Malaak Yehya

Yasser Arafat was the former leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and is known by some as the “father of modern terrorism.” Under Arafat, the goal of the PLO was the violent destruction of Israel.

The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) highlights as one possible contemporary example of anti-Semitism: “Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis.” The U.S. State Department adopted the IHRA’s working definition of anti-Semitism in 2016. Over 40 countries have adopted the definition as well.

On April 8, 2019, Yehya posted [slide 20] a video of an anti-Israel “mock apartheid wall” on the UIUC campus to her Instagram Highlight titled: “uiuc.” The wall demonized Israel’s security barrier.

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 the same wall, panels featured sections supporting the “right of return” and a series of maps popular with anti-Israel activists. 

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.

The maps claim that lands once controlled by Britain, Egypt and Jordan as autonomous “Palestinian land” were purportedly stolen by Israel. In February 2016, publisher McGraw-Hill Education recalled copies of a college textbook containing the fraudulent maps. In October 2015, American cable news network MSNBC apologized for airing a similar series of maps and retracted them.

 On November 18, 2020, SJP UIUC wrote on Facebook that Zionists “advocate for white supremacy and racism,” and that Zionism was a “racist ideology.” The post also said: “The Zionist state in Palestine has carried out and continues a massive ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.”

 
Yehya retweeted a May 8, 2021 tweet from SJP UIUC that said: “SJP will be holding a rally this Monday at 5 pm in front of Alma Mater in solidarity with the people of Sheikh Jarrah Make signs, bring your kufiyas or any other Palestinian attire and stand up for the indigenous people of Palestine#stopjerusalemexpulsions.”

On May 10, 2021, Yehya spoke [00:01:06] at the SJP UIUC protest about Sheikh Jarrah where she said [00:00:14]: “Israel will not end the occupation until all Palestinians are removed.” 
 
One speaker said [00:02:16]: “Zionism is genocidal.” Another speaker said [00:12:55]: “When we talk about violence it’s always from the oppressor so anything else that the oppressed do is self defense and justified.” 
 
At the same rally, protesters chanted [00:03:25]: “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!” They also chanted [00:27:31]: “Stop the killing, stop the hate! Israel is a terror state!” 

“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 May 11, 2021, Yehya posted group photos from the May 10, 2021 rally, writing: “friends that fight for liberation together, stay together❣️.” In one photo [slide 2] Malaak posed in front of a sign that accused Israel of “ethnic cleansing.”
 
Yehya retweeted a May 16, 2021 tweet that said: “FROM THE RIVER TO THE SEA, PALESTINE WILL BE FREE! DEATH TO SETTLER COLONIALISM! END THE OCCUPATION! free the land. free the people…”
 
On May 23, 2021, Yehya posted [slide 5] a photo to Instagram showing her holding a sign that said three times: “الله يلعن اسرائيل [May Allah curse Israel].” The photo was from the May 10, 2021 SJP UIUC protest.
 
On March 9, 2022, Yehya spoke [00:34:45] at an SJP UIUC protest where she said [00:35:38]: “This is a perfect example of how we live in a world that aids Israeli courts, Israeli police and the Israeli military, which are all working to expel Palestinians…”

Four days before the rally, SJP UIUC said on Instagram that it would cut ties with the Illinois Student Government (ISG) since its divestment resolution was nullified because it did not follow proper procedure. One speaker claimed [00:42:43] that SJP UIUC was “villified by racist Zionists on campus, in administration, in ISG, in Hillel and Chabad.”

One speaker at the March 9, 2022 rally alleged [00:18:12]: “Zionism is the root cause of the social issues we see today.” Another speaker said [00:17:02] “Israel is a settler colony, not a country. Zionism is genocidal… We stand unequivocally with the Palestinian people and support how they choose to resist their oppression.” 

Protesters chanted [00:30:14]: “You can’t run, you can’t hide, we charge you with genocide!” They also chanted [00:10:04]: “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free!” 
 
Yehya retweeted a May 16, 2022 tweet that said: “ugh accidentally stepped in s**t @ the protest.” The tweet included a picture of a woman with the word “israel” written on the bottom of her shoe.

Anti-Israel Activism (SJP, BDS)

On November 6, 2018, Yehya appeared in an SJP UIUC Facebook photo where she was listed as a member of the group’s executive board.

On November 8, 2018, Yehya spoke [00:19:49] at an SJP UIUC anti-Israel event titled: “Balfour 101 Vigil.” The video was published on March 18, 2022. 

The 1917 Balfour Declaration favored the establishment of a Jewish National home in British Mandate Palestine.  

The Facebook description of the event said: “November 2nd, 2018 marks the 101 year anniversary of the signing of the Balfour Declaration by Lord Balfour in 1917, which appeased Zionist demands to form an ethno-state in historic Palestine. What followed was simultaneous chain migration and systematic ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people.”

Before Yehya spoke at the 2018 Balfour event, she was introduced [00:19:36] as being the “Israeli Apartheid Week” chair and a member of the group’s executive board.

Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) is presented as “an international series of events that seek to raise awareness of…Israel’s settler-colonial project and apartheid system over the Palestinian people” and build support for the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.

Also at the Balfour event, Yehya said [00:22:55]: “I saw a large group of young boys with rocks in their hands marching to protest, yelling for freedom. I was moved by the strength of these young men…”

Although romanticized as a form of “popular resistance,” rock throwing remains a deadly form of violence. 

On Jul 15, 2019, Yehya changed her Facebook profile picture to a photo of herself wearing a shirt that featured the UIUC Divest logo on it.
 
On October 10, 2019, SJP UIUC wrote on Facebook: “Zionism is a political ideology that seeks to maintain an artificial Jewish majority in historic Palestine through the systematic occupation and dispossession of Palestinians’ land and livelihoods.”
 
On October 24, 2019, Yehya posted [slide 28] in an Instagram Highlight titled: “uiuc,” a photo of herself with former SJP UIUC board members Dunia Ghanimah and Sofia Sinnokrot and the text: “THE RESOLUTION PASSEDDDDD. this is a win for palestine.” The resolution mentioned in the post was titled: “Condemning Ignorance of Racism and Equating Anti-Zionism with Anti-Semitism.” 

 
The resolution was authored in defense of a presentation by Ghanimah that praised [slide 14] “Martyrdom” and honored terrorist leaders Leila Khaled and Yasser Arafat. Ghanimah, who was a Mulitcultural Advocate (MA) at UIUC, gave the presentation to other MAs, as well as UIUC Housing employees and Resident Advisors. 
 
On October 25, 2019, SJP Chicago posted a group photo that included Yehya and had the caption: “#SJPUIUC: In a major win, Illinois Student Govt. Passed a resolution 29-2-2 addressing the false conflation of anti semitism with anti Zionism. MUCH CONGRATS TO THE HARD WORK OF @sjp.uiuc!!”

 
On November 14, 2021, Yehya posted a picture on Instagram with anti-Israel activst Mohammed El-Kurd writing: “shifting the narrative with some of my favorites <3
— until liberation.” Yehya’s photo also featured then SJP UIUC executive board members Buthaina Hattab, Lina Issa, Maram Safi and Sireen Amra.

 
Yehya’s post followed a November 13, 2021 SJP Chicago event where El Kurd spoke.Yehya’s post also included a picture of herself with a signed copy of his book.

On Februrary 23, 2022, Yehya spoke [00:04:41] in favor of an SJP UIUC BDS resolution at an ISG meeting. 

In her speech, Yehya said [00:05:23]: “...The question of Palestine and what is going on in Palestine is so simple and is nothing new. It is an ongoing struggle against colonialism, it is ethnic cleansing on display, it is modern-day Manifest Destiny.”

SJP UIUC Chapter Overview  

SJP UIUC has a history of hate-filled anti-Israel protests on campus, including in April 2022 when someone threw a rock at Jewish students. SJP UIUC leads an annual anti-Israel divestment campaign where other anti-Semitic incidents have occurred. 

In November 2020, SJP UIUC featured [pp. 3-8] prominently as a source of anti-Semitism on campus in a civil rights legal complaint filed against UIUC.

SJP UIUC speakers show support for terrorists and spread hatred of Zionists and Israel. Speakers use chants that call for Israel’s destruction and other chants for “intifada,” which is a call for violence.

SJP UIUC - Violent Anti-Semitic Protest 2021-2022  

On April 18, 2022, SJP UIUC held an anti-Israel protest that included [00:01:22] a planned stop at UIUC’s Hillel chapter, a Jewish campus organization. Sayed Quraishi, a 2022 UIUC graduate, threw a rock at Jewish students gathered on the Hillel patio. In June 2022, Quraishi was charged with committing a felony hate crime. 

After the incident, SJP UIUC treasurer Lina Issa defended the decision to target Hillel, telling [00:01:57] a local television station: “They obviously have a very direct connection to Israel and that's why we’re targeting that area in specific.”

The protest was titled: “EMERGENCY PROTEST HANDS OFF AL-AQSA.” Two days before, SJP UIUC promoted the protest on Instagram, claiming that “Zionist militia forces have once again raided Al-Aqsa mosque” and that “there is an attack by the forces of a racist, apartheid state against peaceful worshippers…”

SJP UIUC - Supporting Terrorists 2021-2022  

On April 26, 2022, SJP UIUC hosted an event titled: “Martyrdom in Palestine” and alleged there was “recent violence inflicted by Israeli forces” during a wave of Palestinian terrorist attacks the previous two months where 14 Israelis were killed.
 
The event’s flyer honored multiple terrorists, including Ra’ed Abd al-Jalil who was serving four life sentences for his involvement in terror attacks during the second intifada. The flyer also honored a Hamas leader who planned a 1995 bus bombing and another terrorist who was also arrested during the second intifada.  

SJP UIUC - Supporting Intifada 2021-2022  

On September 17, 2021, SJP UIUC hosted a protest titled “GLOBALIZE THE INTIFADA PROTEST IN SOLIDARITY WITH PALESTINIAN PRISONERS.” 

The term “intifada” has carried the connotation of violence, since the early 2000’s.  

Activists chanted [00:05:29]: “From Champaign to Gaza, globalize the intifada!” They also chanted [00:12:13] “You can run, you can hide, we’ll still charge you with genocide!”  

Buthaina Hattab, then SJP UIUC President, said [00:02:29] at the protest: “On September 6, we celebrated the news that six Palestinian political prisoners being held at the so-called maximum-security, Zionist Gilboa prison facility, they escaped overnight through a tunnel that they dug with only a metal spoon. Their escape was one of the most successful jailbreaks in history.” The crowd cheered [00:02:50] in response.

SJP UIUC - Creating a Hostile Campus Environment 2015-2020

In October 2020, SJP UIUC was cited [pp. 3-8] in six different incidents in a civil rights legal complaint against UIUC documenting anti-Semitic incidents on campus as early as 2015. Jewish groups filed the complaint under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The complaint said [p.12]: “UIUC has also failed to combat anti-Semitism as vigorously as it has combated other forms of bigotry on its campus prohibited by Title VI.”

SJP UIUC - Hatred of Israel 2020-2021

On November 18, 2020, SJP UIUC wrote on Facebook that Zionists “advocate for white supremacy and racism,” and that Zionism was a “racist ideology.” The post also said: “The Zionist state in Palestine has carried out and continues a massive ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.”

On May 10, 2021, SJP UIUC hosted an anti-Israel protest where protesters chanted [00:03:25]: “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!” They also chanted [00:27:31]: “Stop the killing, stop the hate! Israel is a terror state!”

SJP UIUC - Supporting Terrorists 2019-2020

On November 15, 2019, SJP UIUC held a protest where Sarah El Zayyat, then an SJP UIUC member, read [00:18:57] names from a list of “martyrs.” One of the names she read was Baha Abu al-Ata, a senior Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) commander in Gaza targeted by Israel in an airstrike who was reportedly planning terror attacks. 

In November 2019, Israel launched “Operation Black Belt” to stop rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip. The rockets were sent by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terror group on November 12-14, 2019, targeting Israel’s biggest civilian population centers.   

At the rally, an activist held [00:00:46] an Israeli flag defaced with the text “GENOCIDE” and red handprints meant to signify blood.

SJP UIUC - Hatred of Israel 2019-2020

On October 10, 2019, SJP UIUC wrote on Facebook: “Zionism is a political ideology that seeks to maintain an artificial Jewish majority in historic Palestine through the systematic occupation and dispossession of Palestinians’ land and livelihoods.”

The post was issued in defense of a presentation by SJP president Dunia Ghanimah that praised [slide 14] “Martyrdom” and honored terrorist leaders Leila Khaled and Yasser Arafat. Ghanimah, who was a Mulitcultural Advocate (MA) at UIUC, gave the presentation to other MAs, as well as UIUC Housing employees and Resident Advisors.

On October 16, 2019, several Illinois Student Government (ISG) senators authored a resolution defending the presentation.

On October 22, 2019, SJP UIUC posted on Facebook encouraging students to support the ISG’s resolution.

On October 24, 2019, SJP UIUC posted on Facebook in celebration of the resolution passing.

On January 16, 2020, SJP UIUC tweeted a thread protesting a training session on anti-Semitism that had been scheduled for UIUC Housing employees, Resident Advisors, and Multicultural Advocates. The session was organized by the non-profit Jewish United Fund of Chicago (JUF).

In the Twitter thread, SJP UIUC described the JUF as a “hate group.” SJP UIUC also accused JUF of the “brokering of Chicago Police Officers exchange with israeli Occupation Forces” that contributed to a “police culture of systematic violence against Black and Palestinian youth.”

SJP UIUC BDS Activities

During the 2019-2020 academic year, SJP UIUC launched a BDS campaign by authoring a student government resolution asking the university to divest funds from companies that are either based in Israel or do business in Israel.

SJP UIUC BDS Activities - 2019-2020

On February 5, 2020, former SJP UIUC presidents Buthaina Hattab and Dunia Ghanimah, as well as then president Ahlam Khatib, collectively authored an Illinois Student Government (ISG) anti-Israel divestment Resolution 03.61, titled: “Violations of Human Rights in University Investments.”

On February 12, 2020, a female Jewish student spoke [01:56:58] at an ISG meeting held to discuss the divestment resolution, to discuss an incident where someone held a sign that said [p. 7]: “F**K NAZIS SUPPORT PALESTINIANS.” 

The female Jewish student said that she attended an ISG meeting during the fall semester that addressed a separate anti-Israel resolution. She said [01:56:58]: “When I walked into the room I was confronted by a huge sign held up by SJP that said ‘F**k Nazis’. They called us Nazis!” 

Somone in the crowd then shouted [01:57:07] at the same female Jewish student: “They’re right!”

On February 15, 2020, UIUC Divest tweeted: “...UIUC Divest passes 20-9-7! ISG resolution 03.61 “Violation of Human Rights in University Investments” calls on UIUC to divest from corporations that engage in human rights abuses including Israeli war crimes in Palestine.  #UIUCDivest.”

On February 17, 2020, UIUC Divest tweeted a letter signed by SJP UIUC criticizing the ISG President Connor Josellis for vetoing the resolution one day earlier.

SJP UIUC - BDS Activities 2020-2021

On September 23, 2020, UIUC’s student government voted [03:31:41] during a live streamed ISG meeting in favor of a BDS resolution titled: “RES.04.22 Human Rights Violations in University Investments and Police Forces.” Former SJP UIUC presidents Sofia Sinnokrot and Buthaina Hattab authored the resolution.

SJP UIUC’s statement on the vote claimed that “both the BDS and the BLM [Black Lives Matter] movement resist the fundamental racism that Israeli and American entities need to survive.” 

During the live stream, Sophia Giakas Ayesh, a former SJP UIUC activist, commented [02:36:58]: “Honestly bruh, Zionism is a political agenda that’s racist and supports genocide so bye.”

SJP UIUC - BDS Campaign 2021-2022

On February 7, 2022, SJP UIUC launched a divestment campaign to get the UIUC student body to vote on an anti-Israel divestment measure via a referendum in March 2022. 

On February 14, 2022, SJP UIUC authored a “revised resolution” titled: “Human Rights Violations in University Investments.” SJP UIUC called on the Illinois Student Government (ISG) to approve a “referendum question” for that spring’s student government ballot.

The question that SJP UIUC wanted students to vote on said: “Should the University of Illinois divest its stocks, funds, and endowment from companies that profit from or engage in human rights violations in US Prisons, at the US-Mexico Border, and in Occupied Palestine?”

On Februrary 23, 2022, ISG held a meeting to address the possibility of the question being posed to the student body.  

Malaak Yehya, a former SJP executive board member, said [00:05:23] at the meeting: “The question of Palestine and what is going on in Palestine is so simple and is nothing new. It is an ongoing struggle against colonialism, it is ethnic cleansing on display.”

On February 23, 2022, the ISG Senate reportedly passed the bill with a vote of 17 to 14 and two abstentions.

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.

Social Media and Weblinks

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/malaak.yehya.94

Twitter: https://twitter.com/mxlaaky [Private]

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_malaaky/ [Private]

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/malaak-yehya-8a580314a/ 

Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@malookii19 

Website: https://myehya26.wixsite.com/malaaky