Ahmed Sleem

Overview

Ahmed Sleem promoted anti-Semitic conspiracy theories in 2014 and was a student activist with Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) in 2017. Sleem participated in “Israeli Apartheid Week 2017,” at the University of Houston (UH), which was organized by the SJP chapter at UH (SJP UH).

Sleem attended the 2017 National SJP Conference (NSJP).

NSJP 2017 was held October 27-29, 2017 at UH. The conference was themed “A Reimagined World: Dismantling Walls from Palestine to the Rio Grande.” Per the 2017 National SJP Conference website, the conference aimed to strengthen “collaborative efforts within all regions to pass BDS” and envision “pathways to achieving sanctions in the future.”

In May of 2016, Sleem announced on Twitter that he was about to serve his third year as an officer of the Muslim Students Association (MSA) at UH (UH MSA).

As of October 2017, Sleem’s Facebook said he was a student at UH, majoring in Computer Science. His LinkedIn page detailed that Sleem studied at UH from 2013-2014 and noted his concentration in Software Engineering.

As of October 2017, Sleem’s LinkedIn page said he worked as a software developer, at National Oilwell Varco, since May of 2017.

Promoting Anti-Semitic Conspiracy Theories

On July 28, 2014, Sleem tweeted: “@TheotherSalman @thatboysach ‘zionism is the transformation of religion to nationalism by non-religous jews’” The tweet linked to a video titled: “Jews Against Zionism And Rothschilds.”

The video featured Nathanael Kapner, also known as Brother Nathanael, who opined on camera that “Jews dominate the media.”

Kapner is a Jewish convert to Christianity who has denied the Holocaust and stated that “Judaism is a religion of death.” Kapner has publicly endorsed the anti-Semitic forgery Protocols of the Elders of Zion and his Youtube channel features numerous anti-Semitic videos.

The video to which Sleem linked also included footage of David Icke, another conspiracy theorist, who claimed [00:09:25] that Jewish people were “victims” of “Rothschild Zionism.”

The video also opened with [00:00:04] an interview of some Neturei Karta members.
Neturei Karta is a fringe anti-Israel group whose leader, Yisroel Dovid Weiss, attended a Holocaust denial conference in Iran in 2006.

The video concluded [00:13:03] with a “summary of Zionist doctrine from the book entitled the Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion.”

Demonizing Israel

On May 8, 2017, Sleem participated in Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW), organized by SJP UH in 2017.

Sleem held a sign that read: “Let’s Talk Facts. Israel kills more children per capita than any nation or terrorist organization in the world.”

The event featured a mock “apartheid wall,” erected on campus. Text on the wall read: “If you want to find a safe place in Gaza, do not stand beside a child.” Other text read: “Israel uses sophisticated attack jets to bomb densely crowded refugee camps, schools, apartment blocks, mosques and slums to attack a population that has no airforce, no navy, army and calls it a war. It is not war, it is murder.”

On July 20, 2014, Sleem tweeted: “Honestly I don't understand how someone could support Israel (1).”

SJP UH - Supporting Violence

On November 1, 2015, SJP UH shared a post on Facebook promoting demonstrations that celebrated anti-Israel violence. The rallies, held in both Houston and Austin, were co-organized by SJP UH and the Palestine Solidarity Committee (PSC) at Austin, TX (PSCAT) and urged: “…Long Live the Resistance! Long Live the Intifada!”

October 2015 saw an upsurge in violence across Israel incited by Palestinian political and religious leaders. The wave of stabbings, known as the “Knife Intifada,” saw young Palestinians throughout the country stabbing and attempting to stab scores of Israeli civilians.

On August 18, 2014, SJP UH and UH MSA co-organized an event featuring Sheikh Omar Suleiman. SJP UH’s Facebook announcement billed Suleiman as a “vocal human rights supporter.”

On July 24, 2014, Suleiman called on Twitter for a “3rd Intifada” to destroy Israel and claimed Israel arbitrarily denied muslims the right to pray at Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. Such libels have incited deadly violence against Israelis, such as the 2014 Har Nof Synagogue Massacre, where terrorists murdered six people in a Jerusalem synagogue during morning prayers.

SJP UH - Supporting Terrorists

On September 5, 2017, SJP UH shared a graphic on Facebook of an image and quote by Leila Khaled.

Khaled is a leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and participated in the hijacking of TWA Flight 840 in 1969 and El Al Flight 219 in 1970. As of 2017, Khaled was a member of PFLP's Political Bureau.

Khaled has said that the second intifada failed because it was not violent enough, advocated for the use of children in terror activities and compared Zionists to Nazis.

The PFLP claimed credit for the 2014 Har Nof Massacre where six people were murdered during morning prayers in a Jerusalem synagogue. The PFLP also claimed credit for the 2001 assassination of the Israeli tourism minister.

On May 25, 2017, SJP UH rallied behind convicted Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails on hunger strike, by organizing a “symbolic hunger strike” and participating in a Saltwater Challenge. The event organizers wrote on the Facebook event page: “we demand that Israel end its policies of apartheid, colonization, military occupation, displacement, dispossession, and mass incarceration.”

On May 25, 2017, SJP UH rallied behind convicted Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails on hunger strike, by organizing a “symbolic hunger strike” and participating in a Saltwater Challenge. The event organizers wrote on the Facebook event page: “we demand that Israel end its policies of apartheid, colonization, military occupation, displacement, dispossession, and mass incarceration.”

The hunger strike was initiated by Marwan Barghouti, who was serving five consecutive life sentences for his role in suicide bombings — and shooting attacks that killed five Israelis during the second Intifada. Barghouti led the the Palestinian Authority (PA) terrorist Tanzim force and founded the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. Barghouti also financed the guitar-case bomb used in the Sbarro Cafe massacre where 15 civilians were killed and 130 injured.

More than 1,000 other Palestinian prisoners participated in the hunger strike — most of whom were also convicted for acts of terrorism.

According to CNN , the “Saltwater Challenge” appears to have been started by Aarab Marwan Barghouti, the son of Marwan Barghouti.

On May 26, 2017, SJP UH joined protesters outside the Israeli consulate chanting (1:46): “1234, open up the prison doors… We will fight day and night… to support the hunger strike…”

On March 28, 2016, SJP UH shared a post on Facebook supporting terrorist Rasmea Odeh.

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 UH - Pushing BDS

On November 1, 2015, SJP UH shared an event on Facebook announcing plans for a UH Divest campaign and new Facebook page. The event aimed to discuss "all potential strategies" to bring BDS to UH. Proposed strategies included:

Revamped tabling and silent demonstrations
Discussing BDS and ways to succeed/make an impact with friends from other campuses
BDS Workshops to teach the student body what BDS is and why we support it
Connecting with and helping other minority organizations on campus

SJP UH - Demonizing Israel

On March 30 - April 3, 2015, SJP UH organized Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW). The itinerary of events included a talk by anti-Israel agitator Alison Weir, who founded the controversial site If Americans Knew (IAK).

On August 8, 2009, Weir wrote an article supporting a blood libel published by a Swedish newspaper — about Israel harvesting Palestinian organs.

SJP UH’s IAW also featured a mock apartheid wall, erected on campus. The wall featured a misleading series of maps that presented lands once controlled by Britain, Egypt and Jordan as autonomous "Palestinian land," purportedly stolen by Israel. In February of 2016, publishing giant McGraw-Hill Education recalled a college level textbook that featured the erroneous maps. In October 2015, MSNBC apologized for airing a similar grouping of maps and retracted them.

SJP UH - Spreading Propaganda

On October 1, 2017, SJP UH shared a Facebook post that read: “17 years ago today, 12yr old Muhammad Al-Durra was shot dead on LIVE TV in his father's arms.
#Coogs4Palestine #FreePalestine.”

The Al-Durah hoax is an iconic piece of anti-Israel propaganda, fabricated on September 30, 2000 at the start of the Second Intifada by a France 2 reporter.

On May 8, 2017, SJP UH organized Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) on UH’s campus. One IAW event featured a mock “apartheid wall” erected on campus. Text on the wall read: “If you want to find a safe place in Gaza, do not stand beside a child.” Other text read: “Israel uses sophisticated attack jets to bomb densely crowded refugee camps, schools, apartment blocks, mosques and slums to attack a population that has no airforce, no navy, army and calls it a war. It is not war, it is murder.”

Throughout the summer of 2014 — during Operation Protective Edge (OPE) — Hamas’ continued deployment of human shields was extensively documented and publicized. Hamas encouraged gazans to act as human shields, to specifically frustrate Israeli efforts to avoid civilian casualties in Gaza. Israel commenced OPEin July 2014, to stop rocket fire targeting Israeli civilians and to destroy Hamas attack tunnels.

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.

MSA

The MSA was established by members of the Muslim Brotherhood in January 1963 at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, with the goal of "spreading Islam as students in North America." A 2004 FBI investigation uncovered an internal Muslim Brotherhood document in which a brotherhood leader identified the MSA as "one of our organizations."

The MSA reportedly has “nearly 600 chapters” located in the United States and Canada, and is “the most visible and influential Islamic student organization in North America,” boasting conferences, special events, publications, websites and other activities.

The organization includes a number of previous chapter presidents with explicit links to terrorist groups. Included are al-Qaeda cleric Anwar al-Awlaki (Colorado State University), Somali al-Shabaab militant leader Omar Shafik Hammami (University of South Alabama) and Pakistani Taliban recruiter Ramy Zamzam of the MSA's Washington, D.C. council.