Omar Erchid
Overview
Omar Erchid [Omar A. Erchid ] has expressed support for Hamas and demonized Israel on social media.In May 2014, Erchid was reportedly a “public relations officer” for Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at the University of South Florida (USF). He has also promoted the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.
As of January 2020, Erchid’s LinkedIn page said he was the managing attorney at Erchid Law PLLC, in Tampa, Florida. His LinkedIn page also said he received a law degree from Florida State University College of Law (FSU) in 2018 and a bachelor’s degree in Journalism from the University of South Florida (USF), in 2014.
Supporting Hamas
On August 27, 2014, near the conclusion of Israel’s Operation Protective Edge (OPE) against Hamas, Erchid published a blog post idealizing Hamas-controlled Gaza as David and casting the state of Israel as Goliath.Erchid titled his essay “A Salute to the Lions of Gaza” and wrote: “The Lions of Gaza, with not a single tank in their hands, were able to take out over 60 of the best-equipped soldiers on the planet.”
Erchid went on to write: “Gaza won by choosing not to abandon its weapons, in spite of the absurd international calls to do such. The demand for Gaza to disarm can only be considered if the occupier agrees to the same, and the occupier will never agree to such. However crude and ineffective those weapons may be, to disarm means to lay down and accept occupation- to halt resistance. By God, the Gazans will never stop resisting.”
Erchid also wrote: “After failing to convince the world to side with it, the occupier thought it could move people by desperately likening Hamas to ISIS.”
Israel commenced OPE in July 2014 to stop rocket fire targeting Israeli civilians and to destroy Hamas attack tunnels.
Hamas fired over 4,564 missiles and rockets at Israeli population centers during Operation Protective Edge (OPE) in July 2014.
Demonizing Israel
On March 30, 2014, Erchid published a blog post where he called Israel a “parochial ethnocracy” and claimed that Israel enacted “50 discriminatory laws” meant “to disadvantage the non-Jew.”On August 27, 2014, Erchid claimed on his blog that Israel was committing “genocide,” during its OPE against Hamas.
On October 8, 2014, Erchid tweeted about the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). He wrote: “Why is #NBA throwing a VIP party for #IDF war criminals? #Gaza 490 kids killed. #NBAsupportsgenocide cancel the party.”
On February 23, 2015, Erchid tweeted about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, writing: “Benjamin #Netanyahu Is Almost Certainly a Psychopath … #SkipTheSpeech.”
On May 15, 2015, Erchid tweeted: “The #Nakba was a tragedy for the whole Islamic world. In fact, it was a black smear on all Abrahamic faiths.”
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.
Promoting BDS
On March 30, 2017, Erchid shared a Facebook video promoting a BDS campaign at USF.On June 3, 2014, Erchid published a blog post in support of BDS, where he compared Israel to apartheid-era South Africa.
On May 4, 2014, Erchid was quoted in a Tampa Bay Times opinion piece, where he promoted a then-ongoing BDS campaign at USF.
On April 11, 2014, Erchid wrote an article titled: “Florida university president who condemned boycott has financial ties to settlements,” for the anti-Israel website Mondoweiss.
In the article, Erchid claimed: “The boycott is an attempt to reprimand Israel for infringing upon the academic freedom of Palestinian students and other human rights abuses.”
In the article, Erchid targeted then-USF President Judy Genshaft, writing: “Critics of Genshaft say her stance is colored by her extensive ties to Israel and financial interests in the country, suggesting a possible conflict of interest.”
Erchid also wrote: “According to tax returns, Genshaft is a co-manager of the non-profit Genshaft Family Foundation, which donates to various Jewish causes.”
SJP USF - Spreading Anti-Semitism
On July 30, 2014, SJP USF posted an image to Facebook showing Adolf Hitler performing a Nazi salute with text reading: “WE ARE THE MASTER RACE,” next to an image of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with his hand raised and text reading: “WE ARE GOD’S CHOSEN PEOPLE.” SJP USF commented: “Justifications.”On November 18, 2013, SJP USF reportedly hosted and sponsored a game show “about Palestinian culture, geography and history” modeled on the TV show, "Jeopardy!"
SJP USF - Demonizing Israel
As of August 2019, an SJP USF Facebook post from February 14, 2015, remained on the group’s Facebook page. The original SJP USF shared an article and quoted the story’s headline: “Israeli authorities usually open the floodgates to their dams in the direction of the Gaza Strip - without prior notice - in order to discharge the enormous quantities of water that had accumulated due to the heavy rains in the region. #Gaza.”Less than two weeks later, Al Jazeera retracted a similar story, noting: “In southern Israel, there are no dams of the type which can be opened.”
On February 25, 2016, SJP USF members reportedly joined with other BDS supporters to disrupt a talk at USF given by two Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers. One of the protesters called the soldiers “murderers and child killers” and was eventually was escorted out by police.
On September 5, 2014, SJP USF held an event titled: “The Hidden Genocide: The Story of Palestine.” The Facebook event page referred to Israel’s Operation Protective Edge (OPE) against Hamas earlier that year as a “summer of atrocious massacres.”
Israel commenced OPEin July 2014, to stop rocket fire targeting Israeli civilians and to destroy Hamas attack tunnels.
One of the speakers at the event was Hamas supporter Sheikh Monzer Taleb, who was an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF) terrorism finance trial. Taleb was not brought to trial.
However, five other defendants were brought to trial and were indicted for funneling funds to Hamas. These five, known as the Holy Land Five (HL5), were convicted and sentenced in 2009 to federal prison terms from 15 to 65 years.
SJP USF - Promoting BDS
On February 10, 2014, SJP USF posted a video to Vimeo promoting its “Divest 2014” campaign. The video claimed that USF invested in companies that made “fighter jets and rockets that the IDF uses against civilians in the Gaza strip.”On May 28, 2014, the USF Foundation, which manages USF investments from donor contributions, reportedly rejected an SJP USF petition calling on the school to divest from multiple companies doing business with Israel.
On January 14, 2015, SJP USF purchased [00:05:18] space on a Tampa, Florida billboard to demand that USF stop its investments “in Apartheid Israel.”
On January 20, 2016, the USF Oracle, USF’s student newspaper, reported that a BDS resolution passed in the student government, as a result of SJP USF’s BDS campaigning the previous two years.
On January 25, 2016, SJP USF President Rahma Elmohd posted a Facebook video urging the USF student government president to sign the resolution.
On January 27, 2016, the USF Oracle reported that the USF student government president and vice president both vetoed the resolution.
On February 4, 2016, the USF Oracle reported that a second BDS resolution was submitted by USF student senator and member of SJP USF Hala Alkattan. That resolution was identical to the previous one which was supported by SJP USF but was categorized differently so that the USF student government president and vice president could not veto it.
On February 11, 2016, the USF Oracle reported that the second BDS resolution was struck down by the USF student government supreme court since it violated the USF Constitution’s equal protection clause. The USF Oracle reported that the university’s supreme court found that “the resolution violated the racial and national origin elements of the clause by specifically targeting companies that have business in Israel.”
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:https://www.facebook.com/683670605/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/omar-a-erchid-7649b179/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/omar-erchid-7649b179 [Deleted]
Twitter:https://twitter.com/hester_10 [Deleted]
https://twitter.com/1020hess [Deleted]
Blog:https://thehessexpress.wordpress.com/about/
Photos & Screenshots
