Yasmeen Elagha
Overview
Yasmeen Elagha has spread hatred of Israel and was a 2016 board member of Students For Justice in Palestine (SJP) at the University of Illinois (UIC). Elagha is a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.As of March 2021, Elagha’s LinkedIn said that she was SJP UIC’s “Education Chair” from May 2016- May 2018, as well as the founder and the president of the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund (PCRF) student chapter at UIC from 2015 - 2018.
In 2014, Elagha was affiliated with American Muslims for Palestine (AMP).
As of March 2021, Elagha’s Linkedin said that she was a “Project Assistant” at the law firm of Foley & Lardner LLP in Washington, D.C. She received a master’s degree from Georgetown University (Georgetown) in Urban Studies and Regional Planning in 2020, as well as a bachelor’s degree in Urban Studies and Political Science from UIC in 2018.
Hatred of Israel
On October 30, 2016, Elagha updated her Facebook cover photo to feature a photo of herself and another anti-Israel activist, holding photos demonizing Israeli Defense Force (IDF) soldiers.Elagha posted: “For every child brutally murdered by Israel, we unite. #FreePalestine.” As of April 2021, Elagha Facebook cover photo remained the same.
The updated Facebook photo was taken from a video shot during SJP UIC’s October 28, 2016 “Gallery '48” on the UIC Quad.
On October 29, 2016, SJP UIC posted to their Facebook: “Thank you to everyone who came out to Gallery '48, check out the video below for highlights of the event!” and attached a video slideshow of activists who participated, including [00:00:05] Elagha.
On July 17, 2014, during Israel’s Operation Protective Edge (OPE), Elagha posted to her Facebook pagean illustration of a bloody hand behind barbed wire, and the caption: “End the War in Gaza. World’s Largest Prison.”
Israel commenced OPE in July 2014 to stop rocket fire targeting Israeli civilians and to destroy Hamas attack tunnels.
Pushing BDS
On January 28, 2016, Elagha promoted SJP UIC’s campaign #UIC Divest on Facebook.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.
AMP
American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) was founded by UC Berkeley Professor Hatem Bazian as a vehicle to generate mainstream support in the United States for the Palestinian national cause.
On its website, the organization lists Bazian as the chairman of its national board and describes itself as “a national education and grassroots-based organization, dedicated to educating the American public about Palestine and its rich cultural, historical and religious heritage.”
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has accused AMP of promoting “extreme anti-Israel views and has at times provided a platform for anti-Semitism under the guise of educating Americans” about Palestinians. The ADL further stated that AMP is directly involved in campus-based anti-Israel activity through Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP).
Prior to founding the AMP in 2006, Dr. Bazian created SJP together with fellow UC Berkeley Professor Snehal Shingavi in 2001. The close working relationship between AMP and SJP has been documented several times over the years by several organizations, including NGO Monitor and StandWithUs.
In addition to providing financial, public relations and legal assistance to SJP, AMP has also been accused of having connections to Hamas. The AMP national board includes former members of both the Islamic Association of Palestine (IAP) and Holy Land Foundation (HLF), both of which were found liable for aiding and abetting Hamas. The IAP was founded by Mousa Mohammed Abu Marzook, a senior member of Hamas.
