Status: Professional
University: OSU
Organizations(s): BDS, JVP, SJP
Olivia Katbi-Smith has glorified terrorists, expressed support for violent protesters and is an activist with Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP). She has promoted anti-Israel agitators, demonized Israel and endorsed the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.
Olivia, a very public personality, has also brought a lawsuit in Multnomah County against a fellow journalist for publishing common public knowledge about her (including her address) which she argues is ‘doxing’ and ‘private’ information.
The claim is certainly legally dubious, but if the information ever was ‘private’, it certainly won’t be in the course of a very public trial. The fact her address is likely embossed on every check she writes and circulates among 3rd parties appears to have escaped her notice, along with her voter registration. As a public persona, she has no expectation of privacy derived from such mundane facts anymore than her hair/eye/skin color. A glance at the car she drives parked in her driveway reveals as much about her domicile as any publication. Neither ‘doxing’ nor photography is a crime–nor should it be. No tort arises from the recitation of such pedestrian facts. And, many are of legitimate public interest.
On November 19, 2018, Katbi-Smith posed for a group photo taken during the 2018 National SJP conference.
The 2018 National SJP conference was held on November 16-18, 2018 at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). The conference was themed “Radical Hope: Resistance in the Face of Adversity.” The conference website stated: “[t]he reason we can have hope is that Zionism…can be destroyed.”
Katbi-Smith was a fellow at the John Glenn School of Public Affairs at Ohio State University (OSU) in 2016.
In February 2018, Katbi-Smith was elected co-chair of Portland’s Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).
As of June 2019, Katbi-Smith’s LinkedIn page said, and Mondoweiss confirmed that she was an “Individual Giving Manager” at Mondoweiss.
Olivia Katbi Smith is the co-chair of the Portland Democratic Socialists of America. She is married to Connor Smith.
In 2020 Olivia Katbi Smith ran for Co-Chair of Portland Democratic Socialists of America steering committee.
Candidate’s statement: I am an unapologetic Arab, Marxist, feminist who is running for re-election to be your chapter co-chair in 2020. I joined DSA immediately after Trump’s election, and I’m proud to have helped build the chapter and lead us to the place we are now. But our fight is only just beginning.
…I organized at my own workplace (and was fired for doing so), stood up against fascists in the streets, and helped our chapter build relationships with key faith, labor and community leaders and organizations locally, nationally, and internationally.
Members of the DSA Ella Baker & Lucy Parsons Training Closed FB Group, as of August 20, 2017 included Olivia Katbi Smith.
Admins of Portland Democratic Socialists of America public Facebook page, as of August 29, 2017:
- Olivia Katbi Smith
- Bobby Hayden
- Connor Smith
- Wendy Leith
- Siobhan Burke
Communism is good
Red Caucus
The Red Caucus is a communist grouping inside Portland Democratic Socialists of America, formed in mid 2019.
Signatories to the Red Caucus founding statement included Olivia Katbi Smith Portland Democratic Socialists of America co-chair.
Olivia Katbi Smith, co-chair of Portland’s chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, filed a lawsuit in Multnomah County Circuit Court on Nov. 19 accusing a North Carolina man of posting her private information online.
The complaint alleges Chadwick Jason Seagraves posted the home address of Smith and her family online this month and encouraged others to spread the information across far-right online platforms.
The lawsuit describes Seagraves as a member of the right-wing men’s group the Proud Boys and alleges he has a history of doxxing—that is, posting personal information about people to make their lives unpleasant. The lawsuit alleges that he intentionally targeted Smith because of her political views. Seagraves could not be reached for comment.
“Defendant has a substantial history of purposefully doxxing Portland residents on the internet based on their political viewpoints in hopes of silencing viewpoints that defendant disagrees with, and interfering in Oregon’s political process,” the complaint says.
