Yousuf Ahmad
Overview
Yousuf Ahmad participated in an anti-Semitic protest, promoted incitement and spread hatred of Israel as an activist with Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (SJP UIUC).In September 2020, Ahmad co-sponsored a Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement resolution while serving as a senator in the Illinois Student Government (ISG) at UIUC.
As of October 2022, Ahmad’s LinkedIn page said he also served as the Outreach Director of the Muslim Student Association (MSA) at UIUC from April 2020 to May 2022.
As of the same date, Ahmad’s LinkedIn said that he worked at IBM as a Cloud Engineer since June 2022.
Ahmad’s LinkedIn also said he graduated from UIUC with a bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering in 2022.
Ahmad’s LinkedIn said he was located in Chicago, Illinois.
Participating in an Anti-Semitic Protest
On April 18, 2022, Ahmad participated [00:01:22] in an anti-Israel protest that included [00:01:22] a planned stop at UIUC’s Hillel chapter, a Jewish campus organization. Sayed Quraishi, a 2022 UIUC graduate, threw a rock at Jewish students gathered on the Hillel patio. In June 2022, Quraishi was charged with committing a felony hate crime.After the incident, SJP UIUC treasurer Lina Issa defended the decision to target Hillel, telling [00:01:57] a local television station: “They obviously have a very direct connection to Israel and that's why we’re targeting that area in specific.”
The protest was titled: “EMERGENCY PROTEST HANDS OFF AL-AQSA.” Two days before, SJP UIUC promoted the protest on Instagram, claiming that “Zionist militia forces have once again raided Al-Aqsa mosque” and that “there is an attack by the forces of a racist, apartheid state against peaceful worshippers…”
In April 2022, after 14 Israelis were killed during terror attacks, violent clashes broke out between rioters and Israeli security forces at the Al-Aqsa Mosque on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount.
The allegation that Jews “threaten” to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque has been a pretext for Arab attacks on Jews long before the existence of the modern Jewish state. Such propaganda has led to multiple periods of violence against Israeli civilians.
Promoting Incitement
On May 13, 2021, Ahmad tweeted: “...#SaveSheikhJarrah #AlAqsaUnderAttack #FreePalestine #GazaUnderAttack…”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.
Incitement surrounding Al-Aqsa and Sheikh Jarrah were leading factors in Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorists firing over 4,300 rockets from Gaza at Israeli population centers from May 10 to 21, 2021. In response to rocket attacks from Gaza, Israel launched “Operation Guardian of the Walls (OGW),” striking military targets in the terrorist-controlled enclave.
On May 13, 2021, Ahmad tweeted: “A couple photos from today’s protest for Palestine
. #freepalestine #SaveSheikhJarrah.”Ahmad’s tweet included photos from a May 12, 2021 protest organized by the Chicago Coalition for Justice in Palestine (CJP), a group that includes SJP Chicago and American Muslims for Palestine (AMP).
The protest’s Facebook event description said: “This wave of violence that is being unleashed on #AlAqsa#SheikhJarrah#Silwan and #Gaza is not new, it is a part of a long and brutal occupation by zionist forces that seeks to terriorize and displace the indigenous Palestinian population…Say NO to Israeli violence!...”
Also, on May 13, 2021, Ahmad posted to TikTok a video of himself at the May 12 protest. He wrote: “FREE PALESTINE
From the Jordan River to the Chicago River. InShaAllah
#fyp#palestine#chicago.”On May 10, 2021, Ahmad led [00:10:57] chants when he participated [00:23:22] in an SJP UIUC protest titled: “EMERGENCY rally for Sheikh Jarrah.” The Facebook event page said the protest was “in solidarity with the people of Sheikh Jarrah who are facing brutal colonial violence and forceful military displacement from their homes.”
At the rally, Ahmad said [00:25:32]: “The occupation, shut it down. The border walls, shut them down. The siege of Gaza, shut it down. The whole d**n system, shut it down!” He then led [00:25:42] the crowd in a chant using the same phrases.
Israel and Egypt implemented a United Nations-approved [pp. 39–41] joint blockade of the Gaza Strip in 2011 to stop Hamas from acquiring more sophisticated rockets.
Israel’s security barrier, 97 percent of which is a low chain-link barrier, was built as a deterrent to Palestinian terror attacks. The concrete portions of the fence were built in response to Palestinian sniper attacks.
At the same rally, SJP UIUC activists chanted [00:03:25]: “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free!” They also chanted [00:27:31]: “Stop the killing, stop the hate! Israel is a terror state!”
One speaker at the rally said [00:02:16]: “Zionism is genocidal.” Another speaker said [00:12:55]: “When we talk about violence it’s always from the oppressor so anything else that the oppressed do is self defense and justified.”
On November 25, 2020, Ahmad spoke on a podcast where he discussed his participation that month in an SJP UIUC event titled: “Social Justice and Engineering Evils.”
Ahmad said [00:49:20]: “SJP last week had an event, that I was a part of, that essentially talked about evil companies and who not to intern or work for. And essentially what we told students in that meeting was at career fairs and stuff, there’s a lot of companies like Raytheon, Elbit Systems, Northrop Grumman, that basically make missiles for Israel. Boeing, they create F-15 fighter jets for Saudi Arabia and Israel.”
Ahmad continued [00:49:48]: “What we were doing is telling students companies to not intern, or work, for and basically advising them to choose industries that are better so that this whole pipeline of students don’t go into a workforce that supports Israeli genocide and occupational regimes like that.”
Ahmad later said [00:55:58]: “Even if you had to choose having no job over that job, I would advise that as well.”
On May 14, 2021, Ahmad posted an Instagram highlight titled: “” where he shared [slide 5] a graphic that said [slide 2]: “LIE: CONFLICT BETWEEN ISRAEL AND PALESTINE. TRUTH: THIS IS NOT A CONFLICT. THIS IS ISRAELI-APARTHEID TO ETHNICALLY CLEANSE PALESTINIANS.”
On November 25, 2020, Ahmad said [00:44:46] on a podcast: “We know for a fact that Israel is a settler-colonial state. They rely on the occupation to get land. And we know that Israel started from European Jews moving into Palestine and essentially occupying their territory.”
One way that anti-Israel activists spread anti-Semitism is to claim [00:06:46] that Israeli Jews, particularly Ashkenazi Jews, do not descend from the ancient Israelites.
This claim alleges that Israeli Jews are white Europeans who lack a connection to the Land of Israel. The Khazar myth is a common version of this claim which is used to delegitimize [00:02:16] the existence of the modern State of Israel.
On September 23, 2020, Ahmad voted [03:31:42] in favor of the resolution during a live streamed ISG meeting titled: “RES.04.22 Human Rights Violations in University Investments and Police Forces.” SJP UIUC president Buthaina Hattab authored the resolution. The BDS resolution passed with a vote of 22-11-7.
During the live stream, Sophia Giakas Ayesh, a former SJP UIUC activist, commented [02:36:58]: “Honestly bruh, Zionism is a political agenda that’s racist and supports genocide so bye.”
SJP UIUC’s statement on the vote claimed that “both the BDS and the BLM [Black Lives Matter] movement resist the fundamental racism that Israeli and American entities need to survive.”
On September 24, 2020, Ahmad tweeted: “Glad to be one of those 22
#UIUCDivest.”
In November 2020, SJP UIUC featured [pp. 3-8] prominently as a source of anti-Semitism on campus in a civil rights legal complaint filed against UIUC.
SJP UIUC speakers show support for terrorists and spread hatred of Zionists and Israel. Speakers use chants that call for Israel’s destruction and other chants for “intifada,” which is a call for violence.
SJP UIUC speakers also routinely demonize Zionism and in March 2022, one speaker claimed: “Zionism is the root cause of the social issues we see today.” SJP UIUC uses social media to spread the same sort of hatred outlined above.
Zionism is the belief that Jews have the right to self-determination in their ancestral homeland, Israel, and the right to develop their national culture.
One speaker said [00:17:02] “Israel is a settler colony, not a country. Zionism is genocidal… We stand unequivocally with the Palestinian people and support how they choose to resist their oppression.” At the protest, activists also chanted [00:10:04]: “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free!”
The event’s flyer honored multiple terrorists, including Ra’ed Abd al-Jalil who was serving four life sentences for his involvement in terror attacks during the second intifada. The flyer also honored a Hamas leader who planned a 1995 bus bombing and another terrorist who was also arrested during the second intifada.
The term “intifada” has carried the connotation of violence, since the early 2000’s.
Activists chanted [00:05:29]: “From Champaign to Gaza, globalize the intifada!” They also chanted [00:12:13] “You can run, you can hide, we’ll still charge you with genocide!”
Buthaina Hattab, then SJP UIUC President, said [00:02:29] at the protest: “On September 6, we celebrated the news that six Palestinian political prisoners being held at the so-called maximum-security, Zionist Gilboa prison facility, they escaped overnight through a tunnel that they dug with only a metal spoon. Their escape was one of the most successful jailbreaks in history.” The crowd cheered [00:02:50] in response.
On September 6, 2021, six Palestinian prisoners escaped from Israel’s Gilboa Prison and were eventually tracked down and imprisoned by Israeli authorities. The prisoners were members of the terror groups Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade and had been convicted for their involvement in terror attacks carried out during the second intifada.
The complaint said [p.12]: “UIUC has also failed to combat anti-Semitism as vigorously as it has combated other forms of bigotry on its campus prohibited by Title VI.”
One cited incident [p.4] was from 2019 when SJP UIUC members and supporters approached pro-Israel students. At least one SJP supporter spat on a pro-Israel student. Other Israel supporters were called “Nazi” and “white supremacist” and were told they had “dual loyalty” since they were “not a true citizen of the United States.”
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.
At the rally, an activist held [00:00:46] an Israeli flag defaced with the text “GENO
CIDE” and red handprints meant to signify blood.
SJP UIUC protest was titled: “EMERGENCY RALLY: #GazaUnderAttack.” The Facebook event page said: “In Gaza, Israeli airstrikes have killed over 32 Palestinians and injured over 100 in the last 24 hours. Come stand with us in solidarity against Israel's continual genocide and violation of Palestinian human rights.”
The post was issued in defense of a presentation by SJP president Dunia Ghanimah that praised [slide 14] “Martyrdom” and honored terrorist leaders Leila Khaled and Yasser Arafat. Ghanimah, who was a Mulitcultural Advocate (MA) at UIUC, gave the presentation to other MAs, as well as UIUC Housing employees and Resident Advisors.
On October 16, 2019, several Illinois Student Government (ISG) senators authored a resolution defending the presentation.
On October 22, 2019, SJP UIUC posted on Facebook encouraging students to support the ISG’s resolution.
On October 24, 2019, SJP UIUC posted on Facebook in celebration of the resolution passing.
On January 16, 2020, SJP UIUC tweeted a thread protesting a training session on anti-Semitism that had been scheduled for UIUC Housing employees, Resident Advisors, and Multicultural Advocates. The session was organized by the non-profit Jewish United Fund of Chicago (JUF).
In the Twitter thread, SJP UIUC described the JUF as a “hate group.” SJP UIUC also accused JUF of the “brokering of Chicago Police Officers exchange with israeli Occupation Forces” that contributed to a “police culture of systematic violence against Black and Palestinian youth.”
“Israeli Occupation Forces,” or “IOF,” is a derogatory term used to demonize the Israeli army by anti-Israel activists. The term mocks the official name, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
In February 2020, SJP UIUC created the group UIUC Divest to promote BDS on campus and present BDS as an intersectional effort from different campus advocacy groups. In that academic year and each year since then, SJP UIUC or individual SJP UIUC board members authored a divestment resolution.
On February 12, 2020, a female Jewish student spoke [01:56:58] at an ISG meeting held to discuss the divestment resolution, to discuss an incident where someone held a sign that said [p. 7]: “F**K NAZIS SUPPORT PALESTINIANS.”
The female Jewish student said that she attended an ISG meeting during the fall semester that addressed a separate anti-Israel resolution. She said [01:56:58]: “When I walked into the room I was confronted by a huge sign held up by SJP that said ‘F**k Nazis’. They called us Nazis!”
Somone in the crowd then shouted [01:57:07] at the same female Jewish student: “They’re right!”
On February 15, 2020, UIUC Divest tweeted: “...UIUC Divest passes 20-9-7! ISG resolution 03.61 “Violation of Human Rights in University Investments” calls on UIUC to divest from corporations that engage in human rights abuses including Israeli war crimes in Palestine. #UIUCDivest.”
On February 17, 2020, UIUC Divest tweeted a letter signed by SJP UIUC criticizing the ISG President Connor Josellis for vetoing the resolution one day earlier.
On February 19, 2020, Josellis said [00:37:31] that he vetoed the resolution because of “a level of hate that I have not previously seen firsthand and on behalf of the student government, I condemn any hateful rhetoric that led to students feeling unsafe in this environment.”
On February 14, 2022, SJP UIUC authored a “revised resolution” titled: “Human Rights Violations in University Investments.” SJP UIUC called on the Illinois Student Government (ISG) to approve a “referendum question” for that spring’s student government ballot.
The question that SJP UIUC wanted students to vote on said: “Should the University of Illinois divest its stocks, funds, and endowment from companies that profit from or engage in human rights violations in US Prisons, at the US-Mexico Border, and in Occupied Palestine?”
On Februrary 23, 2022, ISG held a meeting to address the possibility of the question being posed to the student body.
Malaak Yehya, a former SJP executive board member, said [00:05:23] at the meeting: “The question of Palestine and what is going on in Palestine is so simple and is nothing new. It is an ongoing struggle against colonialism, it is ethnic cleansing on display.”
On February 23, 2022, the ISG Senate reportedly passed the bill with a vote of 17 to 14 and two abstentions.
On March 9, 2022 the ISG Judiciary reportedly nullified the resolution due to three violations of the ISG Constitution, including that it passed using a secret ballot. The question was excluded from the ballot of the 2022 student senate election.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/yousuf_ahmad1
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yousufahmad1/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yousuf-ahmad-221449195/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@yousuf257
“From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free” is a chant calling to dismantle 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.
One speaker at the rally said [00:02:16]: “Zionism is genocidal.” Another speaker said [00:12:55]: “When we talk about violence it’s always from the oppressor so anything else that the oppressed do is self defense and justified.”
On November 25, 2020, Ahmad spoke on a podcast where he discussed his participation that month in an SJP UIUC event titled: “Social Justice and Engineering Evils.”
Ahmad said [00:49:20]: “SJP last week had an event, that I was a part of, that essentially talked about evil companies and who not to intern or work for. And essentially what we told students in that meeting was at career fairs and stuff, there’s a lot of companies like Raytheon, Elbit Systems, Northrop Grumman, that basically make missiles for Israel. Boeing, they create F-15 fighter jets for Saudi Arabia and Israel.”
Ahmad continued [00:49:48]: “What we were doing is telling students companies to not intern, or work, for and basically advising them to choose industries that are better so that this whole pipeline of students don’t go into a workforce that supports Israeli genocide and occupational regimes like that.”
Ahmad later said [00:55:58]: “Even if you had to choose having no job over that job, I would advise that as well.”
Hatred of Israel
On May 23, 2021, Ahmad posted to TikTok a video of himself at an anti-Israel rally in Chicago that showed a protestor holding a sign that read [00:00:05]: “Call it what it is. ethnic cleansing. genocide. apartheid. #freepalestine.” Ahmad wrote in the post: “We will never stop until it’s FREE #chicago#freepalestine.”On May 14, 2021, Ahmad posted an Instagram highlight titled: “
” where he shared [slide 5] a graphic that said [slide 2]: “LIE: CONFLICT BETWEEN ISRAEL AND PALESTINE. TRUTH: THIS IS NOT A CONFLICT. THIS IS ISRAELI-APARTHEID TO ETHNICALLY CLEANSE PALESTINIANS.”On November 25, 2020, Ahmad said [00:44:46] on a podcast: “We know for a fact that Israel is a settler-colonial state. They rely on the occupation to get land. And we know that Israel started from European Jews moving into Palestine and essentially occupying their territory.”
One way that anti-Israel activists spread anti-Semitism is to claim [00:06:46] that Israeli Jews, particularly Ashkenazi Jews, do not descend from the ancient Israelites.
This claim alleges that Israeli Jews are white Europeans who lack a connection to the Land of Israel. The Khazar myth is a common version of this claim which is used to delegitimize [00:02:16] the existence of the modern State of Israel.
In the same November 2020 podcast, Ahmad discussed professor Steven Salaita, saying [00:11:16]: “He was fired for tweeting things against Israel, calling out Israel for the genocide they were committing, or they are still committing, in Palestine.”
On November 18, 2020, SJP UIUC wrote on Facebook that Zionists “advocate for white supremacy and racism,” and that Zionism was a “racist ideology.” The post also said: “The Zionist state in Palestine has carried out and continues a massive ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.”
In 2014, The University of Illinois withdrew an offer of employment to Steven Salaita after becoming aware of his anti-Semitic tweets. One tweet, posted shortly after Hamas kidnapped three teenage Israeli high school students, read: “You may be too refined to say it, but I’m not: I wish all the f**king West Bank settlers would go missing.”
On November 18, 2020, SJP UIUC wrote on Facebook that Zionists “advocate for white supremacy and racism,” and that Zionism was a “racist ideology.” The post also said: “The Zionist state in Palestine has carried out and continues a massive ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.”
BDS Resolution Co-Sponsor
On September 14, 2020, Ahmad co-sponsored an SJP UIUC BDS resolution calling on the university to divest from multiple companies doing business with Israel. The resolution accused [p. 5] Israel of “ethnic cleansing” and framed [pp. 5-6] BDS as the successor for the movement to boycott apartheid-era South Africa.On September 23, 2020, Ahmad voted [03:31:42] in favor of the resolution during a live streamed ISG meeting titled: “RES.04.22 Human Rights Violations in University Investments and Police Forces.” SJP UIUC president Buthaina Hattab authored the resolution. The BDS resolution passed with a vote of 22-11-7.
During the live stream, Sophia Giakas Ayesh, a former SJP UIUC activist, commented [02:36:58]: “Honestly bruh, Zionism is a political agenda that’s racist and supports genocide so bye.”
SJP UIUC’s statement on the vote claimed that “both the BDS and the BLM [Black Lives Matter] movement resist the fundamental racism that Israeli and American entities need to survive.”
On September 24, 2020, Ahmad tweeted: “Glad to be one of those 22
#UIUCDivest.”SJP UIUC Chapter Overview
SJP UIUC has a history of hate-filled anti-Israel protests on campus, including in April 2022 when someone threw a rock at Jewish students. SJP UIUC leads an annual anti-Israel divestment campaign where other anti-Semitic incidents have occurred.In November 2020, SJP UIUC featured [pp. 3-8] prominently as a source of anti-Semitism on campus in a civil rights legal complaint filed against UIUC.
SJP UIUC speakers show support for terrorists and spread hatred of Zionists and Israel. Speakers use chants that call for Israel’s destruction and other chants for “intifada,” which is a call for violence.
SJP UIUC speakers also routinely demonize Zionism and in March 2022, one speaker claimed: “Zionism is the root cause of the social issues we see today.” SJP UIUC uses social media to spread the same sort of hatred outlined above.
SJP UIUC - Hatred of Israel 2021-2022
On March 9, 2022, SJP UIUC held a protest where a speaker alleged [00:18:12]: “Zionism is the root cause of the social issues we see today.”Zionism is the belief that Jews have the right to self-determination in their ancestral homeland, Israel, and the right to develop their national culture.
One speaker said [00:17:02] “Israel is a settler colony, not a country. Zionism is genocidal… We stand unequivocally with the Palestinian people and support how they choose to resist their oppression.” At the protest, activists also chanted [00:10:04]: “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.
Four days earlier, SJP UIUC said on Instagram that it would cut ties with ISG since its divestment resolution was nullified because it did not follow proper procedure. Another speaker at the protest claimed [00:42:43] that SJP UIUC was “villified by racist Zionists on campus, in administration, in ISG [Illinois Student Government], in Hillel and Chabad.” Hillel and Chabad are Jewish campus groups.
SJP UIUC - Supporting Terrorists 2021-2022
On April 26, 2022, SJP UIUC hosted an event titled: “Martyrdom in Palestine” and alleged there was “recent violence inflicted by Israeli forces” during a wave of Palestinian terrorist attacks the previous two months where 14 Israelis were killed.The event’s flyer honored multiple terrorists, including Ra’ed Abd al-Jalil who was serving four life sentences for his involvement in terror attacks during the second intifada. The flyer also honored a Hamas leader who planned a 1995 bus bombing and another terrorist who was also arrested during the second intifada.
SJP UIUC - Supporting Intifada 2021-2022
On September 17, 2021, SJP UIUC hosted a protest titled “GLOBALIZE THE INTIFADA PROTEST IN SOLIDARITY WITH PALESTINIAN PRISONERS.”The term “intifada” has carried the connotation of violence, since the early 2000’s.
Activists chanted [00:05:29]: “From Champaign to Gaza, globalize the intifada!” They also chanted [00:12:13] “You can run, you can hide, we’ll still charge you with genocide!”
Buthaina Hattab, then SJP UIUC President, said [00:02:29] at the protest: “On September 6, we celebrated the news that six Palestinian political prisoners being held at the so-called maximum-security, Zionist Gilboa prison facility, they escaped overnight through a tunnel that they dug with only a metal spoon. Their escape was one of the most successful jailbreaks in history.” The crowd cheered [00:02:50] in response.
On September 6, 2021, six Palestinian prisoners escaped from Israel’s Gilboa Prison and were eventually tracked down and imprisoned by Israeli authorities. The prisoners were members of the terror groups Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade and had been convicted for their involvement in terror attacks carried out during the second intifada.
SJP UIUC - Creating a Hostile Campus Environment 2015-2020
In October 2020, SJP UIUC was cited [pp. 3-8] in six different incidents in a civil rights legal complaint against UIUC documenting anti-Semitic incidents on campus as early as 2015. Jewish groups filed the complaint under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.The complaint said [p.12]: “UIUC has also failed to combat anti-Semitism as vigorously as it has combated other forms of bigotry on its campus prohibited by Title VI.”
One cited incident [p.4] was from 2019 when SJP UIUC members and supporters approached pro-Israel students. At least one SJP supporter spat on a pro-Israel student. Other Israel supporters were called “Nazi” and “white supremacist” and were told they had “dual loyalty” since they were “not a true citizen of the United States.”
SJP UIUC - Supporting Terrorists 2019-2020
On November 15, 2019, SJP UIUC held a protest where Sarah El Zayyat, then an SJP UIUC member, read [00:18:57] names from a list of “martyrs.” One of the names she read was Baha Abu al-Ata, a senior Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) commander in Gaza targeted by Israel in an airstrike who was reportedly planning terror attacks.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.
At the rally, an activist held [00:00:46] an Israeli flag defaced with the text “GENO
CIDE” and red handprints meant to signify blood.SJP UIUC protest was titled: “EMERGENCY RALLY: #GazaUnderAttack.” The Facebook event page said: “In Gaza, Israeli airstrikes have killed over 32 Palestinians and injured over 100 in the last 24 hours. Come stand with us in solidarity against Israel's continual genocide and violation of Palestinian human rights.”
SJP UIUC - Hatred of Israel 2019-2020
On October 10, 2019, SJP UIUC wrote on Facebook: “Zionism is a political ideology that seeks to maintain an artificial Jewish majority in historic Palestine through the systematic occupation and dispossession of Palestinians’ land and livelihoods.”The post was issued in defense of a presentation by SJP president Dunia Ghanimah that praised [slide 14] “Martyrdom” and honored terrorist leaders Leila Khaled and Yasser Arafat. Ghanimah, who was a Mulitcultural Advocate (MA) at UIUC, gave the presentation to other MAs, as well as UIUC Housing employees and Resident Advisors.
On October 16, 2019, several Illinois Student Government (ISG) senators authored a resolution defending the presentation.
On October 22, 2019, SJP UIUC posted on Facebook encouraging students to support the ISG’s resolution.
On October 24, 2019, SJP UIUC posted on Facebook in celebration of the resolution passing.
On January 16, 2020, SJP UIUC tweeted a thread protesting a training session on anti-Semitism that had been scheduled for UIUC Housing employees, Resident Advisors, and Multicultural Advocates. The session was organized by the non-profit Jewish United Fund of Chicago (JUF).
In the Twitter thread, SJP UIUC described the JUF as a “hate group.” SJP UIUC also accused JUF of the “brokering of Chicago Police Officers exchange with israeli Occupation Forces” that contributed to a “police culture of systematic violence against Black and Palestinian youth.”
“Israeli Occupation Forces,” or “IOF,” is a derogatory term used to demonize the Israeli army by anti-Israel activists. The term mocks the official name, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
SJP UIUC BDS Activities
During the 2019-2020 academic year, SJP UIUC launched a BDS campaign by authoring a student government resolution asking the university to divest funds from companies that are either based in Israel or do business in Israel.In February 2020, SJP UIUC created the group UIUC Divest to promote BDS on campus and present BDS as an intersectional effort from different campus advocacy groups. In that academic year and each year since then, SJP UIUC or individual SJP UIUC board members authored a divestment resolution.
SJP UIUC BDS Activities - 2019-2020
On February 5, 2020, former SJP UIUC presidents Buthaina Hattab and Dunia Ghanimah, as well as then president Ahlam Khatib, collectively authored an Illinois Student Government (ISG) anti-Israel divestment Resolution 03.61, titled: “Violations of Human Rights in University Investments.”On February 12, 2020, a female Jewish student spoke [01:56:58] at an ISG meeting held to discuss the divestment resolution, to discuss an incident where someone held a sign that said [p. 7]: “F**K NAZIS SUPPORT PALESTINIANS.”
The female Jewish student said that she attended an ISG meeting during the fall semester that addressed a separate anti-Israel resolution. She said [01:56:58]: “When I walked into the room I was confronted by a huge sign held up by SJP that said ‘F**k Nazis’. They called us Nazis!”
Somone in the crowd then shouted [01:57:07] at the same female Jewish student: “They’re right!”
On February 15, 2020, UIUC Divest tweeted: “...UIUC Divest passes 20-9-7! ISG resolution 03.61 “Violation of Human Rights in University Investments” calls on UIUC to divest from corporations that engage in human rights abuses including Israeli war crimes in Palestine.
#UIUCDivest.”On February 17, 2020, UIUC Divest tweeted a letter signed by SJP UIUC criticizing the ISG President Connor Josellis for vetoing the resolution one day earlier.
On February 19, 2020, Josellis said [00:37:31] that he vetoed the resolution because of “a level of hate that I have not previously seen firsthand and on behalf of the student government, I condemn any hateful rhetoric that led to students feeling unsafe in this environment.”
SJP UIUC - BDS Campaign 2021-2022
On February 7, 2022, SJP UIUC launched a divestment campaign to get the UIUC student body to vote on an anti-Israel divestment measure via a referendum in March 2022.On February 14, 2022, SJP UIUC authored a “revised resolution” titled: “Human Rights Violations in University Investments.” SJP UIUC called on the Illinois Student Government (ISG) to approve a “referendum question” for that spring’s student government ballot.
The question that SJP UIUC wanted students to vote on said: “Should the University of Illinois divest its stocks, funds, and endowment from companies that profit from or engage in human rights violations in US Prisons, at the US-Mexico Border, and in Occupied Palestine?”
On Februrary 23, 2022, ISG held a meeting to address the possibility of the question being posed to the student body.
Malaak Yehya, a former SJP executive board member, said [00:05:23] at the meeting: “The question of Palestine and what is going on in Palestine is so simple and is nothing new. It is an ongoing struggle against colonialism, it is ethnic cleansing on display.”
On February 23, 2022, the ISG Senate reportedly passed the bill with a vote of 17 to 14 and two abstentions.
On March 9, 2022 the ISG Judiciary reportedly nullified the resolution due to three violations of the ISG Constitution, including that it passed using a secret ballot. The question was excluded from the ballot of the 2022 student senate election.
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.
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“The occupation, shut it down. The border walls, shut them down. The siege of Gaza, shut it down. The whole d**n system, shut it down!”
