Margaret Cohen
Overview
Margaret Cohen [Margaret R. Cohen] was a student activist who reportedly worked to establish a Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter at Fordham University (Fordham) since 2015.Cohen was the 2019-2020 secretary of SJP at Fordham (Fordham SJP).
Cohen attended the 2019 National SJP Conference at the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities (UMN) as an activist with Fordham SJP.National SJP held their conference at the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities (UMN), from November 1-3, 2019. The conference was themed: “Beyond Struggle: From Roots to Branches Towards Liberation.”
As of December 2020, Cohen’s LinkedIn page said she was a Social Work Intern at StreetSquash in New York, NY, since September 2020.
As of the same date, Cohen’s LinkedIn page said she was a Research Assistant at Fordham since January 2019 and an Assistant Library Circulation Clerk at Fordham since January 2018.
As of December 2020, Cohen’s LinkedIn page also said she was pursuing a master’s degree in Social Work from Fordham, slated to graduate in 2021. Cohen received a bachelor’s degree in Social Work from Fordham in 2020 and listed under “Activities and Societies” that she was an SJP Executive Board member in 2019-2020.
In 2019, it was reported that Cohen was a former E-Board member of the Jewish Student Organization (JSO) at Fordham.
In 2019, Cohen was reportedly affiliated with the student-run website Fordham Receipts as a member of the Students for Sex and Gender Equity and Safety Coalition (SAGES).
Working to Establish Fordham SJP
On September 18, 2019, the Fordham Ram, a Fordham student newspaper reported that Cohen “helped develop SJP over the last few years.”On October 25, 2019, Cohen appeared in a group photo posted to Instagram by Fordham SJP, posing with Fordham SJP president Batool Abdelhafez, Fordham SJP vice president Veer Shetty and Maria LaHood, the Deputy Legal Director at the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR).
Fordham SJP’s Instagram post was captioned: “Thank you Maria from @ccrjustice for speaking with us and for sharing your expertise, knowledge, and insight ❤️🇵🇸✊🏼”
Beginning in April 2017, LaHood worked on behalf of CCR to represent four Fordham students who sued the university for banning their SJP chapter.
In 2016, Fordham reportedly blocked the formation of a Fordham SJP chapter “based on the reported behavior of other [SJP] chapters on other campuses,” indicating that “the establishment of a local branch could be ‘polarizing’ and pose a safety concern to students and faculty.”
Signatories demanded that Fordham “immediately rescind the rejection of SJP as a student group on campus, apologize to the students affected by this harmful decision, and reaffirm Fordham’s commitment to free speech and academic freedom.”
The petitioners also highlighted SJP’s BDS activity, characterizing SJP’s efforts to promote anti-Israel boycott as part of “a time-honored non-violent mode of political expression.” The petition accused Fordham’s administration of a “fundamental misunderstanding of what boycotts are, the purpose of a university, and the goals of SJP.”
The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) in cooperation with Palestine Legal (PL), and civil rights attorney Alan Levine sued Fordham on behalf of four students in April 2017. A New York court annulled Fordham’s decision in August 2019, mandating that the university recognize SJP as an official club.
Fordham appealed the ruling to the NY State Supreme Court Appellate Division in January 2020. On July 24, 2020, Fordham SJP students filed a brief asking the appellate court to deny Fordham’s appeal of the lower court’s decision.
As of October 2020, a variety of groups, not directly involved in the case, filed amicus briefs with the Appellate Division for the court's consideration including JVP.
Signatories demanded that Fordham “immediately rescind the rejection of SJP as a student group on campus, apologize to the students affected by this harmful decision, and reaffirm Fordham’s commitment to free speech and academic freedom.”
The petitioners also highlighted SJP’s BDS activity, characterizing SJP’s efforts to promote anti-Israel boycott as part of “a time-honored non-violent mode of political expression.” The petition accused Fordham’s administration of a “fundamental misunderstanding of what boycotts are, the purpose of a university, and the goals of SJP.”
The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) in cooperation with Palestine Legal (PL), and civil rights attorney Alan Levine sued Fordham on behalf of four students in April 2017. A New York court annulled Fordham’s decision in August 2019, mandating that the university recognize SJP as an official club.
Fordham appealed the ruling to the NY State Supreme Court Appellate Division in January 2020. On July 24, 2020, Fordham SJP students filed a brief asking the appellate court to deny Fordham’s appeal of the lower court’s decision.
As of October 2020, a variety of groups, not directly involved in the case, filed amicus briefs with the Appellate Division for the court's consideration including JVP.
On December 22, 2020, the New York State Supreme Court Appellate Division overturned the lower court’s August 2019 decision that ordered Fordham University to recognize SJP as an official student club on campus.
That same day, Palestine Legal and the CCR issued a statement that read: “We plan to seek review by the highest court in New York so that Fordham students can keep organizing for Palestinian rights on campus as SJP.”
Luthun has compared Israel to South African Apartheid on Facebook and is a supporter of BDS.
Fordham SJP’s Instagram post was captioned: “Thank you @tariqluthun for sharing your beautiful poetry and words of wisdom with us tonight. Thank you all for a [sic] attending! Tonight was wonderfully successful and we couldn’t have done it without you all! 🇵🇸❤️🇵🇸”
On September 20, 2019, Cohen appeared in a photo posted to Instagram by Fordham SJP. The post was captioned: “thanks to all who joined us for our first meeting this week! we established community guidelines, talked about the history of Fordham SJP, and next steps for the semester.”
That same day, Palestine Legal and the CCR issued a statement that read: “We plan to seek review by the highest court in New York so that Fordham students can keep organizing for Palestinian rights on campus as SJP.”
SJP Activism
On February 20, 2020, Cohen appeared in a group photo posted to Instagram by Fordham SJP posing with Palestinian poet and activist Tariq Luthun. That day, Fordham SJP co-hosted a poetry night with Fordham’s Muslim Student Association (MSA) featuring Luthun, who writes about “resistance, struggle, and the right of return."Luthun has compared Israel to South African Apartheid on Facebook and is a supporter of BDS.
Fordham SJP’s Instagram post was captioned: “Thank you @tariqluthun for sharing your beautiful poetry and words of wisdom with us tonight. Thank you all for a [sic] attending! Tonight was wonderfully successful and we couldn’t have done it without you all! 🇵🇸❤️🇵🇸”
On September 20, 2019, Cohen appeared in a photo posted to Instagram by Fordham SJP. The post was captioned: “thanks to all who joined us for our first meeting this week! we established community guidelines, talked about the history of Fordham SJP, and next steps for the semester.”
On September 17, 2019, Fordham SJP held its first meeting as an official campus club. Fordham SJP promoted the event on Instagram with a photo from the 2018 National SJP conference held at the University of California, Los Angeles, (UCLA) on November 16 - 18, 2018.
On August 29, 2019, Cohen appeared in a group photo posted to Facebook by Fordham SJP. That day, Fordham SJP held its first official campus event.
Fordham SJP’s Facebook post was captioned: “Club Fair!! Today was our first activity as an official Fordham club and it felt so good! If you missed it, make sure to follow us on fb, twitter, or instagram, or email fordhamsjp@gmail.com for updates. Endless thanks to our supporters! We are so excited to finally begin this work on campus.”
Attending the 2019 National SJP Conference
On November 4, 2019, Cohen appeared in a photo posted by Fordham SJP to Instagram at the 2019 NSJP Conference.The 2019 National SJP Conference was held at the University of Minnesota- Twin Cities (UMN), from November 1-3. The Conference themes centered on support for BDS as well as the rejection of Israel and Zionism.
The Conference partnered with numerous anti-Israel organizations and conducted their event in a clandestine manner.
During the Conference, National SJP speakers reportedly “noted the success of past divestment campaigns at the University [UMN], which ultimately resulted in the passing of a campus-wide [BDS] referendum in 2018.”
The UMN resolution passed in 2018 by a margin of 3.4 percent of those students who voted, translating to approval by 6.18% of all eligible voters. Less than 13% of the eligible voters actually voted on UMN’s BDS referendum.
The website clarified that “the Palestinian struggle against Zionism, extends beyond the confines of 1967, and well before the Nakba,” and was based on the rejection of Jewish national self-determination in Israel.
Nakba is an Arabic term for “catastrophe” and refers to the outcome of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. It is a term often used to delegitimize the creation of the State of Israel.
Keynote speakers included Loubna Qutami, Chair of PYM, as well as Taher Herzallah of American Muslims for Palestine (AMP). Other speakers included Miko Peled, Sandra Tamari, Suhad Katib, Chris Gazaleh, Clarissa Bitar, Tariq Luthun, Maytha Alhassen and Sima Shakhsari.
The Conference partnered with numerous anti-Israel organizations and conducted their event in a clandestine manner.
2019 National SJP - Supporting BDS
The Conference website called to capitalize on shifts in the political climate, represented by the elections to the U.S. Congress of Representatives Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, who both support BDS. National SJP speakers also reportedly drew attention to Rep. Omar’s support for the BDS movement as the Representative for UMN’s Congressional district.During the Conference, National SJP speakers reportedly “noted the success of past divestment campaigns at the University [UMN], which ultimately resulted in the passing of a campus-wide [BDS] referendum in 2018.”
The UMN resolution passed in 2018 by a margin of 3.4 percent of those students who voted, translating to approval by 6.18% of all eligible voters. Less than 13% of the eligible voters actually voted on UMN’s BDS referendum.
2019 National SJP - Rejecting Israel and Zionism
The 2019 National SJP Conference website indicated that the goal of their “solidarity movement” was to push for policies that “demanded the end of” the state of Israel, referred to as “the Israeli occupation.”The website clarified that “the Palestinian struggle against Zionism, extends beyond the confines of 1967, and well before the Nakba,” and was based on the rejection of Jewish national self-determination in Israel.
Nakba is an Arabic term for “catastrophe” and refers to the outcome of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. It is a term often used to delegitimize the creation of the State of Israel.
2019 National SJP - Heightened Secrecy
The 2019 National SJP Conference required attendees to be “verified and vouched for” by an SJP chapter to which they belonged and required each chapter to register as a group. The conference also required each group to be verified by a “reference––someone who is NOT going to this conference but who is or has recently been a part of your SJP.”Members of allied student groups could register only as part of an SJP chapter delegation which, in turn, needed to be “vouched for by their campus’s SJP” for “security culture and accountability reasons.”
The Conference also restricted media access to journalists “registered and confirmed by our Media Committee in advance to attend the conference. Absolutely no exceptions will be made.”
During the Conference, National SJPreportedly covered the windows of the conference hall.
2019 National SJP - Partnering Organizations
National SJP partnered with other anti-Israel organizations to table, sell merchandise and lead workshops, including CODEPINK, Palestine Youth Movement (PYM), Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), US Palestinian Community Network (USPCN), Palestine Legal, Watan Palestine and the Adalah Justice Project.Keynote speakers included Loubna Qutami, Chair of PYM, as well as Taher Herzallah of American Muslims for Palestine (AMP). Other speakers included Miko Peled, Sandra Tamari, Suhad Katib, Chris Gazaleh, Clarissa Bitar, Tariq Luthun, Maytha Alhassen and Sima Shakhsari.
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.
Social Media and Weblinks
- Status:
- Student
- University:
- Fordham
- Organizations:
- SJP
- Related Profiles:
- Last Modified:
- 05/04/2026
Photos & Screenshots
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