Tali Ruskin
Overview
Tali Ruskin was arrested for disrupting a Senate hearing in 2017. She has expressed support for terrorists, glorified violent protesters, demonized Jewish organizations and a Philadelphia philanthropist.Tali Ruskin Speaking to the Press near protest encampment at the University of Pennsylvania.
Ruskin has also spread hatred of Israel, endorsed anti-Israel agitators and is a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.
As of the same date, Ruskin was an activist with CODEPINK in 2017 and spoke at Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) events in 2014.
As of May 2022, Ruskin’s LinkedIn page said she was a steering committee member for JVP in Boston in 2013-2018. She also served as the Education Working Group Coordinator for Young JVP (YJVP) in Boston.
As of the same date, Ruskin’s LinkedIn also said she was the “Health and Human Rights Project Delegation Coordinator” at American Jews for a Just Peace in 2012-2015.
As of the same date, Ruskin was listed as Manager of Fellow Engagement and Strategic Initiatives at Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn).
Ruskin’s LinkedIn also said she graduated from the University of Maryland (UMD) with a bachelor’s degree in Women’s Studies in 2006, and graduated from Boston University (BU) with a master’s degree in Public Health and a master’s degree in Social and Behavior Sciences, both in 2013.
As of May 2022, Ruskin’s LinkedIn said she was located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
As of the same date, Ruskin used the handle “talicachica” on Twitter.
As of May 2025, Ruskin’s Instagram bio said: “...
.”
The watermelon has been appropriated by anti-Israel activists as a symbol of Palestinian "resistance" to "Israeli occupation," as it shares the Pan-Arab colors.
Ruskin stood up and shouted [00:00:03]: “David Friedman is unqualified for this position, he is unqualified to be the U.S. ambassador to Israel, he finances illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.”
On February 17, 2017, Ruskin featured in an Electronic Intifada podcast about the protest. Ruskin described [00:04:51] the protest as part of an organized campaign by organizations including CodePink, AMP, JVP and others to prevent Friedman’s appointment.
“Dignity Strike” refers to a hunger strike initiated by Marwan Barghouti on April 16, 2017. More than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners participated in the strike – most them also convicted for acts of terrorism. Barghouti headed the Palestinian Authority (PA) terrorist Tanzim force and founded the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. He was sentenced to five consecutive life terms by an Israeli civilian court for some of his crimes, including his role in the Sbarro Cafe bombing.
Ruskin’s Facebook post also linked to USPCN’s article which instructed: “Demand a meeting with your U.S. Senator or U.S. Congressperson THIS WEEK, and ask them to pressure Israel to meet the prisoners’ demands.”
JVP’s narrator of the event on its Facebook live stream said [00:00:23]: “we’re here ‘coz we think it’s a disgrace that our public officials are celebrating seventy years of occupation and apartheid and turning a blind eye to violence against unarmed protesters.”
JVP activists displayed [00:01:36] a banner with the names of Palestinian protesters that had been killed between [00:07:36] March 30 and May 11, 2018. The narrator added [00:01:40] that they didn’t have time to include the names of another 50 Palestinians who had been killed at the May 14, 2021 Gaza border protest.
On May 16, 2018, a Hamas senior official, Salah al-Bardawil, stated that 50 out of 62 protesters killed during the May 14 Gaza border protest were Hamas operatives. Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) also claimed that three of its members were killed at the same protest.
Ruskin read [00:05:00] the names of Palestinian protesters who had been killed, and after each name was read out JVP activists chanted [00:08:25]: “was a freedom fighter and he taught us how to fight.”
Ruskin also said [00:20:49]: “the over 50 unarmed protesters who’ve been killed just today in Gaza by Israel...were freedom fighters and they taught us how to fight.”
JVP Philly’s press release included quotes from various media coverage of the protest. Ruskin was quoted as saying to KYW Newsradio that Israel was “engaging in a massacre.”
Philadelphia’s local CBS station also reported Ruskin as saying: “We are here today to call on our elected officials to condemn Israel’s attacks on Gaza.”
On May 21, 2018, JVP Philly held a protest in support of the March of Return outside the office of U.S. Representative Brendan Boyle. JVP Philly posted to Facebook that they urged Boyle to “#standupforgaza.”
At JVP Philly’s protest, a JVP Philly activist read from poetry by Dareen Tatour and led [00:00:20] the other JVP Philly protesters in chanting Tatour’s words: “resist, my people, resist them; resist, my people, resist them.”
In October 2015, Tatour was placed under house arrest for incitement to violence and for support of a terrorist organization on social media. Tatour had supported the terror group Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and posted to Facebook: “I am the next shahid [martyr].”
JVP Philly tweeted from the May 21, 2018 protest, saying: “We mourn the deaths of all the Palestinians who have been murdered by the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] since the beginning of the #GreatReturnMarch. #Gaza.”
On January 27, 2016, Ruskin signed a statement calling for the cancelation ofan event hosted by the organization A Wider Bridge, on “LGBT Life in Israel.” A Wider Bridge is a U.S.-based organization that seeks to expand LGBTQ inclusion in Israel.
The statement accused Israel and A Wider Bridge of “pinkwashing.”
In November 2018, Hill was fired from his contributor position at CNN (Cable News Network) after he gave an anti-Israel speech at the United Nations. He called [00:20:47] for a “free Palestine from the river to the sea,” a phrase associated with demands to dismantle the State of Israel. Hill also accused [00:16:19] Israel of “ethnic cleansing,” as well as [00:17:49] “white supremacy” and [00:17:56] “settler colonialism.”
On March 8, 2018, Ruskin changed her Facebook cover photo to an image by CODEPINK with text that said: “Demand an open trial for Ahed Tamimi!”
On November 1, 2016, Ruskin featured in a photo posted to Facebook by Issa Amro, the head of the anti-Israel NGO Youth Against Settlements (YAS).
In a February 23, 2016 op-ed that Ruskin co-wrote with fellow JVP activist Ariel Gold about working with YAS, Ruskin and Gold accused “All Israeli settlements” of having an “inescapably blatant system of violence and apartheid.”
In November 2015, during the “Knife Intifada,” Ruskin participated in a protest in the village of Nabi Saleh, the home of the Tamimi family, while on a trip to Israel. After the protest, Ruskin interviewed “the mothers of 3 of the 17 members of the Tamimi family who are currently in israeli prison, charged with throwing stones at soldiers.” She said: “We are working on getting a campaign going to get them released.”
On the same date, Ruskin tweeted calling to boycott HP, claiming that it “enables Israel's apartheid over Palestinians.”
On February 28, 2018, Ruskin promoted on Facebook a JVP co-organized campaign to call members of the U.S. Congress and lobby in opposition to the Israel Anti-Boycott Act (H.R. 1697/ S. 720).
The campaign was also organized by AMP and U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USCPR).
The Israel Anti-Boycott Act (S.720/H.R. 1697) declared that U.S. policy opposed a March 24, 2016 UN Human Rights Council Resolution which called to boycott and divest from Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
On November 3, 2017, Ruskin co-hosted an online event for attendees to participate in a group order of Hanukkah candles from Narrow Bridge Candles, a project in support of BDS. The Facebook event page said profits would benefit a campaign against the Jewish National Fund (JNF).
On July 18, 2017, Ruskin reportedly testified as a JVP Boston organizer at a Massachusetts State House hearing in opposition to a proposed anti-BDS bill titled: “An Act prohibiting discrimination in state contracts.”
On June 13, 2017, Ruskin featured in a Facebook photo of an anti-Israel event titled: “Protest Against Israel’s 50 Year Military Occupation.” The protest, held at the City Hall of Cambridge, Massachusetts, was organized by JVP Boston, BDS Boston and various Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapters includingTufts SJP, Boston SJP, UMass Amherst SJP.
Ruskin spoke at the pro-BDS rally and displayed a sign that read: “HP [Hewlett-Packard] is complicit in APARTHEID #FREEPALESTINE.”
Protesters at the event reportedly chanted: “Not another nickel, not another dime, no more money for Israel’s crimes,” as well as “From Palestine to Mexico, these border walls have got to go.”
On June 10, 2017, Ruskin presented at a JVP Boston event titled: “Mobilizing Against Anti-BDS Legislation.” The description on the Facebook album of the event said it was “a forum to educate and mobilize” in opposition to the bill.
On February 5, 2017, Ruskin participated in a BDS Boston event titled: “Resisting Apartheid Technology: HP’s Roles in Oppression.” Ruskin was featured in a Facebook photo holding a sign that said: “I boycott hp…and MA [Massachusetts] should too!” The Facebook event description accused HP of “corporate support for Israeli apartheid.”
On June 2, 2016, Ruskin was featured in a Facebook photo of JVP Boston activists who had made signs for a protest co-hosted by JVP Boston and CODEPINK titled: “Tell Airbnb to Stop Listing #StolenHomes!”
The Facebook event description said: “Airbnb displaces people from their homes, from Boston to Palestine. Help us tell Fidelity Investments: No Airbnb in #StolenHomes.”
On April 27, 2016, Ruskin spoke as a JVP representative at a JVP Boston “teach-in” on BDS at Harvard University (Harvard). Ruskin was joined by other BDS activists, such as Thomas Abowd, as well as Amahl Bishara and Leila Farsakh. The “teach-in” was moderated by pro-BDS Harvard Professor Ajantha Subramanian.
On May 19, 2018, two protesters for the campaign disrupted a Philadelphia Orchestra performance by playing a pre-recorded message that accused [00:01:05] the orchestra of complicity in “carnage” by Israel and of collaboration [00:01:39] “with that murderous gangster state.”
On May 31, 2018, JVP Philly posted to Facebook that they had held weekly protests against the orchestra for three months and that anti-Israel protesters in European cities were also protesting wherever the orchestra was playing. JVP Philly wrote in their post: “Now, more than ever we must call for #culturalboycott and #BDS…”
The statement accused Israel of the “ongoing ethnic cleansing of Palestinians,” a “massacre of Gaza” and of having “genocidal intentions.” It also urged Penn students, faculty, staff and alumni to “call on the US government to place sanctions on Israel.”
Protesters held signs that said: “RESISTANCE IS JUSTIFIED” and “WHEN INJUSTICE BECOMES LAW… RESISTANCNCE (SIC) BECOMES A DUTY!!!” Other signs said “F**K ISRAEL,” claimed that “ZIONISM IS GENOCIDE” and called to “END ZIONISM.”
Zionism is the belief in the right to self-determination and statehood of the Jewish people in their ancestral homeland, Israel. The word Zion originates in the Bible, where it refers to the land of Israel and Jerusalem.
Demonstrators also displayed signs that read: “FROM THE RIVER TO THE SEA PALESTINE WILL BE FREE” and “HANDS OFF OF OUR LAND.”
The chant “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free” has also been employed by Hamas leader Khaled Mashal to call for the replacement of Israel with an Islamic state. It is a chant calling to dismantle the State of Israel.
The cover photo on the Facebook page of the event JVP Philly co-hosted was a flyer featuring a graphic of Palestinians armed with rifles and text that read: “RESISTING COLONIALISM SINCE 1948.”
The Facebook event description called for protesters to “march against the state-sanctioned violence, settler-colonialism and apartheid occurring in Sheikh Jarrah and all of Occupied Palestine” and accused Israel of “genocide and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.”
On May 3, 2019, two Israeli soldiers, patrolling near the Gaza border, were shot and injured from sniper fire in Gaza. In response, the Israeli Air Force struck a Hamas base nearby, killing two members of Hamas’s armed wing. Two other Palestinians were killed while participating in riots along the Gaza border.
On March 30, 2019, JVP Philly held a “GreatReturnMarch Memorial and Teach-In.” The Facebook event description claimed: “Since March 30th, 2018 tens of thousands of Palestinians have marched peacefully every Friday along the Gaza/Israel border…” A JVP Philly email promoting the event described it as “A Martyrology Inspired Memorial Teach-In.”
Approximately 30,000 Palestinians in Gaza approached Israel’s border on March 30, 2018 as part of the “March of Return,” which was organized and funded by Hamas. This was used as a campaign of violent protests to spotlight the Palestinian demand to “return” to Israel.
The “right of return” is a Palestinian demand discredited as a means to eliminate Israel.
JVP Philly retweeted a January 30, 2019 tweet by JVP that said: “Another day, another Palestinian child murdered Samah Mubarak was killed by the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] at a checkpoint for an alleged ‘knife attack’...”
On January 30, 2019, 16-year-old Samah Mubarak attempted to stab an Israeli security officer and was shot by Israeli Security forces.
Odeh was a military operative with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), an internationally designated terrorist organization. In 1969, she masterminded a bombing that killed two university students in a Jerusalem supermarket. Odeh also attempted to bomb the British consulate.
Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) launched the “Deadly Exchange” campaign in 2017. The campaign claimed that American Jewish organizations promoted human rights abuses. A video for the campaign by JVP accused American Jewish organizations of planning programs between American and Israeli security personnel, to advance“racist policies.”
JVP Philly tweeted from the protest: “‘we're gonna rise up, rise up till it's gone!’” JVP Philly also tweeted a photo from the protest and wrote: “JVP Philly members try to deliver our petition to @ADLPhiladelphia, but are told no one will speak to us.”
JVP’s petition for the Deadly Exchange campaign said: “Do not host another National Counter Terrorism Seminar or Advanced Training School. Dispatching US law enforcement to trade tactics with Israeli police and military agents defends and deepens Israel's systems of military occupation, and exacerbates the existing crisis of police violence in the US.”
On October 22, 2017, JVP Philly held a protest against the ADL outside the International Association of Chiefs of Police Conference (IACP), where the ADL was a participant. JVP Philly posted to Facebook that the protest was staged in order “to demand that the ADL stop funding police exchange programs between the U.S. and Israel...”
The Facebook event page for the protest said: “These exchanges exacerbate racist police violence, militarization, and surveillance both here and in Israel/Palestine...”
Twitter: https://twitter.com/talicachica
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/taliruskin/ [Private]
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tali-ruskin-msw-mph/
Ruskin has also spread hatred of Israel, endorsed anti-Israel agitators and is a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.
As of the same date, Ruskin was an activist with CODEPINK in 2017 and spoke at Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) events in 2014.
As of May 2022, Ruskin’s LinkedIn page said she was a steering committee member for JVP in Boston in 2013-2018. She also served as the Education Working Group Coordinator for Young JVP (YJVP) in Boston.
As of the same date, Ruskin’s LinkedIn also said she was the “Health and Human Rights Project Delegation Coordinator” at American Jews for a Just Peace in 2012-2015.
As of the same date, Ruskin was listed as Manager of Fellow Engagement and Strategic Initiatives at Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn).
Ruskin’s LinkedIn also said she graduated from the University of Maryland (UMD) with a bachelor’s degree in Women’s Studies in 2006, and graduated from Boston University (BU) with a master’s degree in Public Health and a master’s degree in Social and Behavior Sciences, both in 2013.
As of May 2022, Ruskin’s LinkedIn said she was located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
As of the same date, Ruskin used the handle “talicachica” on Twitter.
As of May 2025, Ruskin’s Instagram bio said: “...
.” The watermelon has been appropriated by anti-Israel activists as a symbol of Palestinian "resistance" to "Israeli occupation," as it shares the Pan-Arab colors.
Arrested for Disrupting a Senate Hearing
On February 16, 2017, Ruskin was one of six activists who were arrested for disrupting a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearingto confirm the nomination of David Friedman as U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Ruskin protested as a campaigner with JVP and CODEPINK.Ruskin stood up and shouted [00:00:03]: “David Friedman is unqualified for this position, he is unqualified to be the U.S. ambassador to Israel, he finances illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.”
On February 17, 2017, Ruskin featured in an Electronic Intifada podcast about the protest. Ruskin described [00:04:51] the protest as part of an organized campaign by organizations including CodePink, AMP, JVP and others to prevent Friedman’s appointment.
Supporting Terrorists
On May 22, 2017, Ruskin changed her Facebook profile picture to a graphic with the words #DignityStrike. The graphic was created by the U.S. Palestinian Community Network (USPCN) to be shared across social media as one of “5 things you can do RIGHT NOW to support Palestinian hunger strikers!”“Dignity Strike” refers to a hunger strike initiated by Marwan Barghouti on April 16, 2017. More than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners participated in the strike – most them also convicted for acts of terrorism. Barghouti headed the Palestinian Authority (PA) terrorist Tanzim force and founded the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. He was sentenced to five consecutive life terms by an Israeli civilian court for some of his crimes, including his role in the Sbarro Cafe bombing.
Ruskin’s Facebook post also linked to USPCN’s article which instructed: “Demand a meeting with your U.S. Senator or U.S. Congressperson THIS WEEK, and ask them to pressure Israel to meet the prisoners’ demands.”
Glorifying Violent Protesters
On May 14, 2018, Ruskin led [00:05:00] a JVP Philly rally to condemn Israel’s response to the March of Return riots on the Israeli-Gaza border and to protest [00:03:30] the raising of the Israeli flag at Philadelphia’s City Hall.JVP’s narrator of the event on its Facebook live stream said [00:00:23]: “we’re here ‘coz we think it’s a disgrace that our public officials are celebrating seventy years of occupation and apartheid and turning a blind eye to violence against unarmed protesters.”
In May 2018, terror group Hamas instigated violent riots on the Israeli-Gaza border. Thousands of rioters attempted to breach Israel’s border fence, declaring their intention to harm Jews across the border under the pretext of “peaceful resistance.”
JVP activists displayed [00:01:36] a banner with the names of Palestinian protesters that had been killed between [00:07:36] March 30 and May 11, 2018. The narrator added [00:01:40] that they didn’t have time to include the names of another 50 Palestinians who had been killed at the May 14, 2021 Gaza border protest.
On May 16, 2018, a Hamas senior official, Salah al-Bardawil, stated that 50 out of 62 protesters killed during the May 14 Gaza border protest were Hamas operatives. Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) also claimed that three of its members were killed at the same protest.
Ruskin read [00:05:00] the names of Palestinian protesters who had been killed, and after each name was read out JVP activists chanted [00:08:25]: “was a freedom fighter and he taught us how to fight.”
Ruskin also said [00:20:49]: “the over 50 unarmed protesters who’ve been killed just today in Gaza by Israel...were freedom fighters and they taught us how to fight.”
JVP Philly’s press release included quotes from various media coverage of the protest. Ruskin was quoted as saying to KYW Newsradio that Israel was “engaging in a massacre.”
Philadelphia’s local CBS station also reported Ruskin as saying: “We are here today to call on our elected officials to condemn Israel’s attacks on Gaza.”
On May 21, 2018, JVP Philly held a protest in support of the March of Return outside the office of U.S. Representative Brendan Boyle. JVP Philly posted to Facebook that they urged Boyle to “#standupforgaza.”
At JVP Philly’s protest, a JVP Philly activist read from poetry by Dareen Tatour and led [00:00:20] the other JVP Philly protesters in chanting Tatour’s words: “resist, my people, resist them; resist, my people, resist them.”
In October 2015, Tatour was placed under house arrest for incitement to violence and for support of a terrorist organization on social media. Tatour had supported the terror group Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and posted to Facebook: “I am the next shahid [martyr].”
JVP Philly tweeted from the May 21, 2018 protest, saying: “We mourn the deaths of all the Palestinians who have been murdered by the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] since the beginning of the #GreatReturnMarch. #Gaza.”
Demonizing Jewish Organizations
On December 17, 2020, Ruskin tweeted, referring to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL): “The @ADL claims to fight hate, but they lead US-Israel police exchanges, weaponize harmful definitions of antisemitism, and have a history of surveilling & undermining movements for justice. It's time to #EndtheDeadlyExchange and #DroptheADL.”
On June 3, 2018, Ruskin was quoted in a JVP Philly press release about a protest against the ADL as saying: “A group supposedly focused on fighting hate shouldn’t also facilitate police trainings with Israel…Israel’s expertise in using lethal force, mass surveillance and racial profiling shouldn’t be a model for policing anywhere.” On November 8, 2017, JVP Philly held a protest outside the Philadelphia offices of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) as part of JVP’s “Deadly Exchange” campaign.
Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) launched the “Deadly Exchange” campaign in 2017. The campaign claimed that American Jewish organizations promoted human rights abuses. A video for the campaign by JVP accused American Jewish organizations of planning programs between American and Israeli security personnel, to advance“racist policies.”
JVP Philly tweeted from the protest: “‘we're gonna rise up, rise up till it's gone!’” JVP Philly also tweeted a photo from the protest and wrote: “JVP Philly members try to deliver our petition to @ADLPhiladelphia, but are told no one will speak to us.”
JVP’s petition for the Deadly Exchange campaign said: “Do not host another National Counter Terrorism Seminar or Advanced Training School. Dispatching US law enforcement to trade tactics with Israeli police and military agents defends and deepens Israel's systems of military occupation, and exacerbates the existing crisis of police violence in the US.”
On October 22, 2017, JVP Philly held a protest against the ADL outside the International Association of Chiefs of Police Conference (IACP), where the ADL was a participant. JVP Philly posted to Facebook that the protest was staged in order “to demand that the ADL stop funding police exchange programs between the U.S. and Israel...”
The Facebook event page for the protest said: “These exchanges exacerbate racist police violence, militarization, and surveillance both here and in Israel/Palestine...”
Ruskin’s tweet linked to a campaign against the ADL that said “The ADL is not an ally.”
In August 2020, over 100 anti-Israel organizations, including American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), launched “Drop the ADL” campaign, urging “progressive groups” in the U.S. to cut ties with ADL and criticizing the Jewish advocacy organization for its support fof Israel.
On June 3, 2018, Ruskin was quoted in a JVP Philly press release about a protest against the ADL as saying: “A group supposedly focused on fighting hate shouldn’t also facilitate police trainings with Israel…Israel’s expertise in using lethal force, mass surveillance and racial profiling shouldn’t be a model for policing anywhere.” On November 8, 2017, JVP Philly held a protest outside the Philadelphia offices of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) as part of JVP’s “Deadly Exchange” campaign.
Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) launched the “Deadly Exchange” campaign in 2017. The campaign claimed that American Jewish organizations promoted human rights abuses. A video for the campaign by JVP accused American Jewish organizations of planning programs between American and Israeli security personnel, to advance“racist policies.”
JVP Philly tweeted from the protest: “‘we're gonna rise up, rise up till it's gone!’” JVP Philly also tweeted a photo from the protest and wrote: “JVP Philly members try to deliver our petition to @ADLPhiladelphia, but are told no one will speak to us.”
JVP’s petition for the Deadly Exchange campaign said: “Do not host another National Counter Terrorism Seminar or Advanced Training School. Dispatching US law enforcement to trade tactics with Israeli police and military agents defends and deepens Israel's systems of military occupation, and exacerbates the existing crisis of police violence in the US.”
On October 22, 2017, JVP Philly held a protest against the ADL outside the International Association of Chiefs of Police Conference (IACP), where the ADL was a participant. JVP Philly posted to Facebook that the protest was staged in order “to demand that the ADL stop funding police exchange programs between the U.S. and Israel...”
The Facebook event page for the protest said: “These exchanges exacerbate racist police violence, militarization, and surveillance both here and in Israel/Palestine...”
Support for Pro-Hamas Encampment at Penn
On April 28, 2024, Ruskin was featured [00:02:12] in a video uploaded to YouTube expressing support for the pro-Hamas encampment at Penn, called the “Gaza Solidarity Encampment.”
On April 25, 2024, anti-Israel activists from Penn, Temple University and Drexel University set up the "Gaza Solidarity Encampment" on the Penn campus to protest Israel's war against Hamas.
On April 25, 2024, anti-Israel activists from Penn, Temple University and Drexel University set up the "Gaza Solidarity Encampment" on the Penn campus to protest Israel's war against Hamas.
The encampment was one of over 140 pro-Hamas and anti-Israel college encampments set up in North America, and over 20 more globally, in the spring of 2024. The first began on April 17, 2024, at Columbia University. The encampments were unofficially known as the “student intifada,” borrowing a term associated with terrorist violence.
Protesters harassed Jewish students, blocked Jews from campus facilities and shouted anti-Semitic slogans. They occupied campus grounds, in many cases illegally, caused property damage, violently took over buildings, celebrated terrorism and promoted the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.
Activists set up encampments to oppose Israel’s right to wage war against the Hamas terror group following October 7, 2023, when Hamas murdered approximately 1,200 people, including 32 American and 8 Canadian citizens. Hamas also kidnapped 252 people, including 11 Americans and the bodies of 2 murdered Canadians. As of May 26, 2024, 125 hostages remained in Hamas captivity.
Protesters harassed Jewish students, blocked Jews from campus facilities and shouted anti-Semitic slogans. They occupied campus grounds, in many cases illegally, caused property damage, violently took over buildings, celebrated terrorism and promoted the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.
Activists set up encampments to oppose Israel’s right to wage war against the Hamas terror group following October 7, 2023, when Hamas murdered approximately 1,200 people, including 32 American and 8 Canadian citizens. Hamas also kidnapped 252 people, including 11 Americans and the bodies of 2 murdered Canadians. As of May 26, 2024, 125 hostages remained in Hamas captivity.
For more information on the October 7, 2023 terror attacks, see the Canary Mission page on Hamas.
Hatred of Israel
In May 2021, Ruskin posted to IfNotNow Philly’s Facebook page that she created a list promoting anti-Israel events in Philadelphia, including one titled: “Interfaith Vigil for Palestinian Martyrs.”On January 27, 2016, Ruskin signed a statement calling for the cancelation ofan event hosted by the organization A Wider Bridge, on “LGBT Life in Israel.” A Wider Bridge is a U.S.-based organization that seeks to expand LGBTQ inclusion in Israel.
The statement accused Israel and A Wider Bridge of “pinkwashing.”
“Pinkwashing” is a claim that Israel advocates manipulate the LGBTQ community in order to garner support for Israel.
The statement also accused Israel of “military occupation, ethnic cleansing racism [sic], and colonialism” as well as “apartheid” and called for The National LGBTQ Task Force to publicly endorse BDS and “the Palestinian right of return.”
On July 22, 2014, Ruskin attended a JVP Boston-organized protest, during Israel’s “Operation Protective Edge (OPE)” against Hamas in Gaza.
Israel commenced OPE in July 2014 to stop rocket fire targeting Israeli civilians and to destroy Hamas attack tunnels.
The event was titled: “Outrage Against Israeli Massacre in Gaza: Boston Stands with Palestine.” Activists marched through the streets, staged a mock “die-in” and read the names of Palestinians killed in the conflict.
On March 5, 2014, Ruskin spoke as part of a panel at an event titled: “Framing Military Occupation: Close-Ups Of Daily Life In The Occupied Palestinian Territories,” hosted by Cambridge Forum and co-sponsored by the Middle East Education Group of Cambridge.
Ruskin claimed [00:41:58] that Israel’s security barrier “threatens security.” She also said [00:43:02]: “I’m obligated to do this work, to tear down this wall...that Jews are setting up as an occupying force.”
In Spring 2014, Ruskin, spoke as the education chair for JVP Boston at Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) for SJP at Smith College.
Smith College’s newspaper, The Sophian, reported that Ruskin’s talk “focused on the ways the Israeli government, with the support of the US, is able to maintain a complete system of control over Palestinians’ lives and self-determination.”
The statement also accused Israel of “military occupation, ethnic cleansing racism [sic], and colonialism” as well as “apartheid” and called for The National LGBTQ Task Force to publicly endorse BDS and “the Palestinian right of return.”
The “right of return” is a Palestinian demand discredited as a means to eliminate Israel.
On July 22, 2014, Ruskin attended a JVP Boston-organized protest, during Israel’s “Operation Protective Edge (OPE)” against Hamas in Gaza.
Israel commenced OPE in July 2014 to stop rocket fire targeting Israeli civilians and to destroy Hamas attack tunnels.
The event was titled: “Outrage Against Israeli Massacre in Gaza: Boston Stands with Palestine.” Activists marched through the streets, staged a mock “die-in” and read the names of Palestinians killed in the conflict.
Throughout the summer of 2014 — during Operation Protective Edge (OPE) — Hamas's deployment of human shields was extensively documented and publicized. Hamas encouraged Gazans to act as human shields to frustrate Israeli efforts to avoid civilian casualties in Gaza.
On March 5, 2014, Ruskin spoke as part of a panel at an event titled: “Framing Military Occupation: Close-Ups Of Daily Life In The Occupied Palestinian Territories,” hosted by Cambridge Forum and co-sponsored by the Middle East Education Group of Cambridge.
Ruskin claimed [00:41:58] that Israel’s security barrier “threatens security.” She also said [00:43:02]: “I’m obligated to do this work, to tear down this wall...that Jews are setting up as an occupying force.”
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.
In Spring 2014, Ruskin, spoke as the education chair for JVP Boston at Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) for SJP at Smith College.
Smith College’s newspaper, The Sophian, reported that Ruskin’s talk “focused on the ways the Israeli government, with the support of the US, is able to maintain a complete system of control over Palestinians’ lives and self-determination.”
Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) is presented internationally as a “series of events that seeks to raise awareness of…Israel’s settler-colonial project and apartheid system over the Palestinian people.” One of its goals is to build support for the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement. IAW has been renamed Palestine Awareness Week.
Endorsing Anti-Israel Agitators
On December 4, 2018, Ruskin posed in a JVP Philly group photo standing next to a sign that said: “From the river to the sea Palestine will be free. JVP Philly stands with Marc Lamont Hill.”In November 2018, Hill was fired from his contributor position at CNN (Cable News Network) after he gave an anti-Israel speech at the United Nations. He called [00:20:47] for a “free Palestine from the river to the sea,” a phrase associated with demands to dismantle the State of Israel. Hill also accused [00:16:19] Israel of “ethnic cleansing,” as well as [00:17:49] “white supremacy” and [00:17:56] “settler colonialism.”
On March 8, 2018, Ruskin changed her Facebook cover photo to an image by CODEPINK with text that said: “Demand an open trial for Ahed Tamimi!”
Ahed Tamimi has a long history of physically attacking Israeli soldiers. Tamimi is the daughter of Bassem Tamimi, who is known for exploiting young children as political props in staged confrontations with Israeli soldiers.
On November 1, 2016, Ruskin featured in a photo posted to Facebook by Issa Amro, the head of the anti-Israel NGO Youth Against Settlements (YAS).
Anti-Israel agitator Issa Amro is known for vandalism and attacks on Israeli soldiers and civilians. Amro heads the Youth Against Settlements (YAS) movement, an anti-Israel organization based in Hebron that promotes anti-Semitism, rock-throwing and violence against Israelis.
In a February 23, 2016 op-ed that Ruskin co-wrote with fellow JVP activist Ariel Gold about working with YAS, Ruskin and Gold accused “All Israeli settlements” of having an “inescapably blatant system of violence and apartheid.”
In November 2015, during the “Knife Intifada,” Ruskin participated in a protest in the village of Nabi Saleh, the home of the Tamimi family, while on a trip to Israel. After the protest, Ruskin interviewed “the mothers of 3 of the 17 members of the Tamimi family who are currently in israeli prison, charged with throwing stones at soldiers.” She said: “We are working on getting a campaign going to get them released.”
Supporting BDS
On July 6, 2020, Ruskin tweeted promoting a BDS campaign that called for insurance company AXA to “Stop financing Israeli apartheid!” by divesting from Israeli banks.On the same date, Ruskin tweeted calling to boycott HP, claiming that it “enables Israel's apartheid over Palestinians.”
On February 28, 2018, Ruskin promoted on Facebook a JVP co-organized campaign to call members of the U.S. Congress and lobby in opposition to the Israel Anti-Boycott Act (H.R. 1697/ S. 720).
The campaign was also organized by AMP and U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USCPR).
The Israel Anti-Boycott Act (S.720/H.R. 1697) declared that U.S. policy opposed a March 24, 2016 UN Human Rights Council Resolution which called to boycott and divest from Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
On November 3, 2017, Ruskin co-hosted an online event for attendees to participate in a group order of Hanukkah candles from Narrow Bridge Candles, a project in support of BDS. The Facebook event page said profits would benefit a campaign against the Jewish National Fund (JNF).
On July 18, 2017, Ruskin reportedly testified as a JVP Boston organizer at a Massachusetts State House hearing in opposition to a proposed anti-BDS bill titled: “An Act prohibiting discrimination in state contracts.”
On June 13, 2017, Ruskin featured in a Facebook photo of an anti-Israel event titled: “Protest Against Israel’s 50 Year Military Occupation.” The protest, held at the City Hall of Cambridge, Massachusetts, was organized by JVP Boston, BDS Boston and various Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapters includingTufts SJP, Boston SJP, UMass Amherst SJP.
Ruskin spoke at the pro-BDS rally and displayed a sign that read: “HP [Hewlett-Packard] is complicit in APARTHEID #FREEPALESTINE.”
Protesters at the event reportedly chanted: “Not another nickel, not another dime, no more money for Israel’s crimes,” as well as “From Palestine to Mexico, these border walls have got to go.”
On June 10, 2017, Ruskin presented at a JVP Boston event titled: “Mobilizing Against Anti-BDS Legislation.” The description on the Facebook album of the event said it was “a forum to educate and mobilize” in opposition to the bill.
On February 5, 2017, Ruskin participated in a BDS Boston event titled: “Resisting Apartheid Technology: HP’s Roles in Oppression.” Ruskin was featured in a Facebook photo holding a sign that said: “I boycott hp…and MA [Massachusetts] should too!” The Facebook event description accused HP of “corporate support for Israeli apartheid.”
On June 2, 2016, Ruskin was featured in a Facebook photo of JVP Boston activists who had made signs for a protest co-hosted by JVP Boston and CODEPINK titled: “Tell Airbnb to Stop Listing #StolenHomes!”
The Facebook event description said: “Airbnb displaces people from their homes, from Boston to Palestine. Help us tell Fidelity Investments: No Airbnb in #StolenHomes.”
On April 27, 2016, Ruskin spoke as a JVP representative at a JVP Boston “teach-in” on BDS at Harvard University (Harvard). Ruskin was joined by other BDS activists, such as Thomas Abowd, as well as Amahl Bishara and Leila Farsakh. The “teach-in” was moderated by pro-BDS Harvard Professor Ajantha Subramanian.
JVP
JVP was founded in Berkeley, California in 1996, as an activist group with an emphasis on the “Jewish tradition” of peace, social justice and human rights. The organization is currently led by Rebecca Vilkomerson and its board members include Israel critics Naomi Klein, Judith Butler, Noam Chomsky and Tony Kushner.
JVP, which generally employs civil disobedience tactics to disrupt pro-Israel speakers and events, consists of American Jews and non-Jewish “allies” highly critical of Israeli policies. A staunch supporter of the BDS movement, JVP claims to aim its campaigns at companies that either support the Israeli military (Hewlett-Packard) or are active in the West Bank (SodaStream).
Although several Jewish groups critical of Israeli policies, like J Street and Partners for a Progressive Israel, make efforts to operate within the mainstream American Jewish community, JVP functions outside. The group is often criticized for serving as a tokenized Jewish voice for the pro-Palestinian camp and is widely regarded as the BDS movement’s “Jewish wing.”
JVP denies the notion of “Jewish peoplehood” and has even gone so far as to refer to its own Ashkenazi (Jews who spent the Diaspora in European countries) leadership as “white supremacy inside of JVP.”
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has accused JVP of being “the largest and most influential Jewish anti-Zionist group in the United States,” and said the group “exploits Jewish culture and rituals to reassure its own supporters that opposition to Israel not only does not contradict, but is actually consistent with, Jewish values.”
The ADL also claimed that “JVP consistently co-sponsors rallies to oppose Israeli military policy that are marked by signs and slogans comparing Israel to Nazi Germany, demonizing Jews and voicing support for groups like Hamas and Hezbollah.”
According to the ADL website, JVP “uses its Jewish identity to shield the anti-Israel movement from allegations of anti-Semitism and provide it with a greater degree of legitimacy and credibility.”
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 Student 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.
JVP Philly Chapter Overview
JVP Philly whitewashes terrorism, shows support for terrorists, demonizes Jewish organizations and actively promotes the BDS movement. In 2021, JVP Philly led a campaign of harassment against a Philadelphia-based philanthropist Jeffrey Yass and organized a series of anti-Israel protests.JVP Philly - Promoting BDS 2018
On April 4, 2018, JVP Philly posted to Facebook a link to the campaign page to stop the Philadelphia Orchestra from playing in Israel. JVP Philly wrote in their Facebook post that they had “signed onto this coalitional effort to uphold the #culturalboycott. Tell the Philadelphia Orchestra to cancel their upcoming trip to Israel.”On May 19, 2018, two protesters for the campaign disrupted a Philadelphia Orchestra performance by playing a pre-recorded message that accused [00:01:05] the orchestra of complicity in “carnage” by Israel and of collaboration [00:01:39] “with that murderous gangster state.”
On May 31, 2018, JVP Philly posted to Facebook that they had held weekly protests against the orchestra for three months and that anti-Israel protesters in European cities were also protesting wherever the orchestra was playing. JVP Philly wrote in their post: “Now, more than ever we must call for #culturalboycott and #BDS…”
JVP Philly - Promoting BDS 2021
JVP Philly signed a May 19, 2021 statement by Penn Students Against the Occupation of Palestine (PAO) that called on the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) to “divest from companies that profit from and/or are complicit in the Israeli occupation of Palestine.”The statement accused Israel of the “ongoing ethnic cleansing of Palestinians,” a “massacre of Gaza” and of having “genocidal intentions.” It also urged Penn students, faculty, staff and alumni to “call on the US government to place sanctions on Israel.”
JVP Philly - Spreading Incitement 2021
On May 15, 2021, JVP Philly co-hosted an event with other anti-Israel groups, including Philly BDS and Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapters at Temple University and Drexel University in Philadelphia, titled: “PHILADELPHIA: #SaveSheikhJarrah.”Incitement around Al-Aqsa and Sheikh Jarrah were leading factors in Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorists firing over 4,300 rockets from Gaza at Israel’s major centers on May 10-21, 2021. In response, Israel launched “Operation Guardian of the Walls (OGW),” striking military targets in the terrorist-controlled enclave.
Protesters held signs that said: “RESISTANCE IS JUSTIFIED” and “WHEN INJUSTICE BECOMES LAW… RESISTANCNCE (SIC) BECOMES A DUTY!!!” Other signs said “F**K ISRAEL,” claimed that “ZIONISM IS GENOCIDE” and called to “END ZIONISM.”
Zionism is the belief in the right to self-determination and statehood of the Jewish people in their ancestral homeland, Israel. The word Zion originates in the Bible, where it refers to the land of Israel and Jerusalem.
Demonstrators also displayed signs that read: “FROM THE RIVER TO THE SEA PALESTINE WILL BE FREE” and “HANDS OFF OF OUR LAND.”
The chant “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free” has also been employed by Hamas leader Khaled Mashal to call for the replacement of Israel with an Islamic state. It is a chant calling to dismantle the State of Israel.
The cover photo on the Facebook page of the event JVP Philly co-hosted was a flyer featuring a graphic of Palestinians armed with rifles and text that read: “RESISTING COLONIALISM SINCE 1948.”
The Facebook event description called for protesters to “march against the state-sanctioned violence, settler-colonialism and apartheid occurring in Sheikh Jarrah and all of Occupied Palestine” and accused Israel of “genocide and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.”
JVP Philly - Whitewashing Terrorism 2019
On May 6, 2019, JVP Philly shared a Facebook post by anti-Israel agitator Linda Sarsour that said: “...Friday, Israel gunned down 4 Palestinians peacefully protesting. No condemnations. No one saying how immoral it is to kill Palestinians…”On May 3, 2019, two Israeli soldiers, patrolling near the Gaza border, were shot and injured from sniper fire in Gaza. In response, the Israeli Air Force struck a Hamas base nearby, killing two members of Hamas’s armed wing. Two other Palestinians were killed while participating in riots along the Gaza border.
On March 30, 2019, JVP Philly held a “GreatReturnMarch Memorial and Teach-In.” The Facebook event description claimed: “Since March 30th, 2018 tens of thousands of Palestinians have marched peacefully every Friday along the Gaza/Israel border…” A JVP Philly email promoting the event described it as “A Martyrology Inspired Memorial Teach-In.”
Approximately 30,000 Palestinians in Gaza approached Israel’s border on March 30, 2018 as part of the “March of Return,” which was organized and funded by Hamas. This was used as a campaign of violent protests to spotlight the Palestinian demand to “return” to Israel.
The “right of return” is a Palestinian demand discredited as a means to eliminate Israel.
JVP Philly retweeted a January 30, 2019 tweet by JVP that said: “Another day, another Palestinian child murdered Samah Mubarak was killed by the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] at a checkpoint for an alleged ‘knife attack’...”
On January 30, 2019, 16-year-old Samah Mubarak attempted to stab an Israeli security officer and was shot by Israeli Security forces.
JVP Philly - Expressing Support for Terrorists 2017
On March 14, 2017, JVP Philly posted to Facebook a JVP press release titled: “JEWISH VOICE FOR PEACE IS PROUD TO HOST PALESTINIAN ORGANIZER RASMEA ODEH.” JVP Philly commented: “A powerful, informative statement about the trials of Rasmea Odeh.”Odeh was a military operative with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), an internationally designated terrorist organization. In 1969, she masterminded a bombing that killed two university students in a Jerusalem supermarket. Odeh also attempted to bomb the British consulate.
JVP’s statement, about featuring Odeh at their 2017 National Membership Meeting (NMM), referred to Odeh as a “deeply respected Palestinian organizer” and “feminist leader.”
The statement concluded: “Rasmea’s life is a story of Palestinian resilience: a story of persistence…building grassroots leadership…”
On April 5, 2017, JVP Philly posted a link to recorded sessions from the 2017 JVP NMM for those who didn’t attend and wrote: “We missed you so much! Check out Linda Sarsour, Rasmea Odeh, and more here--and hopefully we'll be together at 2019's NMM!”
Sarsour has tweeted that “nothing is creepier than Zionism” and frequently uses the word “Zionist” as a pejorative.
Zionism is the belief in the right to self-determination and statehood of the Jewish people in their ancestral homeland, Israel. The word Zion originates in the Bible, where it refers to the land of Israel and Jerusalem.
On April 17, 2017, JVP Philly promoted on Facebook an article written by Marwan Barghouti titled: “Why We Are on Hunger Strike in Israel’s Prisons.”
On May 8, 2017, JVP Philly posted to Facebook, promoting a JVP event featuring then-JVP Executive Director Rebecca Vilkomersoninterviewing Marwan Barghouti’s son, Aarab Barghouti, who started the “Saltwater Challenge” in support of the hunger strikers.
The statement concluded: “Rasmea’s life is a story of Palestinian resilience: a story of persistence…building grassroots leadership…”
On April 5, 2017, JVP Philly posted a link to recorded sessions from the 2017 JVP NMM for those who didn’t attend and wrote: “We missed you so much! Check out Linda Sarsour, Rasmea Odeh, and more here--and hopefully we'll be together at 2019's NMM!”
Sarsour has tweeted that “nothing is creepier than Zionism” and frequently uses the word “Zionist” as a pejorative.
Zionism is the belief in the right to self-determination and statehood of the Jewish people in their ancestral homeland, Israel. The word Zion originates in the Bible, where it refers to the land of Israel and Jerusalem.
On April 17, 2017, JVP Philly promoted on Facebook an article written by Marwan Barghouti titled: “Why We Are on Hunger Strike in Israel’s Prisons.”
The 2017 hunger strike by Palestinian prisoners known as the “Dignity Strike” was initiated by Marwan Barghouti, who was serving five consecutive life sentences for his role in terror attacks during the Second Intifada, including financing the bombing of the Sbarro Cafe in Jerusalem.
On May 8, 2017, JVP Philly posted to Facebook, promoting a JVP event featuring then-JVP Executive Director Rebecca Vilkomersoninterviewing Marwan Barghouti’s son, Aarab Barghouti, who started the “Saltwater Challenge” in support of the hunger strikers.
JVP Philly - Demonizing Jewish Organizations 2017
On November 8, 2017, JVP Philly held a protest outside the Philadelphia offices of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) as part of JVP’s “Deadly Exchange” campaign.Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) launched the “Deadly Exchange” campaign in 2017. The campaign claimed that American Jewish organizations promoted human rights abuses. A video for the campaign by JVP accused American Jewish organizations of planning programs between American and Israeli security personnel, to advance“racist policies.”
JVP Philly tweeted from the protest: “‘we're gonna rise up, rise up till it's gone!’” JVP Philly also tweeted a photo from the protest and wrote: “JVP Philly members try to deliver our petition to @ADLPhiladelphia, but are told no one will speak to us.”
JVP’s petition for the Deadly Exchange campaign said: “Do not host another National Counter Terrorism Seminar or Advanced Training School. Dispatching US law enforcement to trade tactics with Israeli police and military agents defends and deepens Israel's systems of military occupation, and exacerbates the existing crisis of police violence in the US.”
On October 22, 2017, JVP Philly held a protest against the ADL outside the International Association of Chiefs of Police Conference (IACP), where the ADL was a participant. JVP Philly posted to Facebook that the protest was staged in order “to demand that the ADL stop funding police exchange programs between the U.S. and Israel...”
The Facebook event page for the protest said: “These exchanges exacerbate racist police violence, militarization, and surveillance both here and in Israel/Palestine...”
Social Media and Weblinks
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tali.ruskinTwitter: https://twitter.com/talicachica
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LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tali-ruskin-msw-mph/
