Rafael Tantau
Overview
Rafael Tantau has expressed support for terrorists, spread hatred of Israel and engaged in activism with a Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) affiliate in 2020, 2021 and 2022.In January 2022, Tantau was reportedly a member of the Palestine Solidarity Committee (PSC) Austin chapter in Texas (PSC ATX) and an activist in 2020 and 2021. PSC is an alternative name for SJP.
Tantau is a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.
As of March 2023, Tantau’s LinkedIn page said he had been Financial Wellness Program Coordinator at Foundation Communities in Austin, Texas, since November 2022.
Tantau’s LinkedIn page also said he was an Optometric Technician and Assistant Floor Manager at Resolution Eyecare in Austin, Texas, from January to October 2022. In September 2022, his LinkedIn said he was a Patient Access Coordinator at UT Health Austin from September to December 2021.
Also as of March 2023, Tantau’s LinkedIn page said he was an ESL [English as a Second Language] Instructor in Austin, Texas, from July 2018 to August 2019. He wrote on LinkedIn that he completed a TEFL [Teaching English as a Foreign Language] Certification course.
As of the same date, Tantau’s LinkedIn page said he graduated from Birzeit University (Birzeit) with an Associate of Arts and Sciences (AAS) degree in “AAS, Palestine and Arabic Studies Program” in 2021. He also graduated from Northern Arizona University (NAU) with a bachelor’s degree in strategic communication in advertising in 2018.
As of March 2023, Tantau went by the username “رافي [Rafi]” and used the handle “@rafatawi” on Twitter. Tantau went by the username “Raffy-el” on Twitter in May and June 2021.
As of the same date, Tantau went by the username “Rafa” and used the handle “@p0stc0l0nialth0t” on Instagram.
Terror Support (PFLP, Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade)
As of March 2023, Tantau’s Linktr.ee page linked to a Change.org petition in support of Khalida Jarrar.Tantau’s Linktr.ee page also linked to a Change.org petition in support of Iyad Haribat. Haribat was reportedly a member of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, who is serving a life sentence in Israeli prison.
The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade is the armed wing of Fatah, the main group in the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). The Brigade has been listed as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) by the U.S. State Department since March 2002 and was responsible for multiple suicide bombings [00:13:37] during the second intifada, in 2002-2004.
Hatred of Israel
On June 20, 2021, Tantau posted to Twitter an image of an Israeli flag lying on the ground and commented: “Oh no... Isn't the policy is once it's on the ground, you have to burn it?”On June 23, 2021, Tantau posted to Twitter an image of an Israeli flag lying on the ground and commented: “1 like = 1 trample #FreePalestine #SaveSheikhJarrah … #SaveSilwan#EndTheGenocide.
”Jewish ownership claims to lands in Silwan, a Jerusalem neighborhood also known as Shiloach, have been frequently met with Palestinian violence against Israelis who sought to reclaim their property rights.
As of March 2023, Tantau’s Linktr.ee page linked to the anti-Israel websites Decolonize Palestine and Visualizing Palestine.
Decolonize Palestine has called for the destruction of Israel, writing: “... Israeli colonialism and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians is an objective fact. Maintaining a neutral position on this war crime is not only immoral, but enables Israel to commit further heinous acts in the future. Therefore, we take a very clear position: For the liberation of Palestine.”
Anti-Israel Activism (PSC, SJP)
On January 23, 2022, Tantau participated in an “Emergency Protest For Palestine” event hosted by PSC ATX at the Texas State Capitol in Austin. The event’s Facebook description said: “Say NO to illegal and forced expulsions from Sheikh Jarrah to Al-Khalil [Hebron] to Al-Naqab [Negev] to ALL OF PALESTINE.”On June 16, 2021, Tantau promoted a June 20, 2021 “Stand with Silwan” rally in Austin, Texas at the Texas State Capitol on Twitter. The rally was co-hosted by PSC ATX and the Austin chapters of the Palestine Youth Movement (PYM) and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP). PSC ATX claimed the rally was organized to “resist the apartheid regime’s attempts to erase Palestine and steal its land!”
In the tweet, Tantau wrote: “Come out this Sunday in support of Silwan and those throughout Palestine facing further theft of land, and violent displacement from their homes at the hands of a settler state. Silence is complicity. Solidarity is necessary.
On May 23, 2021, Tantau tweeted photos from a May 15, 2021 PSC ATX rally at the Texas State Capitol building titled: “ATX Nakba 73 Protest in Defense of Sheikh Jarrah.”
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.
In the same tweet, Tantau wrote: “ATX 5/23. The rain didn't stop a great organizational effort and the energy and momentum continuing toward a liberated Palestine. #FreePalestine #SaveSheikhJarrah #EndTheOccupation #ZionismIsTerrorism.”
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.
Protesters at the rally chanted [slide 10]: “be-ruh be-dam nifdik ya Aqsaبروح ودم نفديك يااقصى [With spirit, with blood, we will redeem you, Aqsa],” a chant calling to “redeem” the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.
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 January 31, 2020, Tantau appeared in a PSC ATX Instagram video, leading protesters in chanting [slide 4] “Free, free, free Palestine!” at an anti-Israel rally hosted by PSC ATX a day earlier.
At the rally, Tantau chanted [slide 6] with fellow protesters: “Justice is our demand! No peace on stolen land.” Other protesters chanted [slide 4]: “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be Free!” The chant is used to call for the elimination of the State of Israel.
The rally was held to protest then-Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Spring 2020 announcement that Israeli sovereignty would be applied to certain areas of the West Bank. The annexation plan was postponed in August 2020.
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
Twitter: https://twitter.com/rafatawi/ [Private]Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p0stc0l0nialth0t [Private]
Instagram 2: https://www.instagram.com/kasuulkitchen
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rafaeltantau
Linktr.ee: https://linktr.ee/rafatawi
Extra Video and Audio
PSC Austin Rally Instagram Jan 31 2020PSC Austin Rally Instagram Jan 31 2020
