Sheehan Moore
Overview
Sheehan Moore was an organizer and supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.As of May 14, 2018, Moore indicated on Facebook that he “went” to the “1st Annual Palestine Lives Conference.”
The conference was co-hosted by Within Our Lifetime (WOL), formerly known as New York City Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), as well as the anti-Israel groups Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM) and Existence Is Resistance.
As of May 2018, Moore’s website said that he was a PhD student at The Graduate Center of City of New York University (CUNY), studying Anthropology. He is a 2013 graduate of McGill University (McGill), where he received a bachelor’s degree in Anthropology.
BDS Activism
Since January 29, 2016, Moore was a member of the Facebook group “Labor for Palestine.” As of May 13, 2018, the group description endorsed BDS, called on trade unions “to refuse to handle Israeli cargo and called on labor bodies “to divest from Israel Bonds and cut ties with the Histadrut, Israel’s racist labor federation.”As of May 2018, Moore’s website said that he participated in an August 2016 panel discussion titled “The Boycott Divestment and Sanctions Movement and Graduate Employee Unions. How Should We Engage?”
The panel discussion was hosted by the Coalition of Graduate Employee Unions conference at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
McGill BDS - Activism
Moore was an organizer and primary contact for an open letter sent to alumni of McGill encouraging them to endorse the 2016 BDS campaign at McGill.On February 22, 2016, the McGill BDS Action Network (McGill BDS) proposed a motion to the General Assembly of the Student’s Society of McGill University (SSMU) to demand the university withdraw investment from Israeli companies including Mizrahi-Tefahot Bank, L-3 Communications and Re/Max. The vote passed 512 to 357, in support of BDS.
On February 25, 2016, BDS supporters reportedly targeted Jewish students opposed to the vote, filling their social media with anti-semitic remarks, such as “Little Zionist jewboys not happy that McGill students don’t support their genocide.”
One student was reportedly followed home and verbally harassed and another had contacted the police regarding an attempted hack to his Facebook page. One campaigner voting against the bill said he knew at least 10 students who sought counselling to help with intolerable situations.
On February 27, 2016, the BDS initiative lost the subsequent online ratification vote by 57 to 43 percent.
Following the announcement of the vote, McGill Principal and Vice-Chancellor Suzanne Fortier issued a statement to the university community “to explain why the University’s administration continues to steadfastly oppose the BDS movement, of which this motion is a part.”
Fortier wrote: “The BDS movement, which among other things, calls for universities to cut ties with Israeli universities, flies in the face of the tolerance and respect we cherish as values fundamental to a university. It proposes actions that are contrary to the principles of academic freedom, equity, inclusiveness and the exchange of views and ideas in responsible, open discourse.”
On February 27, 2016, Moore promoted the alumni campaign on Facebook — providing a link to the letter, which was later published online without his contact details.
Prior to the vote, the SPHR team campaign to promote the resolution featured a pro-BDS panel discussion. Though the panel discussion pushed for an academic boycott of Israel, this was not included in the final McGill Divestment Motion.
On October 22, 2014, a BDS motion was shelved indefinitely by the McGill University undergraduates’ association at its general assembly.
McGill BDS - Demonizing Israel
On February 16, 2016, McGill BDS held a Panel Discussion with Montreal anti-Israel organizers Mostafa Henaway and Zahia El-Masri.During the presentation, Henaway claimed [00:29:46] that Israel causes “countless massacre after countless massacre [sic.]” and referred to the “Knife Intifada” terror as “popular resistance” born of “desperation.”
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.
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.
- Status:
- Student
- University:
- City-New-York,
- more...
- Organizations:
- BDS
- Related Profiles:
- Anas Shakra,
- Last Modified:
- 05/04/2026
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