Yasmien Farsakh

Overview

Yasmien Farsakh has spread hatred of Israel and opposed the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism. Farsakh was a member of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at Florida State University (FSU) in 2020.

Farsakh also supported fellow FSU SJP member Ahmad Daraldik, who was embroiled in an anti-Semitism controversy in June 2020.

She is also a supporter [00:04:34] of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.

As of July 2021, Farsakh’s ResearchGate profile said she was affiliated with FSU’s Department of Political Science. In August 2020, Farsakh’s Facebook About page said that she “Studies” at FSU and “Started in 2019.”

In 2019, Farsakh featured in an Instagram photo posing in front of a sign that read “FSU CO2023 [Class of 2023].”

Hatred of Israel

As of July 2021, Farsakh’s Instagram bio included a link to a May 2021 open letter, addressed to the United States Congress, titled “Vote in Favor of H.R. 2590 Against the Illegal Occupation.” Text of the letter said: “I am sending you this letter as a plea to support Bill H.R. 2590 against the ethnic cleansing and illegal occupation of the Palestinian people and their homes.”

U.S. Representative Betty McCollum introduced Bill H.R. 2590 in April 2021to “ensure that United States taxpayer funds are not used by the Government of Israel to support the military detention of Palestinian children… or further annexation of Palestinian land in violation of international law.”

The open letter continued: “Right now people living in Sheikh Jarrah, Palestine are being forcibly removed from their homes, leaving nearly 500 people at risk of homeless due to no other reason than the desire to ethnically cleanse the land of all Palestinians.”

In May 2021, Palestinian violence erupted in anticipation of an Israel High Court ruling on eviction proceedings concerning over 70 Palestinian tenants illegally residing in Jewish-owned properties in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah.

On May 19, 2021, Farsakh tweeted a link to the same open letter in support of Bill H.R. 2590 and commented: “Occupation and Apartheid are never excusable and shouldn’t be funded by our tax payer dollars. Text Sign PGEOPH to 50409 or follow the link to let your state rep know you support the protection of Palestinian human rights.”

FSU SJP - Opposing the IHRA Definition of Anti-Semitism

Farsakh signed a July 2020 open letter, written by FSU students and alumni, that called for fellow students and alumni to oppose FSU’s 72nd Student Senate Resolution #: 59.In December of 2019, FSU SJP launched a campaign to combat the adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism.

On December 16, 2019, FSU SJP posted on Facebook “Proud to co-sign ✊🏿✊🏾✊🏽✊🏼✊🏻” and linked to a National SJP statement condemning then-U.S. President Trump’s executive order on combating anti-Semitism.

National SJP’s statement said they “explicitly condemn” the Trump administration’s “adoption of the IHRA [anti-Semitism] definition, which conflates anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism.”

Several examples of anti-Semitism given in the IHRA’s definition relate to Israel, however the definition states: “criticism of Israel similar to that leveled against any other country cannot be regarded as antisemitic.”

The IHRA’s definition was adopted by the U.S. State Department in 2016. Canada, Australia, Israel, Argentina and twenty-eight European countries have also adopted the definition.

Trump’s “Executive Order On Combating Anti-Semitism,” issued on December 11, 2019, stated that the IHRA anti-Semitism definition would be considered when enforcing Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as protection for Jews discriminated against based on ethnic, racial or national characteristics.

On July 7, 2020, FSU SJP posted on Facebook urging students to oppose FSU’s 72nd Student Senate Resolution #: 59 that would recognize the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism. The Facebook post called for students to join a Student Life & Academic Affairs (SLAA) committee Zoom meeting to express their opposition to the resolution.

The Facebook post also linked to a Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) letter that urged “governments, municipalities, universities and other institutions to reject the IHRA definition” of anti-Semitism.

Later on July 7, 2020, FSU SJP posted on Facebook that the resolution passed through the SLAA. The post said: “Settler-colonialism is racism. Apartheid is racism. Zionism is racism.”

On July 8, 2020, FSU SJP posted to Facebook a “call-to-action email toolkit” to urge FSU student senators to vote no to the resolution.

FSU SJP’s call-to-action toolkit claimed that implementing the IHRA definition “legitimizes the silencing and blacklisting of Palestinian students, allies and solidarity organizations” and that the definition’s examples of anti-Semitism related to Israel is “a way to shut down any criticism of Israel’s racist policies.”

On July 14, 2020, FSU SJP promoted on Facebook an open letter by FSU students & alumni that called for the resolution to “Replace the IHRA definition with a serious analysis of antisemitism that affirms the centrality of ending white supremacy in the struggle to end all related systems of oppression.”

On July 15, 2020, the FSU student senate held another Zoom meeting to vote on the 72nd Student Senate Resolution #: 59 which passed, with 26 votes in favor and 14 against resolution.

Following the passage of the resolution on July 15, 2020, FSU SJP wrote on Facebook the FSU senate “affirms… the censorship of pro-Palestine speech on campus.”

SJP Activism

On January 6, 2020, FSU SJP thanked “our member Yasmien” in a Facebook post for making an “amazing video...for a short primer about Palestine, featuring interviews with your fave SJPers

.”

On December 3, 2019, Farsakh published on Youtube the video she produced for FSU SJP, titled “Students for Justice in Palestine.”

In the video, Farsakh claimed [00:02:00] that “Palestinians are experiencing an apartheid ruling” and accused [00:03:00] Israel of ethnic cleansing.

Farsakh instructed [00:04:34] viewers that “some ways to assist Palestine” is “through placing economic and political pressure on Israel… This can be accomplished by the BDS movement.”

Farsakh’s video also displayed [00:00:19] a series of maps that claimed that lands once controlled by Britain, Egypt and Jordan as autonomous “Palestinian land,” were purportedly stolen by Israel.

FSU SJP - Defending FSU SJP Activist Embroiled in Anti-Semitism Controversy

In the summer of 2020, Farsakh expressed support for FSU SJP member, Ahmad Daraldik, who reportedly spread anti-Semitism online and created a website in 2016 that compared Israel to Nazi Germany.

Farsakh signed a June 2020 FSU SJP statement in support of Daraldik.

On January 28, 2021, Farsakh encouraged her Twitter followers to “sign on to the open letter by Pal Legal [Palestine Legal] and CAIR [Council on American Islamic Relations] FL supporting FSU students and their freedom to support Palestinian human rights…”

Farsakh’s tweet linked to an “FSU Palestinian Human Rights Sign-on letter” sent to FSU President John Thrasher, demanding Thrasher to “immediately apologize to Ahmad” and “rescind FSU’s adoption of the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism.

The letter also endorsed a December 15, 2020 letter sent by Palestine Legal and CAIR FL to Thrasher, expressing “serious concerns” with FSU’s decision to “publicly condemn” Daraldik for his remarks on Israel. The letter also demanded [page 23] that FSU issue “a public statement apologizing” for their “mistreatment” of Daraldik.

On June 12, 2020, FSU SJP shared a statement on Facebook defending SJP activist Ahmad Daraldik following calls for his removal as FSU Student Senate President, after it was discovered that Daraldik shared anti-Semitic content on social media.

Daraldik, who was appointed Student Senate President at FSU in June 2020, faced calls for his removal when his social media posts and website were publicized. Daraldik retained his position after a vote by student senators at FSU.

Daraldik had assumed the presidency of the student senate on June 6, 2020 after presiding over an inappropriate student senate vote of no-confidence against fellow student Jack Denton, who was then Senate Student President.

The FSU SJP statement claimed that the calls for Daraldik to be removed as Senate President were “racially and politically motivated to smear and silence Palestinian students and critics of the state of Israel” and “rooted in anti-Arab racism and Islamophobia.”

The statement continued: “If SRR [FSU Office of Student Rights & Responsibilities] and/or Student Government staff take disciplinary action against Ahmad, Florida State University will be legitimizing anti-Arab racism and Islamophobia as well as weaponizing antisemitism to stifle free speech.”

On July 24, 2020 BDS Report tweeted that Daraldik had “just shared a new video on his Instagram story claiming that the problem with Jews is they make everything about themselves.”

The video Daraldik shared on his Instagram story featured a man claiming: “And most Jewish people, when talking about this conflict, it's you guys always want to shift the focus back to you. It’s always anti-Semitism, it’s always anti-Jew. Everything has to be about you guys.”

In October 2020, FSU’s Student Supreme Court ruled that the no-confidence vote, which targeted Denton for his statements of religious conviction, made in a Catholic Student Union’s private group chat in his capacity as a private citizen, violated Denton’s rights to Freedom of Speech and Freedom to Exercise Religion under the Student Body Constitution and Statutes, as well as the Constitution of the United States and of Florida.

FSU SJP - Glorifying Terrorists

On November 17, 2019, FSU SJP organized a protest titled: “Emergency Demo: #GazaUnderAttack.” The Facebook event page said: “Israeli airstrikes are not ‘self-defense.’ By the Israel Defense Forces' own admission, Israel initiated the latest wave of aggression with the illegal, extra-judicial execution of resistance fighter Bahaa Abu al-Atta and his wife.”

In November 2019, Israel launched “Operation Black Belt” to stop rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip. The rockets were sent by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terror group on November 12-14, 2019, targeting Israel’s biggest civilian population centers.

FSU SJP’s Facebook event description said: “Rather than self-defense, Israeli airstrikes are a form of collective punishment against Gaza's 2 million inhabitants” and that “The mainstream media and prominent politicians repeat the Israeli ‘self-defense’ trope over and over...”

At the protest, FSU SJP President Shelby Shoup said [00:02:05]: “I cannot imagine how dehumanizing it is to hear American journalists and politicians discussing Israel’s ‘right to self defense,’ insinuating that Palestinians are terrorists.” Activists also chanted [00:00:46] “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”

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.

On October 8, 2018, FSU SJP hosted an event titled:“Palestinian Revolutionaries.” The Facebook event description said: “Come screen some videos of Palestinian revolutionaries like Ghassan Kanafani and Leila Khaled! The revolutionaries that come out of liberation-resistance movements are who we look up to and who exemplify what it means to organize.”

Kanafani was a leading member and spokesperson for the terrorist organization, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) during their formative years. Kanafani was also involved in the Lod Airport Massacre near Tel Aviv, for which PFLP took responsibility.

Leila Khaled participated in the hijacking of TWA Flight 840 in 1969 and El Al Flight 219 in 1970. She was a leading member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).

On October 6, 2018, FSU SJP promoted the event on Facebook and wrote: “We'll also be discussing the PLO & PFLP!!!”

Yasser Arafat, known as the “father of modern terrorism,” was the former leader of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO). During the second intifada, Arafat encouraged children to carry out “martyrdom” operations against Israel.

Arafat reportedly told Arab diplomats in a secret meeting in 1996: "We will make life unbearable for Jews by psychological warfare and population explosion. Jews will not want to live among Arabs. I have no use for Jews. They are and remain Jews."

FSU SJP - Promoting Violence

On July 12, 2019, FSU SJP posted a graphic on Instagram depicting Palestinians holding rocks and slingshots. FSU SJP wrote: “Anyone know the artist?

#FreePalestine.”

Rock throwing is a deadly form of violence, despite being romanticized as a form of “popular resistance.”

On November 26, 2019, FSU SJP held an event titled: “Divestment Working Group Meeting.” The event cover photo on its Facebook page was a poster featuring an individual holding a slingshot with text that said “Free the land 'by any means necessary.’”

FSU - SJP Supporting Violent Protesters

On March 30, 2020, FSU SJP posted on Facebook commemorating the “Great March of Return,” describing it as “a protest movement to demand the Right of Return to their stolen lands” and claiming Palestinians were “shot at by Israeli snipers for exercising their right to assembly.” The post said: “... we commemorate… the hundreds of martyrs of the Great Return March.”

On March 30, 2018, some 30,000 Palestinians in Gaza approached Israel’s border to take part in “Land Day Protests,” or the “March of Return.” The march was organized and funded by Hamas as a campaign of violent protests to spotlight the Palestinian demand to “return” to Israel. The “right of return” has since been discredited as a means to eliminate Israel.

March participants sent scores of kites bearing explosive devices across Israel’s border to burn Israeli crops and homes. Participants also attempted to breach the border fence, which caused the Israeli Defense Forces to respond with live fire. Agitators also threw Molotov cocktails and firebombs, shot firearms and threw rocks.

On March 30, 2019, FSU SJP co-hosted an event to commemorate one year since the beginning of the March of Return.

On April 8, 2018, FSU SJP wrote on Facebook: “we've seen the IOF [Israel Occupation Forces] deploy at least 100 snipers in anticipation of unarmed demonstrators attending the Great Return March who, after being shot by said snipers, are being smeared in American media as terrorists and pawns for nonviolently asserting their dignity and human rights--specifically their Right of Return.”

On April 6, 2018, FSU SJP held a “Vigil for Gaza” which the Facebook event description said was “to memorialize those killed by the IDF” in the Gaza March of Return riots.

An April 2, 2018 post by FSU SJP on the Facebook page for the event said: “Reem & Tyler will be speaking on Gaza & the 17 martyrs that we lost.”

The majority of Gazans who died from March 30, 2018 to April 6, 2018 were confirmed as terror operatives, killed while rioting against Israeli forces, carrying out terrorist attacks or trying to infiltrate Israel by destroying the border fence on its border with Gaza.

FSU SJP - Spreading Incitement

On August 11, 2019, FSU SJP alleged in a Facebook post that “Israeli soldiers and settlers have raided and desecrated #AlAqsa Mosque” and “The Israeli police then cleared the compound of Palestinian Muslims and allowed Jewish Israelis to storm Al Aqsa for Tisha B’Av prayers.”

Tisha B’Av is a Jewish day of mourning for the destruction of the First and Second Temples, which stood on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

On August 11, 2019, Palestinian rioters threw stones at police and threw chairs and other objects at Jewish visitors to the compound after police allowed them to enter the site, to commemorate Tisha B’Av.

The allegation that Jews “threaten” to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque served as the excuse for an upsurge in Palestinian violence that flared in the fall of 2015 and incited Palestinians to attempt mass casualty attacks on Israeli civilians in July 2016.

Such propaganda has been a traditional pretext for Arab attacks on Jews long before the existence of the modern Jewish state.

FSU SJP - Promoting Conspiracy Theories

On July 5, 2020, FSU SJP co-hosted an anti-Israel protest titled “Day of Rage.”

The Facebook event page description said: “our police departments continue participating in the Deadly Exchange: learning ‘counter-terrorism’ strategies from the IDF to militarize Black and brown communities here, and teaching stop-and-frisk strategies to the Israeli police to harass Black and brown communities in occupied Palestine.”

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.”

On September 23, 2019, FSU SJP hosted a meeting titled “ICE vs. IDF: Detention, Deportation & Family Separation.” An event flyer said: “ICE & THE IDF HAVE MORE IN COMMON THAN YOU MIGHT THINK.” The meeting also included a presentation about the “deadly exchange.”

On June 17, 2019, FSU SJP tabled on campus to educate about “pinkwashing” and promote anti-Israel materials. One of the items FSU SJP promoted was a booklet titled “Israel’s Worldwide Role in Repression.”

The booklet was published by the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network (IJAN), which claims to “struggle against Zionism” and accuses Israel of the “ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people.”

The booklet claimed that Israel’s military campaigns “serve as an [sic] laboratory
to develop weapons, surveillance technology, and tactics of population control that are then marketed across the globe.” It also alleged Israel was “at the forefront of a global industry of repression” and that “In the Middle East, Israel is the primary aggressor.”

FSU SJP - Spreading Hatred of Israel-Supporters

On March 11, 2020, FSU SJP posted a photo on its Facebook page of pro-Israel students tabling on campus and wrote that “The Zionist Organization of America… is a right-wing, Islamophobic org… The normalization of Zionism on campus = normalization of the alt-right. Why are they tabling at Market Wednesday?”

The policy of “anti-normalization” aims to ensure that all interactions between Israelis and Palestinians align only with the Arab agenda, including ending the occupation and a full right of return for Palestinians, which is a Palestinian demand discredited as a means to eliminate Israel. The policies are shared with the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

FSU SJP - Demonizing Israel

On November 18, 2019, FSU SJP held an event titled “Hasbara: Debunking Zionist myths.” The Facebook event description claimed: “Hasbara refers to public relations efforts to disseminate positive information about the State of Israel that whitewashes its apartheid regime and military occupation.”

The description also said: “There are countless arguments that whitewash Israeli apartheid… Let's discuss what narratives we usually hear in defense of Israel and learn how to respond to some of the most common hasbara talking points!”

On October 7, 2019, FSU SJP held an event titled “GBM:Apartheid 101: Palestine, South Africa & the Jim Crow South.” The Facebook event description claimed about the description of Israel as apartheid: “nothing could more aptly describe Palestinian life..”

On September 23, 2019, FSU SJP held an event titled “ICE vs. IDF: Detention, Deportation & Family Separation.” The Facebook event page description claimed that “Detentions, deportations and family separations are routine aspects of Palestinian life. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) uses borders, walls and widespread abusive detention of Palestinians…”

On May 15, 2019, FSU SJP held a “Nakba Day” event. The Facebook event description said: “Nakba Day is the anniversary of the ethnic cleansing of May 15, 1948 in which Zionist militias forcefully expelled 800,000 Palestinians from their homeland” and that Nakba “also refers to the ongoing, 71-year long legacy of Israeli military occupation and apartheid.”

Nakba is an Arabic term for “catastrophe” and refers to the outcome of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. It is a term often used to delegitimize the creation of the State of Israel.

On the same date, FSU SJP posted photos from the event on Facebook, including of their “mock apartheid wall,” with a panel claiming to show maps of Israel’s “LAND THEFT.”

Lands previously controlled by Jordan, Egypt and Britain are shown as autonomous “Palestinian land,” which the maps suggest were stolen by Israel.

In 2016, copies of a college textbook containing the misleading maps were recalled by publisher MCGraw-Hill.

SJP groups on campuses have constructed mock “apartheid” walls to draw attention to alleged Israeli human rights violations against Palestinians

On April 4, 2019, FSU SJP promoted an event on Facebook where they would “be delving further into the topics that you all saw on our wall and we will be going deeper into the issues surrounding Palestine, Gaza, the Great Return March, Zionism, & Israel.”

On April 2, 2019, FSU SJP displayed their “mock apartheid wall” on the FSU campus.

FSU SJP - Promoting BDS

On February 1, 2021 the FSU Student Life Academic Affairs Committee (SLAA) voted against a BDS bill written and sponsored by FSU SJP member Ahmad Daraldik. that called on FSU to divest from a number of companies doing business with Israel.

On December 3, 2019, FSU SJP held a meeting about launching a divestment campaign against Israel. The event description said: “We are preparing to launch a campaign to pressure Florida State University to divest from companies that knowingly profit off of Palestinian oppression. Please come out to our new weekly Divestment working group meetings to strategize and build together!”

On November 26, 2019, FSU SJP held an event titled “Divestment Working Group Meeting.” The Facebook description for the event said participants would “research Divestment campaigns on other North American campuses, including the language of their Divestment resolutions and what tactics they employed to win student support.”

The event description also said “It's going to be a long and difficult road to introducing and passing a Divestment resolution to the Student Senate this year, but we think it's possible if we all do our part!”

On November 13, 2018, FSU SJP held an event promoting BDS. The event description said: “Come get your BDS shopping list of all the products & brands that you should be boycotting NOW! Boycott Israel, bring down the occupation!”

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.