Yasmine Mosimann

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.  

On January 26, 2018, Mosimann indicated on Facebook that she “went” to SPHR’s event titled: “SPHR McGill General Meeting January 2018.”

The event’s Facebook description said: “our first general meeting of the semester...We'll also talk about the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement and efforts by students to further BDS at McGill (McGill BDS Action Network).”

On December 8, 2017, Mosimann indicated on Facebook that she “went” to a protest called: “Hands Off Jerusalem,” in front of the United States Consulate General in Montreal, to protest against U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and to relocate the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

The rally’s Facebook description said it was organized by McGill SPHR. It also said protestors “stand with the people of Palestine who have since announced three days of rage in protest.”

On February 16, 2015, Mosimann published an article in the student newspaper The McGill Daily, about a workshop titled: “The Face of State Violence and Police Brutality in Palestine.” The event was facilitated by SPHR McGill members Maggie Gilligan and Zahra Habib.

The workshop reportedly offered: “discussion of the ways in which state violence and police brutality are used by Israel against Palestinians as part of a larger apartheid project” and  how the effects of state violence originates “from institutions, such as the Israeli government and the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), as well as ideologies like racism, Zionism, and settler-colonialism.”

On December 3, 2014, Mosimann posed for an SPHR McGill photo campaign called “#breakthesilence.” Mosimann held a sign that said: “Because my grandfather was driven out of his home in west Jerusalem due to the ethnic cleansing that formed the state of Israel. My family can still not go home. #BREAKTHESILENCE.”

On November 2, 2014, Mosimann posed in an SPHR McGill Facebook photo with anti-Israel poet Remi Kanazi, who is known for his aggressively anti-Israel performances.

Supporting BDS

On October 28, 2015, Mosimann indicated on Facebook that she “went” to an SPHR McGill co-sponsored event titled: “TODAY!! BDS Week - Noura Erakat: Gaza in Legal and Political Context.”

The event’s Facebook description glorified anti-Israel and pro-BDS activist Erakat and thanked CJPME for being a co-sponsor of BDS Week.

On March 9, 2015, Mosimann posted on Facebook: “Look at us, dividing McGill again. End McGill's complicity in the illegal occupation the Palestinian territories [sic]. VOTE YES at the SSMU [Student’s Society of McGill University] GA.”

Mosimann’s post linked to an SPHR McGill Facebook event titled: “Not In Our Name: Vote Yes on March 15,” promoting SPHR McGill’s 2015 anti-Israel divestment motion.

On February 4, 2016, Mosimann retweeted a McGill BDS Action Network tweet that said: “Check out our campaign launch covered by @mcgilldaily,” about the launch of McGill BDS Action Network’s’ 2016 campaign.

On February 22, 2016, McGill BDS Action Network proposed a motion to the General Assembly of the SSMU to demand the university withdraw investment from “corporations that profit from the occupation.”

The motion was endorsed by SPHR and 19 other student groups at McGill. The vote passed 512 to 357, in support of BDS.

Following the vote, Mosimann retweeted a tweet from the McGill BDS Action Network, celebrating the passage of the BDS motion at McGill, that said: “We have made history today. With a vote of 512 in favour, BDS passes at McGill.”

Mosimann also updated her Facebook cover photo to a picture of herself celebrating with a group after the vote. Her Facebook post said: “On February 22nd 2016, McGill undergraduate students voted to support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement...”

On February 26, 2016, Mosimann and fellow BDS activist Melis Çağan were interviewed for a podcast on the anti-Israel site Electronic Intifada (EI) and expressed their determination [00:05:26] to grow their campaign no matter the outcome of an online ratification vote on the BDS motion at McGill.

Mosimann said [00:05:33]: “Our primary goal is to push the university itself to divest from three companies...Each of these companies are directly creating harm on the ground in Palestine and we don’t think our tuition dollars should go to this.” Mosimann also described [00:06:14] divestment as “our essential goal right now.”

On February 27, 2016, McGill’s BDS initiative lost an online ratification vote which voided the BDS motion. The McGill Reporter, a “staff and faculty journal,” reported: “Following the announcement of the vote, Principal and Vice-Chancellor Suzanne Fortier issued the following statement to the McGill community.”

Fortier’s statement said: “The BDS movement, which among other things, calls for universities to cut ties with Israeli universities, flies in the face of the tolerance and respect we cherish as values fundamental to a university. It proposes actions that are contrary to the principles of academic freedom, equity, inclusiveness and the exchange of views and ideas in responsible, open discourse.”

Two similar BDS motions were voted down at McGill in March 2015 and October 2014. On March 15, 2015, SPHR presented SSMU with a motion calling for McGill to boycott five corporations conducting business in Israel.

BDS Deception at McGill

On February 16, 2016, McGill BDS held a Panel Discussion with Montreal anti-Israel organizers Mostafa Henaway and Zahia El-Masri. During the presentation, Henaway made myriad fraudulent claims, including the: allegation of “countless massacre after countless massacre [sic.],” followed by the false claim that Gazans were denied access to medicine, “their waters” and “reconstruction materials.” Henaway also referred to wave of religiously fueled wave of terrorism against Israelis by Palestinians starting in the summer of 2015 as “popular resistance” born of “desperation”

McGill BDS

On February 22, 2016, McGill BDS proposed a motion to the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU)’s General Assembly, demanding the university withdraw investment from Israeli companies, including Mizrahi-Tefahot Bank, L-3 Communications and Re/Max. The vote passed 512 to 357, in support of BDS.

On February 25, 2016, it was reported that BDS supporters targeted Jewish students opposed to the vote, filling social media with anti-semititic remarks, like "Little Zionist jewboys not happy that McGill students don’t support their genocide." One Jewish student was followed home and verbally harassed and another contacted the police regarding an attempted hack to his Facebook page. One campaigner voting against the divestment bill said he knew at least 10 students who sought counselling to help with intolerable situations.

On February 27, 2016, the BDS initiative lost the subsequent online ratification vote by 57 to 43 percent. Following the announcement of that vote, McGill Principal and Vice-Chancellor Suzanne Fortier issued a statement to the university community "to explain why the University’s administration continues to steadfastly oppose the BDS movement, of which this motion is a part."

"The BDS movement, which among other things, calls for universities to cut ties with Israeli universities, flies in the face of the tolerance and respect we cherish as values fundamental to a university. It proposes actions that are contrary to the principles of academic freedom, equity, inclusiveness and the exchange of views and ideas in responsible, open discourse."

Also on February 24th, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government overwhelmingly approved a motion condemning Canadians who promote the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement (BDS) against Israel. The motion called on the Canadian government to "condemn any and all attempts by Canadian organizations, groups or individuals to promote the BDS movement, both here at home and abroad," due to the movement’s promoting the “demonization and delegitimization” of Israel. The motion passed by a vote of 229-51.

Two similar BDS motions were voted down at McGill in March 2015 and October 2014. On March 15 2015, SPHR presented SSMU with a motion calling for McGill to boycott five corporations conducting business in Israel. The motion failed by 64 votes after an intense 45-minute debate. Prior to the vote, the SPHR team campaign to promote the resolution featured a pro-BDS panel discussion. Though the panel discussion pushed for an academic boycott of Israel, this was not included in the final McGill Divestment Motion. On October 22, 2014, a BDS motion was shelved indefinitely by the McGill University undergraduates’ association at its general assembly.

Two similar BDS motions

Two similar BDS motions were voted down at McGill in March 2015 and October 2014. On March 15 2015, SPHR presented SSMU with a motion calling for McGill to boycott five corporations conducting business in Israel. The motion failed by 64 votes after an intense 45-minute debate. Prior to the vote, the SPHR team campaign to promote the resolution featured a pro-BDS panel discussion. Though the panel discussion pushed for an academic boycott of Israel, this was not included in the final McGill Divestment Motion. On October 22, 2014, a BDS motion was shelved indefinitely by the McGill University undergraduates’ association at its general assembly.

SPHR

Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR) was formed in 1999 via a merger between the Concordia Centre for Palestinian Human Rights (CCPHR) at Concordia University and the Palestinian Solidarity Committee (PSC) at McGill. The group gained notoriety after instigating a riot at Concordia, that forced then former (and current) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to cancel a speech scheduled for September 9, 2002. Ticket holders later reported that the protesters subjected them to antisemitic slogans and physical attacks. A holocaust survivor was kicked in the groin and a local Rabbi with his wife were assaulted and spat on.

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:  www.facebook.com/693597370

https://www.facebook.com/100026429873738

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/yasminehazou [Private]

https://twitter.com/yasminemosimann  [Deleted]

LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/yasmine-s-mosimann-b532a2a8/