Laila Abujuma

Abujama’s LinkedIn listed the Muslim Students Association (MSA) as one of her “Activities and Societies” at UMD.

Demonizing Israel on Campus 

On April 19, 2016, Abujuma participated in an SJP UMD-led rally and die-in held to protest UMD’s annual Israel Fest.

“Israel Fest” at UMD is an annual campus event designed “to celebrate and educate students on Israeli culture,” hosted by the Jewish Student Union (JSU) at UMD. 

On the same day, the UMD student newspaper, The Diamondback, wrote that Abujuma reportedly “screamed”:at university police officer, who requested that SJP UMD cease blocking a student walkway. The police officer then reportedly “grabbed Laila’s shoulders and pushed her toward the grass.”

On February 5, 2019, video footage from the die-in shared on Youtube showed [00:16:40] Abujuma yelling at a police officer. 

The demonstration began with a rally outside McKeldin Library where leading SJP UMD activist Mohammad Sajjad Soltanmohammadi.

When some onlookers challenged [00:09:35] SJP UMD, one SJP activist replied [00:09:45]: “When the textbooks are written and taught by the Jewish or the Israeli faculty? Of course they’re biased!” 

Soltanmohammadi led the chant [00:01:30]: “Netanyahu what do you say, how many kids did you kill today?” The demonstrators called [00:01:39] for shutting down Israel’s “border wall” and accused Israel of “ethnic cleansing” and having “racist policies.” Some demonstrators held signs painted with simulated blood stains, reading [00:18:22]: “Zionism Kills.”

Following the rally, Soltanmohammadi led the protestors in a march on Israel Fest, where they laid down on an adjacent walkway for the die-in. During the march, they chanted [00:11:24]: “Israel is an apartheid state. Israel is a terror state. Israel is a racist state.”

On May 2, 2017, Abujuma reportedly attended a rally with SJP UMD and UMD MASC to boycott UMD’s annual Israel Fest, which coincided with Israel’s Independence Day. The rally featured a mock apartheid wall. 

On April 27, 2017, the UMD Muslim Association for Social Change (MASC) and SJP UMD posted a co-authored letter on Facebook that promoted a “Mass Boycott of Israel Fest.” The groups called the annual celebration on UMD’s campus “unnecessary” and “insulting.”

The letter said that Israel was an “apartheid state” that was “founded on the forced displacement of thousands of individuals.” 

UMD MASC and SJP UMD went on to demand that UMD’s Jewish Student Union (Maryland JSU), the festival organizer, remove tables promoting Birthright Israel and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). 

Birthright Israel is a heritage trip to Israel for Jewish young adults from across the world.

On May 14, 2019, SJP UMD shared a group photo on Instagram that featured Abujuma alongside SJP UMD activists calling to boycott Israel Fest. The caption on the photo read: “Last week, we boycotted Israel Fest and held a teach-in about Palestinian human rights! #boycottisraelfest #freepalestine.”

On May 11, 2019, SJP UMD reportedly held a teach-in to “boycott the annual celebration of Israel Fest.” SJP UMD’s teach-in involved activists gathering by a mock “Israeli Apartheid Wall” and chanting: “Displacing lives since ‘48, nothing here to celebrate!” 

Promoting BDS

On April 25, 2019, Abujuma featured [02:49:46] in a video posted on Facebook by the UMD Student Government Association (SGA), urging the SGA to pass a BDS bill. The bill was launched by Divest UMD.

Divest UMD is a campaign that calls on UMD to divest from companies that do business with Israel.

On April 25, 2019, Divest UMD announced on Facebook that following a UMD student government vote, the BDS bill failed to pass with “a vote of 9 for, 25 against, and 2 abstentions.”

On November 17, 2017, Abujuma was featured [00:41:41] in another video shared on Facebook by the UMD SGA, speaking in support of a divestment bill at an SGA meeting.

On November 20, 2017, UMD’s online student magazine Unwind reported that the UMD SGA Student Affairs Committee voted against a BDS bill in a 1-21 vote.

SJP UMD - Supporting Terrorists

On April 8, 2018, SJP UMD shared a photo on Instagram of Ghassan Kanafani and wrote: “Today is the birthday of legendary Palestinian author and PFLP member Ghassan Kanafani (1936-72).” 

Kanafani was a leading member and spokesperson for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) during the terrorist organization’s early years. Kanafani announced the PFLP’s responsibility for the Lod Airport Massacre of May 1972 and was linked to the airport attackers. The attack killed 26 people and wounded 80 others.  

On March 9, 2018, SJP UMD shared a poster on Instagram produced by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and wrote: “Poster of the First Martyr of the Intifada #sjp #intifada.” 

The caption on the poster read: “Hatem Al Sesi First Martyr of the Intifada for Freedom and Independence.” 

Hatem al-Sisi was killed after he reportedly attemptedto drop a homemade bomb on an Israeli military vehicle during the first intifada.

SJP UMD - Promoting Anti-Israel Agitators  

On February 14, 2019, SJP UMD shared a group photo on Instagram featuring activists standing in front of a blackboard with “#IStandWithIlhan” written on it. 

SJP UMD commented: “UMD SJP supports Rep. Ilhan Omar in calling out AIPAC’s role in influencing US policy towards apartheid Israel! #istandwithilhan.”

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.

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.  

Social Media and Weblinks

Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/100009763265641/ 

Twitter:https://twitter.com/lailaabujuma [Deleted]

LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/laila-abujuma-21374b126/ 

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/lailalifts/ 

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/lailaninja/ [Private]