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Sarah Tayel

Overview

Sarah Tayel led chants promoting hatred of Israel when she disrupted an Israeli cultural event in 2016. Tayel has also spread incitement and served [00:06:05] as a board member for Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at the University of Maryland (UMD) College Park (SJP UMD) in 2017.

Tayel is a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.

Tayel also served as president of the UMD chapter of the Organization of Arab Students (OAS at UMD) from 2017 to 2019. She served as the organization’s treasurer for the 2016-2017 academic year.

Tayel was a member of the Facebook page of the Muslim Student Association (MSA) at UMD (UMD MSA) and served as the president of her high school’s MSA chapter. 

On September 14, 2022, Tayel posted on Facebook that she “recently finished the OTD [Occupational Therapy Doctorate] program at Towson [University]…” 

As of June 2023, Tayel’s LinkedIn profile said she was a “Doctor of Occupational Therapy” and had attended Towson’s OTD doctoral program from June 2019 to August 2022. Her LinkedIn page also said she graduated from UMD with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and family science in 2019.

Also as of June 2023, Tayel’s LinkedIn said she was located in the “Washington DC-Baltimore” area. 

April 19, 2016 - SJP UMD Disrupting an Israeli Cultural Event

Tayel led chants promoting hatred of Israel and then disrupted an Israeli cultural event during an SJP UMD rally and “die-in.”

On April 19, 2016, SJP UMD held a rally and “die-in” in protest to the annual UMD Jewish Student Union (Maryland JSU) “Israel Fest” celebration taking place that day on the UMD campus. 

SJP UMD began the protest with a rally at UMD’s McKeldin Library. 

At the start of the rally, Tayel stood in the crowd wearing a maroon hijab and holding a sign painted to look like the Palestinian flag. Tayel stood in a line with other protestors, shouting [00:01:53]: “Shut it down!” in synchronized response to another protestor accusing Israel of “ethnic cleansing” and “racist policies.” 

SJP UMD activist Mohammad Sajjad Soltanmohammadi, a Hamas and Hezbollah supporter, led [00:02:04] the chant: “When people are occupied, resistance is justified!” 

Among Palestinians and anti-Israel activists, the term “resistance” can be a euphemism for nationalistic terror. It is often used to excuse or even glorify anti-Israel and anti-Semitic violence.  

Soltanmohammadi also said [00:03:47]: “Zionism is based on ethnic cleansing and racism!”

Zionism is the belief that Jews have the right to self-determination in their own national home, and the right to develop their national culture.


One student activist held [00:03:53] a sign that said: “ZIONISM KILLS!”

Tayel later led [00:10:22] the crowd of anti-Israel protestors in the chants: “Displacing lives since ‘48, there’s nothing here to celebrate!” and “Viva, viva, Palestina!”

Tayel and the protestors then marched [00:11:45] to the Israel Fest celebration and began lying down in the center of the festival.

Following the rally, Tayel joined [00:15:00] other protestors in a “die-in,” lying down in the middle of the Israel Fest celebrations.

Campus police intervened [00:14:25] and began removing [00:15:41] Tayel and the protestors from the main walkway. Several protestors fought [00:16:12] with campus police, refusing [00:17:01] to follow instructions.

Spreading Incitement

On October 19, 2015, Tayel posted an SJP UMD graphic on the OAS at UMD Facebook page during a period of terrorism against Israelis known as the Knife Intifada.The graphic said: “#PALESTINEUNDERATTACK / EMERGENCY FORUM ON ISRAEL’S ESCALATION OF REPRESSION IN PALESTINE / END THE OCCUPATION / HANDS OFF AL-AQSA / BOYCOTT ISRAEL NOW…” 

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.


The allegation that Jews “threaten” to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque has been a pretext for Arab attacks on Jews long before the existence of the modern Jewish state. Such propaganda has led to multiple periods of violence against Israeli civilians.

Tayel wrote in her post: “Hey guys! SJP's emergency forum in light of all of Israel's recent acts of violence on the Palestinians and in Palestine is TOMORROW AT 6PM! Please come out and share your opinions! I know you all have at least seen one picture or video about the recent happenings, and will have something to share! If not, come learn about what is going on there! We'd love to see you all there!”

SJP UMD’s Facebook page for the event said: “The Israeli military has also been occupying Al-Aqsa . Come and take action in support of the Palestinian people!”

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.



MSA

The MSA was  established by members of the Muslim Brotherhood in January 1963 at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, with the goal of "spreading Islam as students in North America." A 2004 FBI investigation uncovered an internal Muslim Brotherhood document in which a brotherhood leader identified the MSA as "one of our organizations." 


The MSA reportedly has “nearly 600 chapters” located in the United States and Canada, and is “the most visible and influential Islamic student organization in North America,” boasting conferences, special events, publications, websites and other activities.


The organization includes a number of previous chapter presidents with explicit links to terrorist groups. Included are al-Qaeda cleric Anwar al-Awlaki (Colorado State University), Somali al-Shabaab militant leader Omar Shafik Hammami (University of South Alabama) and Pakistani Taliban recruiter Ramy Zamzam of the MSA's Washington, D.C. council.  

Social Media and Weblinks

Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/100005081255810

YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/user/SarahTayel 

LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-tayel/
Sarah Tayel
Status:
Unknown
University:
Maryland
Organizations:
BDS,
MSA,
more...
SJP

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Delia Dreher,

Last Modified:
06/23/2025

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