saji Darwish was shot after he attacked Israeli civilians near the Jewish community of Bet El.

The Popular Front for The Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terror group claimed Darwish as one of their “martyrs” upon his death.

On November, 24, 2012, Widdi signed a “Gaza Solidarity Statement,” following Israel’sOperation Pillar of Defense (OPD).

Israel launched OPD to stop Hamas rocket attacks on Israeli civilians from Gaza. Over the course of eight days in November 2012, Palestinian terrorist groups fired more than 1,500 rockets at Israel. The majority struck Israel, damaging homes, schools and other civilian areas. Human Rights Watch noted: “Palestinian armed groups made clear in their statements that harming civilians was their aim.”

The statement Widdi signed accused Israel of “collective punishment on Gazans for democratically electing Hamas” and claimed: “Casualties on both sides in the recent hostilities are a consequence of Israeli aggression.”

It also referred to “the profound role the U.S. plays” in “the occupation and ethnic cleaning of the Palestinians” and called for U.S. tax dollars to “fund reparations for US-financed death and destruction in Palestine.”

Demonizing the New York Police Department

On August 31, 2015, Widdi appeared [00:01:07] in an NYC SJP fundraising video, [00:02:51] to enable SJP members in New York to attend [00:02:15] the National SJP Conference in San Diego.

The video featured Widdi leading NYC SJP members at a protest in chanting [00:01:07] “N-Y-P-D! How do you spell ‘murderers!’ I-D-F.”

Supporting BDS

On April 7, 2016, an article in the student newspaper, The Pace Chronicle, quoted Widdi’s support for BDS.

The article said that Widdi advocated “the boycotting of Israeli goods and call for schools and organizations to stop investing in companies that give financial or military support to Israel.”

Anti-Israel Activism

On October 6, 2015, during the Knife Intifada then occuring in Israel, Widdi participated [00:00:17] in a rally at the Consulate General of Israel in New York.

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 event’s Facebook description said the rally was held “in solidarity with” a Palestinian “Day of Rage,” which was “called for by Palestinian forces.” The event’s Facebook description also said that the rally was co-sponsored by anti-Israel organizations including NY4Palestine, as well as American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) and NYC SJP.

The “Days of Rage” in October of 2015 were heralded by Hamas as the advent of a new intifada. They directly resulted in the deaths of Israeli civilians by shootings, stabbings and car rammings.

Widdi was interviewed [00:00:26] by PressTV at the rally about the death of terrorist Fadi Aloon, whom Press TV said [00:00:21] was killed “by Israeli settlers.” Widdi went on to compare [00:00:26] “illegal [Israeli] settlers” to “neo-Nazism.”

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.

Protesters at the rally chanted [00:00:01] “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” as well as [00:01:18] “Settler settler go back home, Palestine is ours alone!" and [00:00:16] “Long live the intifada! Intifada, intifada!”

Since the early 2000s, the term “intifada,” which translates from Arabic as “uprising” or “insurrection,” has carried the connotation of violence.

John Jay SJP later shared on Facebook an NYC SJP “statement of solidarity” with the Day of Rage rally. At the bottom of the SJP statement was a graphic of a Palestinian throwing a rock, with the caption: “LET THE INTIFADA PAVE THE WAY FOR PEOPLE’S WAR!”

On October 8, 2014, Widdi led a John Jay SJP “die-in” on campus, where students lay on the ground covered in sheets stained with red paint to resemble blood.

Activists at the “die-in” held signs that said: “Your Tax Dollar$ Kill ONE CHILD in GAZA every HOUR #GazaUnderAttack #FreePalestine” and [00:01:40] “From FERGUSON to PALESTINE, INTIFADA INTIFADA.”

An SJP activistat the “die-in” reportedly declared: “What the Israeli flag stands for is genocide.” Activists also reportedly chanted: “when people are occupied, resistance is justified,” as well as “From the River to the Sea, Palestine Will Be Free.”

“From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free” is a chant calling to dismantle 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.

John Jay University President Jeremy Travis issued an announcement shortly after the “die-in,” stating that he was “deeply troubled…by recent reports that Jewish students at John Jay College have felt intimidated and harassed on our campus.”

On October 22, 2012, Widdi launched John Jay SJP’s first event and announced [00:00:14] that the event represented “a reset and very important shift from the occupation of 1967…focusing on the Zionist apartheid state which exists in all of Palestine.”

Widdi continued [00:00:34]: “the Palestinian right of return is one of the biggest threats to Israeli apartheid, because a non-Jewish majority would threaten the existence of a Jewish supremacist state. Therefore advocating for the Palestinian right of return is central to the struggle to disassemble the apartheid state and replace it with a single state throughout historic Palestine.”

John Jay SJP - Supporting Intifada

On October 17, 2015, during the Palestinian “Knife Intifada,” John Jay SJP promoted on Facebook a protest “in “Solidarity with the Palestinian Uprising” called specifically to preempt a “Jewish Lives Matter” rally scheduled to take place in Times Square on October 18, 2015. John Jay SJP’s Facebook post said: “show your support for Palestinian resistance.”

The Facebook event description referred to “the justified uprising of the Palestinian people” and said “Resistance is not Terrorism, Occupation and Colonialism are Terrorism!”

On October 19, 2015, John Jay SJP posted a photo on Facebook from the protest, calling it a “complete success.”

John Jay SJP - Supporting a Terrorist

On August 16, 2015 John Jay SJP promoted on Facebook a protest by Within Our Lifetime, formerly known as New York City SJP, supporting Mohammad Allan, who was then on a hunger strike.

Allan, was an operative of the terror group Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). PIJ’s objective is “the destruction of the State of Israel” and has killed dozens of Israelis in suicide bombings and other attacks.

Allan was jailed in 2006 “for recruiting suicide bombers” and in 2014 was detained for being “in contact with other PIJ terrorist operatives in order to promote terrorist attacks.” Allan then went on hunger-strike to protest his detention.

Allan’s hunger strike was reportedly inspired by Khader Adnan is a senior member of the PIJ, who also went on a hunger strike to protest his detention. Adnan has praised and encouraged suicide bombings.

While Allan was released due to deteriorating health resulting from the hunger strike, he was re-arrested in 2015.

Allan’s father reportedly said his son was “energized by the fight against Israel during the second Palestinian intifada” and “had on social media supported the Islamic State, as defenders of oppressed Sunni Muslims.”

At the John Jay SJP protest, on August 18, 2015, Mohammed’s relative Ziad Allan condemned the United States and Israel, claiming [00:00:29]: “Israel is the only state on Earth that the laws of humanity does not [sic.] apply to, whatsoever.”

NYC SJP - Supporting BDS

On October 4, 2015, John Jay SJP posted on Facebook a NYC SJP statement on the BDS movement, which stated that the goal is the “the eventual establishment of a single Palestinian national state covering all of historic Palestine.”

The statement concluded that “SJP…cannot be divorced from a larger, off-campus movement that organizes for the progressive demands of the people, regardless if those demands are related to the university.”

NYC SJP then clarified in its statement on BDS, saying that the movement: “is not only fighting to drop israeli investments, but is fighting to change the content of the Zionist, imperialist education itself, by engaging in a struggle to liberate the university and democratically administer it to serve the oppressed communities from New York City to Palestine.”

NYC SJP - Praised for Calling for Intifada

On October 9, 2015, the Progressive Student Labor Front (PSLF) in Gaza, an organization politically linked to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), issued a statement via the PFLP website showing solidarity with their “comrades,” NYC SJP.

The PFLP is a designated a terrorist organization by the U.S., Canada, Israel, the European Union, the Gulf Cooperation Council and Australia
The PSLF statement praised NYC SJP for leading “a march through the streets of New York calling for ‘Intifada’ and the liberation of Palestine.”

The statement also said: “We urge the development and escalation of BDS campaigns at an international level just as we urge the escalation of resistance in all forms and all means here in Palestine ....” and ended with an affirmation that the PSLF is “proud to call them [NYC SJP]...comrades in the struggle for the liberation 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.