Liza Mamedov-Turchinsky
Overview
Liza Mamedov-Turchinsky has called for Israel’s destruction, promoted incitement, compared Israel to Nazis and spread hatred of Zionists, Zionism and Israel.Mamedov-Turchinsky has also engaged in anti-Israel activism, endorsed an anti-Israel agitator and is a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.
Mamedov-Turchinsky is an activist and “organizer”in the University with the California-Berkeley (UC Berkeley) chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP).
In June, 2021, Mamedov-Turchinsky led a JVP protest at the headquarters of MZ Foundation in San Francisco, a pro-Israel “grant-making foundation committed to combatting anti-Semitism.”
As of August 2021, Mamedov-Turchinsky’s LinkedIn page said Mamedov-Turchinsky was an “Open Source Investigator, MENA [Middle East and North Africa] Comparative Studies Researcher, Rhetoric Student, Community Organizer.”
As of August 2021, Mamedov-Turchinsky’s LinkedIn also said Mamedov-Turchinsky attended Foothill College (Foothill) in 2016-2019, and graduated from UC Berkeley with a bachelor’s degree in Anthropology, Rhetoric and Interdisciplinary Studies in 2021.
Mamedov-Turchinsky’s LinkedIn said Mamedov-Turchinsky was located in Berkeley, California.
As of August 2021, Mamedov-Turchinsky used the aliases “Zara Nao” on Facebook, “redpomgranat” on Instagram and “Ribka” on Twitter.
Calling for Israel’s Destruction
As of September 2021, Mamedov-Turchinsky’s Twitter bio stated: “death to israel.”On May 11, 2021, during Israel’s Operation Guardian of the Walls (OGW) in Gaza, Mamedov-Turchinsky posted to Facebook:“Every Jew that has stays silent and has STILL not spoken on Palestine is dead to me... Any Jew that has not acted is complicit. You have blood on your hands that you cannot rid yourself of until the day you die. Unless you realize the destruction of Israel and liberation of the Palestinian people is our responsibility to ensure by any means necessary…”
Also, on May 11, 2021, Mamedov-Turchinsky posted to Facebook, “...It doesn’t matter if Bibi [Benjamin Netanyahu] is in power or any other Zionist… The violence is the very existence of the Israeli state itself, not of any one President.”
On May 12, 2021, Mamedov-Turchinsky posted to Facebook “...When bombs drop on Israel today, after 73+ years of genocide and ethnic cleansing, it is Palestinians resisting annihilation.”
Promoting Incitement
On June 4, 2021, Mamedov-Turchinsky posted a photo to Instagram featuring two people holding a sign that read: “Oakland to Gaza, we support the Intifada!”Since the early 2000s, the term “intifada,” which translates from Arabic as “uprising” or “insurrection,” has carried the connotation of violence.
On May 11, 2021, Mamedov-Turchinsky shared in Instagram Story three posts, warning that “Israeli settlers plan to storm Al Aqsa Mosque- just two days before Eid Al Adha.”
Eid Al Adha, or “Festival of the Sacrifice,” is a Muslim holiday that memorializes Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son Ismael as an act of obedience to God.
One of Mamedov-Turchinsky’s May 11, 2021 Instagram Story posts read: “Israeli extremist groups have called on settlers to force their way into Al Aqsa compound in large numbers.”
Mamedov-Turchinsky’s third May 11, 2021 Instagram Story post showed a graphic of Al Aqsa with the hashtag #SaveAlAqsa and a call to “participate in an electronic storm against the settlers.”
On May 10, 2021, Mamedov-Turchinsky tweeted: “ALL EYES ON #ALAQSA NOW! Israeli Occupation Forces have seized the keys and a Palestinian was just murdered INSIDE AL-AQSA. An utter declaration of war upon a people for simply having the gall to exist. #SafeSheikhJarrah #AlAqsaUnderAttack #AlAqsaMosque #PalestineWillBeFree.”
“IOF” stands for Israeli Occupation Forces, a derogatory name used by anti-Israel activists to demonize Israel’s army in place of its official name, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
In May 2021, Palestinian violence erupted in anticipation of an Israel High Court ruling on eviction proceedings concerning over 70 Palestinian tenants illegally residing in Jewish-owned properties in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah.
Comparing Israel to Nazis
Mamedov-Turchinsky retweeted an August 2, 2021 tweet that said: “Once again, Israel draws inspiration from Nazi Germany with its own version of ‘gas chambers’ as Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons (especially in the Negev, Gilboa, Shatta and Nafhah) burn in temperatures that exceed 65 degrees Celsius, in the absence of cooling means!”On June 13, 2021, Mamedov-Turchinsky tweeted: “thus Holocaust comparisons are exactly appropriate also in technique. Israeli occupation forces, too, invade Palestinian homes with a knock at midnight, gas families for extermination, and operate the largest open-air concentration camp prison. it *is* genocide in simple reality.”
On May 10, 2021, Mamedov-Turchinsky tweeted: “It is vile white supremacy to understand what Nazis did to the Jewish people as genocide yet turn a blind eye to the same fascism plaguing Palestinians now. Nazism was not exceptional. Its tools were used in centuries of colonization before & continue in Israel: a settler colony.”
Hatred of Zionists
In the same thread, Mamedov-Turchinsky added: “...it’s Jewish people by large committing a genocide..”
On August 6, 2021, Mamedov-Turchinsky tweeted: “there’s a reason we say zionists are stinky they breathe and spew s**t outtheir mouths.”
On June 16, 2021, Mamedov-Turchinsky tweeted: “hey do you think if Zionists ended up doing Israel in Argentina they’d be like ‘😭😭😭😭 we’re surrounded by enemies we’re the only Jewish state in Latin America.’”
Hatred of Zionism
On May 12, 2021, Mamedov-Turchinsky tweeted: “Are you emailing or talking to your professors and classmates about Palestine? Teachers, are you talking to your students? Your coworkers? This is where you have to intervene and stomp out Zionism no excuses.”Zionism is the belief that Jews have the right to self-determination in their own national home, and the right to develop their national culture.
Also, on May 12, 2021, Mamedov-Turchinsky tweeted: “...The depravity of the Zionist project knows no bounds.
Fellow Jews, join us in opposing Israel’s ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people! Death to the Occupation! #PalestineWillBeFree.”
On May 11, 2021, Mamedov-Turchinsky tweeted: “Zionism is not a feeling. Zionism is an active on-going process of genocide and ethnic cleansing.”
Hatred ofIsrael
On May 11, 2021, Mamedov-Turchinsky tweeted: “...There is no Israel w/o [without] ethnic cleansing and apartheid.”On April 27, 2021, Mamedov-Turchinsky tweeted, accusing Israel of “occupation,” “state run genocide and ethnic cleansing” and “oppression” of Palestinians.
Endorsing an Anti-Israel Agitator
On June 6, 2021, Mamedov-Turchinsky tweeted in support of anti-Israel agitator Mohammed El-Kurd and wrote: “Watch Mohammed Al-Kurd @m7mdkurd being detained at the police station. Just an hour ago they abducted Muna Al-Kurd from their family home and now both twins are in possession of Israeli occupation forces. #SaveSheikhJarrah #FreeMunaAlKurd #FreeMohammedAlKurd #DefendJerusalem.”In May 2021, El-Kurd returned from the United States to Israel, following a February 16, 2021 Israeli District Court ruling to evict over 70 Palestinian tenants.
On June 6, 2021, El Kurd’s twin sister, Muna El-Kurd, was reportedly detained by Israeli Police for participating in the Sheikh Jarrah riots. Also on June 6, 2021, Mohammed El-Kurd turned himself in for questioning by the Israeli police. Both were later released the same day.
Leading an Anti-Israel Protest
On June 25, 2021, Mamedov-Turchinsky led an anti-Israel demonstration organized by JVP in front of the headquarters of the MZ Foundation in San Francisco. JVP activists along with protesters from the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM) confronted MZ Foundation employees with banners and bullhorns while chanting: “MZ, MZ you can’t hide, we charge you with genocide.”Mamedov-Turchinsky called [00:00:45] on other protesters to “occupy MZ” and “take over their office like MZ is taking over Palestinian land.” Mamedov-Turchinsky accused [00:02:26] MZ Foundation of funding “apartheid and genocide.” At the rally, activists also chanted [00:09:10]: “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.
On June 27, 2021, Mamedov-Turchinsky tweeted: “YESTERDAY #SaveSilwan: On the left, Ameer shows us the area of Silwan the Ir David [City of David] foundation wants to excavate for their tourist attractions. On the right, activists in San Francisco shut down the entire MZ Foundation building, the very non-profit that funds the CFI [Central Fund of Israel] & Ir David.”
Anti-Israel Activism
On June 4, 2021, Mamedov-Turchinsky posted to Instagram a video of a “Block the Boat” protest organized by the Arab Resource and Organizing Center (AROC) against the Israel-based ZIM shipping company.Mamedov-Turchinsky wrote: “We’re here at the Port of Oakland to #BLOCKTHEBOAT! Every gate is blocked off. Trucks are trying to come in to unload Israeli apartheid goods, NOT ON OUR WATCH! Dock workers are in solidarity with Palestine by not crossing the picket line. The pickets are growing and we’re shutting down Israeli capital flow.”
A December 16, 2019 Daily Californian article referred to Mamedov-Turchinsky as a representative of JVP Berkeley, which organized a protest against an executive order by the White House issued to protect American Jews from increased incidence of anti-Semitism.
An “Executive Order on Combating Anti-Semitism” was passed on December 11, 2019, under then-U.S. President Donald Trump. Noting that the protections provided by Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VI), prohibiting “discrimination on the basis of race, color, and national origin in programs and activities receiving Federal financial assistance,” did not cover discrimination based on religion.
The Order explicitly affirmed that discrimination “against Jews may give rise to a Title VI violation, when the discrimination is based on an individual’s race, color, or national origin” and that “it shall be the policy of the executive branch to enforce Title VI against prohibited forms of discrimination rooted in anti-Semitism as vigorously as against all other forms of discrimination prohibited by Title VI.”
The Order mandated consideration of the “non-legally binding working definition of anti Semitism adopted on May 26, 2016, by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA)” and emphasized “the agencies considering it “shall not diminish or infringe upon any right protected under Federal law or under the First Amendment.”
Supporting BDS
On July 20, 2021, Mamedov-Turchinsky tweeted: “it’s hilarious to me that Zionists and right-wingers are pledging to boycott Ben & Jerry’s after their little announcement today...like yes baby! that’s the goal! #BDSVICTORY.”On July 19, 2021, ice cream company Ben & Jerry’s announced it would stop all product sales in “Occupied Palestinian Territory.” The BDS movement celebrated the decision, calling on the ice cream company to boycott the State of Israel in its entirety. However, company owner Unilever overrode the subsidiary’s decision after multiple US states decided to divest public funds from Unilever.
On May 26, 2021, Mamedov-Turchinsky tweeted to Ben & Jerry’s Twitter account: “hey cowards any word when you’ll pull out of apartheid Israel and stop materially supporting the genocide of Palestinians yet?”
On May 14, 2021, Mamedov-Turchinsky tweeted: “anyone that got the Johnson & Johnson vaccine got injected with Zionism because they're on the BDS list.”
On May 13, 2021, Mamedov-Turchinsky posted to Facebook: “The time is now for people who call themselves progressive, and those in power and positions of influence, to speak up for Palestinian human rights and support #BDS.
We hear your silence.”
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 value.”
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/100001965581220Twitter:https://twitter.com/redpomgranat
https://twitter.com/comrade_ribka
https://twitter.com/ratpomgranat [Private]
https://www.instagram.com/redpomgranat/
https://www.instagram.com/supercommie/ [Private]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lizamamedov/
Videos
Photos & Screenshots
