Tafadar Sourov

Overview

Tafadar Sourov was reportedly expelled from New York City Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) in 2016, following accusations of sexual assault. He was also arrested and suspended from City University of New York (CUNY) in 2013, after participating in a protest at the university.

Sourov has promoted a terrorist, expressed support for the Intifada and spread hatred of Israel. He has also demonized police and is a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS).

As of June 28, 2015, Sourov was a “National Organizer” of the Liaison Committee for a New Communist Party (NCP LC) and as of March 2016, was also reportedly Deputy Chair of the Revolutionary Student Coordinating Committee (RSCC).

In 2014, CUNY Law SJP referred to Sourov as a “leader” of SJP and he attended the National SJP Conference in October 2014.

Sourov was reportedly a student at City College (CCNY) part of the CUNY college system, majoring in Sociology. He was reportedly a sophomore in October 2013.

As of September 2020, Sourov’s Facebook page said he was a “Laborer at Laborers Local 79 - New York City.” As of October 2018, Sourov reported having an apprenticeship with LIUNA [Laborers' International Union of North America] Local 79.

Sexual Assault Controversy

In May 2016, Brown University SJP (Brown SJP) issued an online statement that publicly accused Sourov and fellow SJP and RSCC member Khalil Vasquez of being “perpetrators of sexual assault within affiliated groups.” A further condemnation was leveled at NYC SJP for remaining “silent in the face of these unforgivable acts,” calling for the group to be “barred and or castigated for their handling of this situation.”

Brown SJP’s statement further detailed the accusations against Vasquez and Sourov: “These two representatives of NYC SJP were accused and found to be perpetrators of serious patriarchal behavior, including but not limited to abuse, manipulation and silencing.”

The statement continued: “While we do not know the specifics of their abuse within NYC SJP, these statements are corroborated by NCP LC and RSCC (two orgs these members were a part of) stating clearly that they were expelled and put on investigation and then that these two people planned to affectively [sic.] crash a gender struggle session to silence the survivors story.”

On May 4, 2016, Sourov posted on Facebook and denied the claims of sexual assault, asserting that “a small group of people who pushed for there to be guilty sentences with absolutely no investigations are now using the allegations against myself and Khalil [Vasquez] to wreck all the work we built over years of hard work and sacrifice.”

Tafadar named fellow RSCC and SJP member Jon Laks as being “hell bent on destroying all the progress we made in the Students for Justice in Palestine movement.”

On May 18, 2016, Brown SJP attempted to distance itself from its earlier statement claiming it was “published without much discussion or input from the majority of our members.”

Arrest and Suspension

In October 2013, Sourov was arrested for criminal mischief and then suspended and barred from the CUNY campus after participating in a protest over the closure of the Morales-Shakur Center in New York.

Sourov was reportedly arraigned in Manhattan criminal court for rioting, inciting to riot, harassment and obstructing governmental administration, alongside Vasquez. Sourov was also reportedly charged with attempted assault, for shoving CUNY police Corporal Jacqueline Meekins to the ground, injuring her shoulder.

In November 2013, the university ban against Sourov was reportedly lifted but the criminal charges remained in place. After a disciplinary hearing on November 8, 2013, Sourov claimed: “We are nothing but revolutionaries” and that “we are going to liberate CUNY for the people...we call for nothing less than revolution.”

On March 26, 2016, Sourov was reportedly arrested again, for civil disobedience during a protest against budget cuts at CUNY.

Promoting a Terrorist

On November 11, 2014, Sourov wrote on Facebook in support of Rasmea Odeh, on the page for an event titled: “EMERGENCY Action in Solidarity with Rasmea Odeh - NYC.” Sourov’s comment linked to a blog post titled: “If Rasmea is Guilty, We are All Guilty.”

Sourov said in his comment: “The only thing Rasmea is guilty of is existing as an oppressed person...her existence is proof of the crimes of Israel’s terroristic existence.”

Sourov went on to say: “recently SJP at John Jay College was publicly denounced by school authorities after zionists on campus complained that their feelings were hurt following a Die In/Vigil in solidarity with Palestine.”

A Facebook user commented on Sourov’s post that he wrote the linked blog post, which publicized the upcoming rally for Odeh said that she was convicted by Israel for her involvement in terrorism while she “was being tortured by Israeli military officials.”

Sourov said in his blog post that “Settler-colonial states such as the United States and Israel can only exist by oppressing other people such as the Palestinians, African Americans, First Nations” and that “Only through struggle can we bring down the criminal and anti-people regimes such as the US and Israeli governments.”

Sourov concluded the blog post: “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.

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.

The RSCC posted pictures from the rally to Instagram that showed Sourov’s attendance.

Supporting Intifada

On November 12, 2015, as the “Knife Intifada” raged in Israel, Sourov participated in an anti-Zionist rally at Hunter CUNY, waving a flag and chanting [00:00:21] “Zionists out of CUNY,” “Intifada, Intifada!” and “Long live the intifada!”

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.

Since the early 2000s, the term “intifada,” which translates from Arabic as “uprising” or “insurrection,” has carried the connotation of violence.

The CUNY anti-Zionist rally, known as the Million Student March, was hosted by Within Our Lifetime (WOL), formerly named NYC SJP and United for Palestine and demanded the abolishment of tuition, cancellation of student debt and a $15.00 an hour wage minimum for all campus workers.

The event’s Facebook page blamed the “Zionist administration” for tuition hikes.

Spreading Hatred of Israel

On February 24, 2016, Sourov shared an article to Facebook from the New York Post about allegations of SJP members harassing Jewish students at four CUNY colleges. Sourov wrote: “SJP has always condemned anti-Semitism and racism. That is why we oppose Zionism, one of the most racist ideologies that can only go on by deleting Palestinians out of history, through genocide.”

On July 27, 2014, during Operation Protective Edge (OPE) in Gaza, Sourov posted on Facebook: “The death toll in Gaza is now 1,070. ONE THOUSAND AND SEVENTY. Israel will not stop until it completely genocides Palestinians. Everyone must support the Palestinian right to resistance, and call for Israel to be pushed into the sea.”

Israel commenced OPE in July 2014 to stop rocket fire targeting Israeli civilians and to destroy Hamas attack tunnels.

On July 16, 2014, Sourov updated his Facebook cover photo that showed a man speaking to a soldier. The soldier asked: “Why did you come to Israel?” The man responded: “I did not come to Israel, I came to Palestine.” Sourov wrote: “There is no Israel. There is only occupied Palestine.”

On July 15, 2014, during OPE, Sourov spoke at a rally in front of the United Nations building in New York. Sourov yelled [00:01:08]: “I demand that Israel stop dropping bombs on children, women, civilians, innocent people.”

Sourov charged Israel with [00:01:42] “colonization” and stated that Palestine was colonized by Israel like the Bronx was colonized by the NYPD. Sourov concluded by demanding [00:02:41] “one Palestinian state.”

Sourov led [00:00:05] chants of “Free Free Palestine” and [00:02:56] “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”

Anti-Israel Activism

On August 2, 2014, Sourov featured in a photo posted to Facebook by the RSCC of a group of people “before the national march for Gaza” in Washington, D.C. The caption read that the RSCC “call for Palestinian national liberation, the right of return and the
democratic right for Palestinians to control all of their land from the river to the sea.”

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 October 1, 2014, Sourov featured in a photo posted to Instagram by the RSCC. The caption read: “Tafadar Sourov speaking in support of Palestinian resistance against israeli settler-colonialism at the Students for Justice in Palestine rally in City College.”

On October 3, 2014, Sourov featured in a photo posted to Instagram by the RSCC. The caption said: “CCNY SJP and RSCC tabling last week during the Club Fair, helping students get involved in fighting against the oppression of Palestinians, and to learn how it is connected to the oppression of other oppressed people around the world. From NYC to Palestine, fight imperialism and win liberation!”

On October 21, 2014, Sourov featured in a photo posted to Instagram by the RSCC. The caption said that the group pictured in the photo were “forcefully removed by NYPD for disrupting governor Andrew Cuomo, the Zionist who...is also one of the ruling class members that is responsible for raising tuition in CUNY.”

On November 18, 2014, Sourov featured in a photo posted to Instagram by the RSCC. The caption stated Sourov was “passing out flyers outside the Israeli consulate in light of the lynching of Palestinian bus driver Yusuf Hassan al-Ramouni by Zionists. Israel is a KKK state.”

Yusuf Hassan al-Ramouni was a Palestinian bus driver employed by Israel’s Egged bus company, who hung himself in an apparent suicide. al-Ramouni’s death was proven to be self-inflicted by both a Palestinian and an Israeli forensic examiner.

Demonizing Police

On May 6, 2014, Sourov spoke at a RSCC protest and called [00:00:06] the New York Police Department (NYPD) and CUNY campus police “pigs.” He also referred [00:00:26] to General David Howell Petraeus AO as an “imperialist pig” and called [00:02:11] the U.S. a “prison house of oppressed nations.”

Sourov concluded his speech by gesturing toward police behind him and said [00:05:55] “I just want to say, that um - F**k these pigs — f**k David Patraeus.”

Supporting BDS

On November 13, 2015, Sourov commented on the Facebook page for the event titled: “Million Student March - Students for Justice in Palestine Contingent,” which was hosted by Within Our Lifetime (WOL), formerly named NYC SJP and United for Palestine.

Sourov wrote: “We support BDS and are against Zionism in CUNY and everywhere else. The struggle against Zionist racism is part of the Liberate CUNY Movement.”

New York City Students for Justice in Palestine (NYC SJP) was consolidated in 2014 from various SJP chapters in NYC, with the intention of strengthening the SJP presence on campuses and to leading anti-Israel activism off-campus.
NYC SJP was renamed Within Our Lifetime (WOL)in February, 2018, with the intention of further expanding the organization.

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.