Russell Thomas
Overview
Russell Thomas (Russell Joseph Thomas) is an anti-Israel activist who demonized a pro-Israel student and participated at an anti-Israel rally organized by Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at the University of California, Davis (UC Davis).He has also spread propaganda, promoted an anti-Israel agitator and is a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.
As of fall 2017, Thomas was a peer advisor in the department of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies at UC Davis. His Facebook page indicated that he started studying at UC Davis in 2015, majoring in Gender studies, Neurobiology and Physiology.
As of June 2018, Thomas’s Linkedin page said he was pursuing a bachelor’s degree in “Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies as well as American Studies,” slated to graduate in 2019.
Demonizing Zionist ASUCD President
On February 23, 2018, Thomas posted to Facebook: “The student body at UC Davis just chose to elect a Zionist, white supremacist, queer and trans antagonistic President for ASCUD. What are we going to do about it?”His post was attached to a graphic featuring the text “ASUCD DOES NOT REPRESENT ME.”
Thomas’s post referred to newly elected president of the Associated Students of the University of California, Davis (ASUCD), Michael Gofman.
On February 24, 2018, Thomas shared a photo on Facebook from the ASUCD Gender and Sexuality Commission (GASC) Facebook page which they had changed to a graphic with the text: “ASUCD DOES NOT REPRESENT US.”
Thomas posted a picture of Gofman with negative comments and specifically mentioned Gofman’s work with the pro-Israel Aggies for Israel campus group. Thomas then commented: “It’s really gross and now he gets oversight of a HUGE budget.”
On March 19, 2018, at an ASUCD Senate public town hall, Thomas reportedly asked Gofman and ASUCD Vice President Shaniah Branson to “publicly denounce white supremacy, gay and trans oppression, ableism and Zionism, among other ideologies.”
Anti-Israel Activism
On March 7, 2018, Thomas attended an on-campus anti-Israel rally and held a sign that said: “Resistance is justified when people are occupied.”The rally was held at SJP’s mock apartheid wall as part of Palestine Awareness Week (PAW).
Palestine Awareness Week (PAW) is a re-branding for American audiences of Israel Apartheid Week (IAW), originally presented as “an international series of events that seek to raise awareness of Israel’s settler-colonial project and apartheid system over the Palestinian people” and build support for the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.
Spreading Propaganda
On July 24, 2017, Thomas shared a post by anti-Israel organizer Linda Sarsour, claiming that Israel had denied Palestinians access to pray at the Al Aqsa mosque. The post also claimed that Palestinians praying on the street were “met with tear gas and rubber bullets.”The post was circulated during a time of extreme tension in Jerusalem.
Promoting An Anti-Israel Agitator
Thomas retweeted a February 12, 2018 tweet from the anti-Israel Institute for Middle East Understanding (IMEU) that said: “Angela Davis: ‘I stand in loving solidarity with Ahed Tamimi and the 300 Palestinian children languishing in Israeli prisons… we must stand with them until justice is delivered.’”Thomas retweeted a January 31, 2018 tweet that said: “Happy Birthday Ahed Tamimi! Today Ahed turns 17, but instead of getting to spend it with family & friends she is being held in an Israeli prison for standing up against Zionist occupation. We demand the release of Ahed and all Palestinian political prisoners.#FreeAhedTamimi.”
Supporting BDS
Thomas retweeted an April 11, 2018 tweet that said: “50 NYU student organizations have issued a statement endorsing BDS: ‘We call on NYU to divest its holdings from companies and funds that are complicit in the Israeli occupation of Palestine.’ … #BDS #Palestine.”SJP UC Davis - Demonizing Israel
On March 5, 2018, SJP at UC Davis erected a mock-apartheid wall, a representation of Israel’s security barrier, on the campus quad.Text on one red panel on the wall implied that Israel deliberately targeted United Nations buildings in Gaza and misleadingly cited the terrorist group Hamas’ propaganda figures concerning the number of Gazan children killed during Israel’s Operation Protective Edge (OPE).
Israel commenced Operation Protective Edge (OPE) in July 2014, to stop rocket fire targeting Israeli civilians and to destroy Hamas attack tunnels.
Following OPE, it was reported that Hamas had used UNRWA schools and other densely populated civilian areas to fire rockets from and had threatened UNRWA workers at gunpoint to hide weapons in the schools. Hamas rocket attacks were often based in civilian areas.
Another panel on the mock-apartheid wall depicted an Israeli flag with bloody handprints and the words “Stop US Aid to Israel.”
SJP UC Davis held a protest in front of the barrier in which 40 to 50 students participated. One protester held a sign that said: “Resistance is justified when people are occupied.”
Protesters also promoted BDS with a sign that read “Divest, Resist, Liberate.”
On November 2, 2017, SJP UC Davis members tabled on campus to promote itself and to “teach more about the Balfour Declaration.”
SJP UC Davis posted on Facebook, urging readers to visit its tableand implied that the Balfour Declaration “led to the expulsion, killing and dispossession of Palestinians.” The post went on to accuse Israel of apartheid and called Gaza an “open prison.”
On March 20, 2017, SJP UC Davis shared to Facebook an AJ+ video called: “UN Removes Report Accusing Israel of ‘Apartheid’”
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/1420313423
- Status:
- Student
- University:
- California-Davis
- Organizations:
- N/A
- Related Profiles:
- Last Modified:
- 05/04/2026
Photos & Screenshots
