The Canary Mission watchdog released a new report on March 28 detailing antisemitic social posts from various supporters of former USC Viterbi School of Engineering’s Viterbi Graduate Student Association Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Student Senator Yasmeen Mashayekh, who had previously been under fire for past social media posts.
As the Journal has previously reported, Mashayekh’s social media posts have included “I want to kill every motherf—ing Zionist,” “Curse the Jews [in Arabic],” “Zionists are going to f—ing pay,” “LONG LIVE THE INTIFADA” and “I f—ing love [H]amas.” The university responded by saying that “the antisemitic behavior we are witnessing is deeply troubling” and announced a series of measures to combat antisemitism on campus; however, they said her tweets are protected speech under the First Amendment.
The Canary Mission report states the watchdog conducted an investigation into the social media posts of supporters of Mashayekh and found that 35 Mashayekh supporters had more than 1000 posts “calling for death and violence, spreading classic antisemitism, declaring support for terrorism, hatred of Israel, Zionists, America and Canada and promoting [the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement].” Some of these posts included:
- Saying that “Zionists aren’t humans.”
- Calling Palestinian terror victim David Eliyahu Kaye “a devil just like all the zios.”
- Saying “I think it’s about time someone drops an atomic bomb on Israel.”
- Saying “Long live Palestinian violent resistance.”
Overall, Canary Mission found that Mashayekh supporters had 290 posts promoting “hatred of Israel & Zionism,” 181 supporting terrorism, 170 promoting “hatred of Israelis & Zionists” and 137 “calls for death and violence.” Additionally, 57% of Mashayekh’s supporters were affiliated with Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP).
The report concluded by criticizing USC for failing to take “appropriate and timely action” against Mashayekh. “The supporters of Yasmeen Mashayekh who are pressuring USC to protect her are equally as antisemitic and hate-filled as she is,” the report stated. “There can be no balancing act, no moral equivalency between those protesting hatred and those that peddle it.”
Mashayekh has told The Los Angeles Times that she doesn’t “feel safe on campus,” claiming that she is being subjected to “targeted harassment” and that the university has not adequately responded to her concerns. She also said she was removed from Virterbi’s website and is concerned about future employment opportunities and her loan payments. “I just really wish I didn’t have to think about what I would change. I wish people didn’t expect Palestinians to be the perfect victims.” Mashayekh has also claimed that her posts need to be viewed under the context of Palestinians having a “right to resist occupation” under international law.
