Lina Mahmoud

Overview

Lina Mahmoud participated in an anti-Israel rally where protesters called for violence. Mahmoud was an eboard member of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at the University of Detroit Mercy (UDM) as of October 30, 2022.

The rally that Mahmoud participated in was co-organized by various SJP chapters in Michigan, and was held on the University of Michigan Ann Arbor campus (UMich-Ann Arbor) in January 2023.

As of January 2023, Mahmoud’s LinkedIn page said she was a freshman at UDM.

As of the same date, Mahmoud’s LinkedIn said she was a Writing Fellow at the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn, Michigan, and a part-time instructor at Aqua-Tots Swim Schools in Dearborn.

As of January 2023, Mahmoud used the handle “@lina.mahmoudd” on Instagram. As of the same date, Mahmoud used the handle “@Totesnotlina” on a second, private, Instagram.

As of January 2023, Mahmoud went by the handle “@linayeehaw” on Tiktok.

UMich-Ann Arbor Anti-Israel Rally

On January 12, 2023, UMich students Joseph Fisher, Nooralhuda Sami and Salma Hamamy led anti-Israel chants during a rally and march protesting a visit that day by U.S. vice president Kamala Harris. Harris was due to appear on the UMich-Ann Arbor campus for “a conversation about the climate crisis.”

The rally was co-organized by Students Allied for Freedom and Equality (SAFE), University of Detroit Mercy SJP (UDM SJP), Wayne State University SJP (SJP WSU) and Students United for Palestinian Rights (SUPR) at Michigan State University (MSU).

SAFE is the name of the UMich SJP chapter and SUPR is the name of MSU’s SJP chapter.

Other participants in the rally included Mahmoud, Seliman Ali and Yousef Turk.

As rally participants marched toward the auditorium in which Vice President Harris was scheduled to speak, Fisher and Sami led [00:00:01] the chants: “Justice is our demand, no peace on stolen land! and [00:00:07]: “Intifada, intifada! Long live the intifada!”

The term “intifada,” which translates from Arabic as “uprising” or “insurrection,” carries the connotation of violence. Palestinian intifadas waged against Israel have been marked since 1987 by hundreds of hijackings, shootings, stabbings, bombings and suicide missions.

Hamamy marched alongside Fisher and Sami holding [00:00:01] a sign that read: “THERE IS ONLY ONE SOLUTION, Intifada Revolution!”

Sami and Fisher then led [00:00:22] the chants: “There is only one solution, intifada revolution!” and [00:00:28]: “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free!”

“From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free” is a chant calling to dismantle the State of Israel. It has also been employed by Hamas leader Khaled Mashal to call for the replacement of Israel with an Islamic state.

When the crowd arrived outside the auditorium, Fisher and Hamamy led rally participants in chanting [00:00:01]: “Hey hey, ho ho, the Zionists have got to go!”

Fisher then gave a speech where he called [00:00:17] Israel “the violent Zionist entity” and accused [00:00:36] Israel of being “one of the most vicious perpetrators” of environmental destruction.

Fisher also claimed [00:01:02] Israel was continuing to “murder Palestinians and steal more of their land,” calling [00:01:27] Israel a “violent settler apartheid regime.”

Sami also referred [00:01:06] to Israel as “the Zionist entity,” claiming [00:01:08] Israel was engaging in “ethnic cleansing.”

Upon leaving the auditorium, rally participants walked along a public street chanting [00:00:01]: “Resistance is justified when people are occupied!”

Among Palestinians and anti-Israel activists, the term “resistance” can be a euphemism for nationalistic terror. It is often used to excuse or even glorify anti-Israel and anti-Semitic violence.

Sami led [00:00:01] the chant: “Not another nickel, not another dime, no more money for Israel’s crimes!” She and Fisher then led [00:00:13] the chant: “Kamala, Kamala, you can’t hide, you’re committing genocide!”

Fisher and Sami also led rally participants in chanting [00:00:01]: “Kamala, Kamala, don’t you know, greenwashing has got to go!”

"Greenwashing" is a claim by anti-Israel activists that Israel manipulates the environmentalist agenda to deflect international attention from Israel's alleged "persecution of the Palestinians."

Mahmoud and Hamamy held [slide 3] a sign that read: “ISRAEL DUMPS WASTE IN PALESTINIAN NEIGHBORHOODS, EXPOSING PALESTINIANS TO HAZARDOUS TOXINS.”

Turk held [slide 4] a sign that read: “Israel is a settler colonial state.” Another activist held [slide 7] a sign that said: “RESISTANCE IS JUSTIFIED! WHEN PEOPLE ARE OCCUPIED!”

Ali wore [00:00:04] a Palestinian flag as a cape [slide 5] while waving another Palestinian flag and marching with demonstrators.

SAFE UMich’s Instagram post promoting the rally claimed: “The Biden-Harris administration has unwaveringly stood with Israel, an apartheid entity that has caused immense ecological destruction as it continues to commit crimes against humanity.”

Included in the same Instagram post was a flyer that said: “IN PROTEST OF KAMALA HARRIS’S APPEARANCE IN ANN ARBOR AND SUPPORT FOR ISRAELI APARTHEID.”

Anti-Israel Activism

On November 11, 2022, Mahmoud featured [slides 1 and 8] in an Instagram post, presenting at an SJP “PEACE PAINTING COLLAB EVENT.”

Text projected on-screen during Mahmoud’s presentation read [slide 8]: “Palestinians live in an apartheid, colonial-settler state, one that has dispossessed them of their land for some seventy years…” The presentation’s text also claimed that Israel “terrorizes and periodically massacres” Palestinians.

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.