Zeinab Alsheraa
Overview
Zeinab Alsheraa trivialized anti-Semitism while serving as the “Campaign Chair” officer for Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at the University of Michigan, Dearborn (UM-Dearborn) in 2017.Alsheraa is a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.
In March 2019, researchgate.net listed UM Ann Arbor as Alsheraa’s “current institution.”
Trivializing Anti-Semitism
On April 4, 2017, Alsheraa signed an “SJP Statement” issued in response to an article written by Jordan Wohl, a Fellow for the UM-Dearborn Student Government (UMDSG).In the article, Wohl objected to a BDS resolution authored by SJP UM-Dearborn president Susan Yaseen. He also objected to the scheduling of the student government debate on the divestment resolution for a Friday night, the Jewish Sabbath, when religiously-observant Jewish students at UM-Dearborn would effectively be prohibited from attending.
SJP UM-Dearborn responded by suggesting Wohl, who is Jewish, was a “non-Semite.” The group also accused him of bigotry and argued that “a Semite is someone who speaks a Semitic language, such as Arabic or Aramaic. Since the majority of SJP are Semites, to be anti-Semitic is a juxtaposition to our own bloodlines.”
SJP UM-Dearborn’s definition of the term “antisemite” varied greatly from the commonly accepted definition which is “hostility to, prejudice, or discrimination against Jews.”
SJP UM-Dearborn continued:“Furthermore, to be labeled as anti-Semitic by a non-Semite is a serious accusation that we take to heart and treat as bigotry.”
SJP UM Dearborn - Solidarity with a Terrorist
SJP UM-Dearborn has, since 2014, shown support for Rasmea Odeh, who faced deportation from the U.S. after reportedly lying on her naturalization papers about her terrorist activity.In June 2016, SJP UM-Dearborn activists participated in a rally for Odeh, demanding the immigration fraud charges against her be dropped.
Odeh was a key military operative with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terrorist organization. In 1969, she masterminded a PFLP supermarket bombing that killed two college students. She also attempted to bomb the British consulate in Jerusalem. Odeh later moved to the United States but was deported to Jordan in 2017 for immigration fraud.
SJP UM Dearborn - Promoting BDS Resolutions on Campus
SJP UM Dearborn has promoted the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement at UM Dearborn since its founding in February 2013.On February 4, 2017, SJP UM-Dearborn shared to Facebook a screenshot of an anti-Israel resolution proposed to the UM-Dearborn Student Government (UMDSG) titled: “Supporting the UNSC Resolution 2334 (2016) Regarding An End To Israeli settlements in Palestinian territories.”
That day, SJP UM-Dearborn posted on Facebook that the resolution had passed, and that the UMDSG president would be “issuing a statement against illegal Israeli settlements to the Board of Regents, as well as advocating for divestment from Israeli apartheid, and sending them a copy of this resolution.”
On March 13, 2017, the UMDSG shared a screenshot on Facebook of a BDS resolution, titled: “A Resolution To Divest from Ethically Reprehensible Companies That Violate Palestinian Rights,” which reportedly was unanimously passed by the UMDSG on March 13, 2017.
Both resolutions were authored by SJP UM-Dearborn activist Susan Yaseen and co-sponsored by SJP UM-Dearborn activists Michael Mchahwar and Jasmine Rabie.
The UMDSG scheduled the vote on the divestment resolution for a Friday night, March 10, 2017, during the Jewish Shabbat.
On March 29, 2017, UMDSG student Fellow Jordan Wohl wrote in an article that his request to the UMDSG to reschedule the resolution vote was rejected, effectively barring the presence of Jewish students who observe Shabbat.
On March 16, 2017, UMDSG president, Fiana Arbab reportedly presented a copy of the resolution at the Board of Regents Meeting and advocated for the University to divest from the companies named in the resolution.
During the meeting, Susan Yaseen reportedly “asked the board to reconsider forming a divestment committee to investigate investments by the University that may violate Palestinian rights.”
On April 18, 2017, an article in the Badger Herald noted that students at UM-Dearborn had “pushed for more than two years” unsuccessfully “to pass a similar resolution through their student government.” Yaseen reportedly said: “I’m aware that divestment is unlikely and that we maybe have 10 more years to go...But I believe we planted a seed, and [the movement] is going to continue to grow.”
SJP UM Dearborn - Defending Pro-BDS Professors
In November 2018, SJP UM-Dearborn activist Susan Yaseen drafted a student government resolution, endorsed by SJP UM-Dearborn that “defended the actions” of John Cheney-Lippold, who sparked major controversy in September 2018, when he reneged on his offerto write a recommendation letter for a student to study abroad in Israel.The resolution also reportedly defended Lucy Evelyn Peterson, a graduate student instructor at the University of Michigan (UMICH) who, in 2018, reportedly reneged on her commitment to write a recommendation letter for a student because he was applying to study in Israel. Peterson reportedly cited that she pledged herself “to a boycott of Israeli institutions as a way of showing solidarity with Palestine.”
In an October 3, 2018 letter, UMICH disciplined Cheney-Lippold by issuing a number of sanctions, including ineligibility “for a salary increase for the 2018-2019 academic year.” Further, Cheney-Lippold’s sabbatical eligibility and credits were frozen for two years “until the Fall 2020 semester.”
On November 9, 2018, Susan Yaseen, in her capacity as the “Divestment Investigations Chair” of the UMDSG, reportedly drafted a student government resolution that “defended the actions” of Cheney-Lippold and Lucy Evelyn Peterson.
Yaseen’ resolution reportedly called “for a reversal of the disciplinary actions taken against the two instructors.” Yaseen reportedly said that “this resolution serves as a first step in the fight to ensure equal rights for Palestinian students.” The resolution passed the next day.
The University of Michigan’s Public Affairs Department reportedly responded to the controversy, saying that “Injecting personal politics into a decision regarding support for our students is counter to our values and expectations as an institution.”
The resolution reportedly called for “a reversal of the disciplinary actions taken against the two instructors.”
SJP UM Dearborn - Celebrating “International Quds Day”
On July 2, 2016, SJP UM-Dearborn shared a photo of SJP activists and wrote: “How did you spend international Quds Day? #FreePalestine”SJP UM-Dearborn activist Susan Yaseen held a sign that read: “ISRAELI APARTHEID. Made in the U.S.A. BLOCK AID TO ISRAEL NOW.”
SJP UM Dearborn - Demonizing Israel
On April 13, 2017, the UM-Dearborn student newspaper reported that SJP UM-Dearborn put fake parking tickets on students’ car windshields parked on campus in March. The tickest “were meant to serve as flyers for two events” organized by SJP UM-Dearborn.SJP UM-Dearborn president, Susan Yaseen, said: “The purpose of this was to create an empathic connection between the student body and the Palestinian victims, sharing with them the reality of what the Palestinians go through on a daily basis. Palestinians do not receive any form of notices when they are forced to evacuate or have their houses demolished.”
Yaseen continued. “The tickets were designed to share that fear with the student body and spread awareness of the injustice occurring in Palestine.”
The fake ticket read: “Parking Violation... We regret to inform you that your vehicle will be towed in the next 24 Hours. We receive the right to demolish the vehicle under Code 269.2.C. We hereby release any liability for damage to any persons or effects including gross negligence. You will receive the charges of demolition and waste removal…”
The flyer concluded: “Palestinian homes are often destroyed so that new settlements can be built, and so that the state of Israel can expand past its borders by appropriating Palestinian land.”
On October 31, 2016, SJP UM-Dearborn held a “Zionism is Scary” bake sale on campus.
On October 6, 2016, SJP UM-Dearborn shared photos on Facebook of activists setting up a mock Israeli checkpoint. SJP activists put up a mock apartheid wall, simulating Israel’s security barrier, and dressed as Israeli soldiers.
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.
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
Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/zeinabalmusawi/ [Deleted]
