Sarah Zayed

Overview

Sarah Zayed is a student at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). She also co-owns a business called Bella Hijabswith her sister, Sireen Zayed.

Zayed is the president and primary contact of the Interfaith Coalition for Palestine (ICP) with the Indiana Palestine Solidarity (IPS) to host anti-Israel events. IPS was founded by Zayed’s sister Sireen Zayed (4:02) with the goal of "bring[ing] together activists and Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapters from all over the state of Indiana."

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

Zayed is involved with the anti-Israel group American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) and attended the 2014 AMP conference.

Promoting Anti-Semitism Under The Guise of Human Rights

In March of 2016, Zayed signed a petition endorsing BDS and disingenuously denying that BDS is rife with anti-Semitism.

The petition was headlined "BDS Opposes all Racism — Including Anti-Semitism." The petition, however, showcased BDS’ anti-Semitism. The petition quoted Omar Barghouti calling Zionism a form of racism and bigotry:

"The struggle for our inalienable rights is one opposed to all forms of racism and bigotry, including, but not limited to, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, Zionism, and other forms of bigotry directed at anyone, and in particular people of color and indigenous peoples everywhere."

The petition also stated that "[a]n end to racism in all its forms depends on an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestine."

Idolizing Hamas Propagandist Mads Gilbert

On November 13, 2015, Zayed was featured in a photo from the 2014 AMP conference posing alongside Israel-hating propagandist Dr. Mads Gilbert.

In December of 2014, Al Jazeera published an incendiary interview with Gilbert — where he justified Hamas’ rocket attacks fired from civilian areas toward Israeli civilian population centers. Gilbert declared, deceptively: "Occupied people have the right to resist. They also have the right to resist with weapons."

Following Al Qaeda’s September 11 terrorist attacks, Gilbert also expressed support for them as a "legitimate response" to U.S foreign policy.

In December of 2009, Gilbert was accused of faking resuscitation on a dead child in Gaza for dramatic effect in a CNN video.

In his 2014 interview, Gilbert complained that Israel’s "propaganda machine," distorted the nature of the conflict — then misleadingly cited Hamas propaganda figures concerning the number of Gazan children killed.

In November of 2014, Gilbert was banned from from entering Gaza through Israel, due to his close ties with Hamas leaders.

IPS Supporting Student-Killer Rasmea Odeh

On February 25, 2015, Indiana Palestine Solidarity (IPS) held a "Solidarity with Rasmea" fundraiser for unrepentant terrorist-murderer Rasmea Odeh, misleadingly labeling Odeh’s arrest and prosecution part of a “broader pattern of persecuting Arabs and Muslims who are outstanding and outspoken leaders in their communities throughout the U.S.”

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.

ICP: Demonizing Israel

ICP became an official IUPUI student group in March of 2015. The group frequently uses its Facebookaccount to spread misleading anti-Israel invective and promote BDS. ICP’s faculty adviser is IUPUI professor Edward Curtis, the founder of IUPUI Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine, which endorses BDS.

On May 14, 2016, ICP shared on Facebook a fraud-laden video by AJ+, that propagated lies about Israel and the history of the Israeli-Arab conflict. These claims were quickly refuted by a video created by The Israel Project, highlighting AJ+’s inaccuracies and deceptions.

On October 28, 2015, ICP hosted an event at IUPUI called "Why Boycotting Israeli Universities is the Right Thing to Do."

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.

AMP

American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) was founded by UC Berkeley Professor Hatem Bazian as a vehicle to generate mainstream support in the United States for the Palestinian national cause.

On its website, the organization lists Bazian as the chairman of its national board and describes itself as “a national education and grassroots-based organization, dedicated to educating the American public about Palestine and its rich cultural, historical and religious heritage.” 

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has accused AMP of promoting “extreme anti-Israel views and has at times provided a platform for anti-Semitism under the guise of educating Americans” about Palestinians. The ADL further stated that AMP is directly involved in campus-based anti-Israel activity through Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP).

Prior to founding the AMP in 2006, Dr. Bazian created SJP together with fellow UC Berkeley Professor Snehal Shingavi in 2001. The close working relationship between AMP and SJP has been documented several times over the years by several organizations, including NGO Monitor and StandWithUs. 

In addition to providing financial, public relations and legal assistance to SJP, AMP has also been accused of having connections to Hamas. The AMP national board includes former members of both the Islamic Association of Palestine (IAP) and Holy Land Foundation (HLF), both of which were found liable for aiding and abetting Hamas. The IAP was founded by Mousa Mohammed Abu Marzook, a senior member of Hamas.

Social Media and Weblinks

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sarzae [Suspended] 

https://www.facebook.com/sarah.zayed [Suspended]