Timothy Adams

On March 22, 2016, Adams posted to Facebook commending then-U.S.Senator Bernie Sanders for a speech he reportedly planned to give at that year’s annual policy conference at AIPAC.

According to Adams' Facebook post, Sanders' planned speech highlighted Israel’s “inhumane siege on Gaza, and the genocidal attacks Israel has waged on Gaza for the last seven years.”

Adams then went on to criticize Sanders for his “liberal Zionism” and support for Israel, referring to Zionism and “the Israeli state as it now exists” as a “disease.”

On December 8, 2017, Adams posted a photo of himself to his Facebook page, withtext superimposed on the photo that said: “Jerusalem. Capital of Palestine.” 

In December 2017, the U.S. government announced its decision to formally recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and to relocate the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Pushing OSU Divest

OSU Divest was established in January 2015: “in response to the ever-worsening human rights crisis in the occupied Palestinian territories.” 

On February 18, 2015, Adams featured in an OSU Divest photo campaign published on Facebook. 

OSU Divest quoted Adams in a Facebook post: “Although I have never visited the Middle East, and I know only a few words in Arabic, I believe that my future is tied to the future of the Palestinians…”

OSU Divest claimed on its website that by “advocating for divestment from corporations, we are not condemning or attacking a country, a community, or a people” and “our initiative does not support any particular political stance.”

In March 2015, OSU Divest introduced a BDS resolution at OSU’s University Student Government (USG) to place a divestment measure on a referendum ballot, for a university-wide vote.

USG’s Judicial Panel disqualified the resolution on March 8, 2015, due to technical infractions. 

Two days after the Judicial Panel ruling, Adams promoted on Facebook an OSU Divest event scheduled for March 11, 2015, titled: “Rally for Free Speech,” to protest the Judicial Panel's “one bad ruling.”

Also on March 10, 2015, Adams posted to his Facebook page an OSU Divest petition that claimed the Judicial Panel engaged in “cynical manipulation” and called for the Judicial Panel decision to be overridden by the USG. 

In March 2016, individuals like SJP OSU publicity director Eyad Rasoul, who held joint SJP OSU-OSU Divest membership, worked closely with other SJP OSU-OSU Divest members Yousef Yacoub and Sami Mubarak - who were also representatives on OSU’s USG-to present another divestment resolution to the USG.

On March, 23, 2016, the USG held a pre-vote discussion of the OSU Divest resolution. During the discussion, Adams expressed his support for the OSU divestment resolution and denied any connection between divestment intiatives and an increase in anti-semitic behavior at other universities.

Other OSU Divest activists speaking at the pre-vote discussion accused Israel of “apartheid.” One activist claimed that United States presidential election candidates “all paraded to AIPAC [American Israel Public Affairs Committee] to pledge allegiance to a foreign government.”

The stated mission of AIPAC is to “strengthen, protect and promote the U.S.-Israel relationship in ways that enhance the security of the United States and Israel.”

Following the pre-vote discussion, the 2016 divestment resolution failed in a secret ballot by 21-9 votes, with 15 abstentions.

On March 24, 2016, Adams posted about the pre-vote discussion to Facebook: “At a hearing tonight about a divestment resolution, one Zionist talked about how divestment is 'inherently antisemitic' and that because she was Jewish, no one could tell her otherwise because only she can define her own experiences.” 

Adams continued: “it is so important that we be politically clear enough to see these arguments for what they are: attempts to disorient, confuse, and intimidate us.”

Also on March 24, 2016, Adams commented on Facebook: “There were also several Palestinian students who spoke about their personal experiences of Israeli apartheid, which was very powerful and important… But that's completely different from the situation with the Zionist student.”

On April 6, 2016, OSU Divest reportedly joined with other groups who were staging a “sit-in” in front of OSU President Michael Drake’s office. 

The “sit-in” was part of a “#ReclaimOSU” campaign, in which OSU Divest and others reportedly demanded “that the administration” agree to one of three student campaigns, including OSU Divest.

On April 10, 2016, Adams organized and promoted an alumni petition in support of ReclaimOSU.

OSU Divest again pushed their divestment resolution in February 2017, onto USG’s election ballot.

The group’s divestment resolution, which was promoted this time by the Muslim Students Association (MSA) at OSU, targeted companies providing technology used for security purposes in Israel. The resolution claimed the companies were “complicit in human rights abuses.”

On February 26, 2017, Adams promoted OSU Divest on his Facebook page, posting a photo of himself with the captions “Vote Yes on Issue 2” and “#OSUDIVEST BUCKEYES FOR HUMAN RIGHTS.”

OSU Divest’s 2017 divestment push received the 1,895 signatures required for their initiative to be placed on the USG ballot as a referendum. OSU Divest’s 2017 initiative was ultimately defeated.

Supporting BDS

On January 29, 2016, Adams posted to his Facebook page a link to a petition launched by Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), in support of a UAW Local 2865 BDS resolution. The resolution called on the union and their employers to divest from companies that have been complicit in “human rights violations” against Palestinians.

On May 07, 2016, Adams promoted on Facebook a rally against an Ohio state anti-BDS bill, House Bill (HB) 476. 

HB 476 called “to prohibit a state agency from contracting with a company that is involved in a boycott” of Israel.” Ohio passed the anti-BDS legislation on December 19, 2016.

On May 09, 2016, Adams again promoted the rally against HB 476 to Facebook.

Anti-Israel Activism

On March 6, 2014, Adams posted on Facebook a photo of himself posing in front of OSU SJP’s mock “Apartheid Wall” holding a placard announcing his support for Israel Apartheid Week (IAW). 

Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) is presented as “an international series of events that seek to raise awareness of…Israel’s settler-colonial project and apartheid system over the Palestinian people” and build support for the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.

Adams commented on the photo, suggesting that Zionism was a form of “racism,” writing: “it’s not a question of supporting Palestinians or supporting Jews, but fighting all forms of racism and oppression which include both antisemitism and Zionism.”

On November 29, 2012, Adams was scheduled to host an ISO event at OSU titled: “Palestine and Israeli Apartheid: A Socialist Perspective”

The event’s Facebook description said it featured a screening of a filmed talk given by Sherry Wolf [associate editor of the International Socialist Review] about “why Israel's policies should be considered a regime of apartheid.” 

Wolf has called the first intifada in 1987 and the second intifada in 2000 “inspiring uprisings of resistance.”

The second intifada (2000-2005) was characterized by more than 120 suicide bombings targeting Israeli civilians on buses and in cafes.

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.

Social Media and Weblinks

Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/512392685 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timothy-adams-52a7a89b [Deleted]

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/tadams1254