Lina Houri
Overview
Lina Houri promoted th e Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement as an activist with American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) in 2019. She also promoted a BDS campaign at the University of Minnesota (UMN) in 2016.Houri was an activist with Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at UMN SJP UMN from 2014 until 2016.
In 2016, Houri was affiliated with the Muslim Student Association (MSA) at UMN.
As of July 2020, Houri was listed as a student on the UMN Directory in the Education/Human Development department.
BDS Activism
On April 11, 2019, Houri featured in Facebook group photos with AMP Minnesota activists holding a Palestinian flag on the steps of the U.S. Congress.The photos were taken during AMP’s “5th annual Palestine Advocacy Day.” A Facebook page for the event, which was scheduled for April 5, 2019, said it was “open to all who…” support “the Call for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions.”
On April 11, 2019, AMP Minnesota wrote on Facebook that the day comprised “2 full days of advocacy training followed by a day on Capitol Hill in which we met with the offices of our elected officials. We met with the offices of - Senator Tina Smith - Senator Amy Klobuchar - Rep. Dean Phillips (CD 3) - Rep. Betty McCollum (CD 4) - Rep. Ilhan Omar (CD 5) - Rep. Tom Emmer (CD 6).”
The post went on to say that the delegation, in which Houri participated, presented to lawmakers as one of its “main issues,” opposing “bills that violate the constitutional right to boycott for Palestinian rights.”
The post also said that the event concluded with a talk by Rashida Tlaib, who emphasized the importance of connecting Palestinian advocacy “with other social justice movements” in the U.S.
Rashida Tlaib was elected to the U.S. Congress in November 2018. 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 Rep. Ilhan Omar.
On February 21, 2016, Houri changed her Facebook profile photo to a graphic that said: “UMN DIVEST 2016.”
On February 15, 2016, Houri had also changed her Facebook cover photo to the same graphic.
That day, SJP UMN launched UMN Divest, a campaign suggesting [00:01:53] Israel was like Apartheid South Africa and demanding [00:01:10] that the Minnesota Student Association (MSA) and UMNdivest from all companies “complicit in the Israeli occupation of Palestine.”.
On February 16th, SJP UMN issued a press releaseclaiming UMN’s divestment from four companies explicitly targeted by the campaign “would neutralize the University of Minnesota in this conflict [sic] …” and that “The call to divest is a response to the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement.”
UMN’s Chief Investment Officer reportedly told The Minnesota Republic, a student-run newspaper at UMN, that the university had “no direct exposure” to the four companies highlighted by the UMN Divest campaign.
On March 8, 2016, the MSA voted [00:26:24] to strike the divestment resolution from the MSA agenda.
In April 2016, the MSA passed a heavily amended resolution that removed all references to Israel and any specific corporations. The amended resolution endorsed divestment generally from “corporations involved in human rights violations,” and from “companies profiting from human rights abuses and violations of international law.”
SJP Activism
On May 8 and 9, 2015, Houri featured in photos taken at the SJP 2015 Banquet and posted on Facebook by SJP UMN.On April 11, 2014, Houri featured in a photo posted on Instagram by SJP UMN during Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW). Houri held a sign that read: “I support Palestine Because Palestine is AWESOME #IAWUMN.”
On November 16, 2012, Houri featured in Facebook photos posted by SJP UMN at a protest where SJP UMN activists “came out to stand in solidarity with the people of Gaza.”
The protest took place during Israel’s Operation Pillar of Defense (OPD) in Gaza. Protesters held signs that read: “END AID TO ISRAEL,” and “BOYCOTT DIVEST SANCTION ISRAEL NOW!”
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.”
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.
AMP
American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) was founded by UC Berkeley Professor Hatem Bazian as a vehicle to generate mainstream support in the United States for the Palestinian national cause.
On its website, the organization lists Bazian as the chairman of its national board and describes itself as “a national education and grassroots-based organization, dedicated to educating the American public about Palestine and its rich cultural, historical and religious heritage.”
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has accused AMP of promoting “extreme anti-Israel views and has at times provided a platform for anti-Semitism under the guise of educating Americans” about Palestinians. The ADL further stated that AMP is directly involved in campus-based anti-Israel activity through Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP).
Prior to founding the AMP in 2006, Dr. Bazian created SJP together with fellow UC Berkeley Professor Snehal Shingavi in 2001. The close working relationship between AMP and SJP has been documented several times over the years by several organizations, including NGO Monitor and StandWithUs.
In addition to providing financial, public relations and legal assistance to SJP, AMP has also been accused of having connections to Hamas. The AMP national board includes former members of both the Islamic Association of Palestine (IAP) and Holy Land Foundation (HLF), both of which were found liable for aiding and abetting Hamas. The IAP was founded by Mousa Mohammed Abu Marzook, a senior member of Hamas.
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.
Social Media and Weblinks
Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/100000674590452Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lynnoona/ [Private]
