Jennifer Selwyn
Overview
Jennifer Selwyn has demonized Israel and is a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement. She has also defended the anti-Israel activities of Professor Rabab Abdulhadi.She is an adjunct associate professor in the Department of History Portland State University (Portland State).
Demonizing Israel
Selwyn signed a petition, published on January 1, 2013, by Jews for Palestinian Right of Return (JFPROR).The petition stated that “For more than a century, Zionists have sought to construct a ‘Jewish state’ through forced removal of the indigenous Palestinian people” and went on to say that “Since 1967, Israel has also occupied and colonized the remainder of historic Palestine. Today, this relentless ethnic cleansing continues — armed and financed by the U.S. and its allies.”
The petition later claimed that “To hide these crimes and shield itself from their consequences, the Zionist regime officially denies the Nakba, the ethical equivalent of Holocaust denial.”
Supporting BDS
Selwyn signed an open letter to United States President Barack Obama and the American Congress, dated July 31, 2014, condemning “the disproportionate harm that the Israeli military, which the United States has armed and supported for decades, is inflicting on the population of Gaza.”The letter exclusively blamed Israel for the Gazan civilian crisis and called upon the administration “to suspend US military aid to Israel, until there is assurance that this aid will no longer be used for the commission of war crimes.”
The letter was in response to Operation Protective Edge (OPE), which Israel commenced in July of 2014, to stop rocket fire targeting Israeli civilians and to destroy Hamas attack tunnels.
Defending Rabab Abdulhadi
Selwyn signed a letter published on July 1, 2014, by “members of Jewish communities” to San Francisco State University (SFSU) President Leslie Wong, condemning actions taken against Abdulhadi and her anti-Israel activism on campus.The letter specifically defended Abdulhadi’s activities, such as leading a controversial “delegation to Palestine that highlighted the plain reality of Israeli occupation and settler-colonialism” and went on to claim that “political intervention to support Israel and Zionism feeds into anti-Jewish racism.”
According to a Middle East Forum report, Professor Rabab Abdulhadi has — since at least January 2014 — sought to cultivate alliances between San Francisco State University (SFSU) and two Hamas-dominated Palestinian universities.”
In 2016, Abdulhadi signed a letter to Vassar College President Catherine Bond Hill defending Jasbir Puar. Puar demonized Israel, suggesting that Israelis harvest the organs of dead Palestinians.
During a March 2014 SFSU faculty event, Abdulhadi praised international hijacker Leila Khaled as an “icon in liberations movements and… an icon for women’s liberation.”
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
University Website:https://www.pdx.edu/history/bio-selwyn
- Status:
- Professor
- University:
- Portland-State
- Organizations:
- BDS
- Related Profiles:
- Last Modified:
- 05/04/2026
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