May Ye
Overview
May Ye [May Aihua Ye] has expressed support for terrorists, glorified violent protesters and demonized Jewish organizations. Ye has also spread incitement, participated in anti-Israel protests, endorsed anti-Israel agitators and engaged in anti-Israel activism with Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP).As of April 2022, Ye’s author bio on the Evolve website said she “organizes with JVP” and was “the founder of the Person of Color Havurah at Kol Tzedek Synagogue in Philadelphia and of Min Hameitzar: A National Network of Jews of Color Havurot.” As of the same date, Ye was listed as a “Student Rabbi” on the JVP “Rabbinical Council.”
In February 2020, Ye was a leader with JVP Action as well as with JVP Philadelphia (JVP Philly). Ye was an activist with JVP Philly from 2017 to 2019 and in 2021. Ye has been affiliated with JVP since 2016.
Also, as of August 2021, Ye’s LinkedIn said she was a Climate Justice Fellow (Intern) at PHILADELPHIANS ORGANIZED TO WITNESS EMPOWER AND REBUILD, since June 2020 and a pianist working as a Freelance Musician/Private Instructor since 2007.
Ye’s LinkedIn said she was pursuing a master’s degree in “Hebrew Letters and Title of Rabbi” at Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, due to graduate in 2023.
Ye’s LinkedIn also said she graduated from Western Michigan University (WMU) with a bachelor’s degree in Piano Performance in 2017.
As of April 2022, Ye’s LinkedIn said she was located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
As of April 2022, Ye used the handle “RadicalRabbiToB” and screen name “May Ye” on Twitter and the handle “DiversePianist” and screen name “May” on a second Twitter account.
As of the same date, Ye also used the handle “radicalrabbitobe” on Instagram and the name “May Ye (מרים אריאלה) [Miriam Ariella]” on Facebook.
Supporting Terrorists
On May 8, 2017, Ye posted a video to Facebook of herself participating in the “Saltwater Challenge.”The “Saltwater Challenge” was held in solidarity with hunger-striking Palestinian prison inmates convicted of terrorism. The strike was initiated by Marwan Barghouti, who was serving five consecutive life sentences for his role in suicide bombings that killed five Israelis during the second intifada. Aarab Barghouti, the son of Marwan Barghouti, launched the "Saltwater Challenge."
Glorifying Violent Protesters
On March 30, 2019, Ye was scheduled to lead a JVP Philly memorial event marking the anniversary of the Gaza March of Return. JVP Philly’s email promoting the event described it as “A Martyrology Inspired Memorial Teach-In” and said Ye would lead “a ritual honoring those who have been killed in the Great Return March.”On March 30, 2018, about 30,000 Gazans approached Israel’s border fence to join in “Land Day Protests,” which were also called the “March of Return.” The march was organized and funded by Hamas as a campaign of violent protests to spotlight the “right of return,” a policy discredited as a means to eliminate Israel.
On September 24, 2018, Ye posted to Facebook, promoting a “Yom Kippur Martyrology Service for Gaza” she had co-written with anti-Israel activist Brant Rosen.
The introduction said: “This year, we will dedicate our Martyrology service to the Palestinians in Gaza who have been killed by the Israeli military during the Great Return March. This nonviolent demonstration began last spring with a simple question: ‘what would happen if thousands of Gazans... attempted to peacefully cross the fence that separated them from their ancestral lands?’”
In May 2018, Ye participated [00:07:27] in two JVP Philly protests that were held in support of the Palestinian March of Return.
On May 21, 2018, JVP Philly held a protest in support of the March of Return outside the office of U.S. Representative Brendan Boyle. JVP Philly posted to Facebook that they urged Boyle to “#standupforgaza.”
In May 2018, terror group Hamas instigated violent riots on the Israeli-Gaza border. Thousands of rioters attempted to breach Israel’s border fence, declaring their intention to harm Jews across the border under the pretext of “peaceful resistance.”
At JVP Philly’s protest, a JVP Philly activist read from poetry by Dareen Tatour and led [00:00:20] the other JVP Philly protesters in chanting Tatour’s words: “resist, my people, resist them; resist, my people, resist them.”
In October 2015, Tatour was placed under house arrest for incitement to violence and for support of a terrorist organization on social media.
JVP Philly tweeted from the May 21, 2018 protest, saying: “We mourn the deaths of all the Palestinians who have been murdered by the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] since the beginning of the #GreatReturnMarch. #Gaza.”
Most of the Gazans who died between March 30 and April 6, 2018, were identified as terror operatives who were killed while carrying out terrorist attacks, rioting against IDF forces or attempting to breach the border fence between Israel and the Gaza Strip.
On May 14, 2018, JVP Philly held a rally to condemn Israel’s response to the March of Return riots on the Israeli-Gaza border and to protest [00:03:30] the raising of the Israeli flag at Philadelphia’s City Hall.
JVP’s narrator of the event on its Facebook live stream said [00:00:23]: “we’re here ‘coz we think it’s a disgrace that our public officials are celebrating seventy years of occupation and apartheid and turning a blind eye to violence against unarmed protesters.”
Media reports confirmed [00:00:20] the March of Return protesters’ breaches and attempted breaches of Israel’s border fence, some by armed Palestinians. One Hamas leader declared [00:00:30]: “We will take down the border [with Israel] and we will tear out their hearts from their bodies.”
JVP activists displayed [00:01:38] a banner with the names of Palestinian protesters that had been killed between [00:07:36] March 30 and May 11, 2018. The narrator added [00:01:40] that they didn’t have time to include the names of another 50 Palestinians who had been killed at the May 14, 2021 Gaza border protest.
On May 16, 2018, a Hamas senior official, Salah al-Bardawil, stated that 50 out of 62 protesters killed during the May 14 Gaza border protest were Hamas operatives. Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) also claimed that three of its members were killed at the same protest.
After the name of each Palestinian protester was read out at the JVP Philly rally, JVP activists chanted [00:08:25]: “was a freedom fighter and he taught us how to fight.”
On May 18, 2018, Ye was quoted in an article in Liberation News about the protest as saying: “Not in my name when Palestinians are being brutally murdered in Gaza during this Great March of Return.”
Demonizing Jewish Organizations
On October 22, 2017, Ye participated in a JVP Philly protest held against theAnti-Defamation League (ADL) outside the International Association of Chiefs of Police Conference (IACP), where the ADL was a participant. JVP Philly posted to Facebook that the protest was staged in order “to demand that the ADL stop funding police exchange programs between the U.S. and Israel...”The Facebook event page for the protest said: “These exchanges exacerbate racist police violence, militarization, and surveillance both here and in Israel/Palestine...”
In 2017, JVP launched the “Deadly Exchange (DX)” campaign, which accused American Jewish organizations of promoting human rights abuses. JVP also released a video that blamed [00:04:04] U.S.-based Jewish organizations for violence that occurs against Black and Brown communities, immigrants and activists in the U.S.
On November 8, 2017, JVP Philly held another protest against the ADL. JVP Philly tweeted from the protest: “‘we're gonna rise up, rise up till it's gone!’” JVP Philly also tweeted a photo from the protest and wrote: “JVP Philly members try to deliver our petition to @ADLPhiladelphia, but are told no one will speak to us.”
JVP’s petition for the Deadly Exchange campaign said: “Do not host another National Counter Terrorism Seminar or Advanced Training School. Dispatching US law enforcement to trade tactics with Israeli police and military agents defends and deepens Israel's systems of military occupation, and exacerbates the existing crisis of police violence in the US.”
On June 24, 2020, Ye signed a letter published by the JVP BIJOCSM [Black Jews, Indigenous Jews, non-Black Jews of Color, Sephardim and Mizrahim Jews] network calling on American Jews to “divest from” and “end their partnerships with the police.”
The letter said: “We must question mainstream Jewish institutions’ alignment with law enforcement. We must also challenge the ties between U.S. Police departments and Israeli police and the Israel Defense Forces – they are inexorably linked, through the exchange of training and oppressive tactics...”
Spreading Incitement
On May 15, 2021, Ye participated in an anti-Israel protest in Philadelphia, where she held a sign that said: “ETHNIC CLEANSING IS NOT MY JUDAISM. FREE PALESTINE.” On May 15, 2021, JVP Philly co-hosted an event with other anti-Israel groups, including Philly BDS and Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapters at Temple University and Drexel University in Philadelphia, titled: “PHILADELPHIA: #SaveSheikhJarrah.”
Incitement around Al-Aqsa and Sheikh Jarrah were leading factors in Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorists firing over 4,300 rockets from Gaza at Israel’s major centers on May 10-21, 2021. In response, Israel launched “Operation Guardian of the Walls (OGW),” striking military targets in the terrorist-controlled enclave.
Protesters held signs that said: “RESISTANCE IS JUSTIFIED” and “WHEN INJUSTICE BECOMES LAW… RESISTANCNCE (SIC) BECOMES A DUTY!!!” Other signs said “F**K ISRAEL,” claimed that “ZIONISM IS GENOCIDE” and called to “END ZIONISM.”
Zionism is the belief in the right to self-determination and statehood of the Jewish people in their ancestral homeland, Israel. The word Zion originates in the Bible, where it refers to the land of Israel and Jerusalem.
Demonstrators also displayed signs that read: “FROM THE RIVER TO THE SEA PALESTINE WILL BE FREE” and “HANDS OFF OF OUR LAND.”
The chant “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free” has also been employed by Hamas leader Khaled Mashal to call for the replacement of Israel with an Islamic state. It is a chant calling to dismantle the State of Israel.
The cover photo on the Facebook page of the event JVP Philly co-hosted was a flyer featuring a graphic of Palestinians armed with rifles and text that read: “RESISTING COLONIALISM SINCE 1948.”
The Facebook event description called for protesters to “march against the state-sanctioned violence, settler-colonialism and apartheid occurring in Sheikh Jarrah and all of Occupied Palestine” and accused Israel of “genocide and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.”
Incitement around Al-Aqsa and Sheikh Jarrah were leading factors in Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorists firing over 4,300 rockets from Gaza at Israel’s major centers on May 10-21, 2021. In response, Israel launched “Operation Guardian of the Walls (OGW),” striking military targets in the terrorist-controlled enclave.
Protesters held signs that said: “RESISTANCE IS JUSTIFIED” and “WHEN INJUSTICE BECOMES LAW… RESISTANCNCE (SIC) BECOMES A DUTY!!!” Other signs said “F**K ISRAEL,” claimed that “ZIONISM IS GENOCIDE” and called to “END ZIONISM.”
Zionism is the belief in the right to self-determination and statehood of the Jewish people in their ancestral homeland, Israel. The word Zion originates in the Bible, where it refers to the land of Israel and Jerusalem.
Demonstrators also displayed signs that read: “FROM THE RIVER TO THE SEA PALESTINE WILL BE FREE” and “HANDS OFF OF OUR LAND.”
The chant “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free” has also been employed by Hamas leader Khaled Mashal to call for the replacement of Israel with an Islamic state. It is a chant calling to dismantle the State of Israel.
The cover photo on the Facebook page of the event JVP Philly co-hosted was a flyer featuring a graphic of Palestinians armed with rifles and text that read: “RESISTING COLONIALISM SINCE 1948.”
The Facebook event description called for protesters to “march against the state-sanctioned violence, settler-colonialism and apartheid occurring in Sheikh Jarrah and all of Occupied Palestine” and accused Israel of “genocide and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.”
Participating in Anti-Israel Protests
On July 10, 2021, Ye participated in a protest titled: “Philly for Palestine: March Against Israeli Apartheid” which was co-sponsored by anti-Israel organizations including the Philadelphia chapters of JVP, Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) and IfNotNow, Philly BDS, Swarthmore SJP and Temple SJP.At the protest, Ye held a sign that said: “ETHNIC CLEANSING IS NOT MY JUDAISM. FREE PALESTINE.”
Protesters at the march reportedly chanted: “‘We don’t want your ‘two states,’ we want all of ‘48.’”
“48” refers to 1948, the year the State of Israel was established.
On May 28, 2021, Ye led an event titled: “Interfaith Vigil for Palestinian Martyrs.” The event was co-hosted by anti-Israel groups including Temple SJP, JVP Philly and Swarthmore JVP and SJP.
At the protest, one speaker claimed [00:00:40] that “Zionists became parasites” and were using [00:00:55] “practices and efforts that were inflicted upon their own Jewish ancestors in the German effort to ethnically cleanse and to displace their own people” and [00:01:08] “also using the same propaganda that Hitler has used to mask their efforts from the rest of the world.”
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.
The speaker accused [00:01:12]: “Zionists and IDF soldiers” of inflicting damage against Palestinians “just as the Nazis destroyed the gravestones of European Jews, burned books and art of Jewish creators and smashed property of thousands of European Jews on the night of broken glass otherwise known as Kristallnacht.”
The speaker also said [00:08:10]: “I’d like to say that this is our third and hopefully our last intifada…”
Since the early 2000s, the term “intifada,” which translates from Arabic as “uprising” or “insurrection,” has carried the connotation of violence.
Endorsing Anti-Israel Agitators
On August 10, 2020, Ye set her Facebook profile picture to a photo of herself posing with Omar and wrote: “Rooting for you, Ilhan!”Ilhan Omar was elected to the U.S. Congress in 2018. In February 2019, top Congressional leaders denounced Omar for tweeting anti-Semitic remarks.
On March 6, 2019, Ye signed an open letter titled: “We Stand with Ilhan” that claimed U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar had been “falsely accused of anti-Semitism.”
On December 4, 2018, Ye featured in a group photo posted to Facebook by JVP Philly standing next to a sign that said: “From the river to the sea Palestine will be free. JVP Philly stands with Marc Lamont Hill.”
In November 2018, Hill was fired from his contributor position at CNN (Cable News Network) after he gave an anti-Israel speech at the United Nations. He called [00:20:47] for a “free Palestine from the river to the sea,” a phrase associated with demands to dismantle the State of Israel. Hill also accused [00:16:19] Israel of “ethnic cleansing,” as well as [00:17:49] “white supremacy” and [00:17:56] “settler colonialism.”
Anti-Israel Activism
On June 26, 2020, Ye featured in a photo posted to JVP’s Facebook page, holding a sign that said: “I am a rabbinical student and I OPPOSE Israel’s illegal annexation of Palestinian land. I say NO to apartheid.”On April 22, 2018, Ye featured in a group photo posted to JVP’s Facebook page that said: “Leaders of Jewish spiritual communities in solidarity with Palestine from across the country gathered for Shabbat to work towards a better world at JVP gathering.”
Shabbat is the day of rest in Judaism commemorating the completion of Creation by God, which is celebrated on the seventh day of the week (Saturday).
On November 27, 2017, Ye created a Facebook fundraiser for JVP and wrote in the “About” section on the fundraising page: “Jewish Voice for Peace is my political home. In building the Havurah Network, I have felt so nourished building a sustainable Judaism beyond Zionism with dear comrades.”
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.
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.”
JVP Philly Chapter Overview
JVP Philly whitewashes terrorism, shows support for terrorists, demonizes Jewish organizations and actively promotes the BDS movement. In 2021, JVP Philly led a campaign of harassment against a Philadelphia-based philanthropist Jeffrey Yass and organized a series of anti-Israel protests.JVP Philly - Promoting BDS 2018
On April 4, 2018, JVP Philly posted to Facebook a link to the campaign page to stop the Philadelphia Orchestra from playing in Israel. JVP Philly wrote in their Facebook post that they had “signed onto this coalitional effort to uphold the #culturalboycott. Tell the Philadelphia Orchestra to cancel their upcoming trip to Israel.”On May 19, 2018, two protesters for the campaign disrupted a Philadelphia Orchestra performance by playing a pre-recorded message that accused [00:01:05] the orchestra of complicity in “carnage” by Israel and of collaboration [00:01:39] “with that murderous gangster state.”
On May 31, 2018, JVP Philly posted to Facebook that they had held weekly protests against the orchestra for three months and that anti-Israel protesters in European cities were also protesting wherever the orchestra was playing. JVP Philly wrote in their post: “Now, more than ever we must call for #culturalboycott and #BDS…”
JVP Philly - Promoting BDS 2021
JVP Philly signed a May 19, 2021 statement by Penn Students Against the Occupation of Palestine (PAO) that called on the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) to “divest from companies that profit from and/or are complicit in the Israeli occupation of Palestine.”The statement accused Israel of the “ongoing ethnic cleansing of Palestinians,” a “massacre of Gaza” and of having “genocidal intentions.” It also urged Penn students, faculty, staff and alumni to “call on the US government to place sanctions on Israel.”
JVP Philly - Demonizing a Philadelphia Philanthropist 2021
On September 23, 2021, during the Jewish festival of Sukkot, JVP Philly activists erected a tent on the private lawn of Jeffrey Yass to protest his funding of various causes in the United States and Israel.JVP Philly protesters gathered there with signs that said: “YASS FUNDS FASCISTS” and “YASS FUNDS ISRAELI APARTHEID,” as well as “YASS CASH HARMS OUR PLANET” and “YASS CASH HARMS OUR SCHOOLS.”JVP Swarthmore also participated in the protest.
A JVP Philly Facebook post about the protest claimed: “...his money is making the world a more dangerous, violent, and unequal place…But we are watching…His neighbors are hearing about it. His employees are hearing about it. The word is out. #AllEyesOnYass 🧿.”
JVP Philly passed out a flyer to Yass’s neighbors that claimed Yass was financing “Israeli apartheid policies which cause great harm to Palestinians and any possibility of peace in the region.”
The flyer also said: “TIRED OF SEEING US HERE? TELL JEFF HIS CHOICES ARE NOT JUST HARMING THE WORLD, THEY’RE BUGGING HIS NEIGHBORS TOO. MAYBE THAT WILL MAKE HIM CHANGE HIS WAYS!”
The protest reportedly marked the launch of JVP Philly’s “All Eyes on Yass” campaign, following two other protests they had held earlier that year against Yass.
On June 4, 2021, JVP Philly held a protest with around 100 participants outside Yass’s home. JVP Philly accused Yass of funding “the displacement and murder of Palestinians” and demanded that he stop his support of pro-Israel initiatives.
Protesters stood in Yass’s front yard holding [00:00:24] a large sign that said: “ISRAELI APARTHEID FUNDED HERE” and shouted [00:01:30] “shame” while banging on tables.
In a Facebook live stream of the protest, Elana Baurer, a JVP organizer, said [00:00:35] the protesters were calling on Yass to “stop participating in the ongoing 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.
At the protest, Alissa Wise, a JVP leader, said [00:11:30] into a megaphone: “last week we were at his office…this week we’re at his house because his employees, his staff, his colleagues, his neighbors, they know what he’s doing,” and continued [00:12:20]: “we must build outrage in everyone in his community until we get what we want.”
On May 21, 2021, JVP Philly held a sit-in at the lobby of Yass’s office in Philadelphia. Protesters held anti-Israel banners outside the office and accused [00:00:40] Yass and his business partner, Arthur Dantchik, of “funding genocide, apartheid and ethnic cleansing” in Israel, as they chanted [00:00:52]: “Israeli apartheid is funded here, Jews say Free Palestine.”
JVP Philly activists also placed flyers on employees’ cars that accused Israel of “the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians…and violent murder and destruction.”
The protest ended with JVP Philly leader Alissa Wise leaving a voicemail on Yass’s personal number, saying [00:21:08]: “what you’re doing to the Palestinian people is a shande [disgrace]... we’re really disgusted by what you’re funding and we want to urge you to cease funding it now...and we’ll keep coming back as long as it takes.”
JVP Philly - Whitewashing Terrorism 2019
On May 6, 2019, JVP Philly shared a Facebook post by anti-Israel agitator Linda Sarsour that said: “...Friday, Israel gunned down 4 Palestinians peacefully protesting. No condemnations. No one saying how immoral it is to kill Palestinians…”On May 3, 2019, two Israeli soldiers, patrolling near the Gaza border, were shot and injured from sniper fire in Gaza. In response, the Israeli Air Force struck a Hamas base nearby, killing two members of Hamas’s armed wing. Two other Palestinians were killed while participating in riots along the Gaza border.
On March 30, 2019, JVP Philly held a “GreatReturnMarch Memorial and Teach-In.” The Facebook event description claimed: “Since March 30th, 2018 tens of thousands of Palestinians have marched peacefully every Friday along the Gaza/Israel border…” A JVP Philly email promoting the event described it as “A Martyrology Inspired Memorial Teach-In.”
Approximately 30,000 Palestinians in Gaza approached Israel’s border on March 30, 2018 as part of the “March of Return,” which was organized and funded by Hamas. This was used as a campaign of violent protests to spotlight the Palestinian demand to “return” to Israel.
The “right of return” is a Palestinian demand discredited as a means to eliminate Israel.
JVP Philly retweeted a January 30, 2019 tweet by JVP that said: “Another day, another Palestinian child murdered Samah Mubarak was killed by the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] at a checkpoint for an alleged ‘knife attack’...”
On January 30, 2019, 16-year-old Samah Mubarak attempted to stab an Israeli security officer and was shot by Israeli Security forces.
JVP Philly - Demonizing Jewish Organizations 2018
On June 3, 2018, JVP Philly held a protest against the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) as part of JVP’s “Deadly Exchange” campaign.Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) launched the “Deadly Exchange” campaign in 2017. The campaign claimed that American Jewish organizations promoted human rights abuses. A video for the campaign by JVP accused American Jewish organizations of planning programs between American and Israeli security personnel, to advance“racist policies.”
JVP Philly protested at the ADL’s annual “Walk Against Hate” event held to “celebrate diversity and challenge bigotry.” The ADL’s first Walk Against Hate took place in 2011 in Philadelphia.
As ADL representatives were speaking on stage at the event, JVP Philly activists stood [00:00:10] in front of the stage, holding a large banner that said: “ADL STOP THE HATE END POLICE XCHANGES W/ ISRAEL.”
JVP Philly also published a petition that claimed that U.S. participation in counter-terrorism seminars in Israel contributes to “the normalization of the Israel Defense Force’s daily brutality against the Palestinians.” The petition called for activists to “pledge to not participate in the Walk Against Hate...”
JVP Philly - Expressing Support for Terrorists 2017
On March 14, 2017, JVP Philly posted to Facebook a JVP press release titled: “JEWISH VOICE FOR PEACE IS PROUD TO HOST PALESTINIAN ORGANIZER RASMEA ODEH.” JVP Philly commented: “A powerful, informative statement about the trials of Rasmea Odeh.”Odeh was a military operative with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), an internationally designated terrorist organization. In 1969, she masterminded a bombing that killed two university students in a Jerusalem supermarket. Odeh also attempted to bomb the British consulate.
JVP’s statement, about featuring Odeh at their 2017 National Membership Meeting (NMM), referred to Odeh as a “deeply respected Palestinian organizer” and “feminist leader.”
The statement concluded: “Rasmea’s life is a story of Palestinian resilience: a story of persistence…building grassroots leadership…”
On April 5, 2017, JVP Philly posted a link to recorded sessions from the 2017 JVP NMM for those who didn’t attend and wrote: “We missed you so much! Check out Linda Sarsour, Rasmea Odeh, and more here--and hopefully we'll be together at 2019's NMM!”
Sarsour has tweeted that “nothing is creepier than Zionism” and frequently uses the word “Zionist” as a pejorative.
Zionism is the belief in the right to self-determination and statehood of the Jewish people in their ancestral homeland, Israel. The word Zion originates in the Bible, where it refers to the land of Israel and Jerusalem.
On April 17, 2017, JVP Philly promoted on Facebook an article written by Marwan Barghouti titled: “Why We Are on Hunger Strike in Israel’s Prisons.”
On May 8, 2017, JVP Philly posted to Facebook, promoting a JVP event featuring then-JVP Executive Director Rebecca Vilkomersoninterviewing Marwan Barghouti’s son, Aarab Barghouti, who started the “Saltwater Challenge” in support of the hunger strikers.
The statement concluded: “Rasmea’s life is a story of Palestinian resilience: a story of persistence…building grassroots leadership…”
On April 5, 2017, JVP Philly posted a link to recorded sessions from the 2017 JVP NMM for those who didn’t attend and wrote: “We missed you so much! Check out Linda Sarsour, Rasmea Odeh, and more here--and hopefully we'll be together at 2019's NMM!”
Sarsour has tweeted that “nothing is creepier than Zionism” and frequently uses the word “Zionist” as a pejorative.
Zionism is the belief in the right to self-determination and statehood of the Jewish people in their ancestral homeland, Israel. The word Zion originates in the Bible, where it refers to the land of Israel and Jerusalem.
On April 17, 2017, JVP Philly promoted on Facebook an article written by Marwan Barghouti titled: “Why We Are on Hunger Strike in Israel’s Prisons.”
The 2017 hunger strike by Palestinian prisoners known as the “Dignity Strike” was initiated by Marwan Barghouti, who was serving five consecutive life sentences for his role in terror attacks during the Second Intifada, including financing the bombing of the Sbarro Cafe in Jerusalem.
On May 8, 2017, JVP Philly posted to Facebook, promoting a JVP event featuring then-JVP Executive Director Rebecca Vilkomersoninterviewing Marwan Barghouti’s son, Aarab Barghouti, who started the “Saltwater Challenge” in support of the hunger strikers.
Social Media and Weblinks
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/1379973705Facebook 2: https://www.facebook.com/1492031831038892
Twitter: https://twitter.com/radicalrabbitob [Private]
Twitter 2: https://twitter.com/DiversePianist [Private]
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/radicalrabbitobe/ [Private]
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/may-ye-77a3a9aa/
Website: https://mayaihuaye.wixsite.com/mayaihuaye
- Status:
- Professional
- University:
- Western Michigan University (WMU
- Organizations:
- JVP
- Related Profiles:
- Last Modified:
- 05/04/2026
Photos & Screenshots
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