Omar Din

Overview

Omar Din pushed a Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) resolution as a Student Assembly (SA) representative and activist with Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at Cornell University (Cornell) in 2019.

Din also disrupted a 2015 Israel Day event and has endorsed anti-Israel agitators.

Din served on the Board of the Islamic Alliance for Justice (IAJ) at Cornell in 2019.IAJ officially endorsed Cornell SJP’s divestment campaign in 2019.

Din was a member of the SA City and Local Affairs Committee in 2016-2017 and a member of the SA Diversity Committee and a representative for the SA Appropriations Committee in 2017-2018.

As of March 2022, Din’s LinkedIn page said he interned with the California chapter of the Council for American Islamic Relations (CAIR) from March to June 2014. Din remained active with CAIR in the San Francisco Bay Area (CAIR-SFBA) in 2020 and 2021, and encouraged his followers to donate to CAIR.

Also, as of March 2022, Din’s LinkedIn also said he was a member of the Muslim Students Association (MSA) in 2015-2016, and that he was located in Sunnyvale, California.

As of the same date, Din’s LinkedIn said that he was a City Council Member in Sunnyvale, California, since November 2020. Din was also appointed by Sunnyvale's City Council as “Parks and Recreations Commissioner” from February to August 2016 and oversaw the annual budget of over $20 million for the Parks and Recreations department.

Din’s LinkedIn said he graduated from Cornell with a bachelor’s degree in Policy Analysis and Management in 2019, and that he studied Political Science and Government at De Anza College (De Anza) in 2015-2016.

Pushing BDS on Campus

As of March 2022, Din used a photo of himself pushing Cornell SJP’s divestment campaign resolution as his Twitter header.

In the spring of 2019, Din helped advance Cornell SJP’s divestment campaign in the Cornell Student Assembly (SA) in his capacity as an SA representative for the College of Human Ecology.

In February 2019, Cornell SJP launched an anti-Israel divestment campaign, introducing and pushing S.A. Resolution 36, “Urging Cornell to Divest from Companies Profiting from the Occupation of Palestine and Human Rights Violation.”

Cornell SJP’s resolution called on Cornell to divest from Cornell Tech’s partnership with the Technion. Cornell Tech is Cornell’s technology, business, law and design campus.

Cornell SJP also called on the university to divest from Tata Motors, Ingersoll-Rand, Raytheon, G4S, Hewlett-Packard and any other companies SJP Cornell claimed “profit directly from Israeli military occupation.”

Cornell SJP also said: “We will publicly name endowment investments…and hold university leadership responsible for complicity in crimes of apartheid.”

On February 18, 2019, Cornell SJP delivered a letter to Cornell’s President Martha Pollack calling on the University to “divest from companies profiting from morally reprehensible human rights violations in Palestine.”

On March 7, 2019, Din led a BDS SA teach-in as a representative of Cornell SJP, where he reportedly described the resolution as “a call for the University to cut ties with business enabling the occupation.”

On March 28, 2019, Din participated in the Cornell SA meeting where SJP’s divestment resolution was introduced. Speaking on behalf of the resolution sponsors, Din said that he, along with Mahfuza Shovik and Max Greenberg, had put a lot of work into the resolution and was deeply invested in it. He also explained that he was there together with Shovik and Greenberg to answer any questions about the resolution prior to voting on it.

On April 11, 2019, Din helped introduce Cornell SJP’s divestment initiative to the Cornell Student Assembly (SA). During the discussion, Mahfuza Shovik, a resolution sponsor, denied [00:23:03] the resolution was part of the BDS movement.

SA senators used a secret ballot to vote in favor of the resolution, but the resolution failed to pass after a “community vote” (SA by-laws, section 7) was cast.

BDS activists have resorted [00:11:05] to the use of secret ballots to eliminate [02:51:15] transparency from the voting process and avoid any public scrutiny and accountability for their anti-Israel initiatives on university campuses.

Disrupting an Israeli Independence Day Celebration

On April 23, 2015, Cornell SJP held a march and “die-in” protest during Hillel’s Israel Day at Cornell. Protesters lay on the floor, simulating corpses in front of Hillel's Israel Day tables, while holding a banner that read: “Celebrating 67 years of Independence Genocide.”

On the same day, Cornell SJP posted a photo to Instagram of Din holding a sign at the protest that read: “Celebrating Apartheid.” Other protesters displayed signs that said: “Celebrating Apartheid” and “Celebrating Genocide.”

Endorsing Anti-Israel Agitators

On February 12, 2018, Din featured in a photo posted to Facebook by Cornell SJP together with Ezra Stein and other protesters at a campus rally in support of anti-Israel agitator Ahed Tamimi.

Ahed Tamimi has a long history of physically attacking Israeli soldiers. Tamimi is the daughter of Bassem Tamimi, who is known for exploiting young children as political props in staged confrontations with Israeli soldiers.

On February 12, 2018, Cornell SJP held a protest rally on behalf of anti-Israel agitator Ahed Tamimi, calling for her release from Israeli detention. At the rally, Din held an image of Tamimi. Other protesters held signs that said: “Free Ahed,” “Free Palestine” and “Israeli Occupation is Apartheid.”

On October 17, 2021, Din posted to Instagram a photo of himself with Rashida Tlaib, and added: “Absolutely inspired to have met Congressmember Rashida Talib. I am constantly struck by her ability to stay true to her values, defend, and advocate for her people, from Detroit to Palestine.”

Rashida Tlaib was elected to the U.S. Congress in November 2018. She has advocated for a one-state solution, endorsed the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement and called for reduced foreign aid to Israel. In July 2019, Tlaib co-sponsored a pro-BDS bill in the U.S. Congress introduced by Rep. Ilhan Omar.

On July 30, 2019, Din tweeted: “Drank too much chai did a thing. #IStandWithIlhan.” Din included an illustration he made of Ilhan Omar.

Ilhan Omar was elected to the U.S. Congress in 2018. In February 2019, top Congressional leaders denounced Omar for tweeting anti-Semitic remarks.

Cornell SJP - Overview

Cornell SJP has dismissed anti-Semitism, supported anti-Israel violence and whitewashed terrorists. The student group has also disrupted Israel Day campus events multiple times, demonized Israel and campaigned for the BDS movement.

Cornell SJP activists wrote an anti-Israel statement and presented it at Cornell’s Student Assembly (SA) in May 2021.

Cornell SJP created its Facebook page on April 25, 2013.

Cornell SJP - Whitewashing Terrorist Rasmea Odeh 2014-2015

On August 20, 2014, Cornell SJP tweeted: “Arrest of Odeh is part of the systematic criminalization of Palestinian organizing #Justice4Rasmea.”

Odeh was a key military operative [00:02:08] with the terror group the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), who masterminded a bombing in a Jerusalem supermarket in 1969 that killed two college students. She also attempted to bomb the British consulate. Odeh later moved to the United States, where she was convicted of immigration fraud in 2014, stripped of her U.S. citizenship in 2017 and deported to Jordan.

On November 6, 2014, Cornell SJP tweeted: “Cornell SJP is in solidarity with Rasmea Odeh!” accompanied by a link to their statement titled: “Justice For Rasmea Odeh, Justice For Palestine.”

In their statement, Cornell SJP claimed that Israel detained Odeh “on a spurious accusation of terrorism” and added: “Rasmea Odeh is the type of citizen that American leaders should be honoring.”

On March 16, 2015, Cornell SJP posted to Facebook and Instagram: “#justiceforrasmea #CornellSJP #resistance #freepalestine” and attached a photo of Cornell SJP activists holding a large banner that read: “Justice for Rasmea.”

Cornell SJP also posted a blog post to their WordPress titled: “Justice Denied: Rasmea Odeh Sentenced To Prison And Subsequent Deportation” that condemned the U.S. court’s decision to sentence and deport Odeh and labeled the decision “the repression of Palestinian activists.”

Cornell SJP - Disrupting Israeli Independence Day2016-2017

On May 2, 2017, Cornell’s student newspaper, The Cornell Daily Sun, reported that Cornell SJP disrupted Cornell Hillel’s Israeli Independence Day celebration in Anabel Taylor Hall by holding a “die-in” protest in the middle of the event.

Cornell SJP activists were granted entrance to the event venue after they assured campus police they would not disrupt the Hillel event. However, within minutes of entering the hall, four members of Cornell SJP held up a sign that read: “Celebrating 69 years of Genocide,” while others handed out flyers or lay on the floor, simulating corpses.

Cornell SJP members reportedly distributed flyers that said: “the modern day Jewish state was founded on the expulsion of the indigenous population.”

Cornell SJP - BDS Overview

In February 2019, Cornell SJP launched an anti-Israel divestment campaign, calling on the University to divest from Technion Israel Institute of Technology (Technion) and any companies which Cornell SJP claimed “profit directly from Israeli military occupation.”

Cornell SJPmembers tried to [00:23:03] deny that the resolution was part of the larger BDS movement, a tactic encouraged [00:58:53] by BDS-founder Omar Barghouti. Cornell senators also used a secret ballot to vote on the bill. The bill ultimately failed to pass.

In October 2019, Cornell SJP moved to direct confrontation, disrupting the quarterly meeting of Cornell’s Board of Trustees and calling on the Board to “sever ties” with the Technion. Cornell SJP also called to eliminate the Board’s power of discretion in investments in “the occupation of Palestine.”

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.

CAIR

CAIR describes itself as a “grassroots civil rights and advocacy group” and “America's largest Muslim civil liberties organization, with regional offices nationwide.” Its official mission is “enhance understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.”

CAIR reportedly has “significant ties” to the Muslim Brotherhood, as well as Hamas. A number of former CAIR employees have been convicted on fraud and terrorism-related charges that resulted monetary fines, jail terms and, sometimes, deportation.

CAIR was founded in 1994 and opened its first office in Washington, DC, with the help of a $5,000 donation from the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF), a charity founded by Mousa Abu Marzook.

Marzook, who was listed as a "Specially Designated Terrorist" by the U.S. Treasury Department in 1995, is reportedly a senior member of Hamas.

In May 2007, CAIR was listed as an “unindicted co-conspirator” in a U.S.-filed action against the HLF for providing funds to Hamas.

CAIR was also listed as a terrorist entity by the United Arab Emirates, in 2014.

MSA

The MSA was established by members of the Muslim Brotherhood in January 1963 at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, with the goal of "spreading Islam as students in North America." A 2004 FBI investigation uncovered an internal Muslim Brotherhood document in which a brotherhood leader identified the MSA as "one of our organizations."

The MSA reportedly has “nearly 600 chapters” located in the United States and Canada, and is “the most visible and influential Islamic student organization in North America,” boasting conferences, special events, publications, websites and other activities.

The organization includes a number of previous chapter presidents with explicit links to terrorist groups. Included are al-Qaeda cleric Anwar al-Awlaki (Colorado State University), Somali al-Shabaab militant leader Omar Shafik Hammami (University of South Alabama) and Pakistani Taliban recruiter Ramy Zamzam of the MSA's Washington, D.C. council.