Yanal Odeh

Overview

Yanal Odeh stole, cut up and burned a hat worn by an Israel supporter. He also denied Hamas terrorist war crimes and spread anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. Oded has compared Israel to Nazi Germany and promoted hatred of Israel.

Odeh is a supporter [00:00:03] of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.

Odeh’s activities took place during Israel’s war against Hamas terrorists. Israel launched the war, called called “Swords of Iron,” after a series of Hamas terror attacks and war crimes against Israeli civilians, including mass murder, torture, rape, beheadings and kidnappings. The atrocities were executed on October 7, 2023, and left approximately 1,200 Israelis dead, hundreds kidnapped and thousands wounded.

Hamas has been designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S., Canada, European Union, Israel and other countries. Founded in 1987, it has killed thousands of Israeli civilians through mass shootings and suicide bombings. Hamas has also kidnapped children, families and the elderly and held them hostage in Gaza. It has desecrated [slide 7] dead bodies and launched numerous rocket attacks against Israeli civilians.

As of July 2024, Odeh’s LinkedIn profile said he had been a freelance “creative services specialist” since December 2018.

On March 9, 2024, Odeh posted on TikTok a video indicating [00:00:05] that he was located in Hollywood, California.

As of July 2023, Odeh went by the username and handle “@icyslove” on TikTok.

Stealing, Cutting Up and Burning the Hat of an Israel Supporter

On November 7, 2023, Odeh posted on TikTok a video in which he explained [00:00:34] how he had created a fake pro-Israel TikTok account to discover [00:01:02] the workplace of the woman he later harassed.

On November 8, 2023, Odeh described [00:00:15] in another TikTok video his interaction with the victim, saying that he went to the woman’s workplace and [00:00:38] confronted her in the parking lot. Odeh then said [00:01:19] as the woman entered her car, “I just swiped her f**king hat…I don’t give a f**k, I swiped that hat.” He then claimed he threw it on the ground and stomped on it, asking the woman if she wanted it back.

On November 16, 2023, Odeh posted on Instagram a video, in which he said [00:00:02], referring to himself: “Did you guys hear about that pro-Palestinian TikToker who found a Zionist who kept making comments on his TikTok, and she worked at Starbucks and he went in there and just ripped the hat off of her? You sure do now!”

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.

In the same video, Odeh produced [00:00:11] what appeared to be the woman’s stolen hat. He then cut it with scissors and [00:00:15] burned it. Odeh captioned his video with the words: “... and ill do it again…#

…”

The watermelon has been appropriated by anti-Israel activists as a symbol of Palestinian "resistance" to "Israeli occupation," as it shares the colors with the flag of Palestine. It has been depicted in art, used on flags at protests and posted online.

Denying Hamas Terrorist War Crimes

On November 26, 2023, Odeh posted on TikTok a video of Irish-Israeli hostage, Emily Hand, being returned to Israel after 50 days in captivity by Hamas terrorists in Gaza.

In the video, Odeh said: “Here’s some really good news for my fellow Christians out there. We found the new messiah. Apparently, it’s Emily. Her father said she was dead, but here she is. She’s risen from the dead. And if you ask me, this looks like you just spent the night at your relative’s house and they were like alright, say bye. Bye, love you! They’re happy. Come on.”

Denial of the Hamas war crimes of October 7, 2023, among anti-Israel activists has been likened to Holocaust denial among neo-Nazis.

On Saturday, October 7, 2023, approximately 2,900 heavily armed Hamas terrorists breached Israel’s border with Gaza. They executed numerous war crimes on civilians, including mass murder, beheadings of children, rape of men and women, torture, kidnappings and mutilation. Hamas broadcast videos of their butchery on social media, often to victims’ accounts for families to see. Israel retaliated with a war called “Swords of Iron.” As of November 10, 2023, approximately 1,200 Israelis, the vast majority of them civilians, were murdered during the attacks. Hamas kidnapped 242 Israelis, including at least 30 children. At least 3,500 people were wounded, many severely.

A terrorist detained by Israel admitted he raped an Israeli woman when he broke into a kibbutz house during the October 7, 2023 attack. In March 2024, a former hostage of Hamas publicly stated she was sexually abused and tortured while in captivity.

For more information on the October 7, 2023 terror attacks, see the Canary Mission page on Hamas.

Spreading Anti-Semitic Conspiracy Theories

On February 21, 2024, Odeh posted on TikTok a video where he said: “So, when y’all are drinking blood, how does that work? Do you put sugar in it?”

The accusation that Jews consume the blood of children has been an anti-Semitic blood libel since the 1100s.

On November 11, 2023, Odeh posted on TikTok a video, where he said [00:00:08]: “So, p-philes [pedophiles], I can’t say the word coz TikTok will take this video down immediately, man! But p-philes all the way here in America get to run and seek refugee [sic] in Israel, right? They go all the way to Israel!...And then they get to roam freely amongst the population of Gaza.”

Odeh then said [00:00:47]: “Now, not only is this next one very horrifying and unsettling, but unfortunately it is true. So, Israel has been caught multiple times selling organs on the black market…They are the world’s leading child organ donor.”

Odeh continued [00:01:02]: “Now you may be wondering to yourself: ‘Hey, where would they get all these organs from? That’s bizarre.’ Yeah, it is bizarre because half the population of Gaza is under 18! And that is where they’re getting child organs from!”

Accusations against Israel stealing or harvesting organs have been revived over the years, echoing old anti-Semitic blood libels against Jews.

Equating Israel with Nazi Germany

On January 25, 2024, Odeh posted on TikTok a video equating Israel's response to the October 7 massacre of Israeli Jews by Hamas terrorists to the Nazi treatment of Jews in Europe.

The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) highlights as one possible contemporary example of anti-Semitism: “Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis.” The U.S. State Department adopted the IHRA’s working definition of anti-Semitism in 2016. Over 40 countries have adopted the definition as well.

On October 25, 2023, Odeh posted on TikTok a video, where he equated Israel with Nazi Germany. Odeh said [00:00:07] to his audience: “I just want you to know, you’re no better than Hitler when you’re not supporting the Palestinians.”

Calling for Israel’s Destruction

On November 10, 2023, Odeh posted on TikTok a video, where he said [00:00:01]: “I just wanted to say one thing, and one thing only: that when Palestine is free from river to sea, that digital footprint is real and we will remember.”

“From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be Free” is a chant used [00:02:47] to call for the elimination of 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. In April 2024, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution condemning the chant as antisemitic.

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.