Maheen Ahmed

Overview

Maheen Ahmed is the Programs & Development Coordinator at the Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and a Legal Progress Intern for the Center for American Progress, a public policy research and advocacy institute.

Ahmed served as the President of the Muslim Students Association (MSA) at the University of California, Davis (UC Davis) and the Vice President of MSA West (MSA’s west coast regional division) during her time on campus

She was also heavily involved in the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement on the UC Davis Campus.

Ahmed graduated from UC Davis with a Bachelor of Science in Community and Regional Development.

BDS on Campus 2014

Ahmed was a co-author of the student senate divestment resolution at UC Davis in January 2015 and in May 2015. The 2015 resolutions were introduced after a student senate divestment resolution at UC Davis failed in April 2014.

The April 2014 resolution called on the University of California’s Board of Regents to divest from corporations “that aid in the Israeli occupation of Palestine...”

The resolution also referred to divestment as “a time-honored tactic that contributed significantly to ending apartheid in South Africa.” The resolution failed to pass, with the ASUCD evenly divided. The ASUCD Vice President refused to break the tie.

In January 2015, another hearing was called to push an expanded version of the resolution, which added additional companies doing business in Israel to the divestment lists.

Following speeches from those supporting and opposing the bill, the anti-divestment advocates — about a third of the attendees — participated in a walk-out. As they left, a large group of pro-divestment promoters chanted “Allahu Akhbar!” The January 2015 resolution passed, 8-2-2.

Following the passage of the divestment bill, Azka Fayyaz, one of the council members who voted for the resolution, posted on Facebook “Hamas & Sharia law have taken over UC Davis. Brb crying over the resilience.”

Later, in an open letter to the student community, Fayyaz insisted her comment was “satirical” and attacked “the leadership of AEPi, the Jewish fraternity at UC Davis, and Aggies for Israel,” claiming they reported the contents of her profile to “the Zionist lobby groups which they have been paid to represent.”

A week after the resolution passed, unidentified vandals spray-painted two large swastikas on a house belonging to the Jewish fraternity, Alpha Epsilon Pi (AEPi).

On January 30, 2015, UC Davis Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi issued a statement that the resolution to divest did not reflect the position of UC Davis or the University of California system.

On February 19, 2015, the university’s Court of Associated Students overturned the January 2015 resolution as unconstitutional, on the grounds that it was "primarily a political document" with insufficient relevance to student welfare on campus.

In May 2015,a revised resolution was submitted alleging that "enabling Israel’s occupation of Palestine compromises the integrity of students’ education." The May 2015 resolution passed, 10-0-2.

CAIR

CAIR describes itself as a “grassroots civil rights and advocacy group” and “America's largest Muslim civil liberties organization, with regional offices nationwide.” Its official mission is “enhance understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.”

CAIR reportedly has “significant ties” to the Muslim Brotherhood, as well as Hamas. A number of former CAIR employees have been convicted on fraud and terrorism-related charges that resulted monetary fines, jail terms and, sometimes, deportation.

CAIR was founded in 1994 and opened its first office in Washington, DC, with the help of a $5,000 donation from the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF), a charity founded by Mousa Abu Marzook.

Marzook, who was listed as a "Specially Designated Terrorist" by the U.S. Treasury Department in 1995, is reportedly a senior member of Hamas.

In May 2007, CAIR was listed as an “unindicted co-conspirator” in a U.S.-filed action against the HLF for providing funds to Hamas.

CAIR was also listed as a terrorist entity by the United Arab Emirates, in 2014.

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.

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.