Rachel Gilmer

Overview

Rachel Gilmer has spread anti-Semitism as well as honored and expressed support for terrorists. She has also demonized Israel, promoted violent agitators and spread hatred of America.

As of July 2020, Gilmer's LinkedIn page said she was the “Co Executive Director” of Dream Defenders (DD) and was located in Miami, Florida. She joined DD in July 2015 as its “Chief of Strategy.”

In July 2017, Gilmer was reportedly [00:01:02] a member of Black4Palestine, an anti-Israel activist group. In October 2016, she was listed on Facebook as a participant at Black4Palestine’s “first organizing meeting at the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights conference.”

In August 2016, Gilmer co-authored the Movement for Black Lives (M4BL) Policy Platform, which accused Israel of committing “genocide.” Black Lives Matter (BLM) was part of M4BL when it issued its platform statement.

Gilmer is a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. In May 2016, Gilmer participated in a DD trip to Israel in support of BDS.

As of October 2020, Gilmer was listed on an official Florida state government website as the sole “Registered Agent,” since 2018 for “THE DREAM DEFENDERS INC,” EIN: 46-1214813, which received federal tax-exempt status in 2012 as a 501(c)(3) non-profit.

Also as of October 2020, the Internal Revenue Section (IRS) website showed that, in 2018, DD’s charitable status “was automatically revoked” for failing to file a Form 990 return or notice for three consecutive years. The IRS site also revealed that the last federal tax filing on record was made by DD in 2014. DD was administratively dissolved by the state of Florida in September 2019 for failing to file annual reports and, as of October 2020, was listed as “Inactive.”

Anti-Semitism

On February 12, 2017, Gilmer shared a Facebook post that portrayed Zionism as a strategy engineered by “very wealthy European Jewish men” to “protect their wealth from increasingly anti-Jewish sentiments in their home countries.”

The post also alleged: “zionism wrapped itself in mythology and romanticism and went out into the world to kidnap, pummel, rape, and suffocate history and reason, paving the way for the 20th century's greatest, most barbaric and enduring heist. Never underestimate what the rich will do to protect or increase their fortunes.”

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.

On January 24, 2017, Gilmer shared a Facebook post stating that the Palestinian Authority (PA) “works closely with the apartheid state enemy [Israel], Vichy-like,” referring to the Vichy government in France that collaborated with Nazi Germany during World War II.

Honoring Terrorists

On July 16, 2016, Gilmer shared a post on Facebook supporting convicted terrorist Marilyn Jean Buck that praised her “iron discipline and bravery” and her “life of revolutionary struggle.”

Marilyn Jean Buck was part of the U.S. domestic terrorist groups The Black Liberation Army (BLA) and the May 19th Communist Organization (M19CO). Buck aided in the prison break of convicted BLA cop-killer Assata Shakur. Buck and others also bombed the U.S. Capitol Building, three military facilities in Washington, D.C and four sites in New York City in the early 1980’s, including the Israeli Aircraft Industries Building.

The post that Gilmer posted concluded: “Her titled of ‘accomplice’ was earned, as it was given to her not by activists of color both shocked and excited to see a white person doing something with them...but by the state.”

The BLA was a violent “Nationalist/Separatist” group with the stated goal to “take up arms for the liberation and self-determination of black people in the United States.” The group was active from 1970 to 1981 and its members were involved in bank robberies, the murder of police officers and other crimes.

On February 21, 2020, Gilmer tweeted an image with a quote attributed to domestic terrorist Assata Shakur. The quote said: “Women can never be free in a country that is not free. We can never be liberated in a country where the institutions that control our lives are oppressive. We can never be free while our men are oppressed. Or while the amerikan government and american capitalism remain intact.”

Assata Shakur was convicted of killing a New Jersey state trooper and wounding another in 1973 while a member of the Black Liberation Army (BLA). She escaped from prison in 1979 and fled to Cuba in 1984, where she resides today. She is listed on the FBI Most Wanted Terror List under her legal name, Joanne Deborah Chesimard.

On May 16, 2016, Gilmer appeared in a photo wearing a t-shirt supporting the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). The shirt featured a quote that is attributed to late PFLP leader Ghassan Kanafani stating: “Don’t die without becoming an equal.”

The PFLP has been designated a foreign terrorist organization (FTO) by the United States, Canada, Israel, the European Union, the Gulf Cooperation Council and Australia.

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.

Gilmer wore her PFLP shirt while in the Dheisheh Refugee Camp (Dheisheh) near Bethlehem while on a May 2016 DD trip. Dheisheh is known as a PFLP stronghold.

Supporting Terrorists

On July 20, 2017, Gilmer spoke [00:11:05] at a June 2017 event called “INsecurity Shadow Conference,” held in protest of that year’s Israel Defense Expo in Tel Aviv. In her speech, Gilmer expressed [00:18:32] support for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jail who were on hunger strike.

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 July 18, 2016, Gilmer shared a Facebook post defending two minors who stabbed a security guard on the Jerusalem light rail on October 10, 2015. The attacks occurred during a period known as the “Knife Intifada.”

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.

On November 7, 2016, Gilmer shared to Facebook a link in support of terrorist Ahmad Manasra.

Ahmed Manasra (sometimes spelled Mansara) and his 15-year-old cousin Hassan went on a stabbing spree in Jerusalem on October 12, 2015, during the Knife Intifada. They critically wounded a 13-year-old boy and moderately wounded a 25-year-old man. The spree ended when police shot Hassan and a passing motorist hit Ahmed. Ahmed was taken to an Israeli hospital. He admitted to investigators: “I went there to stab Jews.” He was later tried and convicted on two counts of attempted murder.

Demonizing Israel

On August 25, 2016, Gilmer shared to Facebook a link to a report titled: “The Genocide of the Palestinian People: An International Law and Human Rights Perspective.” The report defended the movement for M4BL platform statement accusing Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians."

On August 13, 2016, Gilmer shared to Facebook a link that featured a PFLP propaganda poster and accused Israel of committing a “slow-motion genocide and ethnic cleansing.”

On August 9, 2016, Gilmer reportedly told the Israeli daily Haaretz that she had co-authored the M4BL Policy Platform, which implied that U.S. aid to Israel causes underfunded “domestic education and social programs” in America.

According to Haaretz, Gilmer indicated that drafting the Israel/Palestine section of the platform was part of a “yearlong process of bringing together 60 organizations about our vision for the world as black people” and that they had been “in community with” anti-Israel groups Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) and If Not Now (INN) and “individual Jewish people who are against the occupation.”

On August 6, 2016, Gilmer shared on Facebook a DD blog post that suggestedthat Israel practices “white supremacy.”

On August 4, 2016, Gilmer shared an article on Facebook titled “Black Lives Matter movement declares war on ‘Israeli Apartheid.’” Gilmer stated in her post: “Yes we do!”

On August 4, 2016, Gilmer wrote on Facebook: “Zionism is white supremacy.”

Gilmer’s post included a link to a statement by the Jewish Community Council of Greater Boston, expressing deep dismay “with elements” of the BLM platform, “specifically the co-opting and manipulation of a movement addressing concerns about racial disparities in criminal justice in the United States in order to advance a biased and false narrative about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.”

On May 31, 2016, Gilmer shared to Facebook an Institute for Middle East Understanding (IMEU) post promoting the Al-Durah hoax to paint “Israeli military and settlers presence” as killers of children.

The Al-Durah hoax is an iconic piece of anti-Israel propaganda, fabricated on September 30, 2000 at the start of the Second Intifada by a France 2 reporter.

Promoting Anti-Israel Agitators

On February 17, 2017, Gilmer shared to Facebook a post showing agitators breaking through a metal door in the Israeli security barrier and throwing rocks through it. The agitators also climbed on top of the barrier and hauled burning tires onto it, as well.

Israel’s security barrier, 97 percent of which is a low chain-link barrier, was built as a deterrent to Palestinian terror attacks. The concrete portions of the fence were built in response to Palestinian sniper attacks.

On February 8, 2017, Gilmer shared to Facebook a post promoting a DD co-hosted event that featured 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 May 23, 2016, Gilmer shared to Facebook a video featuring Dr. Mads Gilbert demonizing Israel.

Gilbert has been banned indefinitely from entering Gaza through Israel because of his connections to the Hamas leadership.

In 2008, 2009, 2012 and 2014 Gilbert was stationed at a hospital that served as a Hamas command center and rocket launching site. During that time he acted as a propagandist for the Hamas government in Gaza.

In 2001, following al Qaeda's September 11 terrorist attacks, Gilbert expressed support for the terror acts as a “legitimate response.” In December of 2009, Gilbert was accused of faking resuscitation on a dead child in Gaza for dramatic effect for a CNN video.

Spreading Hatred of America

Gilmer retweeted a July 3, 2020 tweet about Mt. Rushmore, which said: “TOURISM IN OCCUPIED TERRITORY IS VIOLENCE. U.S. OUT OF HE SAPA. U.S.OUT OF EVERYWHERE.”

On February 13, 2017, Gilmer featured video titled: “The People's Tribunal on the Iraq War, Day Two: Rachel Gilmer,” documenting part of a December 2016 event hosted by CODEPINK.

In the speech, Gilmer accused [00:02:42] America of “terror” against its citizens. She later said [00:05:57]: “The U.S. war machine, just like the prison machine runs on lies about who we are, what our problems are and what solutions should be forward to address these problems. It has created a culture of violence that presumes that black and brown people are innately criminal and terrorists, that people ought to kill one another all the time, whether or not war is declared, and that death and incarceration are the only solutions to the problems we face.”

Gilmer also said [00:09:21]: “We live in the belly of the beast and because of this we bear a particular responsibility for what is happening around the world. There is no longer time to see our struggles in silos. We must work together to tear down U.S. empire. There’s no excuse. Global liberation depends on it.”

On August 30, 2016, Gilmer shared to Facebook a quote from an Arabs 4Black Power statement that reportedly said: “... we as #Arabs4BlackPower commit to amplifying the rebellions of Black and indigenous people in the settler-colonies of the Americas; and to joining in the fight against white supremacy, patriarchy, and hyper-militarized late capitalism.”

Gilmer retweeted a February 20, 2015 tweet that said: “PSA [Public Service Announcement]: Pls refrain from asking me about 'things' post #Ferguson. It is equivalent to asking about post racial #amerikkka. Neither exist.”

The term “Amerikkka” uses the initials of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) as a way to demonize America as “fascist or racist.”

Anti-Israel Activism

On July 20, 2017, Gilmer said [00:16:47] during a June 2017 event in Tel Aviv: “Zionism actually benefits from Islamophobia but it also benefits from anti-Semitism, anti-Judaism.” She also suggested [00:11:09] that Israel and the U.S. have a global role in “building societies that are based perpetually on war…”

On October 17, 2016, Gilmer shared to Facebook a Black4Palestine post that featured Gilmer in a group photo. The post said: “This weekend Black4Palestine held our first organizing meeting at the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights conference. We're excited to begin working as a network of Black activists in the US committed to Palestinian liberation. Stay tuned for more information! #Black4Palestine.”

Supporting BDS

On September 6, 2016, Gilmer shared to Facebook a Black4Palestine post that accused Israel of “apartheid” and promoted a BDS campaign against Tel Aviv University.

On August 24, 2016, Gilmer posted to Facebook an image supporting BDS and accusing Israel of “apartheid.”

On January 16, 2016, Gilmer shared to Facebook a post promoting BDS that also accused Israel of “racism, colonialism and ethnic cleansing.”

Anti-Israel DD Trip

In May 2016, Gilmer featured in multiple social media photos from a DD delegation to Israel. DD co-founder Ahmad Abuznaid led the trip and another one in January 2015.

Abuznaid reportedly said in 2015 that the DD trips are intended “to build real relationships with those on the ground leading the fight for liberation”

The DD delegation was joined by former Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) spokesperson Diana Buttu, who served during the Second Intifada when the PLO, via Fatah’s Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade, carried out terror attacks and suicide bombings against Israeli civilians.

The 2016 DD trip in which Glmer participated featured Mahmoud Jiddah, a PFLP member, as a tour guide in Jerusalem. Jiddah reportedly served 17 years in Israeli jail for throwing grenades at Israeli civilians in Jerusalem. He was released in 1985, in a prisoner exchange.

On May 18, 2016, DD posted to Flickr a photo of the delegation meeting with BDS co-founder, Omar Barghouti.

Omar Barghouti co-founded the BDS movement in July 2005 and co-founded the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions National Committee (BNC) in November 2007.

Barghouti has expressed support for terrorism, promoted anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and regularly demonizes Israel. He opposes the Jewish right to self-determination and Israel’s existence, openly calling for its destruction as a Jewish state.

On May 17, 2016, DD posted to Flickr a photo of the delegation meeting with Israeli parliament member, Haneen Zoabi.

Haneen Zoabi, a former member of the Israeli Knesset, has a long history of inciting violence. In 2014, she was suspended from the legislature after defending the kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers by the terror group Hamas, and who were later found executed in a field. In 2015, a criminal investigation was opened against Zoabi after she reportedly condoned anti-Israel violence and called for a new intifada.

On May 13, 2016, Abuznaid posted to Instagram a photo from a protest in Israel to demand the “right of return.” Abuznaid commented that the group had joined the protesters and said “we will return. We will win.”

The “right of return” is a Palestinian demand discredited as a means to eliminate Israel. International law mandates no absolute right of return and UN Resolution 194, which defined principles for “refugees wishing to return to their homes,” was unanimously rejected by Arab nations following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.

Dream Defenders - Whitewashing the PFLP

In March 2016, DD produced an educational series aimed at sixth to 11th graders that whitewashed [p.25] PFLP tactics like “hijackings, assassinations, car bombings, suicide bombings, paramilitary operations against civilian and military targets.” The series also said [p.26] that the PFLP “want to be free from global imperialism. They want liberation. They want equal rights. Just like the Dream Defenders.”

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.