Dana Ahmed

Overview

Dana Ahmed [Dana Al-Farhan] has called for violence, glorified terrorists and spread hatred of Zionists and Israel. Ahmed is also a supporter of the Boycott Divestment Sanctions (BDS) movement.

Ahmed was an organizer with Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) (SJP UAB) in 2013 and said she was a contact for SJP UAB in February 2012.

Ahmed was also affiliated with the Muslim Students Association (MSA) at UAB (MSA UAB) in 2011.

As of April 2023, Ahmed’s LinkedIn page said she had been working as a MENA/Gulf Researcher at Amnesty International, since September 2018, based in Beirut, Lebanon. Her LinkedIn also said she had worked for Amnesty International in London, England, from December 2015 to September 2018.

Also as of April 2023, Ahmed’s LinkedIn said she had graduated from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) University of London with a master’s degree in “Development Studies: Political Economy of Development” in 2015. She also graduated from UAB with a bachelor’s degree in “International/Global Studies” in 2014.

As of the same date, Ahmed’s LinkedIn said she was located in Beirut Governorate, Lebanon.

Also as of the same date, Ahmed used the handle “@danaahm_” on Twitter and “@dana.ahmx” on Facebook. She also went by the username “Dana Ah” on Facebook.

Calling for Violence

On September 19, 2011, Ahmed tweeted: “... Palestine can only be liberated by force. I do not promote violence. Just pragmatic. #Resistance.”

Among Palestinians and anti-Israel activists, the term “resistance” can be a euphemism for nationalistic terror. It is often used to excuse or even glorify anti-Israel and anti-Semitic violence.

On May 15, 2012, Ahmed tweeted: “Third intifada is the only alternative left for Palestinians… #Nakba64 #Palestine.”

The term “intifada,” which translates from Arabic as “uprising” or “insurrection,” carries the connotation of violence. Palestinian intifadas waged against Israel have been marked since 1987 by hundreds of hijackings, shootings, stabbings, bombings and suicide missions.

The term “Nakba” is generally translated as “catastrophe” in Arabic, referring to the outcome of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. It is a term often used to delegitimize the creation of the State of Israel by defining it as a catastrophe.

Ahmed’s tweet linked to an article that said: “I believe the third intifada is on its way. There is no alternative. It is only awaiting a spark… if one of the heroes of the hunger strikes dies the Occupied Territories will erupt and maybe this time, the blood of the martyrs will not be shed in vain.”

The 2012 prisoners’ hunger strike included convicted terrorists such as Tha'er Halahleh and Bilal Diab — both members of the terror group Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ).

Also participating was Hamas military commander, Abdullah al-Barghouti — who was sentenced to serve 67 life sentences for his significant role in multiple terrorist attacks, including the Sbarro Cafe Bombing of 2001, which murdered 15 people and wounded more than 120.

Another hunger striker was Palestinian terrorist Samer Issawi — who received a 26 year prison sentence for shooting at Hebrew University students and Israeli police in 2002, as well as for manufacturing and distributing pipe bombs.

Also among the 2000 Palestinian hunger strikers was Khader Adnan, a senior member of PIJ. A 2007 YouTube video showed Adnan praising and encouraging suicide bombings: “Who among you will carry the next explosive belt? Who among you will fire the next bullets? Who among you will have his body parts blown all over?”

On August 18, 2012, Ahmed tweeted in reference to Palestinian armed resistance: “...At this point, you need one hell of a mobilized group of people to have armed resistance successful.”

On the same date, Ahmed tweeted: “exactly my point btw... Armed resistance + PA [Palestinian Authority] + weak mobilization= the unrealistic aspect I'm talking about.”

Ahmed’s tweet was in response to a tweet that said: “Because of Oslo [Accords], Palestinian governing body forced armed resistance to be classified as violent terrorism.”

GlorifyingTerrorists

On February 19, 2012, Ahmed tweeted: “Khader Adnan defines sacrifice and resistance. #KhaderExists.”

Khader Adnan was a senior member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorist organization. A 2007 YouTube video showed Adnan praising and encouraging suicide bombings: "Who among you will carry the next explosive belt? Who among you will fire the next bullets? Who among you will have his body parts blown all over?” In May 2023, Adnan died in prison after refusing medical treatment during a hunger strike.

On February 21, 2012, Ahmed tweeted: “#KhaderAdnan is one of300+ Palestinians held in administrative detention, a Colonial form of detention still used by Israel.”

On September 1, 2012, Ahmed tweeted: “...Before Leila Khaled, there was Djamila Bouhired, tortured by the French for resisting Algerian occupation…”

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.

Hatred of Zionists

On August 25, 2011, Ahmed tweeted: “Photo: Keep Calm and Shoot Stones At Zionists…”

On October 31, 2011, Ahmed tweeted: “... when I have to nicely deal with a zionist... #nightmare #idontwannaatalktoher.”

On April 24, 2012, Ahmed tweeted: “... A Zionist, a Republican and a House Arab. You gotta kiss one, marry one and kill one...Go!”

Hatred of Israel

On August 8, 2011, Ahmed tweeted: “...If you wanna insult someone just call them, Israel.’”

On August 18, 2011, Ahmed tweeted: “... Another Ramadan Massacre. - Keep Palestine in your prayers. ’ #Gaza.”

On August 18, 2011, terrorists from the Gazan Popular Resistance Committees killed seven Israelis, including civilians, when they fired on an Israeli civilian bus and car and detonated a bomb next to an Israeli army border patrol. Israel responded with airstrikes that targeted and killed Popular Resistance Committees members.

On August 19, 2011, Ahmed tweeted: “I normally don't cuss on my social networking accounts, but you know what? F**k you #ISRAEL, big time.”

On September 21, 2011, Ahmed tweeted: “from the river to the sea #Palestine.”

“From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free” is a chant calling to dismantle the State of Israel. It has also been employed by Hamas leader Khaled Mashal to call for the replacement of Israel with an Islamic state.

On October 3, 2011, Ahmed tweeted: “why, yes I do put ‘Israel’ in quotation marks for a reason... #Palestine.”

On December 27, 2011, Ahmed tweeted: “#Onthisday in 2008, Israel launched a full-scale attack on Gaza slaughtering 1400 Palestinians in 22 days. #Gaza #OperationCastLead.”

Israel commenced Operation Cast Lead (OCL)in 2008-09 in order to stop Hamas rocket fire from Gaza targeting Israeli civilians. In 2010, Hamas admitted that nearly 700 of the Palestinian casualties in OCL were combatants.

On April 26, 2012, Ahmed tweeted: “Today, the apartheid ‘state’ of Israel is celebrating its 64th year of occupying #Palestine & expanding on Palestinian blood and land.” Her tweet referred to the 2012 Israel Independence Day.

On May 8, 2012, Ahmed tweeted: “Israel knows no race or colour... It's apartheid system is imposed on EVERYONE…”

Anti-Israel Activism (SJP)

On March 30, 2012, Ahmed tweeted: “Presenting my honors project >> SJP at UAB #HellsYeah #Official.”

On September 26, 2012, Ahmed tweeted that she planned on attending the National SJP Conference.

On November 16, 2012, Ahmed wrote a tweet promoting a protest she organized with SJP UAB against Israel’s Operation Pillar of Defense (OPD). The Facebook event description accused Israel of a “major offensive against civilians in the besieged Gaza Strip.”

Israel launched OPD to stop Hamas rocket attacks on Israeli civilians from Gaza. Over the course of eight days in November 2012, Palestinian terrorist groups fired more than 1,500 rockets at Israel. The majority struck Israel, damaging homes, schools and other civilian areas. Human Rights Watch noted: “Palestinian armed groups made clear in their statements that harming civilians was their aim.”

Israel and Egypt implemented a United Nations-approved [pp. 39–41] joint blockade of the Gaza Strip in 2011 to stop Hamas from acquiring more sophisticated rockets.

On November 18, 2012, Ahmed tweeted: “SJP @ UAB's FIRST action was Gaza's protest yest... Knowing that this already upset students means that we're going in the right direction.”

On February 7, 2013, Ahmed participated in an SJP UAB “Gaza Balloon Release” event. The event was held to mark four years since Israel’s Operation Cast Lead in 2008-9 and featured a banner referring to it as a “massacre.” Ahmed appeared at the center of the screen holding a black balloon.

Israel commenced Operation Cast Lead (OCL)in 2008-09 in order to stop Hamas rocket fire from Gaza targeting Israeli civilians. In 2010, Hamas admitted that nearly 700 of the Palestinian casualties in OCL were combatants.

On March 14, 2013, Ahmed was featured in a photo posted on Facebook by SJP UAB, posing next to their “mock apartheid wall.” SJP UAB members displayed the wall on campus, from March 11 to 13, 2013, as part of Israeli Apartheid Week.

The “mock apartheid wall” is a series of panels meant to represent Israel's security barrier, which was built as a deterrent to Palestinian terror attacks and in response to Palestinian sniper attacks. Panels feature misleading information and graphics intended to demonize Israel. The “mock apartheid wall” is often featured at Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) events organized annually by Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapters on many North American university campuses.

On March 12, 2014, Ahmed tweeted a link to a petition that called for Northeastern University to reinstate “SJP and drop all charges against its members.”

SJP UAB - Solidarity with Terrorists

On May 14, 2012, SJP UAB shared on Facebook a graphic depicting Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jail. SJP UAB included a partial list of prisoners and called for “solidarity with the innocent Palestinian prisoners, supporting their legendary hunger strike.”

Hamas military commander Abdullah al-Barghouti was on the SJP UAB list of prisoners. Al-Barghouti was sentenced to 67 life sentences for his role in multiple terrorist attacks, including the 2001 Sbarro Cafe Bombing, which murdered 15 people and wounded more than 120.

Also on the list wereTha'er Halahleh and Bilal Diab, who were both members of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) the terror group.

SJP UAB - Hatred of Israel

On March 12, 2013, SJP UAB activists installed a mock “apartheid” wall on campus as part of its Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW).

IAWis presented as “an international series of events that seek to raise awareness of Israel’s settler-colonial project and apartheid system over the Palestinian people.” It is intended to build support for the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.

The mock apartheid wall display sought to demonize Israel’s security barrier, built as a deterrent to Palestinian terror attacks. The concrete portions of the barrier were built in direct response to Palestinian sniper attacks.

The display also featured a series of maps showing lands previously controlled by Jordan, Egypt and Britain as autonomous “Palestinian Land,” suggesting the land was stolen by Israel. In 2016, copies of a college textbook containing the misleading maps were recalled by publisher McGraw-Hill.

On February 19, 2013, SJP UAB organized a balloon-releasing event, to mark SJP’s opposition to Israel’s Operation Cast Lead (OCL).

Operation Cast Lead (OCL)was commenced by Israel in 2008-09 to stop Hamas rocket fire from Gaza targeting Israeli civilians. Two years later, Hamas admitted that nearly 700 of the Palestinian casualties in OCL were combatants.

SJP UAB’s event featured a banner that labeled OCL a “massacre” and referred to Israel’sblockade of Gaza as a “siege.” The banner read: “4th anniversary of Gaza massacre - the 22 day Israeli invasion & siege on the Gaza strip ‘operation cast lead.’ @SJPUAB honors the fallen with a balloon release.”

The Israeli-Egyptian blockade of Gaza was approved by the United Nations in 2011, as a security measure to stop Hamas from acquiring sophisticated rockets. Multiple attempts have been made to breach the blockade, with at least one flotilla initiating a violent confrontation with Israeli forces.

On November 16, 2012, SJP UAB organized a demonstration against Israel’s Operation Pillar of Defense (OPD). The event’s Facebook description called OPD an “offensive against civilians” and condemned the U.S. government for supporting alleged “atrocities against the Palestinian people.”

Israel launched OPD to stop Hamas rocket attacks on Israeli civilians from Gaza. Palestinian terrorist groups fired more than 1,506 rockets at Israel, from November 14 to November 21, 2012, with most of the rockets that hit Israel damaging homes, schools and other civilian areas.

It was noted by Human Rights Watch (HRW) that “Palestinian armed groups made clear in their statements that harming civilians was their aim.”

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.

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.