Romaissaa Benzizoune
Overview
Romaissaa Benzizoune has spread hatred of Israel, expressed support for the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement and was reportedly an organizer for Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at New York University (NYU) (SJP NYU).In 2019, Benzizoune was a junior at NYU Gallatin and a 2019 Gallatin Global Fellow in Human Rights.
As of 2019, Benzizoune was listed as a Resident Assistant (RA) at NYU Rubin Hall, where every RA “acts as a student leader, role model, and support system for the floor's residents.”
Benzizoune wrote in her Twitter bio that she is a “freelance writer.”She has been published in BuzzFeed and in the New York Times.
Benzizoune has been a member of the Muslim Graduate Student Group (MGSG) at NYU since May 2018.
Spreading Hatred of Israel
Benzizoune indicated on Facebook that she “went” to an October 1, 2018 protest organized by SJP NYU against the demolition of a Bedouin Village in the West Bank.In a statement given to Washington Square News, NYU’s student newspaper, Benzizoune said: “the goal of the protest was to shed light on the larger issue of Palestinians being forced from their homes at the hands of the Israeli government.”
She added: “Our main goal here is to educate and remind people that Israel is constantly bulldozing Palestinian villages to make room from Israeli settlements.”
Activists at the protest held signs that read: "Stop the power, turn the tide, end Israeli apartheid. #BDS." Another said, "Resistance is justified when people are occupied," and a third said, "No peace on stolen land."
Support for BDS
On December 6, 2018, the Student Government Assembly (SGA) at NYU passed a BDS resolution co-authored by Rose Asaf, a member and 2018-2019 secretary of SJP NYU, Bayan Abubakr, a member of SJP NYU and student Senator and Leen Dweik, the 2018-2019 president of SJP NYU and an Alternate Student Senator.The resolution titled: “Resolution on the Human Rights of Palestinians” demonized Israel as practicing apartheid and invoked the “threefold” goals of the BDS movement, including “ending Israel’s occupation and colonization of all Arab lands.”
On December 8, 2018, Benzizoune tweeted: “Two days after this moment, this room and I'm still reeling. @EsorFasf, Leen & Bayan--thank you for inspiring the rest of us.”
Benzizoune indicated on Facebook that she “went” to an October 24, 2018 event titled: “The Assault on the Right to Boycott.”
Anti-Israel Professor Jasbir Puar was listed among the panel of speakers at the event who discussed “the suppression of the right to boycott as it relates to the BDS movement for Palestine.”
Puar is on the Advisory Board of the U.S. Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (USACBI), “a U.S. campaign focused specifically on a boycott of Israeli academic and cultural institutions.” Puar applauded the American Studies Association (ASA)’s move for an Academic Boycott of Israeli universities.
Campus Activism
Benzizoune indicated on Facebook that she “went” to a September 20, 2018 event co-hosted by NYU SJP and NYU JVP titled “Palestine 101: Not That Complicated.”The event’s Facebook description stated: “The first joint Students for Justice in Palestine/Jewish Voice for Peace event of the semester! Come learn about the modern history of the situation in Palestine, Zionism, and Israeli apartheid.”
Benzizoune indicated on Facebook that she “went” to a September 27, 2017 event titled: “Palestine 101,” which NYU SJP/JVP billed as their “kickoff” event.
The event’s Facebook description said: “We will be reviewing the current situation in Occupied Palestine as well as some history and what SJP and JVP do on campus.”
NYU SJP Anti-Israel Activity
On May 9, 2019, NYU SJP staged a “die-in” protest, next to Realize Israel’s annual "Rave in the Park" event celebrating Israeli Independence Day. Realize Israel is a pro-Israel club at NYU.The Facebook description of the protest, titled: “ACTION: Resisting the Celebration of Apartheid,” said: “speak out against the lack of acknowledgement of the expulsion, massacre, and destruction of Palestinians and their homes.”
NYU SJP also called Israel’s Independence on Twitter an “act of ethnic cleansing and apartheid.”
On April 18, 2019, NYU SJP posted a photo on Facebook of students with their faces obscured by emojis, in front of a table featuring the Israeli flag and a banner that said: “Jews are Indigenous to the Land of Israel CHANGE MY MIND.”
The Facebook post said: “Thumbs Up If You’re a Racist: they intimidated to sue us because they don’t like getting called out version!”
NYU SJP’s post referred to anoriginal version of the NYU SJP post which reportedly showed the faces of the pro-Israel students and said: “Thumbs Up If You’re a Racist.”
On April 27, 2018, NYU SJP organized a protest against the annual “Rave in the Park” celebration of Israel’s Independence Day. The protest’s Facebook description said: “We refuse to let such a disturbing public celebration of colonialism and apartheid on our campus and in our park go by without a response.”
During the protest, activists chanted [00:04:55]: "Intifada, Intifada, Long live the Intifada" and two protestors were reportedly arrested and charged with reckless endangerment and assault after grabbing [00:00:41] a microphone and an Israeli flag out of the hands of a student singing the Israeli national anthem.
Other protesters wiped [00:00:10] their feet on the Israeli flag and stomped on it.
That same day, NYU SJP posted to Facebook, urging anyone “angered at this celebratory event” to file a noise complaint with the police.
NYU SJP hosted Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) 2017, from March 20-24, 2017.
During IAW 2017, NYU SJP exhibited a mock apartheid wall, with text that demonized Israel, simulating Israel’s security barrier.
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.
NYU SJP 2018 Divestment Campaign
On November 1, 2018, members of NYU SJP presented a divestment bill to the NYU Student Government Association (SGA), to further the agenda of the Boycott, Divestment Sanctions (BDS) movement.The resolution was co-authored by then-student senators and members of SJP, Rose Asaf, Leen Dweik and then-student senator Bayan Abubakr, who was reportedly a member ofNYU SJP.
The resolution demonized Israel, invoked the “threefold” goals of the BDS movement and was passed by the SGA on December 6, 2018, using a secret ballot. NYU’s administration opposed the BDS resolution.
NYU’s then-President Andrew Hamilton said: “‘A boycott of Israeli academics and institutions is contrary to our core principles of academic freedom, antithetical to the free exchange of ideas, and at odds with the University's position on this matter...and divestment from Israeli-related investments is not under consideration.’”
NYU SJP Promoting BDS
On April 15, 2019, NYU SJP hosted an event featuring a panel that included Omar Barghouti. The panel was moderated by Leen Dweik, then-President of NYU SJP.On November 19, 2018, NYU SJP wrote on Facebook: “When we fight, we win.BDS works” and attached an article in the post reporting the decision by Airbnb Inc. to remove listings in Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
On October 24. 2018, NYU SJP hosted a panel about BDS where anti-Israel Professor Jasbir Puar was listed among the panel of speakers. Puar is on the Advisory Board of the U.S. Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (USACBI) and applauded the American Studies Association (ASA)’s move for an Academic Boycott of Israeli universities.
NYU SJP hosted NYU Israel Apartheid Week (IAW) 2018, from April 15-21, 2018. The Facebook event description said: “IAW will be an opportunity to reflect on this history of resistance and further advance BDS campaigns for the continued growth and impact of the movement.”
On April 9, 2018, NYU SJP posted to Facebook: “We are proud to announce a coalition of 50 NYU student groups who have pledged to support the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement for Palestinian human rights by pledging not to spend NYU club funds on Israeli goods, to boycott pro-Israel groups at NYU and off campus, and to call on NYU to divest from companies that profit off the violation of Palestinian human rights.
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/100012209710346Twitter: https://twitter.com/romaissaa_b
