Olivia Delaplaine
Overview
Delaplaine has also demonized Israel and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). She has promoted anti-Israel activists and is affiliated with Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP).
As of August 2019, Delaplaine’s LinkedIn page said she studied Government and Politics at UMD, College Park, from 2015 - 2019.
Promoting BDS
On April 25, 2019, Delaplaine was featured [03:10:35] in a video posted on Facebook by the UMD Student Government Association (SGA), urging the SGA to pass a BDS bill. The bill was launched by Divest UMD.Divest UMD is a campaign that calls on UMD to divest from companies that do business with Israel.
In the video, Delaplaine stated [03:10:56]: “We highlight Israel today because when we examine the current Israeli government's inhumane treatment of Palestinians, we are forced to confront our own complicity in the violent white supremacy and segregation taking place on our campus and around the U.S.”
Delaplaine added [03:11:08]: “By divesting from companies that profit off the occupation we take one step closer to liberation for those oppressed by the U.S. military as well.”
On April 25, 2019, Divest UMD announced on Facebook that following a UMD student government vote, the BDS bill failed to pass with “a vote of 9 for, 25 against, and 2 abstentions.”
On April 24, 2019, Delaplaine tweeted: “Progress sure as heck isn't linear. But I'm so proud right now… proud of @UMD_SJP bringing out 55 students to support divesting from companies that sell weapons and destroy homes…”
On October 28, 2018, Delaplaine tweeted: “Stand up against white supremacy & oppression everywhere. Tomorrow night, @UMD_SJP is hosting a teach-in panel about the BDS movement at 7pm, and Hillel is hosting a vigil for the victims of the Tree of Life shooting at 8pm.…”
The tweet linked to an SJP UMD organized Facebook event page, titled: “Boycott Divestment and Sanction (BDS) Teach-In and Panel.”
Demonizing Israel
On May 14, 2019, SJP UMD shared a group photo on Instagram that featured Delaplaine alongside SJP UMD activists calling to boycott Israel Fest. The caption on the photo read: “Last week, we boycotted Israel Fest and held a teach-in about Palestinian human rights! #boycottisraelfest #freepalestine.”“Israel Fest” at UMD is an annual campus event designed “to celebrate and educate students on Israeli culture,” hosted by the Jewish Student Union.
On May 11, 2019, SJP UMD reportedly held a teach-in to “boycott the annual celebration of Israel Fest.” SJP UMD’s teach-in involved activists gathering by a mock “Israeli Apartheid Wall” and chanting: “Displacing lives since ‘48, nothing here to celebrate!”
Demonizing AIPAC
On March 29, 2019, Delaplaine wrote an article, titled: “Student activists were right to criticize UMD’s SGA president for speaking at AIPAC.”Delaplaine article protested the UMD SGA president, Jonathan Allen’s scheduled attendance as a speaker at the AIPAC policy conference on March 26, 2019.
The stated mission of AIPAC is to “strengthen, protect and promote the U.S.-Israel relationship in ways that enhance the security of the United States and Israel.”
Delaplaine wrote: “Countless essays and articles have been written enumerating the reasons that AIPAC is destructive. In short, AIPAC uses its outsized financial influence and power as a lobbying organization to silence legitimate criticism of Israel and the atrocities it commits against the Palestinian people.:
Delaplaine added: “Given the prevalence of anti-Muslim sentiment in the U.S. and the recent violence in New Zealand and Gaza, supporting an organization that spreads public mistrust of pro-Palestinian and Muslim activists feels deeply hurtful.”
Promoting Anti-Israel Agitators
In a March 2, 2019 article, Delaplaine wrote: “While SJP activists have been criticized for being uncivil and divisive, in my experience they’ve been more than civil — they’ve elevated their cause while showing remarkable grace under disproportionately harsh pressure from entrenched institutional forces.”Delaplaine continued: “They’ve brought forward a resolution to the SGA to support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, which advocates nonviolent economic tactics to shed light on the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestinian land.”
Delaplaine added: “They’ve demonstrated peacefully at Israel Fest. They’ve been unafraid to use social media, letter-writing and die-in demonstrations to make clear that they won’t accept complacence in the face of atrocities.
Delaplaine indicated on Facebook that she “went” to an SJP UMD-organized event titled: “The Deadly Exchange: What are US Police Learning in Israel?” on March 6, 2019. The event included a talk by Eran Efrati.
Eran Efrati is an executive board member of Researching the Israeli American Alliance (RIAA) and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP).
RAIA, in partnership with JVP, produced the Deadly Exchange report, which claimed to reveal “the extent of massive training programs between U.S. law enforcement and Israeli police, military, and the Shin Bet.”
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.
SJP Activism
Deleplaine indicated on Facebook that she “went” to an SJP co-organized event, titled: “Think Beyond Pink: No Pride in Apartheid” on April 10, 2018The Facebook event page description said the event was “a night of spoken word performance and education on pinkwashing.”
“Pinkwashing” is a claim that Israel advocates manipulate the LGBTQ community in order to garner support for Israel.
On April 11, 2018, SJP UMD shared in a group photo on Facebook from the event with SJP activists and anti-Israel Poet, Remi Kanazi.
Poet Remi Kanazi is known for his aggressively anti-Israel spoken-word performances. He has supported terrorism and has compared Israel to both ISIS and the Ku Klux Klan.
SJP UMD - Supporting Terrorists
On April 8, 2018, SJP UMD shared a photo on Instagram of Ghassan Kanafani and wrote: “Today is the birthday of legendary Palestinian author and PFLP member Ghassan Kanafani (1936-72).”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.
On March 9, 2018, SJP UMD shared a poster on Instagram produced by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and wrote: “Poster of the First Martyr of the Intifada #sjp #intifada.”
The caption on the poster read: “Hatem Al Sesi First Martyr of the Intifada for Freedom and Independence.”
Hatem al-Sisi was killed after he reportedly attemptedto drop a homemade bomb on an Israeli military vehicle during the first intifada.
On the same day, SJP UMD shared another PFLP poster on Instagram and wrote: “Today is Martyr’s day A day to remember all who sacrificed themselves for their people and for human rights #sjp.”
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:www.facebook.com/1465163665Twitter:https://twitter.com/chewey15
2nd Twitter: https://twitter.com/odelaplaine
LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/oliviadelaplaine/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chewey15/
