Sherene Seikaly
Overview
Sherene Seikaly has expressed support for terrorists, spread incitement, celebrated intifada and promoted hatred of Israel. Seikaly is a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.As of February 2023, Seikaly was a treasurer and board member at Palestinian American Research Center (PARC) and a policy member of Al-Shabaka, the Palestinian Policy Network.
As of the same date, Seikaly was a co-editor of the Journal of Palestine Studies.
Seikaly is co-founder and editor of the Jadaliyya online magazine.
As of February 2023, Seikaly worked as an associate professor of history at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB).
Seikaly received a Ph.D. in Middle Eastern and Islamic studies from New York University (NYU) in 2007. She also graduated from Georgetown University (Georgetown) with a master’s degree in Arab studies in 2000.
As of February 2023, Seikaly used the handle “@srseikaly” on Instagram.
Terror Support (PIJ, Hamas, Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade)
On September 10, 2021, Seikaly tweeted: “Four birds captured, praying, heartbroken, in awe of this bravery #prisonbreak #Palestine.”On September 6, 2021, six Palestinian prisoners escaped from the maximum-security Gilboa Prison in Israel. The escaped prisoners were convicted members of the terror organizations Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, who were jailed for their involvement in attacks carried out during the second intifada. All were recaptured by September 19, 2021, by Israeli authorities.
Also on September 10, 2021, Seikaly tweeted: “Two of our birds have been captured. Praying for their wellbeing. Honoring their bravery. #Palestine #PrisonBreak.”
On July 22, 2014, Seikaly tweeted: “Hamas, in Bibi’s [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanuahu] words, defies modernity. You can have your modernity Bibi. It is nothing but brutality and ugliness. #Gaza.”
Seikaly wrote her tweet during Israel’s Operation Protective Edge (OPE) against Hamas.
Israel commenced OPE in July 2014 to stop rocket fire targeting Israeli civilians and to destroy Hamas attack tunnels.
On July 15, 2014, during OPE, Seikaly tweeted: “demonization of hamas obfuscates: occupation, apartheid and settler colonialism…”
Incitement
Seikaly retweeted a May 10, 2021 tweet that said: “Israeli authorities’ brutal treatment of protesters in occupied East Jerusalem, including in/around al-Aqsa mosque, stem from a systematic practice of excessive force & impunity for serious abuses. Its actions here seek to quell demonstrations & Palestinian mass mobilization…”On May 14, 2021, Seikaly tweeted: “Read sister/warrior @SameraEsmeir ‘the residents of Sheikh Jarrah are also refugees in their homeland, they articulate... the different fates of Palestinians: citizens, subjects, and refugees.’ #SaveSheikhJarrah #Palestine #Apartheid.”
On May 16, 2021, during Israel’s Operation Guardian of the Walls (OGW) against Hamas, Seikaly tweeted: “... #GazaUnderAttack #SaveSheikhJarrah #Apartheid.”
In May 2021, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorists fired over 4,300 rockets from Gaza at major population centers in Israel. Israel responded by launching OGW, carrying out targeted military strikes in Gaza.
Seikaly retweeted a May 20, 2021 tweet that said: “Following a ‘ceasefire’ in this latest assault on #Jerusalem, #SheikhJarrah, #AlAqsa, #Gaza, the #WestBank, #48Palestinians, the truth & human decency-- #IsraeliApartheid should not assume that it can go back to the status quo ante. Start thinking #FreePalestine.”
“48” refers to 1948, the year the State of Israel was established.
Seikaly retweeted a May 23, 2021 tweet that said: “Settlers in al-Aqsa compound, attacks in Sheikh Jarrah, police and military raids on ‘48 Palestinian cities and towns, mass arrests, devastation in Gaza as Israel continues its siege and is keeping borders closed to humanitarian aid. Does this look like a ceasefire?”
Celebrating Intifada
On December 8, 2021, Seikaly posted on Facebook: “Today on the anniversary of the #Intifada we honor all the Palestinians who have taught us the texture of feminism, what it looks like on the ground, how it is based in love….”The term “intifada,” which translates from Arabic as “uprising” or “insurrection,” carries the connotation of violence. Palestinian intifadas waged against Israel have been marked since 1987 by hundreds of hijackings, shootings, stabbings, bombings and suicide missions.
Seikaly retweeted a September 11, 2021 tweet written five days after the Gilboa prison break that said: “...‘48 Palestine stands with the prisoners. Continuing the Unity Intifada.”
Seikaly retweeted a December 9, 2019 tweet that said: “Intifada past and present. Intifada always.”
Hatred of Israel
Seikaly retweeted a November 12, 2022 tweet that said: “Welcome to Israel, where massacring Palestinians is self defense, calling out war crimes is terror, and stealing land is democracy.”On April 28, 2022, Seikaly tweeted: “Read the brilliant @Lau_Bast on how media coverage whitewashes Israeli state violence against Palestinians.”
Seikaly retweeted a May 23, 2021 tweet that said: “A mass campaign of arrests is happening in 48/ Israel. Israeli occupation forces are arresting Palestinian citizens involved in the uprising. #palestinerises.”
“Israeli Occupation Forces,” or “IOF,” is a derogatory name for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) used by anti-Israel activists to demonize Israel’s army.
On May 15, 2021, Seikaly tweeted: “1948 to 2021: 73 years of separation from the land and each other, 73 years of struggle. The #Nakba is ongoing. Our struggle is ongoing. We will remain.We will return. #Nakba73.”
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.
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.
On May 10, 2021, Seikaly tweeted: “Let’s be clear, #eastjerusalem is occupied land.
Palestinians facing down #EthnicCleansing in #shaykhjarrah are part of century long struggle to remain on the land in the face of militarized dispossession. #SettlerColonialism…”
On August 14, 2020, Seikaly tweeted: “Annexation is a euphemism. This is a century long process of #Zionism establishing facts on the ground, confiscating the land of #Palestine and erasing #Palestinians. We are still here…”
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.
Seikaly retweeted an August 13, 2020 tweet that said: “The UAE is normalizing relations with Israel in exchange for Israel ‘suspending’ committing a new war crime? That’s the only concession Abu Dhabi secured?”
On August 13, 2020, the United States, Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) agreed to a joint statement referred to as the “Abraham Accords” in which the UAE consented to formally normalize its relationship with Israel.
Seikaly retweeted an August 19, 2019 tweet that accused Israel of trying to “Pinkwash the Israeli occupation” and of maintaining its security barrier, which was called a “racist, illegal, apartheid Wall.”
“Pinkwashing” is a claim that Israel advocates manipulate the LGBTQ community in order to garner support for Israel.
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.
On May 15, 2019, Seikaly tweeted: “The #nakba is not a day, it is our everyday. Until return.”
On September 15, 2015, Seikaly tweeted: “one hundred years of [Israeli] #settlercolonialism is not a ‘dispute’; it’s confiscation, dispossession, injustice. its not a dispute #palestine #aqsa.”
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.
Social Media and Web Links
Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/sherene.seikalyTwitter:https://twitter.com/shereneseikaly
Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/srseikaly/
Academia.edu:https://ucsb.academia.edu/ShereneSeikaly
University Website:https://www.history.ucsb.edu/faculty/sherene-seikaly/
- Status:
- Professor
- University:
- California-Santa-Barbara,
- more...
- Georgetown
- Organizations:
- BDS
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- Last Modified:
- 06/23/2025
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