Sarah Aly

Overview

Sarah Aly [Sarah A. Aly] has spread hatred of Zionists, expressed support for terrorists and opposed interfaith dialogue at Brooklyn College (Brooklyn), part of City of New York University (CUNY).

Aly was the president of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at Brooklyn College (Brooklyn SJP) from 2014 to 2016.

Aly has spread hatred of Israel and promoted the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.

Aly graduated from Brooklyn with a bachelor’s degree in Political Science, in 2016. In 2015, Aly studied Elections and the Muslim Brotherhood at the American University of Cairo (AUC).

On February 9, 2016, the Network of Arab-American Professionals of New York (NAAP NY) presented Aly an “Activism Award,” along with Columbia SJP member Jannine Salman.

Spreading Hatred of Zionists

On February 16, 2016, Aly and fellow SJP activist Thomas DeAngelis were among nine Brooklyn College Student Coalition (BCSC) members whose disruptive behavior prompted the shutdown of a Faculty Council meeting on campus.

Faculty members reported that the students began chanting anti-Zionist epithets, including: “Zionists off campus.” One faculty member said he heard a student call Faculty Council Chair Yedidyah Langsam a "Zionist pig." Langsam said: “once she made that remark” to him he adjourned the meeting.

The following day, Brooklyn College President Karen Gould sent a campus-wide email, stating: “we find this disruptive behavior unacceptable and the hateful comments especially abhorrent.” Gould also reportedly called for an investigation into the offending students’ conduct and for appropriate punitive measures.

As reported in an article published by Palestine Legal on May 19, 2016, Aly and DeAngelis were initially charged by Brooklyn College with violating CUNY’s code of conduct, including intentional obstruction, failure to comply with lawful directions, unauthorized occupancy of college facilities and disorderly conduct.

On May 20, 2016, the anti-Israel legal advocacy organizations Palestine Legal and Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) represented Aly and DeAngelis at a five-hour disciplinary hearing, where they were ultimately charged with “failure to comply with lawful directions” and given a warning by Brooklyn College for violating “the University’s rules regarding public order.”

On November 12, 2015, Aly co-organized the “Million Student March” at CUNY. Students at the march chanted [00:00:05] “Zionists out of CUNY” at Hunter College and [00:00:18] “Intifada! Intifada! Long live the intifada!”

On November 12, 2015, New York City SJP (NYC SJP) published an online statement about the protest, blaming rising tuition costs on CUNY’s “Zionist administration.”

Supporting Terrorists

On October 8, 2015, Aly participated in a “die-in,” which Brooklyn SJP claimed on Facebook was prompted by “...recent israeli aggression [sic.] against Palestinians, including the murder of ...19-year-old Fadi Alloun in cold blood, execution style.”

Fadi Aloon was shot by Israeli security forces after he stabbed a 15-year-old Israeli boy. Several hours before the attack, Aloon posted “Either martyrdom or victory” on his Facebook page.

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.

On March 5, 2014, Aly appeared in a photo shared by Brooklyn SJP on Facebook with another Brooklyn SJP activist during Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) in 2014.

Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) is presented internationally as a “series of events that seeks to raise awareness of…Israel’s settler-colonial project and apartheid system over the Palestinian people.” One of its goals is to build support for the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement. IAW has been renamed Palestine Awareness Week.

Aly and the other activist in the photo were part of a Brooklyn SJP event during which student activists created a “human apartheid wall,” meant to mock Israel’s security barrier, on campus.

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.

The section Aly wore featured an image of Leila Khaled, holding an assault rifle.

Khaled is a leader 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 for the use of children in terror activities and compared Zionists to Nazis.

The PFLP claimed credit for the 2014 Har Nof Massacre where six people were murdered during morning prayers in a Jerusalem synagogue. The PFLP also claimed credit for the 2001 assassination of the Israeli tourism minister.

Three other activists held up signs in front of the mock barrier that together read: “The right to boycott, the right to divest, the right to sanction."

Demonizing Israel

On July 24, 2014, Aly marched in a counter-rally with hundreds of protesters through lower Manhattan demanding an end to American support for Israel’s operation in Gaza, when nearly two dozen federal, state and city elected officials rallied at New York's City Hall to show their support for Israel during 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.

Protesters chanted: "Shame on you City Council. They do not speak for us" and "When people are occupied, resistance is justified."

In a statement made on July 14, 2014, to the Latin Post, Aly derided the officials, saying: “...for them to go and speak on behalf of all of their constituents and say we stand with Israel when so many don't stand with Israel, I don't know who gave them the right to speak on our behalf because I for one don't stand for Israel.”

Aly also said it was “hypocritical” for New York City Council to support Israel but oppose SJP Brooklyn’s wish to host BDS co-founder Omar Barghouti. Barghouti has glorified [00:02:22] terror against Israel and spread [00:07:40] anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.

On May 13, 2016, Aly was featured [00:01:05] in a video posted to Facebook by Brooklyn SJP in commemoration of the “Nakba.” The video claimed [00:00:10] that “the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people has been systematically erased” by “the Zionist state.”

On May 14, 2016, Aly appeared in a photo on Facebook, as part of a Brooklyn SJP campaign titled: “In Memory of Al-Nakba.”

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.

On May 15, 2016, Aly indicated on Facebook that she “went” to the “Nakba Day March of Resistance and Return” rally at New York City Hall “to call for the right of return of Palestinian refugees.”

The “right of return” is a Palestinian demand discredited as a means to eliminate Israel. International law mandates no absolute right of return and UN Resolution 194, which defined principles for “refugees wishing to return to their homes,” was unanimously rejected by Arab nations following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.

Promoting BDS

On May 15, 2013, Aly spoke on behalf of Brooklyn SJP on WRFG Atlanta Radio and the next day on Islam Radio, urging the boycott of TIAA-CREF, a pension provider used by CUNY, due to TIAA-CREF’s investment in Israeli companies.

Opposing Interfaith Dialogue

On March 13, 2016, Aly organized a panel event titled: “Counterproductive Collaborations - The Faithwashing of the Israeli Occupation of Palestine,” co-sponsored by NYC SJP, Brooklyn SJP, and the Muslim American Society.

The event featured former New York president of American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) and Brooklyn College graduate Raja Abdulhaq.

On February 24, 2015, Abdulhaq stated on Facebook that “Any Muslim organization that organizes "interfaith" events with Zionist organizations” is a “betrayal to your brothers and sisters in Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt and other countries. Shame on you!”

Brooklyn SJP - Exploiting Disturbed Children to Demonize Israel

On April 28, 2016, Brooklyn SJP shared an inflammatory AJ+ video on Facebook about 12-year-old Dima Al-Wawi, who was imprisoned for attempting to stab a security guard at the Israeli settlement of Karmei Tzur. Al-Wawi later claimed that she intended to kill the security guard and hoped she would be killed in the process. "I was dreaming that I was going to be martyred," she said.

Al-Wawi was released early — six weeks before her scheduled release, and was received as a hero in her home-town in Halhoul, West Bank — an area under the control of the Palestinian Authority.

Brooklyn SJP - Spreading Lies and Hate

On October 27, 2015, Brooklyn SJP shared an article on Facebook citing a Palestinian Prisoner's’ Club libel that "40% of Palestinian Children Detained by Israel Sexually Abused; Virtually All Tortured."

On November 2, 2015, Brooklyn SJP co-sponsored a vigil to support former officers of the Holy Land Foundation (HLF) — who were found guilty of funneling $12 million dollars to Hamas. HLF’s founders received sentences ranging between 15 and 65 years in federal prison in the United States. Hamas’ charter calls for the murder of Jews. Hamas television programing educates school children to hate Jews and its summer camps teach children to wage war.

On November 27, 2015, Brooklyn SJP shared on Facebook a misleading animated map representing lands that were controlled by Britain, Egypt, and Jordan as autonomous “Palestine,” stolen by Israel.

On May 1, 2016 Brooklyn SJP posted a photo supporting British politician and Member of Parliament Naz Shah, who was suspended from Britain's Labour Party for sharing on Facebook a graphic of Israel’s outline superimposed on a map of the US under the headline “Solution for Israel-Palestine Conflict – Relocate Israel into United States”, with the comment: “Problem solved.”

One placard at the October 8, 2015 die-in grossly mischaracterized Israel’s security fence — 97% of which is a low chain link barrier. It falsely claimed that Israel has an “Apartheid Wall” that is “30 times the length of Manhattan!” and “Twice as high as the Berlin wall!”

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.