Thaer Al-Sheikh Theeb
Overview
Thaer al-Sheikh Theeb has whitewashed terrorism, demonized Israel and promoted the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.Theeb was an activist with Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at Columbia University (Columbia) (CSJP) and affiliated with Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD), a coalition consisting of CSJP and Columbia/Barnard Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP).
As of 2016, Theeb was reportedly a member of Barnard Columbia Socialists. In 2014, he was associated with the Columbia International Socialist Organization (ISO).
As of August 2019, Theeb was a graduate student pursuing a Ph.D. in Columbia’s Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies department (MESAAS).
Whitewashing Terrorism
On July 3, 2016, Theeb spoke on a panel at the Socialism 2016 conference, titled: “The Palestine Exception: The Assault on Free Speech.”The Socialism Conference website said that the annual conference brings together “hundreds of socialists and radical activists from around the country” and “aims to be a place where activists can share lessons from their struggles—from the boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign for Palestine to the fight for LGBT liberation…”
In his presentation at the conference, Theeb defended Palestinian intifadas, echoing a socialistworker.org article. Theeb said [00:14:43]: “The first and second intifadas were not acts of terrorism, they were actually mass rebellions against terrorism, the terrorism of the settler-colonial state of Israel.”
Since the early 2000s, the term “intifada,” which translates from Arabic as “uprising” or “insurrection,” has carried the connotation of violence.
On April 7, 2016, Theeb reportedly participated in a CUAD event, titled: “Intifada: The Palestinian Uprising.” The event’s Facebook description said that Intifada was a response “to the daily horror and atrocities committed by the state of Israel” and that both intifadas were “legitimate acts of resistance.”
At the event, Theeb reportedly claimed: “the argument over sensitivity to terms like ‘Intifada’ is reflective of a wider trend towards silencing pro-Palestinian activism.” He went on to accuse pro-Israel groups of “using different scare tactics to make sure that that conversation is fully shot down.”
The event’s Facebook’s description also referred to a CUAD Facebook post that promoted a socialistworker.org article that defended the intifadas as “civil disobedience.”
CUAD quoted the article on their Facebook post: “the First and Second Intifadas weren't acts of terrorism; they were mass rebellions against terrorism--the terrorism of the settler-colony state of Israel.”
Over 600 Columbia students, faculty and alumni reportedly signed a declaration condemning CUAD’s “mischaracterization of suicide bombings, stabbings, and shootings as ‘civil disobedience,’” calling it an “egregious ethical breach.”
Demonizing Israel
On June 13, 2017, Theeb posed for a photo posted to Facebook by a CSJP, from their Israel Apartheid Week.On July 3, 2016, Theeb, while speaking on a panel at the Socialism 2016 conference, referred [00:00:48] to Zionism as a “racist, colonial ideology.”
Theeb also emphasized [00:00:52] “Israel’s role in the U.S. imperial configuration” and claimed [00:05:09] Israel “came to be by far the most important imperial tools of the U.S…The special relationship between the U.S. and Israel is further enabled by their shared settler-colonial status and messianic ideology.”
Also while speaking at the Social 2016 conference, Theeb equated [00:01:20] Zionism with anti-Semitism. He claimed [00:03:36] that “The World Zionist Organization appealed to various European governments including, believe it or not, Nazi Germany… often appealing directly to the anti-Semitism of these governments as the reason why they should support the Zionist aims of emptying Europe of Jews.”
On November 14, 2012, Theeb participated in a CSJP protest, where participants staged mock arrests of Palestinians by Israelis, as part of a “Right to Education week”, an initiative started by Birzeit University.
The Right to Education Tour brings Birzeit University students to U.S. campuses, where they claim that Israel is obstructing the rights of Palestinians to higher education. This claim mischaracterizes the sweeps Israeli security forces have made to shut down terror cells operating on the Birzeit campus, including cells linked to Hamas.
In a video of the protest, published to YouTube on November 17, 2012, Theeb said [00:00:58] “Israel is an apartheid state” and that he was participating [00:05:10] in the protest “to highlight the racist and apartheid policies of the Israeli state.”
Theeb also said [00:05:15] that Israeli policies resulted in him being a “Palestinian refugee, growing up in a refugee camp in Jordan” and accused [00:05:24] Israel of carrying out “a policy of mass incarceration, of ethnic cleansing, of apartheid, of segregation...”
Theeb then portrayed [00:01:58] a Palestinian being “arrested” by a student acting as an Israeli soldier, for “joining a student activist group.” The student portraying the Israeli soldier said: [00:02:18] “handing out flyers, waving the flag, listening to nationalistic music: all of these make you a terrorist.”
The same student later placed [00:05:04] Theeb under “arrest” again while he was holding a Palestinian flag. The student portraying the Israeli soldier said: “waving a Palestinian flag makes you a threat to the Israeli state.”
Promoting BDS
On July 3, 2016, Theeb promoted BDS while speaking on a Socialism 2016 conference panel. He said [00:11:54]: “The BDS movement alone can at most hope to achieve the end of…apartheid, but at the same time the BDS movement should be seen as a central strategy for all of us who want to go further.”Theeb continued [00:12:12]: “Because of the success of the BDS movement, this has led Zionists to rightly view BDS as one of the most important security concerns for them.”
CSJP BDS Campaign
On February 1, 2016, Columbia SJP and Columbia/Barnard JVP launched a joint divestment campaign on Facebook at Columbia, titled: “Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD).”The campaign was launched with a petition and inaugural event titled: “BDS 101,” scheduled for February 4, 2016.
CUAD’s Facebook post stated that the campaign was “embedded in the larger BDS movement.”
CUAD also described the campaign as a “call for the University to divest its stocks, funds, and endowment from companies that profit from the State of Israel's ongoing system of settler colonialism, military occupation, and apartheid law.”
The campaign targeted companies including Caterpillar, Hyundai Heavy Industries, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Hapoalim, Boeing and Lockheed Martin. CUAD said that by failing to divest from these companies, Columbia was supporting: “continued occupation of and assaults against the Palestinian people,” by Israel.
CSJP Demonizing Israel
In December 2015, CSJP promoted a video originally produced by Al-Jazeera that referred to Israel’s security fence as “The Apartheid Wall.” The video also suggested falsely insinuated that a non-binding, advisory opinion on the security fence issued by the International Court of Justice is binding international law.
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 November 17, 2015, CSJP protested opposite an event hosted by Aryeh: Columbia Students Association for Israel, titled: “Israel Week.” CSJP members held signs accusing Israel of apartheid and ethnic cleansing. Another sign said: “Celebrating Israel is celebrating apartheid.”
In March 2015, CSJP’s yearly Israel Apartheid week featured the building of a mock ‘Apartheid’ wall on campus.
Anti-Semitism at Columbia
The AMCHA Initiative documents anti-Semitism at U.S. colleges, using “the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) and the U.S. State Department definitions to identify” anti-Semitic incidents.
Also in 2017, Columbia was listed as third in the Algemeiner newspaper’s “Annual List of the Most Challenging North American Campuses for Jewish Students.” In 2016, the Algemeiner listed Columbia as the worst campus.
CSJP’s Banner Controversy at Barnard
In March 2014, Columbia SJP organizer Jannine-Masoud Salman made a large banner that was hung at the entrance of Barnard college. The banner read: “Stand for Justice, Stand for Palestine” and featured a map of Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, with no internal borders, colored uniformly green.
The banner was reportedly removed after “students, their parents and alumni” said it made them “feel uncomfortable and unsafe in the space” and that it gave the impression Barnard was “endorsing SJP's message that Israel as a Jewish state does not have the right to exist.”
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.
Social Media and Weblinks
Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/thaer.a.theebTwitter:https://twitter.com/Thaertheeb/
- Status:
- Student
- University:
- Columbia
- Organizations:
- BDS,
- SJP
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- Last Modified:
- 06/23/2025
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