Huwaida Arraf
Overview
Huwaida Arraf has allied with terrorists, provoked violence with Israel, expressed support for violence and served as a terrorist’s defense lawyer.Arraf has equated Israel with Nazi Germany, glorified terrorists, defended the Hamas terror group, and expressed support for members of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ).
Arraf has also spread hatred of Israel, demonized Israel, led anti-Israel activist trips and supported anti-Israel agitators.
Arraf is a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.
As of November 2021, Arraf was listed as an Advisory Board Member for the pro-BDS group U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USCPR), reportedly since 2010.
On November 10, 2021, Arraf announced her campaign for the United States Congress to represent Michigan’s 10th District.
In 2001, Arraf co-founded the International Solidarity Movement (ISM). Arraf has said ISM activists have worked with Hamas, PIJ and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). The U.S. State Department has designated all three as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO) since 1997.
In 2006, Arraf co-founded [p.24] the Free Gaza Movement (FGM), whose mission is to “break the Israel’s illegal siege…on Gaza.” She reportedly participated in seven FGM flotillas to Gaza between August 2008 and May 2010. Arraf served as FGM's chairperson from 2006 to 2012.
Arraf was reportedly co-chair of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at American University’s Washington College of Law (AUWCL) from 2006 to 2010.
As of November 2021, Arraf’s LinkedIn page said she had been an “International Human Rights / Civil Rights Attorney” in Detroit since August 2011.
Also as of November 2021, Arraf’s LinkedIn page said she graduated from the University of Michigan (UM), with a bachelor’s degree in Political Science, Arabic and Hebrew in 1998 and received her law degree from AUWCL, in 2007.
Arraf has been married to Adam Shapiro, who is also an ISM co-founder, since 2002.
Allying with Terrorists
On May 2, 2002, at the height of the second intifada, Arraf and other ISM activists helped protect up to 40 terrorists barricaded inside the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem. The Israeli military conducted a siege on the church after the terrorists took refuge in the church with over 150 civilians, including priests and nuns.Most of the terrorists were members of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades. Arraf said that she and the activists provided food for them and that “we also put international activists inside in the hopes of providing an international civilian shield, if you will.”
The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade is the armed wing of Fatah, the main group in the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). The Brigade has been listed as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) by the U.S. State Department since March 2002 and was responsible for multiple suicide bombings [00:13:37] during the second intifada, in 2002-2004.
The second intifada (2000-2005) was characterized by more than 120 suicide bombings targeting Israeli civilians on buses and in cafes.
Arraf and 12 other activists at the church were detained afterwards by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). The stand-off ended with Israeli and Palestinian negotiators agreeing for 26 of the terrorists to be taken to Gaza. Another 13 who were on Israel’s most-wanted list were to be exiled to Cyprus as a temporary solution.
On February 12, 2006, the Washington Post reported that at an October 2004 anti-Israel conference, Arraf “distributed recruitment brochures and encouraged students to enlist in the ISM, which, she acknowledged, cooperates with Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.”
All three groups have been designated as FTO’s by the U.S. State Department since 1997. Hamas, PIJ and the PFLP all carried out suicide bombings during the second intifada.
In a February 17, 2006 letter to the editor in the Washington Post, Arraf responded to the February 12, 2016 article, writing: “When I ‘acknowledged’ that the ISM ‘cooperates with Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine,’ I was offering concrete examples of the ways in which these groups were engaging in nonviolent resistance.”
On April 2, 2010, Arraf attended a meeting and press conference held in Istanbul at the headquarters of the Turkish Insani Yardim Vakafi (IHH) group, announcing that they were launching an FGM flotilla to Gaza in May. IHH has documented terrorist connections and is designated as a terror group in Germany, the Netherlands and Israel. IHH led the flotilla and provided [page 77] two ships.
Provoking Violence with Israel
On October 30, 2021, Arraf was featured [00:00:38] in a YouTube video from an anti-Israel event in Indiana where she discussed her experience on the first FGM flotilla that sailed in August 2008.Arraf said [00:42:27]: “We set sail not believing for one second that we were going to get into Gaza, but we just wanted to challenge the navy, challenge this closure and try to draw the world’s attention to what was happening.” The flotilla was intended [00:45:01] to break the blockade of Gaza.
Israel and Egypt implemented a UN-approved [pp. 39–41] joint blockade of the Gaza Strip in 2011 to stop Hamas from acquiring more sophisticated rockets. Hamas went around the blockade by smuggling weaponry through tunnels under the Philadelphi corridor separating Gaza from Egypt.
Arraf said [00:40:20] that FGM started the flotilla after Israel banned foreigners from entering Gaza after [00:37:57] ISM activists were injured or died while intervening in Israeli military operations.
Arraf said [00:41:31] she trained the activists and that before they all boarded the first flotilla, she said [00:41:35] to them: “Israel could injure all of you, they could try to sink our boats in the middle of the sea, some of you, some of us might get killed, at best maybe they’ll just arrest us, and so if you’re not ready for all of that then don’t get on those boats because we’re not turning back.”
Arraf also admitted [00:44:45] that participants “weren’t carrying aid” for Gazans.
In 2011, Arraf was detained while participating in the “Freedom Waves to Gaza” flotilla that attempted to break Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza.
In May 2010, Arraf reportedly co-organized that month’s FGM’s Gaza Freedom Flotilla and participated in a planning meeting with IHH that was held in Turkey. At the time, she served [00:00:45] as the FGM chairperson. Arraf reportedly said before the flotilla: “They are going to have to forcefully stop us.” When the Israeli navy boarded one of the six ships, participants initiated a violent confrontation.
Arraf also reportedly told the Israeli military: “We communicated to them clearly that we are unarmed civilians. We asked them not to use violence.” Arraf added that the boats would advance “until they either disable our boats or jump on board.” Arraf and other activists were detained by Israeli forces.
The Mavi Marmara was the lead ship in the “Freedom Flotilla” that attempted to sail to Gaza in May 2010. Activists aboard the ship agitated for violent confrontation and chanted a slogan glorifying the killing of Jews. When Israeli security forces boarded the Marmara, protesters attacked them with iron bars, metal chairs, knives, stun grenades and firearms, rocks and bottles. A United Nations report found that the flotilla agitators initiated an organized, violent confrontation with Israeli forces, and that the Marmara was carrying no humanitarian aid, only weaponry.
On June 18, 2009, Arraf was listed in an FGM press release as the “delegation leader” for FGM’s eighth flotilla.
In July 2009, Arraf wrote an article where she said that the Israeli navy warned FGM’s eighth flotilla via radio that the boat was navigating towards a blockaded area and needed to change course. Arraf responded: “As our boat, its cargo, and the twenty-one civilians on board do not constitute any kind of threat to Israel or its armed forces, you are obliged to allow us entry. We are proceeding to Gaza. Do not use force against us.”
The Israeli navy reportedly detained the activists on board and deported them.
Arraf has reportedly been detained by Israeli forces at least 12 times while participating in protests.
Expressing Support for Violence
On January 29, 2002, during the second intifada, Arraf and Adam Shapiro co-authored an article in the Palestine Chronicle titled: “Why Nonviolent Resistance is Important for the Palestinian Intifada: A Response to Ramzy Baroud.”In the article, Arraf and Shapiro wrote: “The Palestinian resistance must take on a variety of characteristics — both nonviolent and violent. But most importantly it must develop a strategy involving both aspects.”
In the same article, Arraf and Shapiro wrote: “... we accept that Palestinians have a right to resist with arms” and that if prospective Hamas suicide bombers would instead “offer themselves as martyrs by standing on a settler road and blocking it from traffic,” that would be “no less of a jihad…no less noble than carrying out a suicide operation” and they would also “be considered shaheed [martyr] Allah.”
Arraf and Shapiro also called for “roadblock removal, boycotts, refusing to obey curfew orders, blocking roads, refusing to show ID cards or even burning them.” They added: “Yes, people will get killed and injured.”
On October 30, 2011, Arraf said in an interview about the ISM: “We focus on providing support for the Palestinian unarmed resistance, not because we take a hostile view to the armed resistance, but rather because we believe that unarmed resistance is strategically more advantageous to Palestinians.”
The International Solidarity Movement (ISM), founded in 2001, is a movement allegedly “committed to resisting the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land using nonviolent, direct-action methods and principles.”
However, the group has been accused of supporting terrorism and has encouraged its foreign volunteers to act “as human shields in cities, towns and refugee camps.” ISM has also encouraged activists to break curfew and disregard Israeli directives prohibiting access to closed military zones.
That policy resulted in the death of Rachel Corrie, who was accidentally killed while interfering with an Israeli military operation in 2003. A wrongful death suit brought by Corrie’s family was dismissed, because the judge ruled that Corrie unreasonably chose to put her own life in danger.
On October 30, 2021, Arraf said [00:25:10] in a YouTube video that she participated in marches during the beginning of the second intifada.
In her speech, Arraf said [00:26:07] that after there were fewer marches and Palestinians began to “shoot at Israeli military installations, at checkpoints, even at settlements,” she had been [00:26:47] “wanting to take part, wanting to get in those streets, but there were no more popular demonstrations and I couldn’t pick up a gun …”
In the same speech, Arraf described [00:30:42] the formation [00:32:25] of ISM, saying [00:30:43] that “the idea came to me and others, to see if we can globalize the intifada…”
Since the early 2000s, the term “intifada,” which translates from Arabic as “uprising” or “insurrection,” has carried the connotation of violence.
Arraf also said [00:31:00]: “I had these images of like thousands of people forming this civilian army and linking arms to prevent the Israeli bulldozers and tanks from rolling into Palestinian villages. And we organized for that.”
Since the early 2000s, the term “intifada,” which translates from Arabic as “uprising” or “insurrection,” has carried the connotation of violence.
Arraf also said [00:31:00]: “I had these images of like thousands of people forming this civilian army and linking arms to prevent the Israeli bulldozers and tanks from rolling into Palestinian villages. And we organized for that.”
Defense Lawyer for a Terrorist
On June 3, 2016, the US Palestinian Community Network (USPCN) wrote a tweet that Arraf was a “new member of Rasmea [Odeh]’s defense team.” On the same day, Arraf shared the tweet on Facebook and commented: “Honored. #Justice4Rasmea.” In a comment below the post, Arraf added: “Def a privilege!”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.
On September 7, 2016, Arraf posted on Facebook a press release that she said was “on the motion we filed yesterday to try to protect Rasmea from additional harm.”
Equating Israel with Nazi Germany
On May 28, 2018, Arraf tweeted: “SHAME on those who have allowed Israel to turn Gaza into a concentration camp…”The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) highlights as one possible contemporary example of anti-Semitism: “Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis.” The U.S. State Department adopted the IHRA’s working definition of anti-Semitism in 2016. Over 40 countries have adopted the definition as well.
On September 10, 2018, Arraf tweeted: “Calling for the freedom of the Palestinian people... of all people... on the walls of the Warsaw ghetto should be applauded, not condemned! Ewa has worked tirelessly to make ‘never again’ not just a slogan, but a reality. ”
The phrase “Never Again” is often deployed as a general declaration against genocide, invoking the Nazis’ war of extermination against the Jews.
Arraf’s tweet was in response to a tweet by anti-Israel activist Ewa Jasiewicz who defended her vandalization of a remaining wall of a building from the Warsaw Ghetto in 2010, by spraying graffiti on it that said: “Free Gaza and Palestine.”
On November 13, 2019, Arraf tweeted: “... Israel's aggression is funded by the US & enabled by the failure of the world to honor ‘never again.’”
In November 2019, Israel launched Operation Black Belt to stop rocket attacks from Gaza into Israel. From November 12 to November 14, 2019, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terror group sent hundreds of rockets into Israel, targeting major civilian population centers.
Glorifying Terrorists
On July 12, 2021, Arraf tweeted her claim that Khalida Jarrar was “jailed by Israel for her political activism,” and linked to a petition calling for her release.Khalida Jarrar is a senior member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terror organization. She has reportedly been the head of the PFLP in the West Bank since 2016. In 2015, an Israeli military court sentenced Jarrar to 15 months in prison for calling to kidnap Israeli soldiers. Israel arrested Jarrar again in 2017 “on suspicion of involvement with terrorist activities and violent public disturbances.” In 2019, she was arrested by Israel with 50 other PFLP operatives following a deadly 2018 bombing attack.
On September 18, 2020, Arraf tweeted that Leila Khaled was a “Palestinian freedom fighter.” She included a petition that called Khaled “a powerful, inspiring figure… more than just a freedom fighter... a national icon.”
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 August 14, 2017, Arraf posted to Facebook a photo of her children at an event honoring Rasmea Odeh. Arraf commented: “The 1000-person hall was overflowing with power, love, spirit and resilience, celebrating Rasmea, her work, what she stands for and what she represents.”
On August 12, 2017, Arraf tweeted a photo of her daughter with Rasmea Odeh and wrote, quoting Odeh: “Rasmea: ‘What doesn't kill u makes u stronger & if they manage to kill us, the next generation will continue the struggle’ #HonorRasmea.”
On May 26, 2017, Arraf made her Facebook cover photo an image calling to “SUPPORT PALESTINIAN PRISONERS STRUGGLE” and used the hashtag “#BDS4DignityStrike.”
“Dignity Strike” refers to a hunger strike initiated by Marwan Barghouti on April 16, 2017. More than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners participated in the strike – most them also convicted for acts of terrorism. Barghouti headed the Palestinian Authority (PA) terrorist Tanzim force and founded the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. He was sentenced to five consecutive life terms by an Israeli civilian court for some of his crimes, including his role in the Sbarro Cafe bombing.
On May 25, 2017, Arraf tweeted: “URGENT Call! On Day 40 of Mass Palestinian Hunger Strike, Advocate 4 Military Embargo of Israel https://bdsmovement.net/news/urgent-call-day-40-mass-palestinian-hunger-strike-advocate-military-embargo-israel #BDS4DignityStrike.”
On May 7, 2017, Arraf changed her Facebook profile picture to a photo of her and her children at an anti-Israel rally, with a frame that said: “I Support #DignityStrike.”
On May 3, 2017, Arraf posted to Facebook a photo of her at a demonstration in support of the prisoners. She wrote: “May 3, 2017 from Dearborn -- Solidarity with Palestinian political prisoners' hunger strike for freedom & dignity.”
On April 27, 2017, Arraf was listed on a Google doc as the Detroit contact for a National Lawyers Guild (NLG) one-day hunger strike in solidarity with the “Dignity Strike.”
On March 7, 2017, Arraf tweeted: “Slain activist Basil Al-Araj was a Palestinian Freedom Rider. Posting this video in his memory. Rest in power Basil.” Arraf included a link to a video of Al-Araj and Arraf conducting anti-Israel activism together.
Basel Al Araj was killed on March 6, 2017, in a shoot-out with Israeli troops during an arrest raid. He had been suspected of belonging to a terror cell planning to carry out attacks on Israeli targets. Two M-16 assault rifles and an improvised Carlo-style submachine gun were found inside his home.
Defending Hamas
On August 4, 2014, during Operation Protective Edge (OPE), Arraf tweeted: “CNN @AC360 [Anderson Cooper 360] report on Hamas use of human shields in #Gaza presented Israeli propaganda as fact & ignored intnl reports saying no evidence.”Israel commenced OPE in July 2014 to stop rocket fire targeting Israeli civilians and to destroy Hamas attack tunnels.
Throughout the summer of 2014 — during Operation Protective Edge (OPE) — Hamas's deployment of human shields was extensively documented and publicized. Hamas encouraged Gazans to act as human shields to frustrate Israeli efforts to avoid civilian casualties in Gaza.
On August 8, 2014, Arraf tweeted: “Time & again Hamas has shown willingness to concede & has maintained ceasefires. Re Hamas' agenda, read http://lrb.co.uk/v36/n16/nathan-thrall/hamass-chances… #Gaza #Israel.”
On March 30, 2018, Arraf tweeted: “At least 7 killed, 500 injured & rising. Israel ordered soldiers to open fire on unarmed civilians & is trying to blame Hamas. All organizing & messaging around #GreatReturnMarch has stressed nonviolent nature. Hamas issued msg of coexistence. Israel chooses to ignore & kill.”
On March 30, 2018, about 30,000 Gazans approached Israel’s border fence to join in “Land Day Protests,” which were also called the “March of Return.” The march was organized and funded by Hamas as a campaign of violent protests to spotlight the “right of return,” a policy discredited as a means to eliminate Israel.
On April 3, 2018, Arraf posted on Facebook praising Mohammed Abu Amr [Muhammad Na'im Muhammad Abu Amro], who was killed during the March of Return riots. Abu Amro was identified as an operative in Hamas’s military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades.
Most of the Gazans who died between March 30 and April 6, 2018, were identified as terror operatives who were killed while carrying out terrorist attacks, rioting against IDF forces or attempting to breach the border fence between Israel and the Gaza Strip.
Also on April 3, 2018, in an interview on an Australian radio station, Arraf claimed that the Gazans killed in the March of Return were “protesting, unarmed” and were part of a “slow genocide” Israel was conducting.
March participants sent scores of kites bearing explosive devices across Israel’s border to burn Israeli crops and homes. Participants also attempted to breach the border fence, which caused the Israeli Defense Forces to respond with live fire. Agitators also threw Molotov cocktails and firebombs, shot firearms and threw rocks.
On May 6, 2019, Arraf tweeted, in response to a tweet that condemned Hamas rocket attacks that killed four Israeli civilians: “This tweet is an ‘affront to humanity’ @NYCMayor.Israel has spent the last year sniping unarmed protesters in Gaza, and the last 12 years trying to strangle 2 million civilians there into submission. When they finally respond to this brutality, you blame the victim?”
Supporting PIJ Members
On August 14, 2015, Arraf tweeted in support of PIJ member Muhammad Allan: “Action Alert: Hunger Striker Allan on ventilator in coma; Palestinian prisoners under Israeli lockdown http://eepurl.com/bv5xgb #24hours4Allan.”Arraf’s tweet linked to a Mailchimp website by Samidoun: Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network (Samidoun) calling to: “Take Action to demand Allan’s immediate release,” that claimed his imprisonment was “part and parcel of the Israeli colonial policy of… the attack on Palestinian existence everywhere in Palestine.”
Allan is a member of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), a terror group “whose objective is the destruction of the State of Israel and the establishment of a sovereign, Islamic Palestinian state.” Allan was first jailed by Israel in 2006 for trying to recruit a suicide bomber to carry out an attack in Israel. He was detained in 2014 for similar reasons. PIJ is backed by Iran and has killed dozens of Israelis in suicide bombings and other attacks.
On May 10, 2012, Arraf posted to Facebook a photo of her at a demonstration in Ireland in support of Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike. At the demonstration, Arraf knelt, was blindfolded and had her hands tied behind her back in front of a sign that called to “FREE ALL PALESTINIAN POLITICAL PRISONERS.”
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 March 3, 2012, Arraf tweeted: “Using their bodies to fight injustice – Hana Shalabi- Palestine, Mahdi Khazali - Iran, Abdulhadi AlKhawaja - Bahrain.” Hana Shalabi is reportedly a supporter of PIJ who was arrested in 2012 for alleged “involvement in planned attacks” by PIJ.
On February 20, 2012, Arraf tweeted: “...Protest now announced in front of the #UN building in #Ramallah for #KhaderAdnan Join NOW at 1:00pm #Palestine.”
On February 6, 2012, Arraf tweeted: “Please sign to #FreeKhaderAdnan hunger-striking Palestinian prisoner held by #Israel w/o charge http://samidoun.ca/?p=116 #palestine #KhaderAdnan.” Arraf’s tweet linked to an article by Samidoun urging activists to “Send a letter now to Israeli officials demanding his freedom.”
Leading Anti-Israel Activist Trips
On October 30, 2021, in a speech at the Indiana Center for Middle East Peace 2021 Gala, Arraf said [00:20:58] that in 2000, when she worked [00:22:58] in Israel for Seeds of Peace, she would secretly take children to see home demolitions in Jerusalem since the organization’s administration would not have approved. Israel sometimes conducts home demolitions on terrorists homes as a deterrent against attacks.In February 2019, Arraf co-led a delegation on an anti-Israel activist trip with Eyewitness Palestine (EP). EP is formerly known as Interfaith Peace-Builders (IFPB).
IFPB
IFPB, known as Eyewitness Palestine since 2018, is an anti-Israel NGO that organizes activist delegations to Israel and the West Bank in order to showcase “the everyday violence of war and [Israeli] occupation.” IFPB’s program features lectures by representatives of anti-Israel groups that openly call for the end of Israel, including the designated terrorist organization the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestinian (PFLP).
In May 2017, Arraf co-led an IFPB trip, which used the hashtag: “#ifpb61.” Her trip focused on “Incarceration, Detention, and Political Prisoners.”
During the trip, Arraf’s delegation participated in the “Saltwater Challenge” in support of Palestinian prisoners, including many terrorists. The trip met with a representative of Addameer which is an organization that is reportedly a PFLP affiliate and advocates on behalf of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons like PIJ recruiter Mohammad Allan.
In October 2012, Arraf co-led another IFPB delegation that met with groups including Boycott From Within and the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD). ICAHD director Jeff Halper has called for the end of Israel and claimed that Israel’s goal is “the permanent warehousing of the Palestinians.”
On April 24, 2009, Arraf wrote a Seattle Times article where she said that she led a delegation of American lawyers to Gaza to investigate Israel’s Operation Cast Lead, and found Israel guilty of the “willful killing of civilians.”
Arraf went on to write: “The United Nations has appointed a team of experts, led by a renowned human-rights advocate — Richard Goldstone, a Jewish, South African judge — to investigate the conduct of both Israel and Hamas. Hamas has agreed to cooperate, but Israel has indicated an intention to block the investigation…refusing to cooperate with U.N.-mandated inquiries.”
The Goldstone Report was the controversial product of a 2009 United Nations Fact-Finding Mission, sent to investigate Operation Cast Lead.
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.
Following widespread criticism and rejection of the report for its “methodological failings, legal and factual errors, and falsehoods,” Judge Richard Goldstone, who authored the report, expressed “regrets about his report” and retracted its central thesis.
In an article published in April 2011, Goldstone wrote “If I had known then what I know now, the Goldstone Report would have been a different document.”
Hatred of Israel
On October 30, 2021, in an speech at the Indiana Center for Middle East Peace 2021 Gala, Arraf said [01:10:00] that when she played a Palestinian song for her daughter “about resistance and about fighting injustice,” her daughter asked what it meant.Arraf said [01:10:18] that she “told her it was because Israel took our land and we want to fight for our land, and… she’s like ‘well, we have to get it back mama… we have to… fight them...’”
On May 24, 2021, during Israel’s Operation Guardian of the Walls (OGW), Arraf tweeted: “As an attorney, I have long avoided calling it genocide. No longer. Israel’s policies fit the legal definition, but as with any crime, there is the element of intent that must be proven. For that, there are plenty of statements from Israeli officials. Not hyperbole.”
On November 7, 2018, Arraf tweeted: “Did you know the Movement for Black Lives @mvmt4bl called on the US to end its complicity w/ Israel in the genocide taking place against the Palestinian people. https://policy.m4bl.org/invest-divest.”
On June 21, 2018, Arraf posted to Facebook a photo of one of her children helping to make an anti-Israel sign and then another photo of the child holding the sign at a rally. The sign read: “ISRAEL@70 MEANS 1. ISRAEL TOOK OUR COUNTRY 2. I’M REALLY MAD 3. THEY HAVE TO GIVE IT BACK! FREE PALESTINE.”
On April 9, 2018, Arraf tweeted: “While I don't use term genocide lightly, what else can you call it when Israel imprisons 2 million people in 140 sq mile strip of land that UN has declared unlivable, bombs them repeatedly & opens live fire on thousands of unarmed demonstrators when they protest?”
On December 28, 2016, Arraf tweeted: “No @JohnKerry, Israel does not have the right to a Jewish state. No state has the right to discriminate b/w its citizens based on religion.”
On August 25, 2016, Arraf tweeted: “Analysis on use of the word ‘genocide’ to describe Israel's treatment of the Palestinian People https://ccrjustice.org/genocide-palestinian-people-international-law-and-human-rights-perspective#.V79UUtb59wM.twitter via @theCCR #M4BL.”
On July 13, 2014, Arraf posted to Facebook photos of one of her children at a protest against OPE, sitting on a bike that had signs on it that read: “stop killing kids in palestine” and “according to israeli sources, this bike is a mobile launching pad.”
Demonizing Israel
On September 23, 2021, Arraf tweeted: “Mr. Ross wants to give the occupying Apartheid state more weaponry so it doesn’t have to invade the Gaza prison camp it created and risk getting hurt as it slaughters the occupied civilian population.”Arraf’s tweet was in response to a tweet by Dennis B. Ross, former U.S. Middle East envoy, expressing support for funding Israel’s Iron Dome.
The Iron Dome is an Israeli missile defense system designed to intercept and destroy rockets and artillery shells. During Israel’s 2014 “Operation Protective Edge,” the Iron Dome intercepted hundreds of Hamas rockets launched from Gaza towards southern, central and northern parts of Israel.
Also on September 23, 2021, Arraf tweeted: “The best way for Israel to protect its citizens is to dismantle apartheid.”
On June 8, 2021, Arraf tweeted about Jerusalem: “Rather than honor its legal duties, for decades Israel has been engaged in a slow, menacing ethnic cleansing campaign to rid the city of its native Palestinian population, all under the guise of ‘legal processes.’”
On May 17, 2021, during OGW, Arraf tweeted: “Hey media, if you’re calling decades of oppression, dispossession, ethnic cleansing, apartheid, brutal aggression, bombardment & the obliteration of entire families by US-funded Israeli missiles ‘Israel’s conflict with Hamas,’ you're part of the problem. #Gaza #Palestine.”
On May 15, 2019, Arraf tweeted: “Though we commemorate on May 15, the massacre of Palestinians by Zionist forces began well before this date and the Nakba continues today... #NAKBA71.”
The term “Nakba” is generally translated as “catastrophe” in Arabic, referring to the outcome of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. It is a term used to delegitimize the creation of the State of Israel by drawing a comparison to the Holocaust, known in Hebrew as the Shoah, meaning “catastrophe.”
On September 21, 2011, Arraf posted to Facebook a photo of herself in Ramallah, which she captioned: “Me and another co-worker. Both of our shirts have the map of ALL of Palestine on it. We will continue to fight for and end to Israel's colonial apartheid system, equality throughout historic Palestine and the right for refugees to come home!”
The “right of return” is a Palestinian demand discredited as a means to eliminate Israel. International law mandates no absolute right of return and UN Resolution 194, which defined principles for “refugees wishing to return to their homes,” was unanimously rejected by Arab nations following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.
On June 3, 2009, Arraf posted on Facebook a letter that she signed titled: “An Open Letter to President Barack Obama From the Free Gaza Movement”, which accused Israel of “Collective punishment” and claimed: “The purpose of the Israeli blockade is to punish and break an entire people.”
Supporting Anti-Israel Agitators
On July 24, 2018, Arraf posted on Facebook a note she claimed her daughter had written for Ahed Tamimi and commented: “She insists that she’s strong like Ahed and she won’t care if a soldier hits her or takes her to jail, she’s going to say that ‘this is Filastin!’ Today she insisted on writing Ahed a note (she asked me to make dots for her that she could trace)...”Ahed Tamimi has a long history of physically attacking Israeli soldiers. Tamimi is the daughter of Bassem Tamimi, who is known for exploiting young children as political props in staged confrontations with Israeli soldiers.
On July 2, 2018, Arraf posted to Facebook a flyer for a fundraising event she co-hosted for Rashida Tlaib’s campaign for Congress. On July 13, 2018, Arraf posted a photo on Facebook from the reception of herself with Tlaib and the other co-host, anti-Israel activist Amer Zahr. Arraf wrote: “Working hard to make sure this fighting Palestinian sister @rashidatlaib gets elected to the US Congress! rashidaforcongress.com.”
Representative Rashida Tlaib is connected to six Hamas-linked activists, all of whom served as fundraiser co-hosts for her successful 2018 congressional campaign. She has advocated for a one-state solution, endorsed the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement and called for reduced foreign aid to Israel. In July 2019, Tlaib co-sponsored a pro-BDS bill in the U.S. Congress introduced by Representative Ilhan Omar.
On December 29, 2017, Arraf wrote on Facebook: “Imprisoned for a poem Israeli officials didn’t like. This is how Israel treats its Palestinian Arab citizens while it touts its #democracy.” #DareenTatour #apartheid.”
In October 2015, Tatour was placed under house arrest for incitement to violence and for support of a terrorist organization on social media. Tatour had supported the terror group Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and posted to Facebook: “I am the next shahid [martyr].”
Promoting BDS
On May 19, 2021, during OGW, Arraf tweeted about countries selling weapons to Israel. She wrote that “... even if a country is not selling weapons to Israel, if it's normalizing relations with it, it is complicit. Global sanctions on apartheid South Africa worked and can also work to dismantle Israel's apartheid, settler-colonial system. #Gaza.”Proponents of the “anti-normalization” policy seek to police all interactions between Israelis and Palestinians and shut down all conversations and interactions perceived as being ideologically unaligned with their own agenda. They believe “liberal Zionist” dialogue with Palestinians “normalizes” entrenched power dynamics. This policy was originally dictated by the BDS National Committee (BNC), which prioritized the “Monitoring & Rapid Response” against interactions that recognize or cooperate with “Israel’s regime.”
On July 17, 2019, Arraf posted on Facebook in support of U.S. House Resolution 496, which was described by U.S. Congresswoman Ilhan Omar as “an opportunity for us to explain why it is we support...the BDS movement.” Arraf wrote: “Please ask your rep to sign on to this bill protecting our constitutional #Right2Boycott #BDS.”
On December 6, 2018, Arraf tweeted: “Because decades ago, global boycott, divestment & sanctions helped end apartheid in South Africa. #BDS is needed to help end apartheid in Palestine today. #WhyIBoycott.”
On April 17, 2018, Arraf posted on Facebook in support of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP)’s “Deadly Exchange” campaign. Arraf wrote: “Hopefully only first of many US cities to end #DeadlyExchange! CONGRATS @Durm2Palestine @jvplive @NCarolinaJVP & all who worked for this historic WIN! #BDS … ”
In 2017, JVP launched the “Deadly Exchange (DX)” campaign, which accused American Jewish organizations of promoting human rights abuses. JVP also released a video that blamed [00:04:04] U.S.-based Jewish organizations for violence that occurs against Black and Brown communities, immigrants and activists in the U.S.
On October 2, 2012, Arraf shared on Facebook a video soliciting financial support for the 2012 National SJP Conference and wrote: “The US is where the most work needs to be done, and on US college campuses is where a lot of good work is being done. Please support however and with whatever you can!”
On September 28, 2011, Arraf posted on Facebook, seeking financial support for SJP, to help them hold their first national conference.
In 2010, Arraf was reportedly co-chair of SJP at AUWCL, since 2006.
On December 6, 2018, Arraf tweeted: “Because decades ago, global boycott, divestment & sanctions helped end apartheid in South Africa. #BDS is needed to help end apartheid in Palestine today. #WhyIBoycott.”
On April 17, 2018, Arraf posted on Facebook in support of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP)’s “Deadly Exchange” campaign. Arraf wrote: “Hopefully only first of many US cities to end #DeadlyExchange! CONGRATS @Durm2Palestine @jvplive @NCarolinaJVP & all who worked for this historic WIN! #BDS … ”
In 2017, JVP launched the “Deadly Exchange (DX)” campaign, which accused American Jewish organizations of promoting human rights abuses. JVP also released a video that blamed [00:04:04] U.S.-based Jewish organizations for violence that occurs against Black and Brown communities, immigrants and activists in the U.S.
SJP Activism
On November 7, 2017, Arraf was named as a guest speaker for a Wayne State University (WSU) SJP event. The Facebook event page referred to Israel’s security barrier as the “apartheid wall.”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.
On October 2, 2012, Arraf shared on Facebook a video soliciting financial support for the 2012 National SJP Conference and wrote: “The US is where the most work needs to be done, and on US college campuses is where a lot of good work is being done. Please support however and with whatever you can!”
On September 28, 2011, Arraf posted on Facebook, seeking financial support for SJP, to help them hold their first national conference.
In 2010, Arraf was reportedly co-chair of SJP at AUWCL, since 2006.
Featured Speaker at 2025 People’s Conference for Palestine
Huwaida Arraf was listed as a speaker at the 2025 People’s Conference for Palestine in Detroit, Michigan.The second People’s Conference for Palestine is scheduled to take place August 29-31, 2025, in Detroit, Michigan. The conference will unite participants with U.S.-based extremist organizations, designated terrorist affiliates and communist groups, with the goal of coordinating strategies for confronting Zionism and U.S. “imperialism.” The event was co-organized by several anti-American and anti-Israel organizations, primarily the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM), which drives the conference’s political agenda.
Speakers for the 2025 conference, the theme of which is “Gaza is the Compass,” include two terrorists released from Israeli prisons, as well as anti-Israel political figures Linda Sarsour, Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib and pro-Hamas activist Mahmoud Khalil.
Speakers for the 2025 conference, the theme of which is “Gaza is the Compass,” include two terrorists released from Israeli prisons, as well as anti-Israel political figures Linda Sarsour, Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib and pro-Hamas activist Mahmoud Khalil.
The 2024 People's Conference for Palestine brought together over 100 organizations and 3,000 participants, and openly declared its goal to dismantle American and Israeli power structures.
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/904580216https://www.facebook.com/huwaida4mi
Twitter: https://twitter.com/huwaidaarraf
https://twitter.com/huwaida4mi
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/huwaidaarraf/
https://www.instagram.com/huwaida4mi/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/huwaidaarraf/
Personal Website: https://www.huwaidaforcongress.com/
Videos
2 videos
Photos & Screenshots
142 images
Infamous Quotes
“SHAME on those who have allowed Israel to turn Gaza into a concentration camp…”
“... Israel's aggression is funded by the US & enabled by the failure of the world to honor ‘never again."
“No @JohnKerry, Israel does not have the right to a Jewish state …”
“The Palestinian resistance must take on a variety of characteristics — both nonviolent and violent. But most importantly it must develop a strategy involving both aspects.”
“Time & again Hamas has shown willingness to concede & has maintained ceasefires.”
“Rasmea [Odeh]: ‘What doesn't kill u makes u stronger & if they manage to kill us, the next generation will continue the struggle’ #HonorRasmea.”
