Shza Zaki

Overview

Shza Zaki spread hatred of Israel with Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Within Our Lifetime (WOL) in 2021 as the president of the Undergraduate Student Government (USG) at The City College of New York (CCNY).

For more information, see the CCNY SJP Chapter Profile.

Zaki is a supporter [no. 486] of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement. She has also opposed the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism.

As of May 2023, Zaki’s LinkedIn said she was president of the CCNY USG from September 2020 to June 2021. Zaki also served as a senator for the CUNY University Student Senate (USS) from September 2020 to June 2021.

As of May 2023, Zaki’s LinkedIn page said she was studying for a master’s degree in global affairs at the New York University (NYU) School of Professional Studies (NYU SPS), slated to graduate in June 2024. Zaki graduated with a bachelor’s degree in political science and international studies from CCNY in 2021.

As of the same date, Zaki’s LinkedIn said she worked as a “Student Representative for the Student Affairs and Special Programs Committee” for the CUNY Board of Trustees from November 2020 to June 2021.

As of May 2023, Zaki’s LinkedIn said she was located in New York, New York.

Hatred of Israel in Anti-Israel Activism (SJP, WOL, BDS)

On June 1, 2021, Zaki, while serving [00:04:31] as CCNY USG president, spoke [00:04:38] at a CCNY SJP and WOL protest titled: “CUNY MUST DIVEST! United for Palestine.” The protest was part of the CUNY Divest campaign.

At the rally, Zaki defended [00:07:24] a CCNY USG Facebook post from the prior month that read: “#FreePalestine #SaveSheikhJarrah The Undergraduate Student Government condemns the acts of genocide occurring in Palestine and stands in solidarity with our Palestinian brothers and sisters.”

In May 2021, calls to “save” Sheikh Jarrah, a Jerusalem neighborhood at the center of a property dispute, led to violence against Israelis and were one of the leading factors in Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists firing over 4,300 rockets from Gaza into Israel that month.

After her speech, Zaki led [00:09:45] protesters in chanting: “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free!”

“From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free” is a chant calling to dismantle the State of Israel. It has also been employed by Hamas leader Khaled Mashal to call for the replacement of Israel with an Islamic state.

Other protesters at the rally chanted [00:01:17]: “Zionism out of CUNY now,” and [00:04:07]: “Brick by brick, wall by wall, Israeli apartheid has to fall!”

On May 28, 2021, Zaki signed an anti-Israel statement titled: “CUNY Community Statement of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.”

The statement said that signatories pledge to: “Initiate, support, and amplify campaigns in solidarity with Palestinian calls for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) against Israeli apartheid…”

The statement also said: “We condemn the forced removal of Palestinians from their homes in Sheikh Jarrah” and “oppose the raiding of the al-Aqsa mosque…”

In May 2021, violent clashes broke out between Palestinian worshippers and Israeli police at the Al-Aqsa compound following claims the Al-Aqsa Mosque was in danger. Allegations of Jews “threatening” to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque have been a traditional pretext for Arab attacks on Jews predating the State of Israel.

The statement was published with a promotion for a BDS rallyheld at CUNY’s John Jay College (JJC) on the same date titled: “CUNY MUST DIVEST! Rally and Press Conference for BDS.”

On May 28, 2021, Zaki spoke [00:00:03] at the BDS rally and led [00:01:27] the crowd in chanting: “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free!”

At the BDS rally, WOL founder Nerdeen Kiswani addressed protesters, saying [00:02:08]: “We have to make sure that wherever there are zionists, they know that there will be people there to oppose their racist ideology.”

Another speaker at the rally said [00:01:04] Israel is the “biggest provider of injustice in the world.” Activists also chanted [00:01:12]: “It is right to rebel, Israel go to hell,” and [00:01:03] “One, two, three, four, Occupation no more! Five, six, seven, eight, smash the settler Zionist state!”

Opposing the IHRA Definition of Anti-Semitism

On April 11, 2021, Zaki voted [04:52:06] in favor of a resolution that opposed the definition of anti-Semitism used by the U.S. government which includes equating Israel with Nazi Germany. The resolution was written by CUNY Law SJP and the anti-Israel CUNY Jewish Law Students Association (JLSA).

The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) highlights multiple forms of contemporary anti-Semitism related to Israel, including “Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor” and “Applying double standards by requiring of it a behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation.” The U.S. State Department adopted the IHRA’s working definition of anti-Semitism in 2016. Over 40 other countries have adopted the definition as well.

On April 11, 2021, the CUNY USS voted on whether to adopt a resolution supporting the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism. The CUNY USS also voted on a resolution co-authored by SJP and JLSA which explicitly rejected [p. 3] the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism.

The SJP and JLSA resolution was reportedly introduced to the USS by Nerdeen Kiswani at a CUNY USS Plenary meeting held on Zoom.

The resolution claimed [p. 2]: “...it is not antisemitic to denounce or act in opposition to the state of Israel, or to the ideology and institutions of Zionism.”

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.

The resolution also stated [p.g 3]: “That the University Student Senate shall not adopt the IHRA definition of antisemitism” and “The University Students Senate urges all CUNY schools clubs, and organizations to reject and reverse the adoption of IHRA definition.”

On April 11, 2021, the CUNY USS voted against the SJP and JLSA resolution but also against adopting the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism.

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.

WOL

Within Our Lifetime (WOL) is a pro-terror activist group in New York City dedicated to Israel’s destruction within the lifetime of its members.

Acts of violence and physical confrontations with police have frequently occurred at WOL protests and marches. WOL uses harassment campaigns to target pro-Israel organizations or companies that do business with Israel, making it a part of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.

Multiple activists who have either burned Israeli flags or led chants at WOL rallies were later jailed for violent anti-Semitic hate crimes, including Saadah Masoud and Waseem Awawdeh. In Masoud’s case, he received 18 months in jail for an anti-Semitic assault at an April 2022 WOL rally and two other anti-Semitic assaults in 2021.

WOL promotes “resistance” against Israel “by any means necessary,” calls to “Globalize the Intifada,” spreads incitement and idolizes [00:34:06] Palestinian terrorists like Leila Khaled and others at rallies and online events.

WOL was founded by Nerdeen Kiswani and Dan Cione in 2015. Kiswani is a frequent speaker at WOL rallies where she has promoted terrorism against Israelis and called for the death of Zionists. She has also provided support for Masoud and other activists following their arrests.

WOL began as the New York City chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), going by NYC SJP, but changed its name in 2018. The group is not found to be registered in any U.S. state as a nonprofit organization under its official name. Nor is there any listing for WOL under its name on the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) website for tax-exempt organizations.

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.