Youseff Baddar

Overview

Youseff Baddar has supported the terror organization Hamas, called for “intifada” and demonized Israel. Baddar was an activist with Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at the University of Toledo (UT) in 2013-2014.

As of September 2019, Baddar’s LinkedIn page said he was the Creative Director at YMB Productions, from “Aug 2018 - Present.”

His LinkedIn page also said he was a “History and Theatre Teacher” at The Bounty Collegium, from “Aug 2017 - Present” and that he graduated from UT in 2018, with a bachelor’s degree in Theatre.

Supporting Hamas

On November 16, 2012 — during Operation Pillar of Defense (OPD) — Baddar tweeted: “Operation #ShaleStones by Hamas is by far the most Israel has gotten out of Gaza for years! #ArabSpring #Resistance #GazaUnderAttack.”

On that same day, he tweeted: “#Israel shocked that Gaza fights back this time we will fire every rocket, we've already hit #Tel-aviv we will be free #GazaUnderAttack.”

He also tweeted: “#genocide #Gaza #Israel #GazaUnderAttack,” along with a comic strip demonizing Israel.

He then tweeted: “Israel still shelling neighborhoods in Gaza, the freedom fighters won't quit and neither will the people of Gaza, this time is different.”

OPD was launched to stop Hamas rocket attacks from Gaza on Israeli civilians. From November 14 to November 21, 2012, Palestinian terrorist groups fired more than 1,506 rockets at Israel. The majority of those rockets struck Israel, damaging homes, schools and other civilian areas. Hamas labelled its actions as "Operation Stones of Shale"

Human Rights Watch noted that “Palestinian armed groups made clear in their statements that harming civilians was their aim.”

On November 15, 2012, Baddar tweeted: “Sorry #Israel but genocide is not self defense #GazaUnderAttack.”

On that same day, Baddar tweeted: “This conflict will end with Palestinian freedom or every one of us wiped out of Palestine #GazaUnderAttack.”

Calling for Intifada

On July 24, 2014 — during Operation Protective Edge (OPE) — Baddar retweeted the tweet: “#ThirdIntifada is officially on, pick ur sides everyone, I know which side I'm on #ISupportGaza #FreePalestine #Gaza.”

Israel commenced OPEin July 2014, to stop rocket fire targeting Israeli civilians and to destroy Hamas attack tunnels.

On the same day Baddar retweeted the tweet: “The apartheid wall will fall....
#PalestineResists #Intifada2014.”

He also retweeted the tweet: “The 3rd Intifada starts on the 27th night of Ramadan. Oh Allah make it blessed. #FreePalestine #48kmarch.” The tweet also included a Facebook post referring to Israel as a “monster,” and called for “the end of Zionism.”

Since the early 2000’s, the term “intifada” has carried the connotation of terrorist violence.

Demonizing Israel

On July 23, 2017, Baddar posted to his Facebook page: “Israelis are restricting access” to the Al-Aqsa mosque, adding: “To my Christian friends, this is also your holy city being blocked off by the Israeli police.”

Baddar also claimed that “Israelis treat us as less than human” with the hashtag: “#prayforalaqsa.”

On July 31, 2014 — during OPE — Baddar posted to his Facebook page a photo of a hand holding a sign which read: “History Repeats Itself #SaveGaza,” taken in front of a Holocaust memorial.

On March 18, 2014 — during Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) — Baddar directed a UT SJP play. The play demonized [00:08:12] Israeli soldiers as irrational, [00:05:20] cruel and [00:10:24, 00:36:21] violent.

One character labelled [00:39.34] Israel a “brutal racist system” while another character claimed [00:37:13] that Israel locks Palestinian children in cages outdoors.

On July 13, 2014, Baddar attended an anti-Israel demonstration endorsed by UT SJP.
On November 20, 2012 — during OPD — Baddar retweeted the tweet which claimed: “Israel has been targeting journalists and civilians.”

On November 16, 2012, Baddar tweeted a series of maps purporting to show that Israel has continuously stolen Palestinian land, adding: “land lost since 1946 #GazaUnderAttack.”

The maps claim that lands once controlled by Britain, Egypt and Jordan as autonomous “Palestinian land” were purportedly stolen by Israel. In February 2016, publisher McGraw-Hill Education recalled copies of a college textbook containing the fraudulent maps. In October 2015, American cable news network MSNBC apologized for airing a similar series of maps and retracted them.

UT SJP - Defending Terrorism

On October 29, 2015, during the Knife intifada in Israel, UT SJP held an anti-Israel demonstration at the university's student union using propaganda posters depicting Palestinian terrorists as victims.

In October 2015, there was an upsurge in violence across Israel incited by Palestinian political and religious leaders. The wave of stabbings, known as the “Knife Intifada,” was characterized by young Palestinians throughout the country stabbing and attempting to stab Israeli civilians.

One of UT SJP posters read: “Israeli forces have killed 25 Palestinians this month. 8 of them children.” The poster then listed the “children” which included Ahmed Manasra, Marah Bakris [Marah Al-Bakri] and Israa [Asraa Zidan Tawfik Abed] Abed.

In October 2015, 16-year-old Marah Al-Bakri [Marah Bakir] stabbed an Israeli border police officer and tried to grab his weapon before she was shot.

In September of 2013, UT SJP held a mock checkpoint event to demonize Israel, where SJP member Katrina Bacome was photographed spray painting “Long Live the Intifada” on the mock “apartheid” wall.

Since the early 2000s, the term “intifada,” which translates from Arabic as “uprising” or “insurrection,” has carried the connotation of violence.

UT SJP - Demonizing Israel and Israelis

On August 4, 2014 UT SJP posted to their Facebook page a graphic denying that Hamas used human shields and claiming that Israel deliberately targeted Palestinian civilians.

Israel commenced Operation Protective Edge (OPE) in July 2014, to stop rocket fire targeting Israeli civilians and to destroy Hamas attack tunnels.

On July 12, 2014, UT SJP endorsed an anti-Israel demonstration held a day later. During the demonstration, UT SJP member Katrina Bacome led anti-Israel chants, while UT SJPmember Shahrazad Hamdah held a sign that read: “Gaza is today’s Warsaw Ghetto.”

Nadine Armoush — a member of UT SJP — covered the demonstration for UT:10news, a weekly newscast at UT. Armoush claimed [00:00:11] that “Israel has occupied Palestine since 1948.”

Armoush also interviewed Bacome, who claimed [00:01:10] that Israel is committing a “slaughter of innocent Palestinians” and referred to Gaza as “the world’s largest open-air prison.”

On March 18, 2014 — during UT SJP’s Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) — UT SJP performed a play which demonized [00:08:12] Israeli soldiers as irrational, [00:05:20] cruel and [00:10:24, 00:36:21] violent.

One character in the play labelled [00:39.34] Israel a “brutal racist system” while another character claimed [00:37:13] that Israel locks Palestinian children in cages outdoors.

UT SJP - Hosting Hamas Supporters

On October 3, 2016, UT SJP hosted Hamas propagandist Mads Gilbert.

Gilbert has been banned indefinitely from entering Gaza through Israel because of his connections to the Hamas leadership.

In 2008, 2009, 2012 and 2014 Gilbert was stationed at a hospital that served as a Hamas command center and rocket launching site. During that time he acted as a propagandist for the Hamas government in Gaza.

In 2001, following al Qaeda's September 11 terrorist attacks, Gilbert expressed support for the terror acts as a “legitimate response.” In December of 2009, Gilbert was accused of faking resuscitation on a dead child in Gaza for dramatic effect for a CNN video.

On April 19, 2014, UT SJP co-hosted a “Gaza Fundraising Dinner.” Speaking at the event was Osama Abu Irshaid, the national policy director of the American Muslims for Palestine (AMP). Abu Irshaid formerly served as editor of Islamic Association for Palestine's Arabic periodical, Al-Zaitounah — a mouthpiece for pro-Hamas propaganda.

UT SJP - UT Divest

In 2015, UT SJP launched and ran a divestment campaign under the slogan “UT Divest,” as part [01:34:54]of the wider Boycott Divestment Sanctions (BDS) movement.

On February 17, 2015, the UT Student Government (SG) held a closed meeting on the Divestment resolution. The Students Judicial Council ruled [00:02:03] that the resolution was unconstitutional because it would be impossible for student senators to remain neutral.

Following the vote, UT SJP successfully campaigned to have the ruling overturned, and on March 3, 2017 the student senators approved the divestment resolution in a 21-4 vote. One senator’s request [02:47:56] for a secret ballot was rejected.

On March 4, 2015, UT Interim President Nagi Naganathan released a statement saying that, regardless of the senators’ vote, UT would not divest from companies doing business with Israel.

On March 31, 2015, SG approved a UT SJP sponsored referendum inviting the student body to vote on whether SG should call upon the UT Board of Trustees to implement divestment.

57.13% of students voted in favor of the referendum, failing to meet the required two-thirds threshold.

UT SJP - Supporting Rasmea Odeh

On September 20, 2017, UT SJP shared a photo of Rasmea Odeh to their Facebook page, adding: “We stand with Rasmea!”

Odeh was a key military operative [00:02:08]with the terrorist group the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). In 1969, Odeh masterminded a PFLP bombing that killed two college students in a Jerusalem supermarket. Odeh also attempted to bomb the British consulate.

Odeh confessed, in a highly detailed account, the day following her arrest. In a 2004 documentary, one of Odeh’s co-conspirators directly implicated [00:10:53] Odeh as the mastermind.

In 1970, an Israeli court tried and convicted Odeh for her involvement in both bombings and sentenced her to life imprisonment. However, Odeh was released 10 years later, in a prisoner swap and emigrated to the United States.

On November 10, 2014, a Michigan federal jury convicted Odeh for immigration fraud because she failed to disclose her prior conviction and life sentence on her immigration application. On March 12, 2015, she was sentenced to 18 months in prison.

In 2017, after an appeal and a lengthy court battle, Odeh admitted to immigration fraud, was stripped of her U.S. citizenship, deported to Jordan and banned from re-entering the U.S.

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.