Hossam Nasr Mabed

Overview

Hossam Nasr Mabed has spread hatred of Israel, disrupted a campus event and was co-president of the Palestine Solidarity Committee (PSC) at Harvard University (Harvard PSC). PSC is an alternative name for Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP). 

In 2021, Mabed was affiliated with Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine (HOOP), a Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement initiative launched by Harvard PSC in February 2020. 

As of January 2023, Mabed’s LinkedIn page said he had been Co-President of Harvard PSC from February to October 2019. He was Harvard PSC’s Vice President from December 2017 to February 2019 and the group’s Public Relations Director from October to December 2017.

As of the same date, Mabed’s LinkedIn said he graduated from Harvard with a bachelor’s degree in computer science in 2021.

As of January 2023, Mabed’s LinkedIn said he had worked as a software engineer at Microsoft in Seattle, Washington since October 2021. Mabed had worked as a software engineering intern at Microsoft in Cambridge, Massachusetts from June through August of 2020.

As of the same date, Mabed’s LinkedIn said he received the David S. Aloian Dinner & Harvard Foundation Award in May 2019. Mabed’s LinkedIn said the award was issued to “celebrate the diversity, inclusion, and belonging efforts of students, faculty and staff” and that he received the award due to “his work as co-president of the Palestine Solidarity Committee.”

As of January 2023, Mabed used the handle “@hossam_mabed” and the username “Hossam Nasr” on Twitter. Mabed used the name “Hosam Nasr” on Facebook. Mabed used the handle “hossamnasr_” and the username “Hossam Mabed” on Instagram. As of the same date, Mabed used the name “Hossam (Nasr) M.” on LinkedIn.

As of January 2023, Mabed’s LinkedIn said he was located in Seattle, Washington. 

Hatred of Israel

In May 2021, during Israel’s Operation Guardian of the Walls (OGW) against Hamas, Mabed co-sponsored a May 12, 2021 statement written by “Palestinian Student Groups” at Harvard that called on the university to divest from “companies that are involved in the illegal Israeli settlement enterprise…”

In May 2021, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorists fired over 4,300 rockets from Gaza at major population centers in Israel. Israel responded by launching OGW, carrying out targeted military strikes in Gaza.

The statement claimed: “The current escalation of violence against Palestinians in Palestine and in Israel follows years of systematic oppression and ethnic cleansing committed by the State of Israel.”

The statement also alleged that: “Forced evictions” in Sheikh Jarrah “are representative of Israel's systematic settler-colonial violence that serves to ethnically cleanse Palestinians from East Jerusalem.”

In May 2021, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorists fired over 4,300 rockets from Gaza at major population centers in Israel. Israel responded by launching OGW, carrying out targeted military strikes in Gaza.

On April 29, 2022, Mabed tweeted: “” in response to a HOOP tweet that said: “JUST IN: Harvard Crimson Editorial Board throws their weight behind Boycott, Divestment & Sanction movement! We owe this historic decision to the Palestinian people who resist daily the settler-colonial state of Israel and inspire us all to struggle for freedom. Onwards!”

On the same date, Mabed tweeted “!!!!!!!! HUGE!” in response to a tweet from anti-Israel activist Mohammed El-Kurd that said: “the Editorial Board of The Harvard Crimson released an unequivocal statement of support for BDS & ‘A Free Palestine.’...This is only the beginning.” 

On April 29, 2022, the Harvard Crimson Editorial Board published a staff editorial titled: “In Support of Boycott, Divest, Sanctions and a Free Palestine.” 

The editorial said: “As a board, we are proud to finally lend our support to both Palestinian liberation and BDS — and we call on everyone to do the same.”

The editorial also showed support for Harvard PSC and its display which demonized Israel’s security barrier and supported BDS. The display included multiple panels and was erected during Harvard PSC’s Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW), a week of events SJP chapters hold on American universities.

Israel’s security barrier, 97 percent of which is a low chain-link barrier, was built as a deterrent to Palestinian terror attacks. The concrete portions of the fence were built in response to Palestinian sniper attacks.

Disrupting a Campus Event

On November 13, 2019, Mabed participated in a Harvard PSC walkout of a speech by Israeli diplomat Dani Dayan at Harvard Law School. Anti-Israel students packed the speaking venue and, as Dayan began to speak, walked [00:01:14]out holding signs that read: “SETTLEMENTS ARE A WAR CRIME.”

Anti-Israel Activism (PSC, BDS)

In May 2021, Mabed signed a HOOP petition titled: “Harvard, Divest from Israeli Apartheid.” The petition called on the university to “Disclose direct and indirect investments in companies that aid Israeli apartheid and settler-colonialism” and to “Divest all direct and indirect holdings in these companies immediately.”

The petition stated: “We share the belief that the current wave of Israeli violence must be situated in the context of Israel’s apartheid policies and settler-colonialism, which began in the early 20th century.”

On September 22, 2022, Mabed featured in a Harvard PSC Instagram photo participating in the group’s “#KeffiyehThursday” campaign. 

On November 18, 2022, Mabed reportedly moderated a November 16, 2022, campus event hosted by Harvard PSC titled: “DECOLONIZING TECH: A CONVERSATION WITH NO TECH APARTHEID.” The event flier said: “‘No Tech for Apartheid’ is a coalition of tech workers calling for Palestinian liberation and the end of Israeli apartheid.”

In October 2021, anti-Israel Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) partnered with MPower Change to launch a BDS campaign titled: “No Tech For Apartheid.” The campaign called on Google and Amazon executives to revoke a contract to provide Israel with cloud technology and to “end all ties with Israeli apartheid.” The campaign was endorsed by a coalition of over 50 North American anti-Israel organizations.  

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.

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.