Sarah Abdillahi

Overview

Sarah Abdillahi has spread hatred of Israel, engaged [p. 136] in anti-Israel activism and campaigned for Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement resolutions while serving as president of the University of Toronto’s Scarborough Campus (UTSC) Students' Union (SCSU) in 2020 and 2021.

As of June 2023, Abdillahi’s LinkedIn profile said she had been “Events & Memebership [sic] Engagement Coordinator” at SCSU since December 2022. As of the same date, Abdillahi’s LinkedIn also said she was studying for a bachelor’s degree in “Health Studies, Psychology, and City Studies” from UTSC.

In October 2022, Abdillahi posted on LinkedIn a flyer for an event she was scheduled to speak at, where she was described as an undergraduate student at UTSC.

Also as of June 2023, Abdillahi’s LinkedIn said she had been CEO and president of SCSU at UTSC from May 2020 to April 2022, and vice president of campus life from May 2019 to April 2020.

As of June 2023, Abdillahi went by the username “Sarah

” and used the handle “@_sarahabdillahi” on Twitter. As of the same date, she went by the username “Sarah

” and used the handle “sarahabdi_” on Instagram, and the username “Sarah

” and the handle “@sarahstiktokdiary” on TikTok.

Hatred of Israel

On May 17, 2021, Abdillahi wrote in a comment on a Facebook post: “FROM THE RIVER TO THE SEA, PALESTINE WILL BE FREE

.” The comment was posted on a Facebook group called “UTSC Bird Courses.” A bird course is a Canadian term for a particularly easy course.

“From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free” is a chant calling to dismantle the State of Israel. It has also been employed by Hamas leader Khaled Mashal to call for the replacement of Israel with an Islamic state.

On May 20, 2021, Abdillahi wrote on the “UTSC Bird Courses” Facebook group: “...There is [sic] actual UTSC students who don’t think what is happening in Palestine is any of their business??...This is our problem so we can talk about it on any UofT/UTSC Public page! We can raise awareness wherever and whenever we want!! ANYWAYS FROM THE RIVER TO THE SEA, PALESTINE WILL BE FREE!!!

”

In the same thread, Abdillahi commented: “Also we don't have time to argue with Z*onists yall! We have better things to do! So don't stop spreading awareness!!!! FREE PALESTINE!!!”

Anti-Israel Activism (BDS)

On November 26, 2020, speaking as president of SCSU at SCSU’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) held on Zoom, Abdillahi reportedly expressed support for a motion calling on SCSU to “reaffirm its commitment” to the BDS movement. She also spoke [p. 18] in favor of the BDS motion at the March 2021 SCSU Winter General Meeting (WGM).

On November 3, 2021, at an SCSU Board Meeting, Abdillahi introduced [00:29:46] a BDS policy proposed by SCSU’s Policy & By-Law Committee. Abdillahi reportedly told the University of Toronto (U of T)’s student newspaper, the Varsity, that since the 2020 BDS motion was passed, “the SCSU spent the last year researching, developing and consulting with stakeholders on- and off- campus to develop a policy that would satisfy the will of the membership.”

At the March 2021 SCSU WGM, and at the AGMs in November 2021 and November 2022, Abdillahi spoke against motions [p. 27] submitted by Jewish students calling [p. 22] on SCSU “to no longer endorse BDS.”

On May 20, 2021, Abdillahi wrote a comment on the “UTSC Bird Courses” Facebook group promoting the U of T Divest campaign.

In the same thread, Abdillahi wrote a comment urging readers to sign U of T Divest’s petition. The petition called on U of T to divest from “Companies Benefiting from Violations of International Law and Human Rights Abuses in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.”

On November 3, 2021, Abdillahi proposed [p. 136] to delete from the “Re-Affirmation Of The Rights Of Jewish Students at UTSC” an amendment that said [p. 134] the SCSU, its executives and staff would “Refrain from placing restrictions on Jewish students or Jewish student organizations seeking to affiliate with outside organizations when organizing, funding, or advertising events beyond the limits established by the University of Toronto’s Policy on the Recognition of Student Groups.”

In November 2019, the leader of the SJP chapter at UTSC (TSJP), Ghaith Hanbali, proposed a motion calling on [p. 10] the Scarborough Campus Student Union (SCSU) to “reaffirm its commitment” to the BDS movement at the SCSU Annual General Meeting (AGM).

The motion called on SCSU to “actively support initiatives that raise awareness about the state of Israel’s ongoing occupation of Palestine and war crimes against Palestinian peoples,” and to “refrain from engaging with organizations or participating in events that further normalizes Israeli apartheid.”

Proponents of the “anti-normalization” policy seek to police all interactions between Israelis and Palestinians and shut down all conversations and interactions perceived as being ideologically unaligned with their own agenda.

The motion also called on SCSU’s board of directors to “draft a policy resolution to endorse the BDS movement to ensure that future elected representatives and staff of the Students’ Union uphold our collective commitment to justice in Palestine.”

Hanbali’s motion was not addressed at the AGM due to time constraints.

In a January 2020 meeting of the SCSU board of directors, SCSU voted in favor [p. 14] of a similar motion [p. 11] in support of BDS.

In November 2020, SCSU voted in favor [p. 21] of the original BDS motion proposed [p. 15] by Hanbali in November 2019.

In March 2021, SCSU voted [p. 29] against a motion [p. 11] submitted by Jewish students calling on [p. 26] SCSU to not endorse BDS.

On November 3, 2021, SCSU president Sarah Abdillahi proposed adopting [p. 123] a version of the motion titled: “Re-Affirmation of The Rights Of Jewish Students AT UTSC” that had been amended by SCSU’s Policy and By-Law Committee.

One ofthe clauses [p.124] the Policy and By-Law Committee sought to delete recognized “the right of Jewish students…to organize & advertise events to express their political, cultural and/or religious views.”

The committee also proposed to exclude [p.125] a clause that would allow SCSU to “support campus events…that are organized or sponsored… by campus and community groups that support Israel or Zionism” and“participate in joint research with Israelis or Israeli institutions… enroll in classes offered in conjunction with Israeli universities… [and] travel or study abroad in Israel, or with organizations that support Israel or Zionism.”

On the same date, SCSU voted [p. 126] to adopt the motion.

On November 24, 2021, at its AGM, SCSU voted in favor of adopting a BDS policy [p. 12] proposed by SCSU’s Policy & By-law Committee. The policy included [p. 13] clauses calling to “source kosher food from organizations that do not normalize Israeli apartheid,” and to “Boycott Israeli and settlement goods from being sold by Student Union entities.”

After condemnations by Jewish students and organizations, SCSU passed [p. 20] an amended motion that removed specific reference to kosher food providers, although it still called for SCSU to “refrain from engaging with organizations, services, or participating in events that further normalize Israeli apartheid.”

In November 2019, U of T had previously been embroiled in a controversy regarding kosher food when its Graduate Students’ Union (UTGSU) External Commissioner expressed reluctance to support a campaign by Jewish campus group Hillel to introduce kosher food on campus, due to Hillel’s “pro-Israel” stance.

In November 2022, another Jewish student-led anti-BDS resolution [p. 21] was proposed and ultimately voted [p. 23] down. The motion noted [p. 21] that BDS leads to anti-Semitic hate crimes and discrimination against Jews on campuses where resolutions are adopted. It also called on [p. 22] SCSU to not boycott the Jewish student organizations Hillel and Jewish Student Life (JSL) targeted by the BDS movement.

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.