Michael Letwin
Overview
Michael Letwin [Michael Zurav Letwin] has promoted “intifada” violence, expressed support for violent protesters, whitewashed terrorists and spread incitement. He has also compared Israel to Nazi Germany, defended terrorism, demonized Jewish organizations and trivialized anti-Semitism.Letwin has demonized Israel and Zionism, engaged in anti-Israel activism and is a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.
Letwin co-founded New York City Labor Against the War (NYCLAW) in 2001 and Labor for Palestine (LFP) in 2004, which was launched by NYCLAW and Al Awda: The Palestine Right to Return Coalition.
As of August 2022, Letwin was listed as “Co-Convener” for LFP on its Facebook page. LFP endorses BDS and calls for the Palestinian “right of return,” a demand discredited as a means to eliminate Israel.
In 2013, Letwin co-founded Jews for Palestinian Right of Return (JFPROR).
Letwin is a member of the U.S. Campaign for the Academic & Cultural Boycott of Israel (USACBI) Organizing Collective and a member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) BDS and Palestine Solidarity Working Group.
Letwin is affiliated with Al-Awda in New York and Block The Boat in New York and New Jersey.
As of August 2022, Letwin’s LinkedIn page said he was a Staff Attorney in the Criminal Defense Division of The Legal Aid Society in New York City from 1985 to 2022.
Letwin’s LinkedIn said he graduated from Rutgers University (Rutgers) Law School with a law degree in 1985, and graduated from the University of Massachusetts Boston (UMass Boston) with a bachelor’s degree in History and Spanish in 1981. His LinkedIn also indicated that Letwin studied at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1978.
Letwin co-founded New York City Labor Against the War (NYCLAW) in 2001 and Labor for Palestine (LFP) in 2004, which was launched by NYCLAW and Al Awda: The Palestine Right to Return Coalition.
As of August 2022, Letwin was listed as “Co-Convener” for LFP on its Facebook page. LFP endorses BDS and calls for the Palestinian “right of return,” a demand discredited as a means to eliminate Israel.
In 2013, Letwin co-founded Jews for Palestinian Right of Return (JFPROR).
Letwin is a member of the U.S. Campaign for the Academic & Cultural Boycott of Israel (USACBI) Organizing Collective and a member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) BDS and Palestine Solidarity Working Group.
Letwin is affiliated with Al-Awda in New York and Block The Boat in New York and New Jersey.
As of August 2022, Letwin’s LinkedIn page said he was a Staff Attorney in the Criminal Defense Division of The Legal Aid Society in New York City from 1985 to 2022.
Letwin’s LinkedIn said he graduated from Rutgers University (Rutgers) Law School with a law degree in 1985, and graduated from the University of Massachusetts Boston (UMass Boston) with a bachelor’s degree in History and Spanish in 1981. His LinkedIn also indicated that Letwin studied at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1978.
As of August 2022, Letwin’s LinkedIn said he was located in New York, New York.
Samidoun: Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network (Samidoun) is an anti-Israel NGO whose activism spreads awareness of terrorists. At least three senior Samidoun activists are members [pp. 22-28] of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terror group. In February 2021, Israel’s Ministry of Justice declared Samidoun to be a “terror organization,” accusing [p. 2] the NGO of operating “as an arm” of the PFLP.
In October 2023, Germany announced it would disband Samidoun's German wing, saying: “the international network works under the guise of a solidarity group for prisoners to spread anti-Israel and antisemitic propaganda.”
On September 6, 2021, six Palestinian prisoners escaped from the maximum-security Gilboa Prison in Israel. The escaped prisoners were convicted members of the terror organizations Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, who were jailed for their involvement in attacks carried out during the second intifada. All were recaptured by September 19, 2021, by Israeli authorities.
The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) highlights as one possible contemporary example of anti-Semitism: “Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor.” The U.S. State Department adopted the IHRA’s working definition of anti-Semitism in 2016. Over 40 other countries have adopted the definition as well.
Leila Khaled is a leading member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and participated in the hijacking of TWA Flight 840 in 1969 and El Al Flight 219 in 1970. As of 2017, Khaled was a member of PFLP's Political Bureau. Khaled has said that the second intifada failed because it was not violent enough, advocated [00:36:07] for the use of children in terror activities and compared Zionists to Nazis.
On July 5, 2016, Letwin tweeted promoting a Samidoun “Call to Action to Free Bilal Kayed and commemorate Ghassan Kanafani.”
Odeh was a key military operative with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terrorist organization. In 1969, she masterminded a PFLP supermarket bombing that killed two college students. She also attempted to bomb the British consulate in Jerusalem. Odeh later moved to the United States but was deported to Jordan in 2017 for immigration fraud.
On July 18, 2021, Muslims barricaded themselves on the Temple Mount, threw stones and clashed with Israeli forces and chanted “With spirit, with blood, we’ll redeem Al-Aqsa,” in protest against Jews visiting the compound. Jewish worshippers were commemorating Tisha B’Av, regarded as the saddest day in the Jewish calendar, a day of mourning for the destruction of the First and Second Temples that once stood on the Temple Mount. Hamas had called on Palestinians to confront Israelis throughout Jerusalem that day.
The allegation that Jews “threaten” to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque has been a pretext for Arab attacks on Jews long before the existence of the modern Jewish state. Such propaganda has led to multiple periods of violence against Israeli civilians.
On March 24, 2016, Letwin tweeted: “‘One Holocaust Does Not Justify Another’ #PalestinianLivesMatter.”
On December 22, 2015, Letwin posted to Facebook: “Today's Warsaw Ghettos…” and linked to a Facebook post that claimed: “Each Palestinian town will be turned into a concentration camp.”
The post referred to a December 18, 2015 Middle East Media article claiming that “media reports in Israel have reported that the army is planning to build walls around Palestinians towns and villages …”
The article said Israeli Channel 2 TV reported “The army will build 9 metre high walls in the areas of Beit Ummar, Al-Arroub, Gush Etzion, and the areas surrounding Highway 60, south of the West Bank,” near areas and highways where Palestinians often threw stones at motorists and Jewish residents.
Letwin’s tweet linked to a statement by Samidoun that condemned “the British government’s criminalization of the Hamas movement” and demanded that “all such designations targeting liberation movements be cancelled or rescinded.”
On September 20, 2019, Letwin posted to Facebook: “#StopArmingIsrael #BDSApartheidIsrael: A #Palestinian woman was #lynched yesterday: A Palestinian woman was killed this morning at a control station. According to the Israeli law forces, she held a knife.”
Letwin’s post included an AJ+ video of a female Palestinian terror suspect, Alaa Wadhan, being shot.
Wadhan was shot and disarmed [00:00:14] after she pulled out a knife while approaching Israeli policemen at the Qalandia checkpoint and ignored their calls for her to stop.
Letwin’s tweet linked to an op-ed by anti-Israel activists, Noah Habeeb and Craig Willse, published in Truthout that said: “Why would the ADL be in the business of training two of the world’s most racist, repressive and violent police and military forces?”
Letwin’s tweet linked to an article by a member of the UK Labour party, Tony Greenstein, whose membership was revoked over anti-Semitic posts he wrote online.
Greenstein wrote that there was no real problem with anti-Semitism in the British Labour party, dismissing anti-Semitism from Labour party members on social media as “a way in which people try to explain what they see as the extraordinary power of the Israel lobby to bend politicians to their will.”
The article Letwin linked to claimed: “Antisemitism is not what some idiot writes on social media…Antisemitism is what people do to Jewish people not what they tweet about. No one died from a tweet.” It also claimed that the UK Orthodox Jewish community “is a deeply conservative and racist community (anti-Arab/Muslim).”
On September 6, 2018, Letwin posted to Facebook: “Anti-#Zionism is anti-#racist, and we will never be silenced: Posters appeared in London to oppose #Labour leadership's adoption of the #IHRA definition on anti-semitism.”
The posters Letwin was referring to said: “ISRAEL IS A RACIST ENDEAVOUR” and were displayed the day after the British Labour party accepted the IHRA anti-Semitism definition into its code of conduct.
The Iranian government initiated International Quds Day in 1979, as an annual protest against Israel’s existence. The protest has historically been a platform for anti-Semitism.
Letwin’s tweet linked to a petition that said: “Call on PUMA to join Ben & Jerry’s and stop supporting the Israeli apartheid regime’s oppression of Palestinian people.”
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.
“Sportwashing” is a claim used by anti-Israel activists to argue that Israel has used sporting events in order to garner international support for itself.
On September 24, 2020, Letwin tweeted: “The UN [United Nations] established a database of 112 companies involved in Israel’s illegal settlement enterprise. Governments and institutions must end business with them to avoid complicity in war crimes. #UNInvestigateApartheid.”
On July 9, 2020, Letwin posted to Facebook a graphic promoting 15 reasons to support BDS. Letwin’s post said: “#FreeFreePalestine #ZionismIsRacism #DefundApartheid #DefundIsrael Here are 15 reasons to support the #BDS movement for #Palestinian rights on its 15th anniversary.”
Letwin’s post also accused Israel of “war crimes and crimes against humanity, including #apartheid, ethnic cleansing, collective punishment, detention of prisoners of conscience, and the siege and massacres in Gaza.”
On August 22, 2019, Letwin tweeted, promoting the BDS movement’s donations page and wrote: “#BDS! PLEASE DONATE TO THE Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement: We remain as determined as ever to campaign for #Palestinianliberation and for #freedom, #justice and #equality for all. Donate to support our efforts.”
Promoting Intifada Violence
On September 25, 2020, Letwin tweeted, promoting “Intifada Week 2020.” His tweet linked to a post by Samidoun that stated that Samidoun “supports the call of the Global Campaign to Return to Palestine for a week of action commemorating the Second Intifada and the ongoing Intifada of the Palestinian people…”Samidoun: Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network (Samidoun) is an anti-Israel NGO whose activism spreads awareness of terrorists. At least three senior Samidoun activists are members [pp. 22-28] of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terror group. In February 2021, Israel’s Ministry of Justice declared Samidoun to be a “terror organization,” accusing [p. 2] the NGO of operating “as an arm” of the PFLP.
In October 2023, Germany announced it would disband Samidoun's German wing, saying: “the international network works under the guise of a solidarity group for prisoners to spread anti-Israel and antisemitic propaganda.”
Since the early 2000s, the term “intifada,” which translates from Arabic as “uprising” or “insurrection,” has carried the connotation of violence.
The second intifada (2000-2005) was characterized by more than 120 suicide bombings targeting Israeli civilians on buses and in cafes.
The second intifada (2000-2005) was characterized by more than 120 suicide bombings targeting Israeli civilians on buses and in cafes.
On September 18, 2016, Letwin posted to Facebook a video of an activist at a protest leading [00:00:17] chants of “Intifada, Intifada! Long Live the Intifada!” Letwin captioned the video: “Let the JNF [Jewish National Fund] know that they are not welcome in NYC [New York City] #StoptheJNF #BDS,” and linked to the Facebook event page for the protest.
The event description claimed JNF “serves as a fundraiser for Israeli occupation, ethnic cleansing and apartheid.” It also listed organizations partnering with the “Stop the JNF campaign,” including Letwin’s organizations Jews for Palestinian Right of Return, Labor for Palestine and American Muslims for Palestine (AMP).
On November 8, 2015, Letwin posted to Facebook a photo of a Palestinian woman with a slingshot and text that said: “We Stand With Popular Palestinian Resistance!”
The event description claimed JNF “serves as a fundraiser for Israeli occupation, ethnic cleansing and apartheid.” It also listed organizations partnering with the “Stop the JNF campaign,” including Letwin’s organizations Jews for Palestinian Right of Return, Labor for Palestine and American Muslims for Palestine (AMP).
On November 8, 2015, Letwin posted to Facebook a photo of a Palestinian woman with a slingshot and text that said: “We Stand With Popular Palestinian Resistance!”
Although romanticized as a form of “popular resistance,” rock throwing remains a deadly form of violence.
Supporting Violent Protesters
On July 14, 2019, Letwin wrote on Facebook: “#FromTheRiver2TheSea” and quoted from a post he shared that said: “To the #Palestinians of #Gaza taking part in the March of #Return, they're not breaching another country's borders, they're simply attempting to go home.”“From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be Free” is a chant used [00:02:47] to call for the elimination of 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. In April 2024, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution condemning the chant as antisemitic.
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 June 20, 2016, Letwin posted to Facebook an image of a hat with a slogan on it that said: “MAKE ISRAEL PALESTINE AGAIN.”
Whitewashing Terrorists
On September 12, 2021, Letwin tweeted: “The resistance continues: Prisoners announce new steps of struggle as two more Freedom Tunnel heroes seized… #PalestineUnderAttack #Freedomtunnel #ResistanceIsJustified #Solidarity #FromTheRiver2TheSea #PalestineWillBeFree #BDS.”On September 6, 2021, six Palestinian prisoners escaped from the maximum-security Gilboa Prison in Israel. The escaped prisoners were convicted members of the terror organizations Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, who were jailed for their involvement in attacks carried out during the second intifada. All were recaptured by September 19, 2021, by Israeli authorities.
On September 10, 2021, Letwin tweeted: “#SaveIsraa: Freedom, justice and dignity for Israa Jaabis!...” and linked to a campaign calling for support for Jaabis.
In October 2015, during the “Knife Intifada,” Israa Jaabis attempted but failed to detonate a car bomb at a military checkpoint after proclaiming: “Allahu Akbar [Allah is the Greatest].”
In October 2015, during the “Knife Intifada,” Israa Jaabis attempted but failed to detonate a car bomb at a military checkpoint after proclaiming: “Allahu Akbar [Allah is the Greatest].”
On April 18, 2021, Letwin shared a Facebook post by Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM) and quoted from the post: “Whether it is the imprisoned Holy Land 5 [HL5] in the U.S. or Khalida Jarrar, Marwan Barghouti, and Israa Jaabis in #Zionist detention in #Palestine, it is our unwavering duty as #Palestinian and Arab youth to build and strengthen popular consciousness around the Palestinian prisoners’ struggle and to organize for their freedom!”
The Holy Land Five (HLF5) were five individuals associated with the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF) indicted for funneling funds to Hamas in the guise of humanitarian aid. The men were all convicted and sentenced in 2009 to federal prison terms ranging from 15 to 65 years.
Terrorist Marwan Barghouti was sentenced to five consecutive life terms for some of his crimes, including his role in the Sbarro Cafe bombing. In 2017, he initiated the hunger strike by Palestinian prisoners known as the “Dignity Strike.” He headed the Palestinian Authority (PA) terrorist Tanzim force and founded the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, which carried out many terror attacks against Israeli civilians.
On March 1, 2021, Letwin tweeted: “Palestinian feminist Khalida Jarrar sentenced to 2 years in prison by illegitimate Israeli military court... #israel_is_a_racist_endeavour #DefundApartheid #DefundIsrael #BDS #FromTheRiver2TheSea.”
The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) highlights as one possible contemporary example of anti-Semitism: “Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor.” The U.S. State Department adopted the IHRA’s working definition of anti-Semitism in 2016. Over 40 other countries have adopted the definition as well.
On October 23, 2020, Letwin posted to Facebook, promoting “webinars, meetings and discussions over #Zoom…[that] will include a message from Palestinian resistance icon Leila Khaled…” organized by USACBI.
Leila Khaled is a leading member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and participated in the hijacking of TWA Flight 840 in 1969 and El Al Flight 219 in 1970. As of 2017, Khaled was a member of PFLP's Political Bureau. Khaled has said that the second intifada failed because it was not violent enough, advocated [00:36:07] for the use of children in terror activities and compared Zionists to Nazis.
On July 5, 2016, Letwin tweeted promoting a Samidoun “Call to Action to Free Bilal Kayed and commemorate Ghassan Kanafani.”
Kanafani was a leading member and spokesperson for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) during the terrorist organization’s early years. Kanafani announced the PFLP’s responsibility for the Lod Airport Massacre of May 1972 and was linked to the airport attackers. The attack killed 26 people and wounded 80 others.
PFLP terrorist Bilal Kayed was incarcerated for 14 years for terror attacks and attempted terror attacks committed during the second intifada, in 2002.
On June 9, 2016, Letwin posted to Facebook: “Tomorrow in NYC. #FreeRasmea.” His post linked to a Facebook event page for a rally in solidarity with Rasmea Odeh, organized by anti-Israel organizations including Labor for Palestine andJews for Palestinian Right of Return. Letwin also posted photos from the rally on Facebook.
Odeh was a key military operative with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terrorist organization. In 1969, she masterminded a PFLP supermarket bombing that killed two college students. She also attempted to bomb the British consulate in Jerusalem. Odeh later moved to the United States but was deported to Jordan in 2017 for immigration fraud.
Spreading Incitement
Letwin retweeted a July 18, 2021 tweet that showed photos of broken windows, purported to depict the aftermath of violence at the Al-Aqsa compound and said: “It Is clear that Israeli settlers are still determined to express their spatial control as well as stoke a response from Palestinians after the escalation of violence in May.”On July 18, 2021, Muslims barricaded themselves on the Temple Mount, threw stones and clashed with Israeli forces and chanted “With spirit, with blood, we’ll redeem Al-Aqsa,” in protest against Jews visiting the compound. Jewish worshippers were commemorating Tisha B’Av, regarded as the saddest day in the Jewish calendar, a day of mourning for the destruction of the First and Second Temples that once stood on the Temple Mount. Hamas had called on Palestinians to confront Israelis throughout Jerusalem that day.
The allegation that Jews “threaten” to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque has been a pretext for Arab attacks on Jews long before the existence of the modern Jewish state. Such propaganda has led to multiple periods of violence against Israeli civilians.
On August 12, 2019, Letwin tweeted: “...al-#Aqsa takeover Tamara Nassar: Israel fired tear gas canisters, stun grenades and rubber-coated steel bullets at Palestinian worshippers in the compound.”
Letwin’s tweet linked to an article by Tamara Nassar, as assistant editor at Electronic Intifada, that claimed Jewish “incursions” of the Temple Mount were “steps toward a gradual takeover of the site by settlers.”
Letwin’s tweet linked to an article by Tamara Nassar, as assistant editor at Electronic Intifada, that claimed Jewish “incursions” of the Temple Mount were “steps toward a gradual takeover of the site by settlers.”
Palestinians and anti-Israel activists have historically described visits by Jews to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem as “incursions” during which Jews purportedly “storm” the Temple Mount and Al-Aqsa Mosque. Palestinians have also frequently used the mosque to stockpile stone slabs, fireworks and rocks, with which they attack Israeli security officers and non-Muslim visitors to the Temple Mount.
On October 14, 2015, Letwin tweeted: “‘Join the wave of action this coming weekend in solidarity with Palestinian resistance…” His tweet linked to a post by the Palestinian BDS National Committee calling for actions in solidarity with “the Palestinian popular resistance” and “youth-led Palestinian uprising.”
The post claimed Israel had “stepped up its racist attacks on the Al-Aqsa mosque compound” and also alleged: "Israel and its fundamentalist settler terror groups are savagely attacking Palestinian protests, executing Palestinian children and youth in the street".
The post claimed Israel had “stepped up its racist attacks on the Al-Aqsa mosque compound” and also alleged: "Israel and its fundamentalist settler terror groups are savagely attacking Palestinian protests, executing Palestinian children and youth in the street".
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 attacks were incited by Palestinian leaders propagating the libel that Israel intended to desecrate the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.
Comparing Israel to Nazi Germany
On August 9, 2018, Letwin tweeted: “#Gaza = Warsaw Ghetto… #Genocide #Resistance #BDS.”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 March 24, 2016, Letwin tweeted: “‘One Holocaust Does Not Justify Another’ #PalestinianLivesMatter.”
On December 22, 2015, Letwin posted to Facebook: “Today's Warsaw Ghettos…” and linked to a Facebook post that claimed: “Each Palestinian town will be turned into a concentration camp.”
The post referred to a December 18, 2015 Middle East Media article claiming that “media reports in Israel have reported that the army is planning to build walls around Palestinians towns and villages …”
The article said Israeli Channel 2 TV reported “The army will build 9 metre high walls in the areas of Beit Ummar, Al-Arroub, Gush Etzion, and the areas surrounding Highway 60, south of the West Bank,” near areas and highways where Palestinians often threw stones at motorists and Jewish residents.
Defending Terrorism
On November 20, 2021, Letwin tweeted: “Samidoun condemns British ‘terror’ designation targeting Hamas, urges action for Palestinian liberation…#PalestineUnderAttack #FromTheRiverToTheSeaPalestineWillBeFree.”Letwin’s tweet linked to a statement by Samidoun that condemned “the British government’s criminalization of the Hamas movement” and demanded that “all such designations targeting liberation movements be cancelled or rescinded.”
Hamas is a designated terrorist organization founded in 1987 that is dedicated to destroying Israel and killing Jews. Since 2001, Hamas has launched thousands of rockets at Israel and on October 7, 2023, Hamas murdered approximately 1,200 Israelis and kidnapped over 200 hostages, including children and the elderly.
The statement Letwin linked to also said: “The British state is the perpetrator of terror against the Palestinian people for over 100 years…it is the Tory (Conservative) Party and the Labour Party who may be considered terror organizations” and that Palestinians “have the right to struggle, including by the use of armed struggle, for their freedom.”
On September 20, 2019, Letwin posted to Facebook: “#StopArmingIsrael #BDSApartheidIsrael: A #Palestinian woman was #lynched yesterday: A Palestinian woman was killed this morning at a control station. According to the Israeli law forces, she held a knife.”
Letwin’s post included an AJ+ video of a female Palestinian terror suspect, Alaa Wadhan, being shot.
Wadhan was shot and disarmed [00:00:14] after she pulled out a knife while approaching Israeli policemen at the Qalandia checkpoint and ignored their calls for her to stop.
On January 30, 2019, Letwin posted to Facebook: “Palestinian girl fatally shot at Israeli checkpointAli Abunimah: She is the third #Palestinian child to be killed by #Israeli forces since the beginning of 2019.”
Letwin’s post referred to 16-year-old Samah Mubarak, who was shot by Israeli security forces, as she attempted to stab an Israeli security officer at a checkpoint outside Jerusalem.
On December 22, 2015, during the “Knife Intifada,” Letwin tweeted: “Israeli death squads. #PalestinianLivesMatter #BDS.”
Letwin’s tweet linked to an Electronic Intifada article about Israel killing Palestinian terrorists while they were carrying out stabbing or car-ramming attacks. The article alleged that Israelis used excessive force in preventing the attacks.
Letwin’s tweet linked to a webinar by AMP in the Bay Area, titled: “A Deadly Exchange: US- Israeli Police Partnership.”
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.
Letwin’s post referred to 16-year-old Samah Mubarak, who was shot by Israeli security forces, as she attempted to stab an Israeli security officer at a checkpoint outside Jerusalem.
On December 22, 2015, during the “Knife Intifada,” Letwin tweeted: “Israeli death squads. #PalestinianLivesMatter #BDS.”
Letwin’s tweet linked to an Electronic Intifada article about Israel killing Palestinian terrorists while they were carrying out stabbing or car-ramming attacks. The article alleged that Israelis used excessive force in preventing the attacks.
Demonizing Jewish Organizations
On July 9, 2020, Letwin tweeted: #Intersectional #EndTheDeadlyExchange #DefundPolice #DefundIsrael #FreePalestine #BLM American police brutality is further reinforced by the exchange of practices and techniques taught by Israeli forces.”Letwin’s tweet linked to a webinar by AMP in the Bay Area, titled: “A Deadly Exchange: US- Israeli Police Partnership.”
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 December 21, 2020, Letwin tweeted: “The @ADL [Anti-Defamation League] claims to fight hate, but they lead US-Israel police exchanges, weaponize harmful definitions of antisemitism, and have a history of surveilling & undermining movements for justice. It's time to #EndtheDeadlyExchange and #DroptheADL.”
On December 15, 2018, Letwin tweeted: “#Intersectional: End the #DeadlyExchange US and #Israeli police are sharing violent and repressive tactics…”
In August 2020, over 100 anti-Israel organizations, including American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), launched “Drop the ADL” campaign, urging “progressive groups” in the U.S. to cut ties with ADL and criticizing the Jewish advocacy organization for its support of Israel.
On December 15, 2018, Letwin tweeted: “#Intersectional: End the #DeadlyExchange US and #Israeli police are sharing violent and repressive tactics…”
Letwin’s tweet linked to an op-ed by anti-Israel activists, Noah Habeeb and Craig Willse, published in Truthout that said: “Why would the ADL be in the business of training two of the world’s most racist, repressive and violent police and military forces?”
Trivializing Anti-Semitism
On December 24, 2020, Letwin tweeted: “The real Corbyn 'tragedy' -- and 'Jewish Currents' refusal to publish an opposing view #WeWillNotBeSilenced #StopIHRA #ZionismIsRacism #israel_is_a_racist_endeavour #DefundApartheid #DefundIsrael#BDS.”Letwin’s tweet linked to an article by a member of the UK Labour party, Tony Greenstein, whose membership was revoked over anti-Semitic posts he wrote online.
Greenstein wrote that there was no real problem with anti-Semitism in the British Labour party, dismissing anti-Semitism from Labour party members on social media as “a way in which people try to explain what they see as the extraordinary power of the Israel lobby to bend politicians to their will.”
Jeremy Corbyn, a British politician and leader of the Labour Party, has repeatedly referenced terror organizations Hamas and Hezbollah as “friends,” shared platforms with extremists and anti-Semites and compared Israel’s government to ISIS.
The article Letwin linked to claimed: “Antisemitism is not what some idiot writes on social media…Antisemitism is what people do to Jewish people not what they tweet about. No one died from a tweet.” It also claimed that the UK Orthodox Jewish community “is a deeply conservative and racist community (anti-Arab/Muslim).”
On September 6, 2018, Letwin posted to Facebook: “Anti-#Zionism is anti-#racist, and we will never be silenced: Posters appeared in London to oppose #Labour leadership's adoption of the #IHRA definition on anti-semitism.”
The posters Letwin was referring to said: “ISRAEL IS A RACIST ENDEAVOUR” and were displayed the day after the British Labour party accepted the IHRA anti-Semitism definition into its code of conduct.
Demonizing Israel
On May 11, 2021, Letwin tweeted: “Joint Statement by Palestinians in North America: Nakba 73 - Ongoing Nakba, Ongoing Resistance... #FromGaza2Jerusalem #SaveSheikhJarrah #GazaUnderAttack #israel_is_a_racist_endeavour #BDS #DefundApartheid #Return #ResistanceIsJustified.”The term “Nakba” is generally translated as “catastrophe” in Arabic, referring to the outcome of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. It is a term used to delegitimize the creation of the State of Israel by drawing a comparison to the Holocaust, known in Hebrew as the Shoah, meaning “catastrophe.”
In May 2021, calls to “save” Sheikh Jarrah, a Jerusalem neighborhood at the center of a property dispute, led to violence against Israelis and were one of the leading factors in Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists firing over 4,300 rockets from Gaza into Israel that month.
The statement Letwin’s tweet linked to said: “We must unequivocally reject the path of Oslo, negotiations, and security coordination with the Zionist occupation forces by the Palestinian Authority. We must renew our commitment to our rights: the right to a free and united Palestine from the river to the sea…”
The “Oslo Regime” refers to the Palestinian Authority (PA), established following the 1993 Oslo Accords.
On May 9, 2021, Letwin tweeted: “#All_Israel_Is_Occupied_Palestine #israel_is_a_racist_endeavour #BDS #DefundApartheid #Return #SaveSheikhJarrah #ResistanceIsJustified.”
Letwin’s tweet included a graphic with a quote by anti-Israel agitator Steven Salaita that said: “The hideous images you see of cops and settlers abusing innocent people in Sheikh Jarrah are no anomaly. They are Zionism distilled to its purest expression.”
In 2014, The University of Illinois withdrew an offer of employment to Steven Salaita after becoming aware of his anti-Semitic tweets. One tweet, posted shortly after Hamas kidnapped three teenage Israeli high school students, read: “You may be too refined to say it, but I’m not: I wish all the f**king West Bank settlers would go missing.”
On August 6, 2019, Letwin tweeted: “#WhiteRacistTerrorism = #ZionistTerrorism.” His tweet linked to an article that equated white supremacist mass shooters to Israeli settlers as “the rogue manifestation” of their societies and government’s policies.
Demonizing Zionism
On May 21, 2021, in a podcast discussion, Letwin said [00:48:54]: “Zionism is not an expression of Jewish identity, it is an expression unfortunately of people who believe in Jewish and white supremacy.”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. Zionism is a core part of the identity of most Jews.
On January 20, 2021, Letwin tweeted: “#ZionismIsRacism #israel_is_a_racist_endeavour #DefundApartheid #DefundIsrael #BDS #FromTheRiver2TheSea.”
Letwin’s tweet included another tweet that said: “Contact the @WhiteHouse and tell @POTUS [President of the United States] @JoeBiden to end all U.S. aid to Israel now.”
On August 25, 2019, Letwin tweeted: “#ZionismIsRacist This commitment to ethnic cleansing and Jewish supremacist rule has been an ideological cornerstone of the Zionist movement since its inception.”
Letwin’s tweet linked to an article by Joseph Massad published in Middle East Eye that accused Zionism of a “commitment to ethnic cleansing and Jewish supremacist rule.”
On January 26, 2019, Letwin posted to Facebook: “#Zionism = racism and anti-Semitism.”
Letwin’s post continued, quoting the headline and a sentence from an article: “#Israel’s reliance on forgery and violence is rooted in its history… ‘Jewish people are no aliens to Europe who need to leave to some mythical ‘homeland.’”
On August 25, 2019, Letwin tweeted: “#ZionismIsRacist This commitment to ethnic cleansing and Jewish supremacist rule has been an ideological cornerstone of the Zionist movement since its inception.”
Letwin’s tweet linked to an article by Joseph Massad published in Middle East Eye that accused Zionism of a “commitment to ethnic cleansing and Jewish supremacist rule.”
On January 26, 2019, Letwin posted to Facebook: “#Zionism = racism and anti-Semitism.”
Letwin’s post continued, quoting the headline and a sentence from an article: “#Israel’s reliance on forgery and violence is rooted in its history… ‘Jewish people are no aliens to Europe who need to leave to some mythical ‘homeland.’”
One way anti-Israel activists spread anti-Semitism is by denying [00:17:45] Jewish history, with the aim of delegitimizing restored Jewish sovereignty, attacking Israel’s legitimacy and portraying Jews as foreign to the Land of Israel.
Anti-Israel Activism
On May 31, 2019, Letwin spoke at an anti-Israel Al-Quds Day rally in New York’s Times Square. In his speech, Letwin said [00:01:49] “Israel is not a people, a country or a nation, but merely a settler colonial regime that temporarily occupies a land that was, is and always will be Palestine.”
The Iranian government initiated International Quds Day in 1979, as an annual protest against Israel’s existence. The protest has historically been a platform for anti-Semitism.
Letwin also said [00:06:11] “This international resistance to injustice will ultimately abolish apartheid Israel, bring about one democratic Palestine from the river to the sea…” and led [00:06:24] protesters in chanting “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” Other speakers at the protest called to “globalize the intifada” and “smash the settler-Zionist state.”
Supporting BDS
On September 13, 2021, Letwin tweeted: “Now is the time to take action to call on #PUMA to stop its complicity with the Israeli apartheid state. #BoycottPuma #BDS.”Letwin’s tweet linked to a petition that said: “Call on PUMA to join Ben & Jerry’s and stop supporting the Israeli apartheid regime’s oppression of Palestinian people.”
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 July 16, 2021, Letwin tweeted: “Thank you @FCBarcelona for listening to Palestinian teams and refusing Israel’s sports-washing and illegal claims on Jerusalem. But Israeli apartheid isn’t limited to Jerusalem. Cancel Barça The Exhibition & Clásico ‘peace’ match in apartheid Tel Aviv.”
“Sportwashing” is a claim used by anti-Israel activists to argue that Israel has used sporting events in order to garner international support for itself.
On September 24, 2020, Letwin tweeted: “The UN [United Nations] established a database of 112 companies involved in Israel’s illegal settlement enterprise. Governments and institutions must end business with them to avoid complicity in war crimes. #UNInvestigateApartheid.”
On July 9, 2020, Letwin posted to Facebook a graphic promoting 15 reasons to support BDS. Letwin’s post said: “#FreeFreePalestine #ZionismIsRacism #DefundApartheid #DefundIsrael Here are 15 reasons to support the #BDS movement for #Palestinian rights on its 15th anniversary.”
Letwin’s post also accused Israel of “war crimes and crimes against humanity, including #apartheid, ethnic cleansing, collective punishment, detention of prisoners of conscience, and the siege and massacres in Gaza.”
On August 22, 2019, Letwin tweeted, promoting the BDS movement’s donations page and wrote: “#BDS! PLEASE DONATE TO THE Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement: We remain as determined as ever to campaign for #Palestinianliberation and for #freedom, #justice and #equality for all. Donate to support our efforts.”
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
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Videos
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Infamous Quotes
“#Gaza = Warsaw Ghetto…#Genocide #Resistance #BDS.”
“Israel is not a people, a country or a nation, but merely a settler colonial regime that temporarily occupies a land that was, is and always will be Palestine.”
“this international resistance to injustice will ultimately abolish apartheid Israel, bring about one democratic Palestine from the river to the sea…from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”
