Emily Dreyfus

Overview

Emily Dreyfus is a member of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at the University of Chicago (U of C) and supports the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

Dreyfus is a student at U of C majoring in Germanic Studies.

Dressing Anti-Semitism as Anti-Zionism

On March 8, 2016, Dreyfus shared a graphic on Facebook that likened those who support Israel to supporters of the Ku Klux Klan.

On August 6, 2014, Dreyfus shared a status on Facebook that said: "Israeli actions and calls for concentration camps and total destruction of gaza were reminiscent of Nazi mentality." Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis

is a form of anti-Semitism according to the United States Department of State definition.

On August 27, 2014, Dreyfus shared an article on Facebook in relation to Israel’s Operation Protective Edge with the headline — "Israel’s extermination of whole families in Gaza reflects genocidal impulse."

On September 20, 2014, Dreyfus shared on Facebook an article titled — "Against the Inclusion of Zionist Organizations in the People's Climate March" referring to a march in New York that preceded a UN Summit on Climate Change. The article criticized the organizers of the march claiming that “working with the NYPD or Zionist organizations supporting genocide” is “dangerous” and “reveal an alarming level of ignorance.”

Supporting Leaders of Anti-Semitic Parties

On August 21, 2015, Dreyfus posted support on Facebook for British Labor Party leader, Jeremy Corbyn.

Approximately 50 members of Jeremy Corbyn’s party were quietly suspended from the party due to their anti-Semitic comments exposed on social media.

In 2012 Corbyn invited Sheikh Raed Salah, leader of the extreme wing of the Islamic Movement in Israel, to Parliament and described Salah as "a very honored citizen."

Salah's record included endorsingthe conspiracy theory that was started by Syria’s government-owned newspaper, Al Thawra, about Jews being warned not to come to work at the Twin Towers on September 11. In a 2007 sermon, Salah also repeated the medieval European blood libel that Jews use the blood of gentile children to make matzah, for Passover.

In another incident, Corbyn stated he looked forward to hosting "our friends from Hezbollah" at an event at Parliament, and described that group and Hamas as being “dedicated toward bringing long-term peace in the entire region.”

Although he eventually expressed regret for those statements — during an investigation on anti-Semitism in his party in July of 2016 — Corbyn went on to back-handedly compare Israel’s government to ISIS.

In October 2020, Corbyn was suspended from the Labour Party after he downplayed a report that found the party “did not do enough to prevent anti-Semitism and, at worst, could be seen to accept it".  

Spreading Lies to Foment Israel-Hatred

On October 14, 2015, Dreyfus shared on Facebook a video that featured a girl nicknamed "Shirley Temper" — whose real name is Ahed Tamimi. The video also featured Ahed’s younger brother — Mohammed Tamimi — being arrested by an Israeli soldier, for stone throwing. This event was revealed to be a staged “Pallywood” propaganda incident — one of many orchestrated by the boy’s father, Bassem Tamimi and his children.

The above-named Tamimis are relatives of Alam Tamimi.

Ahlam Tamimi is reportedly a Hamas terrorist who masterminded the 2001 suicide bombing at Jerusalem’s Sbarro cafe, which murdered 15 people, including eight children, and wounded 130. Tamimi later boasted of her role in committing the bombing.

Also on October 14, 2015, Dreyfus shared another video on Facebook that misrepresented terrorist Fadi Alloun as "a victim of deadly police force despite being unarmed and posing no threat."

Fadi Aloon was shot by Israeli security forces after he stabbed a 15-year-old Israeli boy. Several hours before the attack, Aloon posted “Either martyrdom or victory” on his Facebook page. 

Dreyfus has shared numerous links on Facebook falsely accusing Israel of Apartheid.

Denigrating Dialogue

On December 10, 2015, Dreyfus shared an article on Facebook attacking "the mindset that peace is achieved through dialogue" and claimed inter-faith efforts to bridge gaps hold “hidden dangers” of “normalization” “which are “hurting the Palestinian cause.”

The article falsely accused the Shalom Hartman Institute (Hartman’s), located in West Jerusalem "stands on stolen Palestinian land." The article further condemned Hartman’s Muslim Leadership Initiative project for inviting Muslims to Israel to learn “how Jews understand Judaism, Israel, and Jewish peoplehood....to experience how Palestinians, both inside and outside Israel, identify themselves.”

Promoting Anti-Semitic Hate Speech

On September 22, 2014, Dreyfus promoted an advertisement for a discussion at U of C with Steven Salaita, now the Said Chair of American Studies at the American University of Beirut (AUB).

On September 23, 2014, Dreyfus shared on Facebook a petition to support Salaita following his dismissal.

In 2014, The University of Illinois withdrew an offer of employment to 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.” In 2017, Salaita posted to Facebook: “People ask if I would go back in time and change anything. I would not…I will die unapologetic.” In February 2019, Salaita stated that he had become a school bus driver in the Washington, D.C., area.

Also in attendance at the Salaita discussion was Palestinian propagandist and provocateur Bassem Tamimi, whose U.S. visa has since been revoked and Ali Abunimah, who is also a member of ISM and currently serves as Vice President of the Arab American Action Network.

On August 1, 2014, Dreyfus shared an interview with anti-Semitic journalist Max Blumenthal and posted comments in support of his views. Blumenthal blamedIsrael exclusively for the conflict in Gaza — despite Israel’s complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in 2005. Blumenthal spoke of the Israel’s operation as a "slaughter of a civilian population in a fashion that Jews endured under their own occupation."

Blumenthal’s 2013 book, “Goliath: Life and Loathing in Greater Israel,”was dubbed “The Israel Hater’s Handbook” by Eric Alterman of the progressive magazine The Nation.  

Dreyfus shares links on Facebook to websites that spread anti-Israel propaganda, including Electronic Intifada, Mondoweiss.

On March 11, 2016, Dreyfus shared on Facebook an Electronic intifada article depicting a misleading map, which has been dubbed "The Map That Lies," which falsely represents lands that were controlled by Britain, Egypt, and Jordan as autonomous “Palestinian land” as stolen by Israel.

On November 19, 2012, Dreyfus changed her Facebook profile photo to a picture taken from an anti-Israel demonstration. The picture featured a sign reading "Stop the massacre" — a vicious mischaracterization of Israel’s Operation Pillar of Defense.

U of C Divest

On March 28, 2016, a coalition of organizations including Jewish Voice for Peace UChicago (JVP UChicago), SJP at the University of Chicago (SJP U of C), Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán at UChicago (M.E.Ch.A.) and Queers United in Power launched the ‪‎UofC Divest‬ campaign. The campaign called on U of C’s College Council to pass a resolution urging the university’s divestment from targeted companies doing business with Israel. The launch urged students to sign a petition supporting the resolution.

On March 29, 2016, Dreyfus changed her Facebook profile picture to the UofC divest campaign poster. 

UofC Divest’s inaugural Facebook post claimed that “we act in direct response to the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement” — that lists the Council of National and Islamic Forces in Palestine as the first member of its national committee and takes its financing, inspiration and marching orders from foreign sources. 

Also on March 28, 2016  UofC Divest hung banners throughout the (U of C) campus, supporting the divestment resolution. Dozens of BDS supporters held a rally, marching with a huge Palestinian flag through U of C’s central quad.

Students at the U of C who were opposed to UofC Divest responded by launching a counter campaign — “University of Chicago Coalition for Peace.”

On April 8, 2016, Dreyfus promoted on Facebook a UofC Divest event seeking to solicit support from students to support the resolution.

On April 11, 2016, UofC Divest uploaded a video promoting its campaign, featuring SJP and JVP members. One member said — “this University shouldn’t be profiting off the murder of women and children.” Another student who presented herself as  a recipient of financial aid complained that “it makes me really angry to know that the money used to fund my education comes from loads of human rights violations.” Another student said she supports UofC Divest because she doesn’t “support a state founded on Apartheid.” Diana Lozano, co-chair of M.E.Ch.A. —  speaking in Spanish claimed — “the same colonial forces in the U.S.-Mexico borders are the ones that are oppressing Gaza.”

On April 14, 2016, two-weeks after the UofC Divest campaign’s launch, the College Council passed the resolution in an 8-4-3 vote.

In a marked departure from prior College Council policy, all photography and voice recordings were prohibited at the divestment vote. Representatives’ individual votes on amendments disassociating the resolution from the international BDS movement and asserting Israel’s right to exist were not captured on the record. Two attempts by the university newspaper to re-poll members of the Council yielded different numbers than the totals from that night — and indicated that at least two representatives misreported their votes.

Following the vote, some students sought to illustrate that UofC Divest was not about human rights, but about singling out Israel. They proposed a resolution to the college council to divest from Chinese weapon manufacturers due to China’s record of human rights violations and its occupation of Tibet. Council members condemned the resolution — and tabled it indefinitely—  claiming it was political and offensive to Chinese students.  

Supporting BDS to the Detriment of Palestinians

Dreyfus has promoted on Facebook numerous posts supporting student-led campaigns to boycott and divest from companies that do business with Israel as well as academic boycotts and campaigns to impose an arms embargo on Israel.

Dreyfus shared links on social media calling for cultural boycotts of Israel. On August 10, 2014, Dreyfus shared a link on Facebook urging support of London’s Tricycle Theatre for refusing to host the scheduled UK Jewish film festival when London’s Israeli Embassy contributed modestly toward the event.

Dreyfus shared several posts on Facebook calling for a Boycott of Sodastream — a company where Israeli Jews and Palestinians worked together.

In February 2016, 500 Palestinians lost their jobs when Sodastream moved its factory from the West Bank to southern Israel. Although the company denied that BDS had an impact on the decision, the BDS movement took credit for the factory’s relocation.

SJP U of C and JVP UChicago - Exalting Terror

On November 2, 2015, JVP UChicago and SJP U of C erected a shrine honoring Palestinian terrorists killed during the upsurge of stabbings, car rammings and other terrorist attacks against Jews, that began in October 2015. 

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.

The shrine featured Palestinian terrorist Fadi Aloon, whom it portrayed as an innocent civilian was shot while "run[ning] from a racist mob." 

Fadi Aloon was shot by Israeli security forces after he stabbed a 15-year-old Israeli boy. Several hours before the attack, Aloon posted “Either martyrdom or victory” on his Facebook page. 

SJP U of C - Supporting a Terrorist

2016 the SJP U of C Facebook Page’s cover photo featured a likeness of Rasmea Odeh. On April 23, 2015, JVP UChicago members attended a fundraising event for her.

Odeh was a key military operativewith 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 her as the mastermind.

On 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.

On February 26, 2016, Odeh’s immigration fraud case was sent back to the district court, to examine whether trauma-related repressed memories contributed to Odeh’s failure to disclose her prior conviction.

On March 23, 2017, Odeh accepted a plea deal where she would be initially deported to Jordan and lose her U.S. citizenship in exchange for avoiding jail time.

The SJP U of C Facebook cover photo also included an image of domestic terrorist Assata Shakur, who was convicted of killing a NJ State trooper and grievously wounding another in 1973. Shakur escaped from prison in 1979 and managed to flee to Cuba in 1984 — where she resides today. She is listed on the FBI Most Wanted Terror List under her legal name, Joanne Deborah Chesimard.

Further, the SJP U of C Facebook cover photo included an image of Commandanta Ramona, a deceased leader of the militant separatist Mexican group the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN).

Lastly, the cover photo included an image of 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 U of C -Spreading Hatred of Israel 

From October 26-30, 2015, SJP U of C launched its annual Israeli Apartheid Week — a five-day event dedicated to demonizing Israel.

One of the week’s events began with a panel moderated by John Mearsheimer, who is notorious for anti-Semitic claims that the “Israel Lobby” in the United States exercises undue influence over U.S. foreign policy and that the Lobby’s agenda is detrimental to U.S. interests.

The event also featured anti-police agitator Page May from We Charge Genocide and co-founder of the BDS movement Omar Barghouti, who rejects the existence of Israel.

On October 27, 2015, SJP U of C hosted a talk featuring Eliat Maoz, who propagated a blood libel, claiming that Israel’s wars with Hamas in Gaza are “a testing ground” for the weapons industry. Maoz described the “Occupied Palestinian Territories” as “the largest and most advanced weapon-testing laboratory,” and that Israel uses its operations as a means of marketing and exporting its technology and weapons abroad. 

On April 24, 2015 —  a day after Israeli Independence Day — SJP U of C posted photos of their protest with JVP UChicago members. The protesters held Israel responsible for the creation and continuation of the Palestinian refugee problem. One sign suggested that Israel is engaged in an “ongoing genocide, ethnic cleansing and apartheid.” 

SJP U of C - Hosting Anti-Israel Speakers

SJP U of C has a history of inviting Israel-haters to speak at events, including Dr. Leila Farsakh, Dr. Sa'ed Atshan and New York-based poet and writer Remi Kanazi.

On May 11, 2015, SJP U of C organized an event featuring Farsakh. Farsakh advocates for a one-state solution that would see the dissolution of Israel as a Jewish State. Farsakh attended Harvard's One State Conference in March 2012, where in response to a question concerning the fate of Israeli Jews were they to become disempowered by the voluntary dissolution of Israel, Farsakh reportedly suggested they could "reconnect with their Arabism."

On May 13, 2015, as part of Palestine Solidarity Week, SJP U of C organized an event featuring Atshan. Atshan has long rejected the two-state solution, does not accept that Israel is a democracy and wants the Jewish state to be dissolved and replaced with another. democratic state.

In 2012, Atshan wrote an article that accused Israel of "ethnic cleansing" and “colonization” — and roundly condemned Native American poet Joy Harjo for rejecting Palestinian calls to boycott Israel. Harjo posted on her Facebook page from Tel Aviv, saying: “Now my social media pages and message boxes are filled with a campaign to force a boycott, with messages of polarization, as if there is one way to poetry, resistance or empowerment.” Harjo went on to mention “an atmosphere of censure now in the ultimatum that I am being given to boycott.”

On January 17, 2012, SJP U of C hosted a panel event featuring Kanazi, condemning Israel’s 2008 - 2009 Operation Cast Lead. The event also featured Ali Abunimah, the co-founder of the anti-Israel online magazine Electronic Intifada.

SJP U of C - Propagating Blood Libels

On September 16, 2014, SJP U of C shared on Facebook an image of Palestinians massacred in the Sabra and Shatilla refugee camps in Lebanon by Lebanese Christian Phalangists — and suggested that Israel committed the massacre. The post further alleged that "63 noted Palestinian intellectuals in Sabra and Shatila were shot execution-style by Israeli forces."

On May 7, 2014, SJP U of C shared a poster on Facebook objecting to Israel’s Independence Day, and rejecting Israel’s right to exist. The poster urged: "Decolonize Palestine. Free Palestine." The poster accused Zionists of “celebrating” and trying “to normalize ethnic cleansing.” SJP U of C and JVP UChicago members paraded similar signs on the grounds of the U of C campus.

SJP U of C - Dedicating a Week to Israel-Hatred

From October 26-30, 2015, SJP U of C launched its annual Israeli Apartheid Week — a five-day event dedicated to demonizing Israel.

One of the events began with a panel moderated by John Mearsheimer, notorious for anti-Semitic claims that the "Israel Lobby" in the United States exercises undue influence over U.S. foreign policy and that the Lobby’s agenda is detrimental to U.S. interests.

The event also featured Black rights activist Page May from We Charge Genocide as well as Omar Barghouti. 

On October 27, 2015, SJP U of C hosted a talk featuring Eliat Maoz, who propagated a blood libel, claiming that Israel’s wars with Hamas in Gaza are "a testing ground" for the weapons industry. Maoz described the “Occupied Palestinian Territories” as “the largest and most advanced weapon-testing laboratory,” and that Israel uses its operations as a means of marketing and exporting its technology and weapons abroad.

SJP U of C - Disguising Anti-Semitism as Anti-Zionism

On July 20, 2014 — During Israel’s Operation Protective Edge — SJP U of C members attended an anti-Israel march and die in attended held in downtown Chicago. 

Demonstrators held signs bearing anti-Semitic claims, such as "Zionism is Nazism." One sign read: — “Well done Israel, Hitler would be proud of you.” Another said — “Stop doing what Hitler did to you.” Yet another read: — “Israel is a Racist, Genocidal state.” One placard propagated multiple blood libels, reading: — “Israel’s To Do List: use chemical weapons, murder children, attack the press, bomb refugee camps, block provisions of humanitarian aid.”

The demonstration was organized by the Coalition for Justice in Palestine (CJP) — a group formed at the time of the second Intifada, which includes Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP)-Chicago. SJP Chicago is, in turn, a "network forged by student activists organizing for Palestine on university campuses throughout Chicago," which includes SJP U of C.

On August 10, 2014, CJP organized another anti-Israel rally and die-in, attended by members of SJP U of C and JVP UChicago. SJP U of C member Jonah Rubin posed holding up a sign that accused Israel of apartheid. SJP U of C member Kirsten Gindler posed holding a JVP sign which accused Israel of waging a war on innocents: — "Jews Oppose Israel’s War on Civilians."

SJP U of C - Shutting down Free Speech

On February 21, 2016, SJP members opposed a lecture by Bassem Eid, founder of the Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group, who opposes the BDS movement. During the talk Eid was threatened with physical violence.

After Eid criticized the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Hamas for repression and human rights abuses against the Palestinians, protesters repeatedly interrupted Eid. A former student at Chicago’s Columbia College, who said he was from Gaza, yelled in Arabic, "I’m going to destroy this place!" Later, he said, “I’m going to kill this motherf**cker!” and “Wait until you go to your car!”

In October 2009, over a hundred SJP U of C and MSA U of C members disrupted a lecture by former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert visiting U of C, organized by the Harris School of Public Policy. Demonstrators shouted,"You deserve to be executed!" One agitator was dragged out by police, yelling “You’re a f**king snake! You goddamn pig!” The protesters turned violent against the police; some were arrested.

The anti-Israel agitators waved banners with Olmert’s likeness and the phrase "war criminal." Demonstrators denied Israel’s right to exist in any part of Palestine — chanting “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” Across the Palestinian political spectrum, from Hamas to the PA that phrase has always referred specifically to the destruction of Israel and expulsion of the Jews.

On February 26, 2013, SJP protested a talk by Israeli-American Law Professor Amos Guiora from the University of Utah. Protesters picketed and turned their chairs away from Guiora in the middle of his talk. One student continuously interrupted Guiora until being escorted out of the room.

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

Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/edreyfus

Twitter:https://twitter.com/emdreyfus