Stanford Student Senator Apologizes for Tweet Telling Israel Supporters to ‘Choke’

A Stanford student senator who currently is running for reelection issued an apology on May 15 for her past tweets on Israel, including telling Israel supporters to “choke.”

The Algemeiner reported that the Stanford College Republicans (SCR) unearthed the tweets of Student Sen. Mia Bahr on May 14. The tweets that the SCR highlighted are:

• A June 2018 tweet stating, “If you still support Israel you can choke, honestly.”
• Retweeting a March 2019 tweet stating, “F— Israel free Palestine.”
• Tweeting in August 2019 that progressives at Stanford “suddenly forget their values when their white friend is pro-Israel.”
• Re-tweeting a September 2019 tweet that was supportive of the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement.

https://www.facebook.com/StanfordGOP/posts/2963945483687921

Bahr appears to have deleted all of her past tweets.

According to the student-run Stanford Daily, Bahr issued statements apologizing for the tweets, stating she could have phrased them better. However, she said that the SCR had taken her tweets out of context.

“The organization [SCR] has called me anti-Semitic for my support of a peaceful two-state solution and the admonishment of police and military violence,” Bahr said, adding that she “will not be lectured on anti-Semitism by an organization that invited a speaker who openly retweeted a tweet saying #BurnTheJews.” The speaker was conservative filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza; he claimed that he didn’t see the hashtag.

She also told the Daily that she recognizes Israel’s right to exist.

The Stanford Israel Association (SIA) wrote in a May 18 Facebook post that although it appreciated Bahr’s statement and that she said she has distanced herself from BDS, her tweets “reflect a broader misperception of Israel that pervades our campus. Although we have been disappointed by her words, SIA considers this incident to be an opportunity for growth.”

The SIA added: “Too often, rather than express thoughtful criticism of the actions of the Israeli government, students are quick to question the legitimacy of Israeli statehood and wrongfully attack its supporters and students from Israel. The fact that this opprobrium, directed at the only Jewish state, is pervasive even on our campus and makes members of the Jewish community feel targeted and unsafe. This is especially true when these statements are made by an incumbent Student Senator who should be representing all members of the Stanford community.”

https://www.facebook.com/StanfordIsraelAssociation/posts/3254037624627119

J Street U Stanford President Olivia Szabo defended Bahr, her former roommate, to the Daily, saying that while the two of them disagreed on Israel, Bahr isn’t anti-Semitic.

“[Conservatives] label anything anti-Israel as anti-Semitic,” Szabo said.

Stanford held its student government elections on May 18 and 19; the results will be announced on May 22.

In August 2018, Stanford Resident Advisor (RA) Hamzeh Daoud posted on Facebook that he wanted to “physically fight Zionists on campus.” He later apologized and revised the post to state “intellectually fight Zionists on campus.” Daoud eventually resigned from his position as RA. In a 2018 op-ed in the Daily, Daoud described himself as a third-generation Palestinian refugee whose grandparents took refuge in Jordan after the Arab-Israeli war.

Statement from Hamzeh Daoud

The university said in a statement at the time that Daoud did not pose a physical threat to anyone on campus.

“At the time of the original Facebook posting, the author rapidly amended it to make clear that he does not support physical violence, and he apologized for the original post in a letter to members of the Jewish community at Stanford,” the statement read. “In addition, in a new statement he has made, the student acknowledges the adverse effects this episode has had in our community. His decision to step down as an RA puts the interests of the broader community first.”