Salma Ayai
Overview
Aya indicated on Facebook that she was a student at Hunter College (Hunter), part of the City University of New York (CUNY), since 2014.
Ayai was an activist with Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at Hunter (Hunter SJP) in 2014 and 2015. As of September 2019, Aya’s Facebook page still said she “studies” at Hunter.
Supporting Terrorists
Odeh was a key military operative [00:02:08]with the terrorist group the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). In 1969, Odeh masterminded a PFLP bombing that killed two college students in a Jerusalem supermarket. Odeh also attempted to bomb the British consulate.
Odeh confessed, in a highly detailed account, the day following her arrest. In a 2004 documentary, one of Odeh’s co-conspirators directly implicated [00:10:53] Odeh as the mastermind.
In 1970, an Israeli court tried and convicted Odeh for her involvement in both bombings and sentenced her to life imprisonment. However, Odeh was released 10 years later, in a prisoner swap and emigrated to the United States.
On November 10, 2014, a Michigan federal jury convicted Odeh for immigration fraud because she failed to disclose her prior conviction and life sentence on her immigration application. On March 12, 2015, she was sentenced to 18 months in prison.
In 2017, after an appeal and a lengthy court battle, Odeh admitted to immigration fraud, was stripped of her U.S. citizenship, deported to Jordan and banned from re-entering the U.S.
On February 12, 2015, Ayai participated in a photo campaign organized by Hunter SJP, to support Lina Khattab.
Khattab was detained on December 13, 2014, and sentenced to six months jail time on February 16, 2015 for throwing rocks, while celebrating the 47th anniversary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)’s founding.
Spreading Hatred of Israel
On October 16, 2015, Ayai posted a photo on Twitter depicting a series of misleading maps and commented on the photo: “Hell yah hell ya hell ya f**n rite o rite o rite”The maps claim that lands once controlled by Britain, Egypt and Jordan as autonomous “Palestinian land” were purportedly stolen by Israel. In February 2016, publisher McGraw-Hill Education recalled copies of a college textbook containing the fraudulent maps. In October 2015, American cable news network MSNBC apologized for airing a similar series of maps and retracted them.
Ayai retweeted an October 15, 2015 tweet promoting a protest co-hosted by NYC SJP, titled: “SOLIDARITY WITH THE PALESTINIAN UPRISING: Counter Rally to a Zionist Protest.” The protest Ayai retweeted was aimed at disrupting a “Jewish Lives Matter,” rally scheduled for October 18, 2015 in Times Square.
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. The attacks were incited by Palestinian leaders propagating the libel that Israel intended to desecrate the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.
On May 1, 2015, Ayai promoted on Twitter a “May Day Palestine Contingent” event, hosted by Hunter SJP.
The event’s Facebook description said: “The history of May Day principally focuses on the struggle of the working class against capitalist exploitation, yet this struggle is inextricably bound up with the struggle of Palestinians against Zionist settler-colonialism.
The event’s Facebook description continued, referring to Israel’s Operation Protective Edge (OPE): “In 2014 we witnessed a brutal assault on Palestine by the Zionist state which claimed thousands of lives and left hundreds of thousands of Gazans homeless...and the ever-expanding continuation of the Nakba.”
Israel commenced OPE in July 2014 to stop rocket fire targeting Israeli civilians and to destroy Hamas attack tunnels.
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.
Promoting Anti-White Bigotry
On October 6, 2015, Ayai tweeted: “DONE” and embedded in her post a tweet showing a photo of a blood-sucking parasite with the comment: “White people are insects...Could this insect be largely responsible for Africa's underdevelopment?”
On April 1, 2015, Ayai tweeted: “i hate when white people say all asians look alike like i can’t tell the difference between you stale loaves of wonderbread please.”
On March 9, 2015, Ayai tweeted: “I swear old white men are such skeeves. Escpecially those who hold a position of authority.”
Hunter SJP - Defending Terrorists (2015-2016)
On July 20, 2016, Hunter SJP promoted on Facebook a rally in support of Bilal Kayed, then on a hunger strike in Israeli jail. The rally was co-sponsored by NYC SJP and scheduled to be held on July 25, 2016 at the Consulate General of Israel in New York.Bilal Kayed was a PFLP terrorist who was incarcerated in 2002 for 14 years for terror attacks and attempted terror attacks committed during the second intifada.
On June 3, 2016, Hunter SJP promoted on Facebook a “Justice for Rasmea Rally & March” hosted by Within Our Lifetime (WOL), formerly known as New York City SJP (NYC SJP). The event’s Facebook description said the rally was organized to “demand a new trial and justice” for Rasmea Odeh.
Odeh, with the terrorist group the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), was a key military operative [00:02:08] and in 1969 masterminded a PFLP bombing in a Jerusalem supermarket that killed two college students. Odeh also attempted to bomb the British consulate.
She was convicted of immigration fraud in 2014 because she did not disclose her prior conviction and life sentence on her immigration application. She was sentenced to 18 months in prison in 2015, was stripped of her U.S. citizenship in 2017 and deported to Jordan.
On March 5, 2016, Hunter SJP shared an NYC SJP blog post on Facebook that praised Leila Khaled for “committing her life to be a freedom fighter in the struggle for Palestinian liberation.”
NYC SJP’s blog post went on to praise Odeh and Khalida Jarrar. Jarrar is a senior member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terror organization who was arrested by Israel in 2017 “on suspicion of involvement with terrorist activities.” In 2015, an Israeli military court sentenced her to 15 months in prison for calling to kidnap Israeli soldiers.
October 4, 2015, Hunter SJP shared to Facebok a video of Fadi (Aloun) Aloon and commented: “19 year old Palestinian murdered by Israeli occupation forces at behest of settlers in Jerusalem”
Fadi Aloon posted “Either martyrdom or victory” to Facebook hours before he stabbed a teenage Israeli boy. Aloon was shot by Israeli security forces after the attack.
On August 16, 2015, Hunter SJP promoted on Facebook a protest by NYC SJP supporting terrorist Mohammad Allan, then hunger striking in Israeli prison.
Allan, a member of terror group Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), was initially jailed in 2006 by Israel for trying to recruit a suicide bomber to carry out an attack in Israel. He was similarly detained in 2015.
Mohammed’s relative Ziad Allan, spoke at the protest, demonizing Israel.
Hunter SJP - Spreading Hatred of Israel 2015-2016
On May 1, 2016, Hunter SJP shared on Facebook an NYC SJP blog post that read: “This May Day, we denounce Israel, we denounce the United States, and we denounce global capitalism and its highest form, imperialism.” The post also alleged: “Israel sustains itself and its crimes through the aid of global imperialist powers.”On April 26, 2016, Hunter SJP promoted on Facebook a rally co-sponsored by NYC SJP and NY4 Palestine, scheduled to take place on May 1, 2016.
The Facebook event description said: “1, 2, 3, 4 open up the prison door!5, 6, 7, 8 smash the settler zionist state! How do you spell racist? N-Y-P-D [New York Police Department]! How do you spell murderer? I-D-F [Israel Defense Forces]!”
On November 4, 2015, Hunter SJP promoted on Facebook the Million Student March (MSM) at CUNY, demanding the abolishment of tuition, cancellation of student debt and a $15.00 an hour wage minimum for all campus workers.
On November 12, 2015, NYC SJP posted a statement which blamed rising tuition costs on CUNY’s “Zionist administration.” The statement also claimed that “CUNY aims to produce the next generation of professional Zionists.”
Protesters at MSM chanted [00:00:10]: “Zionists out of CUNY,” as well as “Intifada! Intifada! Long live the intifada!”
On March 14, 2015, Hunter SJP staged a mock checkpoint on campus meant to demonize Israel. Some Hunter SJP activists portrayed IDF soldiers confronting Palestinians. A backdrop at the mock checkpoint represented Israel’s security barrier asan “apartheid wall” and bore text that said: “To Exist Is To Resist.”
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.
Social Media and Weblinks
- Status:
- Student
- University:
- Hunter
- Organizations:
- BDS,
- SJP
- Related Profiles:
- Tami Gold,
- Last Modified:
- 05/04/2026
Photos & Screenshots
