Ryan Wentz
Overview
Ryan Wentz has defended the terrorist organizations Hamas and Hezbollah and promoted terrorists. Wentz has also whitewashed anti-Semitism, defended terrorism and glorified anti-Israel agitators.Wentz has called for Israel’s destruction and spread hatred of Israel, Zionists and America. He has demonized Israel, condemned the Birthright Jewish Heritage tour and promoted the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.
According to a January 12, 2020 tweet, Wentz attended the 2018 National Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) Conference.
As of April 2021, Wentz’s LinkedIn page said he was an “Administrative and Production Assistant” at Maffick in Los Angeles, California since November 2020.
As of the same date, Wentz’s LinkedIn said he attended the University of Colorado Boulder (UC Boulder) from 2014 to 2017, where he received a bachelor's degree inPolitical Science and Government.
Also per his LinkedIn, Wentz worked as a Field Organizer for Beyond the Bomb from April to August 2020. From October 2018 to September 2019, Wentz was the Social Media Manager for CODEPINK, and from February to July 2018, worked as an Intern for American Friends Service Committee.
The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) is an anti-Israel Quaker organization that promotes BDS.
According to a February 2020 podcast, Wentz studied abroad [00:08:18] at Tel Aviv University (TAU) in 2016 and lived in Jerusalem for six months in 2018 as a participant in the Achvat Amim program, organized by the Hashomer Hatza’ir youth group for diaspora Jews in Jerusalem.
In January 2020, Wentz stated on Twitter that he was not Jewish.
Achvat Amim’s funding was cut by Masa Israel, an organization that provided funding for short-term programs for young Diaspora Jews in Israel. In October 2017, Israel’s Channel 2 reported that “Achvat participants provoked Israeli soldiers” during an official operation.
As of April 2021, Wentz’s Twitter bio said that he was the co-host of the “Left Bitches (who are right)” podcast.
Defending Hamas and Hezbollah
On October 10, 2020, Wentz tweeted: “the u.s., israel, and the gulf monarchies can bomb, destabilize, and occupy areas all around what’s often referred to as the middle east, yet the real ‘terrorists’are resistance groups like hezbollah, hamas, and the houthis struggling against this very imperialist aggression.”Hezbollah has long been known as an anti-Semitic and genocidal terror organization dedicated to destroying Israel.
On July 20, 2020, Wentz tweeted: “Blaming the conditions in Gaza on Hamas—and not on Israel & the US—is genocidal...Yet the corporate media does both. Don't fall for their twisted lies that whitewash imperialism.”
On July 10, 2020, Wentz tweeted a photo of Hamas soldiers and flags labeled “the show villain” next to a photo of an Israeli flag labeled “the real villain.”
On July 6, 2020, Wentz shared a tweet from the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) explaining that they were targeting Hamas infrastructure in response to rocket attacks and tweeted: “Reminder that every single rocket that Hamas fires into Israel is legitimate resistance under international law.”
On July 1, 2020, Wentz tweeted: “Hamas is a political party. Under international law, Palestinians have the right to resist their Israeli occupiers by any means necessary.”
On May 26, 2020, Wentz tweeted: “Zionists are full of s**t. They call the apartheid wall a "security fence." They say that Hamas, not Israel, is responsible for the carnage in Gaza. They think that Israel was born out of "a war for independence" and not out of ethnic cleansing and genocide. Settler mythology.”
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.
Promoting Terrorists
On September 24, 2020, Wentz tweeted: “Palestinian freedom fighter Leila Khaled when asked if she could be described as a terrorist: ‘Our enemies say so. Our enemies call any form of popular resistance terrorism.’”Leila Khaled is a leading member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and participated in the hijacking of TWA Flight 840 in 1969 and El Al Flight 219 in 1970. As of 2017, Khaled was a member of PFLP's Political Bureau. Khaled has said that the second intifada failed because it was not violent enough, advocated [00:36:07] for the use of children in terror activities and compared Zionists to Nazis.
Also on September 24, 2020, Wentz tweeted:“We live in a world where the Israeli apartheid state is celebrated as a ‘democracy’ and Leila Khaled is smeared as a ‘terrorist.’ There will be no global justice without a global revolution. And that revolution must bring the United States and its accomplices to their knees.”
On September 23, 2020, in response to a tweet about Leila Khaled being banned from Zoom, Wentz tweeted: “F**k Zoom and f*k Zionism.”
On June 29, 2020, Wentz tweeted a quote and a photo of Ghassan Khanafani.
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.
Whitewashing Anti-Semitism
On June 26, 2018, Wentz shared a tweet with an article about the Chicago Dyke March banning Jewish pride flags and tweeted: “wtf (what the f**k), shut the f**k up, this is such a misleading headline with awful implications.”In June 2017, Chicago Dyke March organizers were accused of anti-Semitism after expelling Jewish marchers for carrying rainbow flags with Jewish stars. Organizers claimed that the flags were a “trigger” offensive to other marchers and that one of the banned marchers was employed by an organization that had “connections to the Israeli State and right wing pro-Israel interest groups.” In July 2017, Chicago Dyke March reportedly tweeted: “Zio tears replenish my electrolytes!” The term “Zio” [Zionist] is an often-used anti-Semitic slur.
Defending Terrorism
On November 19, 2020, Wentz tweeted: “Palestinians have a right to resist Israeli crimes by any means necessary. That includes through violent (rockets) and nonviolent (boycotts) means.Zionists absurdly smear anti-Zionism, anti-colonialism, and anti-racism as ‘anti-semitism’ to suppress resistance to Israel.”On November 17, 2020, Wentz tweeted: “Zionists lift up the stories of colonizers in Sderot—an Israeli settlement built on top of the ethnically cleansed Palestinian village of Huj—because freedom fighters in Gaza launch homemade rockets that often land nearby. Boohoo. The colonized have a right to self-defense.”
On August 26, 2020, Wentz tweeted: “Over the last couple of weeks, Palestinian resistance has launched several homemade ‘explosive balloons’ from Gaza. As per usual, Israel’s response has been brutal and disproportionate; the settler colonial regime continues to carpet bomb the besieged Gaza Strip with impunity.”
In August 2020, Hamas operatives launched scores of incendiary and explosive balloons from the Gaza Strip into Israel, igniting over 100 fires in southern Israel’s fields and forests, burning hundreds of hectares of land and sometimes [00:01:03] threatening lives.
On August 14, 2020, Wentz tweeted: “Israel continues to use ‘explosive balloons’ as a reason to bomb Gaza.”
On June 26, 2020, Wentz shared a tweet from the IDF announcing two rocket attacks in Israel and tweeted: “Watch how Israel follows the same script over & over again: accuse Hamas of firing rockets into Israel to use as an excuse to carpet bomb Gaza. As per usual, the rockets will injure no one, but Israel will likely respond by destroying infrastructure & killing Palestinians.”
Glorifying Anti-Israel Agitators
On May 13, 2020, Wentz shared an AJ+ video of Ahed Tamimi and tweeted: “Palestinian freedom fighter Ahed Tamimi at age 17 in 2018.”On February 11, 2019, Wentz tweeted: “Ilhan never said anything about ‘dark’ or ‘Jewish’ money...she criticized AIPAC [the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC)]…”
The “Jewish money” comment referred to a tweet written by Ilhan Omar insinuating that AIPAC bribes the American government, a claim which has been deemed anti-Semitic.
Calling for Israel’s Destruction
On December 7, 2020 Wentz shared a video of U.S. Representative Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez explaining that she was against “the occupation” but not against the existence of Israel.Wentz tweeted: “This framing sucks. We absolutely should call Israel’s right to exist into question. If you support justice and liberation for Palestinians, then you must oppose the existence of the genocidal settler colony that is denying them their most basic rights.”
On December 5, 2020, Wentz tweeted: “The only way Palestine will be freed is if the settler colonial apartheid state that’s occupying it is destroyed. It’s really that simple.”
The same day, Wentz tweeted: “Israel is a killing machine. It can’t be reformed. It must be crushed.”
On October 28, 2020 Wentz tweeted: “There will be no “peace” in Palestine as long as Israel exists. It’s really that simple.”
On February 5, 2020, Wentz tweeted: “Executions of Palestinian children by Israeli forces are not merely a product of the Netanyahu regime. Egregious crimes like these are foundational to the apartheid state itself. This is exactly why it’s important we advocate for an end to Israel & zionism—not a 2-state solution.”
Hatred of Israel
On April 13, 2021 Wentz tweeted: “Zionism is racism. To support the existence of a genocidal settler colony on top of Palestine is racist.”On January 25, 2021 Wentz tweeted: “Anyways, f**k Israel. Free Palestine...from the river to the sea!”
On October 10, 2020, Wentz tweeted: “Can’t even express how grotesque it is to see the IDF Twitter pretend to care about mental health.”
On September 14, 2020, in response to a tweet from the IDF congratulating the first female battalion commander in the IDF Artillery Corps, Wentz tweeted: "’Zionist feminism’ is total bullshit.”
On July 1, 2020, Wentz tweeted: "’Israel makes Jews safer.’ How does the existence of a white supremacist settler colony on indigenous Palestinian land make Jews safer? Israel collaborates with anti-semitic movements and figures around the world as long as they embrace Zionism.”
On May 7, 2020, Wentz tweeted: “Zionism does not represent Judaism. Judaism is a religion that’s thousands of years old, while Zionism is a racist ideology that was developed in the late 1800s. It’s incorrect & frankly anti-semitic to conflate the two. Not every Jew is a Zionist & not every Zionist is Jewish.”
On June 19, 2020, Wentz tweeted: “Zionism is racism. If you try to justify and legitimize settler colonialism and apartheid in Palestine, you ARE racist.”
On June 15, 2020, Wentz tweeted: “You cannot claim to be ‘anti-racist’ if you’re a Zionist. Israeli apartheid *is* racist.”
On July 12, 2020, Wentz tweeted: “A story in three acts: Zionism is settler colonialism. Settler colonialism is racism. Zionism is racism.
The end.”
On July 30, 2020, Wentz tweeted: “Call it ‘the colonization of Palestine’ not ‘the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.’ Call it ‘Palestine’ or ‘occupied Palestine’ not ‘Israel-Palestine.’ Call it ‘an apartheid regime’ not ‘the only democracy in the Middle East.’ Our words mean things. Let's stop legitimizing Zionism.”
On February 26, 2020, Wentz responded to a tweet from the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) about Bernie Sanders not attending the AIPAC Convention and tweeted: “Imagine thinking that a conference for an organization that lobbies on behalf of apartheid is “the biggest celebration of Jewish pride.’ Just outrageously antisemitic.”
The stated mission of AIPAC is to “strengthen, protect and promote the U.S.-Israel relationship in ways that enhance the security of the United States and Israel.”
On February 9, 2020, Wentz tweeted: “Zionists say that Israel must exist because Jewish people need a safe haven, but the fact of the matter is that no settler colony should exist. And that a settler colonial apartheid state certainly does not make Jewish
people ‘safe.’”
On December 14, 2019, Wentz tweeted claiming zionism is “racism” and “a eurocentric, colonial ideology that advocates for a jewish ethnostate on top of stolen palestinian land.”
On September 13, 2019, Wentz tweeted: “yes, the u.s. provides $10 million of taxpayer money per day to israel, but the special relationship that officials from both countries love to tout doesn't end there. amerikkkan & israeli forces train together to learn the same repressive & racist tactics of state violence.”
Wentz echoed the claim Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) made with their “Deadly Exchange” campaign.
In 2017, JVP launched the “Deadly Exchange (DX)” campaign, which accused American Jewish organizations of promoting human rights abuses. JVP also released a video that blamed [00:04:04] U.S.-based Jewish organizations for violence that occurs against Black and Brown communities, immigrants and activists in the U.S.
On September 11, 2019, Wentz tweeted: “it’s really important for folks with an enormous platform like you to stop promoting the ‘two state solution.’ we shouldn’t be calling for a “two state solution.” we should be calling for an end to apartheid, occupation, & settler-colonialism in ALL of historic Palestine.”
Hatred of Zionists
On April 24, 2021 Wentz tweeted: “Zionism isn’t *sometimes* racist. It’s always racist.”On April 23, 2021 Wentz tweeted:“Never ever give Zionists an inch. You cannot reason with those who defend apartheid, ethnic cleansing, and genocide. Free Palestine.”
On March 20, 2021 Wentz tweeted: “No, you’re not an “anti-racist Zionist.’ You can’t have it both ways. Zionism is inherently racist. To call yourself a Zionist is to call yourself a racist.”
On October 26, 2020 Wentz shared a video of anti-Israel activist Miko Peled and tweeted: “It’s very sad and—as Miko described—cynical that Zionists (both Jewish and non-Jewish) have hijacked the legacy of the Holocaust in order to justify the colonization of Palestine. They’ve been doing it for over 70 years.”
Miko Peled is an anti-Israel activist who has said [00:00:06] the Israeli army is “one of the best trained, best equipped, best fed, terrorist organizations in the world” and claimed [00:00:16] that “their entire purpose is terrorism.” In September 2016, Peled tweeted that US aid to Israel causes people to think that “Jews have a reputation 4being sleazy thieves.”
On December 4, 2020, Wentz tweeted: “The Zionist project is sustained through the murder of Palestinian children.”
On October 13, 2020 Wentz shared an article about Facebook banning Holocaust denial on its platform and and tweeted: “Holocaust denial is abhorrent, but—given the fact that this is being applauded by Zionist organizations like the Anti-Defamation League and the World Jewish Congress—this will almost certainly be used to silence pro-Palestine content on Facebook.”
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) was founded in 1913 “in response to an escalating climate of anti-Semitism and bigotry, its timeless mission is to protect the Jewish people and to secure justice and fair treatment for all.”
On September 17, 2020, Wentz tweeted: “Zionism is anti-semitic. Zionists want you to believe that Israel represents Judaism. Don’t get it twisted: Israel is a settler colonial, apartheid state that was “founded” in 1948. Judaism is a religion that’s been around for thousands of years.”
On August 12, 2020, Wentz tweeted: “At AIPAC in 2017, Kamala Harris suggested that the Jewish National Fund ‘has made a desert bloom.’ In reality, the JNF has long been a tool for the Zionist colonization and ethnic cleansing of Palestine. Today, the JNF owns 13% of all public land in ‘Israel.’”
On July 8, 2020, Wentz tweeted:“The year is 2020, Israel is moving towards annexing the West Bank, and all liberal Zionists can vomit up is: “embracing binationalism as a Zionist Jew is good.” Embarrassing, pathetic, and racist. Yes, Zionism is racism.”
In the spring of 2020, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Israeli sovereignty would be applied to certain areas of the West Bank. The annexation plan was canceled a day before the July 1, 2020 deadline.
On July 6, 2020, Wentz tweeted a graphic of a man pointing at himself in a mirror with the words “YOU are indigenous to Palestine.” Wentz captioned the graphic “white jewish zionists who were born and raised in new york every morning:”
On June 23, 2020, Wentz tweeted: “no one: my tinder bio: if you’re a zionist, i hope you never find love.”
On June 23, 2020, Wentz tweeted: “The apartheid state of Israel doesn’t make Jewish people “safe.” In fact, Israel has always linked up with anti-semites. In the 19th century, Theodor Herzl, the so-called “father” of Zionism, declared: ‘the anti-semites will become our most dependable friends.’”
On June 5, 2020, Wentz tweeted: “F**k any and all Zionists who express support for protests against white supremacist state violence in the US. Zionism is inherently anti-Black and anti-indigenous. Apartheid Israel’s existence is rooted in white supremacy, ethnic cleansing, and the genocide of Palestinians.”
On May 13, 2020, Wentz tweeted: “Not all Zionists are Jewish. That being said, f**k Jewish Zionists, f**k Christian Zionists, f**k Muslim Zionists, f**k Buddhist Zionists, f**k Hindu Zionists, f**k atheist and agnostic Zionists. F**k 'em all!
Zionism is racism! F**k all racists.”
Hatred of America
On September 28, 2020, Wentz tweeted: “Sending love and solidarity to ‘Death to America’ demonstrations in Iran! ❤️”On September 22, 2020, Wentz tweeted: “The US government calls those it terrorizes ‘terrorists.’ It calls those it commits crimes against ‘criminals.’ Amerikkkan exceptionalism is such twisted, sadistic logic. Death to Amerikkka is the only option.”
The term “Amerikkka” uses the initials of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) as a way to demonize America as “fascist or racist.”
On August 30, 2020, Wentz tweeted: “You don’t hate 2020. You hate Amerikkka.”
On June 20, 2020, Wentz shared a photo of his face with a burning American flag as his background and tweeted: “good morning to everyone who hates Amerikkka.”
On June 4, 2020, Wentz tweeted: “LEMME SAY IT AGAIN: THERE IS NOTHING, AND I MEAN NOTHING, MORE AUTHORITARIAN THAN A WHITE SUPREMACIST, SETTLER COLONIAL REGIME THAT OPERATES THE WORLD’S LARGEST PRISON SYSTEM AND 95% OF THE WORLD’S FOREIGN MILITARY BASES. IT’S F**K AMERIKKKA OR SHUT UP.”
On May 31, 2020 Wentz tweeted: “Death to Amerikkka.”
On March 16, 2020, Wentz tweeted: “Anyone who doesn’t understand why people around the world say “death to America” is delusional.”
On January 27, 2020, Wentz tweeted: “The US is the world’s greatest exporter of death and destruction, so the exclamation “Death to America!” is a rallying cry for life.”
Demonizing Israel
On April 22, 2021, Wentz tweeted: “Israel doesn’t give a s**t about LGBTQ+ people. No matter how many Tel Aviv Pride ads you get on Grindr, the fact of the matter is that Israel brutalizes LGBTQ+ Palestinians every single day.Pinkwashing settler-colonialism isn’t liberation. It’s a cynical PR operation.”
“Pinkwashing” is a claim that Israel advocates manipulate the LGBTQ community in order to garner support for Israel.
On April 11, 2021 Wentz tweeted: “This means we need to be able to tell it how it is. To use the proper vocabulary to describe Israel’s ongoing crimes against the indigenous Palestinians. Stop calling it a “conflict.” Call it military occupation, apartheid, settler colonialism and genocide.”
On March 4, 2021 Wentz tweeted: “Accurate words to use to describe the Israeli regime’s actions in Palestine:
-apartheid
-ethnic cleansing
-occupation
-colonization
-genocide
Inaccurate words NOT to use to describe the Israeli regime’s actions in Palestine:
-situation
-conflict.”
On December 14, 2020 Wentz shared a tweet from the IDF showing soldiers lighting Hannuka candles in a ‘“terror tunnel.’” Wentz tweeted: “The way that this genocidal death cult rips off Jewish traditions is truly vomit-inducing…”
Hamas terror tunnels are intended for mass murders and hostage-taking scenarios against Israeli civiliansand soldiers. They stretch from the Gaza Strip into Israel.
That same day, Wentz tweeted: “Israel actively terrorizes disabled Palestinians every single day. You cannot support Israel and disability justice at the same time.”
On September 14, 2020, Wentz tweeted: “Israel is ethnically cleansing the Palestinian neighborhood of Silwan to build a zipline above it. A ZIPLINE. Zionism is evil. Free Palestine.”
On July 27, 2020, Wentz tweeted: “To properly fight anti-semitism, we must denounce the Zionist settler state that, for the last seven decades, has hijacked the Jewish religion and linked up with anti-semitic movements around the world in order to entrench its heinous colonial program in Palestine.”
On July 3, 2020, Wentz wrote an article called“The Case Against the Fourth of July,” the date of America’s Independence Day. In the article, Wentz claimed that the U.S. “enables Israel to colonize Palestine ‘against the wishes of the native population’ by providing its military with $3.8 billion per year, approximately $10 million per day, to continue ethnically cleansing Palestine and entrenching the illegal occupation.”
On June 15, 2020, during the coronavirus pandemic, Wentz tweeted claiming "Israel has used the coronavirus pandemic"to "continue to move forward with the illegal annexation of the West Bank," launch strikes on Gaza, violate Lebanese airspace as well as bomb Syria. The tweet concluded: "The apartheid state of Israel is a rogue state that is violating international law with impunity!”
On May 5, 2020, Wentz tweeted: “Death to settler colonialism” with an image of a series of misleading maps that claimed that lands once controlled by Britain, Egypt and Jordan as autonomous “Palestinian land,” were purportedly stolen by Israel.
On April 3, 2020, Wentz tweeted: “You can’t negotiate with settler colonialism, given that it’s an expansionist, fundamentalist death cult. You can’t negotiate with ‘Israel,’ ‘Amerikkka,’ ‘Canada,’ or any other settler colony. They’re all inherently genocidal.”
In February 2020, Wentz was a guest on a podcasthosted by anti-Israel activist Abby Martin. The description of the topic discussed was: “the concept of pinkwashing, homonationalism, brand Israel and how it evolved to whitewash Israel's apartheid state.”
Wentz stated [00:16:45] that Israel was inherently Islamophobic and claimed [00:18:10] that people in Gaza were being “starved and carpet-bombed every single day” and [00:18:50] that Israel was built on “ethnic cleansing and dispossession of land.”
On June 25, 2020, Wentz was a guest on a YouTube show called “The Red Lettuce” speaking on the topic of “Pinkwashing, Homonationalism, Homonormativity, & Why Privilege Discourse Needs to End.”
During the show, Wentz claimed [00:03:15] that Israel used Tel Aviv film festivals to bring [00:03:26] ” queer and transtourists to the apartheid state” to go to a LGBQT film festival while [00:03:47 “queer and trans Palestinians are not exempt from the apartheid.”
Wentz also blamed [00:05:15] Israel for Palestinians’ lack of progressivism, stating that they were too busy “fighting this front against colonialism.”
Wentz later said [01:14:15] that Israel was “not only occupying Palestine, but occupying Syria, bombing Syria, constantly f**king with Lebanon, like bombing Iraq, like instigating s**t with Iran.”
He also called [01:14:31] Israel the biggest threat to Middle East security and praised [01:14:40] Iran for “providing support to resistance groups around the region.”
The Islamic Republic is a noted, longtime financial supporter of Hamas. Hezbollah is a proxy of Iran in Lebanon.
Anti-Israel Activism
On July 1, 2020, Wentz tweeted with a few protesters waving Israeli flags across the street from a large group of protesters wearing kheffiyehs and waving Palestinian flags chanting “Free free Palestine.”Wentz wrote: “HAPPENING NOW: deranged Zionists are trying to provoke Palestinians and Palestinian solidarity activists outside of the Israeli consulate in Los Angeles.We are standing up against Israeli annexation, occupation, and apartheid! The Zionist settler state must go!”
On June 12, 2018, Wentz was featured with Jenny Neuman in a photo posted to Facebook by “pinkwash.il” at a protest in Israel. Wentz was wearing a shirt that said “LGBTZ against Pinkwashing” and held a sign that read: “What about the queers in Gaza?”
Condemning Jewish Heritage Tour
On December 1, 2020 Wentz tweeted a meme that said “College students on Birthright Israel:” and showed a girl saying “Thank you for changing my life. I’m literally a free propaganda trip on stolen land.”On September 4, 2020, Wentz tweeted: “people on birthright be like ‘i’m home💗💗’ while eating traditional Palestinian food and drinking stolen Palestinian water in an artificial forest planted on top of an ethnically-cleansed Palestinian village.”
Birthright Israel is a heritage trip to Israel for Jewish young adults from across the world.
Pushing BDS
On February 22, 2021 Wentz tweeted: “What are the ‘both sides on the BDS argument’? Supporting an anti-apartheid movement and...supporting apartheid? You shouldn’t “hear both.” Don’t both-sides apartheid.”On November 19, 2020 Wentz tweeted: “Boycotting Israel is boycotting a settler colonial apartheid state. For the billionth time: BDS is not anti-semitic.”
On June 20, 2020, Wentz tweeted: “Puma is the main sponsor of the Israel Football Association, a league that includes teams based in illegal Jewish-only settlements on stolen Palestinian land. If you oppose apartheid, you must boycott Puma.”
On May 20, 2020, Wentz tweeted: “BDS isn't anti-semitic. The call to boycott, divest from, & sanction Israel was made by Palestinian civil society as a tool to free Palestine from Zionist colonization. BDS doesn't target Israel to target Jewish people. It targets Israel because Israel is an apartheid state.”
On February 24, 2020, Wentz responded to a tweet from U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders saying “The Israeli people have the right to live in peace and security,” writing: “”Peace and security’ in ‘Israel’ means the dissolution of the apartheid state and the total decolonization of historic Palestine. In the West, we must advocate for #BDS, the right of return for all Palestinian refugees, & one state called Palestine with equal rights for all.”
The “right of return” is a Palestinian demand discredited as a means to eliminate Israel.
On February 11, 2020, Wentz tweeted: “BDS under attack: anti-boycott laws have been enacted in 28 states. These unconstitutional measures are popping up around the country as the movement to boycott, divest from, and sanction Israel grows. The people are with Palestine.”
On January 24, 2020, Wentz tweeted: “If you don’t oppose zionismadvocate for BDS support the “right of return for Palestinian refugees what the hell are you doing?”
On July 22, 2019, Wentz tweeted: “israel is *once again* committing war crimes...as it’s been doing with impunity—and with diplomatic cover from the u.s.—for the last 70 years. this is why supporting the #BDS movement, a call made by Palestinian civil society, is so important. #BDS until Palestine is free.”
On July 17, 2019, Wentz tweeted: “supporting the #BDS movement is the bare minimum we in the u.s. can do to counteract the over $10 million/day of taxpayer money that the u.s. government gives to israel. there is blood on OUR hands and it’s on us to raise OUR voices in solidarity with Palestine! #RightToBoycott”
In Wentz’s June 25, 2020 YouTube interview with “the Red Lettuce,” Wentz was asked about whether BDS could be used “in a great way to counter pinkwashing” and responded [01:13:00] “Yeah, I mean we should absolutely be boycotting and showing up outside of these like Israeli LGBTQ film festivals.”
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.
Code Pink
CODEPINK is a U.S.-based activist group founded in 2002 by Jodie Evans, Medea Benjamin and other activists to oppose the American invasion of Iraq in 2003.
The group actively opposes “U.S. support for the Israeli occupation of Palestine” and has been criticized for maintaining close ties to Hamas. CODEPINK also promotes the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.
CODEPINK has led a number of solidarity delegations to Gaza under Hamas protection. In March 2014, CODEPINK also helped organize an “International Women's Day” delegation to Gaza. However, upon arriving at the Cairo airport on March 3, 2014, Benjamin was detained by Egyptian authorities and refused entry into Gaza. She was then forcibly deported to Turkey.
CODEPINKBDS campaigns have targeted RE/MAX, Ahava, SodaStream, Hewlett Packard and Airbnb. On November 20, 2016, CODEPINK leader Ariel Gold disrupted a speech given by the actor Ashton Kutcher, an Airbnb investor who defended the company. Gold was escorted off the stage by security.
In September 2008, a number of CODEPINK leaders met with former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a notorious anti-Semite and Holocaust denier. CODEPINK reportedly initiated its anti-Israel campaign followeding meeting. In November 2008, Jodie Evans and a CODEPINK contingent visited Iran at the personal invitation of Ahmadinejad.
Social Media and Weblinks
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/730321386Twitter: https://twitter.com/queeralamode
LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-wentz/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/13rlw/