Hala Alkattan
Overview
Hala Alkattan has spread anti-Semitism, expressed support for a terrorist and co-authored a Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) resolution at the University of South Florida (USF) in 2016. She has also promoted hatred of Israel.Alkattan was a USF student government senator from October 2015 to May 2016.
Alkattan also spread anti-Semitism while in high school.
As of October 2019, Alkattan’s LinkedIn page said she was a legal intern in the Tenth Judicial Circuit Polk County Court in Florida, from “May 2019 - August 2019.” Also as of October 2019, her LinkedIn page said she was a legal intern at the International Refugee Assistance Project in Amman, Jordan, from “Jun 2019 - Aug 2019.”
Alkattan’s LinkedIn page said she planned to graduate from Western Michigan University (WMU), with a law degree in 2021 and that she received a bachelor’s degree from the University of South Florida (USF) in 2018, in Political Science and Government.
Prior to attending USF, Alkattan attended Indiana University (IU), in South Bend, from 2013 to 2015, where she studied Political Science and Government.
As of November 2019, Alkattan’s LinkedIn page said she co-founded and was the vice president of the USF chapter of the Palestine Children's Relief Fund (PCRF).
PCRF has been financially linked with the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF) which was shut down by the United States government for funneling donations to a terrorist organization.
Spreading Anti-Semitism
On July 12, 2014, Alkattan tweeted: “Zionist Jew Bill Maher gets owned by Glenn Greenwald over religion and American intervention http://youtube.com/watch?v=2ntHNQIkQSw&sns=tw… via @youtube.”Bill Maher is an American “comedian, political commentator, and television host.” Maher’s mother was Jewish.
On July 17, 2014, Alkattan tweeted: “Who voted, Jews?” in her tweet, Alkattan embedded an image of a news report, titled: “Study: Jews Most Popular Religious Group in U.S.” At the top of the image was written: “Muslims were rated least favorably.”
On July 23, 2014, during Israel’s Operation Protective Edge (OPE) against Hamas, Alkattan tweeted to insult Egyptian President Abdel Fatteh Al-Sissi, who had delivered a speech critical of Hamas that day. Alkattan wrote: “Sisi is a yahoodi [Jew].”
Israel commenced OPE in July 2014 to stop rocket fire targeting Israeli civilians and to destroy Hamas attack tunnels.
On June 26, 2015, Alkattan tweeted in opposition to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, writing: “@That_OneRafidii except now his soldiers are in Syria killing innocent people. 2al resistance, he's the biggest yahoodi [Jew].”
Supporting a Terrorist
On May 9, 2015, Alkattan updated her Facebook profile picture to a photo of herself posing together with 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.
Supporting BDS
On January 20, 2016, the USF Oracle reported that Alkattan authored a BDS resolution that passed in the student government.The resolution was later reportedly vetoed by the USF student government president and vice president.
Alkattan then reportedly presented another BDS resolution that passed and did not allow the possibility of a veto.
Alkattan’s second resolution was reportedly rejected by the USF student government supreme court because the resolution “violated the racial and national origin elements of the clause by specifically targeting companies that have business in Israel.”
On Jan 31, 2014, Alkattan tweeted: “Haha I want to do this -- Stickering Apartheid Products In TJMaxx.” She included a photo of stickers that said: “Boycott Apartheid Israel,” on boxes of Sodastream, an Israeli beverage company.
On July 18, 2014, Alkattan reportedly organized an anti-Israel rally during Operation Protective Edge (OPE). The report said that signs at the rally accused Israel of “genocide” and implied that Israel intentionally was “killing children.”
Israel commenced OPEin July 2014, to stop rocket fire targeting Israeli civilians and to destroy Hamas attack tunnels.
Promoting Hatred of Israel
On December 6, 2017, Alkattan tweeted: “Jerusalem (القدس [Al Quds]) is the capital of Palestine. Israel is an apartheid state founded on the illegal occupation of Palestine by the Israeli military. Zionism is the racist & colonial ideology which justifies the ethnic cleansing of the indigenous people of Palestine.”Alkattan’s tweet was in response to the announcement that day of the U.S. government’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and relocate the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Also on December 6, 2017, Alkattan tweeted: “Israel was built on stolen Palestinian land.”
On July 10, 2014, Alkattan tweeted: “Gaza sits on 1.4 trillion cubic feet of natural gas valued at more then 40 billion dollars. Israel wont leave Gaza alone until they steal it.”
On July 10, 2014, Alkattan tweeted a vine from the Israeli Foreign Ministry that said: “Hamas rockets take 15 seconds to hit Israel.” Alkattan wrote: “WOW everyone look at this BS [bulls**t].”
Following a Code Red rocket alert in Israel, residents of southern Israel typically have approximately 15 seconds to reach a bomb shelter before rockets from Gaza strike their targets.
Hamas fired over 4,564 missiles and rockets — including Grad rockets — at Israeli population centers during Operation Protective Edge (OPE) in July of 2014.
On May 29, 2013, Alkattan tweeted: “‘@StanleyCohenLaw: If Israel and the US are on the same page, turn it.’”
Stanley Cohen is a New York-based attorney who has represented leaders of Hamas in American court.
High School Anti-Semitism
On February 15, 2013, Alkattan responded to a tweet that said: “Favorite yahoodi [Jew]: all the ones who stayed in Europe.” Alkattan responded: “@Fat_K411 all the ones in Europe are giving money to Israel so screw them all.”On March 23, 2013, Alkattan tweeted: “sabra Hummus is made by Jews, but it was originally arab. THEY STOLE IT. #typical.”
On June 14, 2013, Alkattan tweeted: “@Fat_K411 lmao everywhere you go there are yahood [Jews] -_-they're like saraseer [cockroaches].”
Alkattan’s tweet was in response to a tweet that said: “But California reminds me of Falasteen [Palestine]...beautiful and tons of yahood [Jews].”
In the same thread,on June 14, 2013, Alkattan also tweeted: “@Fat_K411 typical, always trying to take over all the beautiful places.” Alkattan was responding affirmatively to a tweet that said: “@Syriansweethrt so true. Ichlab [Dogs] are everywhere. Especially southern California.”
SJP USF - Spreading Anti-Semitism
On July 30, 2014, SJP USF posted an image to Facebook showing Adolf Hitler performing a Nazi salute with text reading: “WE ARE THE MASTER RACE,” next to an image of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with his hand raised and text reading: “WE ARE GOD’S CHOSEN PEOPLE.” SJP USF commented: “Justifications.”On November 18, 2013, SJP USF reportedly hosted and sponsored a game show “about Palestinian culture, geography and history” modeled on the TV show, "Jeopardy!"
SJP USF - Demonizing Israel
As of August 2019, an SJP USF Facebook post from February 14, 2015, remained on the group’s Facebook page. The original SJP USF shared an article and quoted the story’s headline: “Israeli authorities usually open the floodgates to their dams in the direction of the Gaza Strip - without prior notice - in order to discharge the enormous quantities of water that had accumulated due to the heavy rains in the region. #Gaza.”Less than two weeks later, Al Jazeera retracted a similar story, noting: “In southern Israel, there are no dams of the type which can be opened.”
On February 25, 2016, SJP USF members reportedly joined with other BDS supporters to disrupt a talk at USF given by two Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers. One of the protesters called the soldiers “murderers and child killers” and was eventually was escorted out by police.
On September 5, 2014, SJP USF held an event titled: “The Hidden Genocide: The Story of Palestine.” The Facebook event page referred to Israel’s Operation Protective Edge (OPE) against Hamas earlier that year as a “summer of atrocious massacres.”
Israel commenced OPEin July 2014, to stop rocket fire targeting Israeli civilians and to destroy Hamas attack tunnels.
One of the speakers at the event was Hamas supporter Sheikh Monzer Taleb, who was an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF) terrorism finance trial. Taleb was not brought to trial.
However, five other defendants were brought to trial and were indicted for funneling funds to Hamas. These five, known as the Holy Land Five (HL5), were convicted and sentenced in 2009 to federal prison terms from 15 to 65 years.
SJP USF - Promoting BDS
On February 10, 2014, SJP USF posted a video to Vimeo promoting its “Divest 2014” campaign. The video claimed that USF invested in companies that made “fighter jets and rockets that the IDF uses against civilians in the Gaza strip.”On May 28, 2014, the USF Foundation, which manages USF investments from donor contributions, reportedly rejected an SJP USF petition calling on the school to divest from multiple companies doing business with Israel.
On January 14, 2015, SJP USF purchased [00:05:18] space on a Tampa, Florida billboard to demand that USF stop its investments “in Apartheid Israel.”
On January 20, 2016, the USF Oracle, USF’s student newspaper, reported that a BDS resolution passed in the student government, as a result of SJP USF’s BDS campaigning the previous two years.
On January 25, 2016, SJP USF President Rahma Elmohd posted a Facebook video urging the USF student government president to sign the resolution.
On January 27, 2016, the USF Oracle reported that the USF student government president and vice president both vetoed the resolution.
On February 4, 2016, the USF Oracle reported that a second BDS resolution was submitted by USF student senator and member of SJP USF Hala Alkattan. That resolution was identical to the previous one which was supported by SJP USF but was categorized differently so that the USF student government president and vice president could not veto it.
On February 11, 2016, the USF Oracle reported that the second BDS resolution was struck down by the USF student government supreme court since it violated the USF Constitution’s equal protection clause. The USF Oracle reported that the university’s supreme court found that “the resolution violated the racial and national origin elements of the clause by specifically targeting companies that have business in Israel.”
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.
Social Media and Weblinks
Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/1452669977/Twitter:https://twitter.com/Syriansweethrt
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hala-alkattan-479439140/
- Status:
- Student
- University:
- Western Michigan University (WMU,
- more...
- Organizations:
- BDS
- Related Profiles:
- Zaid Dabus,
- Last Modified:
- 05/04/2026
Photos & Screenshots
