Malini Schueller

Overview

Malini Schueller [Malini Johar Schueller] is the faculty advisor of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at University of Florida (UF)

Schueller is a leader within the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement and a member of the US Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (USACBI) Organizing Collective.

Schueller is a professor of English at UF.

Promoting the Academic Boycott of Israel

Schueller is a signatory to a BDS campaign of the Association of Asian American Studies (AAAS) — which, on April 20, 2013, passed the first resolution by a North American academic organization urging a boycott of Israeli academic institutions.

The AAAS resolution insinuated that Israel would arbitrarily close Palestinian universities and schools. The resolution made no mention of the terror links fostered by many of these institutions.

The second page of the AAAS resolution went on to promote a deliberately misleading and widely debunked map — dubbed "The Map That Lies" — that fraudulently presented lands once controlled by Britain, Egypt, and Jordan as autonomous “Palestinian” land, purportedly stolen by Israel.

In March 2016, publishing giant McGraw-Hill recalled textbooks featuring the fraudulent map. In October 2015, the U.S. cable news network MSNBC apologized for airing a similar series of maps and retracted them.

Pushing BDS on Academic Societies

Schueller is a member of the American Studies Association (ASA) and coordinator of its Activism and Community Caucus (ASA Caucus). In 2012, the ASA Caucus proposed a resolution calling for an academic boycott of Israel, which was adopted at the ASA’s 2013 Conference. On August 15, 2014, Schueller called on ASA members to join USACBI.

Schueller is also a member of the Modern Language Association (MLA) and, as of August 2016, signed a BDS petition put forward by the MLA Members for Justice in Palestine (MLA MJP). On January 8, 2016, Schueller spoke at the annual MLA convention, on a panel titled: “What It Means for MLA Members to Support the Academic Boycott of Israel.”

Anti-Israel professors David Lloyd and Bruce Robbins have been leading an effort to force the the MLA to adopt a BDS resolution, which will come up for a vote in 2017.

In 2014, the MLA membership repudiated what many saw as an effort by a small minority to politicize and commandeer the organization — especially when only those in favor of boycott sought to revoke the MLA’s “10% rule,” passed in 2011. To be accepted as official MLA policy, measures approved by the organization’s Delegate Assembly must then win the support of a majority of those voting, and that majority must make up at least 10 percent of the association's membership.

Also in 2014, Schueller signed an open letter calling on Israeli academics to “act to end the illegal occupation in Palestine” and Israeli “atrocities” to sign a petition. The petition was closed to overseas signers when only 83 Israeli professors signed on.

Applying a Double Standard to Demonize Israel

Schueller co-authored an essay with anti-Israel professor David Lloyd in propagandist Ali Abunimah’s 2015 book “Against Apartheid: The Case for Boycotting Israeli Universities.” In the essay, titled “The Israeli State of Exception and the Case for Academic Boycott,” Schueller and Lloyd made the false claim that Israel practices apartheid and insinuated — fraudulently — Israel is not a democracy “in any meaningful sense of the word.”

The essay also recycled a libel that Israel has deliberately killed civilians using white phosphorous.

Schueller and Lloyd went on to argue that BDS’ demands are realizable by the Israel, reciting BDS’ three summary principles, which actually comprise a veiled prescription for the destruction of Israel and its replacement with a unitary Arab Palestinian state.

Schueller and Lloyd argued that Israel should be exclusively singled out for condemnation.

The essay implied that the authors would also like to boycott other western democracies — and China — but excused themselves from doing so because “[a]n economic boycott of the European Union, the United States, or China, for example, would probably be economically ineffectual and thus politically futile, much as we might desire such boycotts in principle.”

In an earlier February 9, 2014 article, titled “False anti-Semitism charges blind us to real bigotry,” Schueller admitted the ASA boycott exclusively singled out Israel for condemnation from other nations. She also argued that Israel-hate group Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP)’s support for the resolution was an indicator that the ASA boycott was not anti-Semitic. JVP regularly shields anti-Semites from allegations of anti-Semitism and has been caught staging elaborate hoaxes to demonize Israel.

Advocating for Anti-Semitic Professor Steven Salaita

In November of 2015 Schueller advocated for the University of Illinois (U of I) to reinstate Steven Salaita, who is now the Said Chair of American Studies at the American University of Beirut (AUB). Salaita went to AUB after U of I withdrew an offer of employment to him, upon becoming aware of Salaita’s anti-Semitic tweets from the Summer of 2014.

One tweet Salaita posted, shortly after a Hamas cell kidnapped and murdered three 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." A month later, Salaita tweeted, "Zionists: transforming "antisemitism" from something horrible into something honorable since 1948." On July 8, 2014, he tweeted: "There's something profoundly sexual to the Zionist pleasure w/#Israel's aggression. Sublimation through bloodletting, a common perversion."

U of I defended its decision to withdraw the job offer to Salaita in a January 29, 2015 press release, saying "These statements [his tweets] and many more like them demonstrate that Dr. Salaita lacks the judgment, temperament and thoughtfulness to serve as a member of our faculty in any capacity, but particularly to teach courses related to the Middle East.”

Defending Terrorist Rasmea Odeh

In 2014, Schueller signed a petition titled "Feminist scholars to Obama: End prosecution of Palestinian survivor of sexual torture," that whitewashed convicted terrorist-murderer Rasmea Odeh.

The petition Schueller signed claimed that Odeh was sexually and physically tortured for 45 days before she confessed. However, Odeh confessed, in a highly detailed account, the day following her arrest. In addition, one of Odeh’s co-conspirators also directly implicated Odeh as the mastermind of the deadly supermarket bombing, in a 2004 documentary.

The petition stated "[a]s feminist scholars, we call on the Department of Justice to drop the charges against Rasmea Odeh. We extend our deepest support to Rasmea in the face of injustice. We recognize her as a leader in the international struggle to empower women and end violence against women."

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 UF - Portraying Terrorists as Victims

On October 13, 2015, SJP UF posted an article titled, "Death-chanting Israeli mob rejoices as Palestinian teen is executed." The article — from the anti-Israel hate site Electronic Intifada (EI) — linked to an EI video also falsely titled, “Israeli police kill Fadi Alloun in cold blood.”

Nineteen year-old Fadi Aloon was shot by Israeli security forces after he tried to stab to death a 15-year old Israeli boy. Several hours before his murder attempt, Aloon posted “Either martyrdom or victory” on his Facebook page.

October 2015 saw a wave of Palestinian terrorist violence, known variously as the "Knife Intifada" or the “Stabbing Intifada,” fueled by Palestinian religious and political leadership — and social media campaigns. Palestinian radicals across Israel stabbed and hacked to death scores of Israeli civilians, in hundreds of attacks.

On October 18, 2015, SJP UF posted on Facebook an image with the misleading caption "Israeli settler, shoots, kills teenage Palestinian boy in Hebron" and linked to an article whitewashing the terrorism of the boy — Fadil Qawasmi, 18 — who was shot after he tried to stab an Israeli citizen on the Jewish Sabbath. First, Qawasmi approached a checkpoint in the city and tried to stab one of the security forces. When his attempt failed, Qawasmi came after an Israeli citizen who defended himself with his personal firearm.

The article SJP UF posted also propagated the dubious allegations of a purported witness, Mufeed Sharabati, who claimed that “settlers” were “distributing candies” after Qawasmi was shot.

On March 21, 2013, SJP UF held a protest and a "24-hour solidarity hunger strike" at UF in support of Palestinian terrorist Samer Issawi — who received a 26 year prison sentence in 2002 for his involvement in a series of shooting attacks on Israeli students and police.

Issawi was a member of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine. During the Second Intifada, Issawi was convicted of manufacturing and distributing pipe bombs and, in several incidents, firing indiscriminately on Israeli civilian vehicles.

SJP UF - Defending Terrorist Rasmea Odeh

In November 2014, SJP UF took part in a national day of action for terrorist Rasmea Odeh, discussed above, and misleadingly claimed that Odeh is "currently facing political repression." SJP UF members held a demonstration at UF, where they encouraged UF students “to get involved in the solidarity campaign.”

On February 26, 2016, SJP UF reiterated their support for Odeh on Facebook.

SJP UF - Posting Support For Terrorists

On August 17, 2015, SJP UF called on its Facebook followers to “take action” for Mohammad Allan.

Allan is a member of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), a terror group “whose objective is the destruction of the State of Israel and the establishment of a sovereign, Islamic Palestinian state.” Allan was first jailed by Israel in 2006 for trying to recruit a suicide bomber to carry out an attack in Israel. He was detained in 2014 for similar reasons. PIJ is backed by Iran and has killed dozens of Israelis in suicide bombings and other attacks.

On February 17 and February 26, 2016 SJP UF posted support on Facebook for hunger-striking Muhammad al-Qiq, whom Israel also detained for Hamas terror-related activities.

SJP UF - Spreading Anti-Israel Propaganda

On December 27, 2015, SJP UF posted a video on Facebook that depicted the attempted arrest of a Palestinian youngster — Mohammed Tamimi — by an Israeli soldier, for rock-throwing. The event was later revealed to be a staged propaganda incident — one of many orchestrated by the boy’s father, Bassem Tamimi and the boy’s older sister Ahed Tamimi, who was later featured on SJP UF’s Facebook page in March 2016.

Bassem Tamimi is notorious for exploiting young children as political props. Tamimi regularly manufactures confrontations with Israeli soldiers, who respond to the rioting that Tamimi instigates. In 2011, Tamimi was jailed for organizing violent rallies and inciting minors to commit violent crimes.

On March 25, 2016, SJP UF shared an AJ+ video on Facebook featuring a monologue by Hamas propagandist Dr. Mads Gilbert. Gilbert has been banned indefinitely from entering Gaza through Israel because of his connections to the Hamas leadership.

Gilbert — whose allegations are popular with white supremacists — was stationed at a hospital that doubled as a Hamas rocket launching site. During that time he acted as a propagandist for the Hamas government in Gaza.

On March 30, 2016, SJP UF propagated the false claim that Israelis committed an "ethnic cleansing" of Palestinians, and falsely claimed that Israel practices “apartheid.” SJP UF also called for the end of the Jewish state, commenting “just like South Africa's apartheid, its [Israel’s] days are numbered."

On October 22, 2015, SJP UF posted on Facebook a libelous article titled "IDF Kills Hebron Peace Activist, Hashem Azzeh,"

In October 2015, Al Azzeh died of a chronic cardiac condition. On October 21, 2015, Al Azzeh suffered chest pains and was taken to a nearby hospital, which claimed his death was due to heart failure. Palestinian news sources later claimed his death was caused by the IDF’s use of tear gas nearby.

SJP UF - Propagating Race-Based Hatred Against the U.S. and Israel

On October 14, 2015, SJP UF posted a video on Facebook that misleadingly conjoined the Black Lives Matter movement narrative with the Palestinian Arab narrative. The video accused both the U.S. and Israel of “genocide” and fraudulently claimed both Israel and the U.S. are secretly attempting to “sterilize” Palestinians and Blacks.

Sprinkled with language of “hope,” “love” and “strength,” the video also romanticized rock throwing — a deadly form of terrorism — with a person holding a sign stating: “I slang rocks - but Palestinian style.”

The video cameoed an assortment of notorious anti-Israel personalities, including terrorist Rasmea Odeh and radical Angela Davis. Davis made the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitive List in 1970, after being charged as a principal in an aggravated kidnapping and first-degree murder — for purchasing the shotgun used in the abduction and killing of a judge. Davis was eventually arrested — but later acquitted.

SJP UF - Culturally Misappropriating a Jewish Holiday to Demonize Israel

On January 26, 2016, SJP UF co-opted the Jewish festival of Tu B’Shvat, the New Year for the trees, as an opportunity to demonize Israel, posting — “Here's a really cool organization you can donate to, it gives money to Palestinian olive tree farmers.” SJP UF then linked to an organization called Zatoun, which describes its mission as helping “offset the enormous destruction of olive trees by the Israeli army, settlers and the illegal Annexation Wall.”

Palestinians have a long history of lying, without any evidence, about olive trees being destroyed by Israelis.

Slandering Zionism as “Racist”

As of September 2016, SJP UF’s group description page, which is hosted on UF’s server, states that “[w]e are against the racist ideology of Zionism, which is the impetus for Israeli colonialism, because it inherently discriminates against those who are not Jewish.”

The canard that Zionism is a form of racism remains a staple of the Palestinian anti-Israel narrative. In 1975, an Israel-hating resolution — that falsely branded Zionism a form of racism — was proposed to the General Assembly of the United Nations (UN), at the instigation of the Soviet Union, its client states, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Arab and Islamic-majority countries hostile to Israel. Although the anti-Semitic resolution passed in 1975, it was repealed in 1991, by a much larger majority.

SJP UF - Inviting Hate Speakers to Campus and Shutting Down Dialogue

Since 2013, SJP UF has promoted BDS at UF and in April 2016, commenced a BDS campaign at UF to boycott Sabra Hummus, because it is partially owned by an Israeli company.

On April 7, 2015, SJP UF members held a demonstration against the Israeli Defense Force (IDF)'s alleged “discrimination” against Palestinian Christians. In reality, Israel and Lebanon are the only countries left in the Middle East where Christians are safe from persecution and have religious freedom.

On September 16, 2014, during a debate between former Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren and Palestinian Journalist Rula Jebreal, SJP UF members staged a protest outside the venue. SJP UF was originally asked to co-sponsor the event, but refused on the grounds that it "normalizes the occupation of Palestine as well as Israeli Apartheid policies/laws" and that "any project with Israelis that is not based on a resistance framework serves to normalize relations."

In a September 17, 2014 Facebook post, SJP UF explained that the phrase “resistance framework” included “ending the occupation, establishing full and equal rights for Palestinian citizens of Israel, and promoting and advocating for the right of return for Palestinian refugees,” otherwise known as the one state solution, which promotes the end of Israel as a Jewish State and its replacement with an Arab Palestinian one.

In February 2015, two IDF soldiers were invited to the UF campus to share their personal stories. In the middle of their talk, SJP UF members stood up in protest wearing shirts that read, “You’re the real terrorist.” They then staged a walk-out. When one of the organizers asked them to stay, expressing, "You are the other side for the peace that we need...please come back and stay to talk to us,” the SJP members refused.

On October 10, 2013, SJP UF attempted to disrupt a talk given by Anat Berko, a leading Israeli counter terrorism expert. Several minutes into Berko's lecture on the motivations of suicide bombers in Israel, four SJP members stood and began chanting accusations “Hamas is not the Problem, the Israeli Occupation is!” and “The IDF kills women and children!” However, their protest was cut short. Berko replied to them, “You think the IDF kills children? You should go to Syria, where everyone knows they are murdering thousands of children with gas and other cruel weapons! Go to Syria where there are actually thousands of real refugees. They need you to demonstrate in Syria, go!” The SJP hecklers left the room and Berko continued her lecture.

On November 11, 2015, SJP UF hosted New York-based poet Remi Kanazi. Kanazi is notorious for his aggressively anti-Israel poetry and spoken-word performances. In a November 15, 2012 Facebook post, Kanazi wrote, “Dear Zionists: You have never ‘defended yourselves.’ You came in, stole land that wasn’t yours & maintained a racist state through massacres and brute force.” Kanazi’s post was written the day after Israel launched Operation Pillar of Defense — in response to the launch of over 100 rockets at Israeli cities from Gaza during a 24-hour period.

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.