Mohamed Yousif

Overview

Mohamed Yousif has spread anti-Semitism and hatred of Israel on Twitter. He was an activist with Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at the University of Minnesota (UMN) in 2011 and 2012.

Yousif is also a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.

In March 2012, Yousif indicated on Twitter that he was affiliated with the Muslim Student Association (MSA).

As of January 2020, Yousif’s LinkedIn page said he was a Brand Strategist at Sharp Creative, from “Aug 2016 - Present,” and studied Marketing and Design at UMN, from “2011 - 2015.”

As of January 2020, Yousif used the alias SirMoYousif on Twitter and sirmoyousif on Instagram.

Anti-Semitism

On October 28, 2013, Yousif tweeted: “F**k Isreal, they're Nazis! Check out this video http://youtube.com/watch?v=dPxv4Aff3IA…” The tweet linked to a Youtube video made by David Sheen and Max Blumenthal, titled: “Israel's New Racism: The Persecution of African Migrants in the Holy Land.”

David Sheen is an anti-Israel activist and filmmaker who works to portray Israel as an extremist racist state. To this end, Sheen has been accused of purposefully mistranslating Hebrew articles and other media to make Israelis appear racist.

Blumenthal’s 2013 book, “Goliath: Life and Loathing in Greater Israel,”was dubbed “The Israel Hater’s Handbook” by Eric Alterman of the progressive magazine The Nation.

On June 19, 2012, Yousif tweeted: “I seen a black Jewish guy outside of target#wtf Jewish Cap and an Afro just dont mix well.”

Spreading Hatred of Israel

On October 28, 2013, Yousif tweeted: “F**k Isreal.”

On May 26, 2013, Yousif tweeted: “If I work for Starbucks would it be a form of Jihad? cause Israel would be paying me, then theyde have less money to screw with Palestinians.”

On February 3, 2013, Yousif tweeted: “Don't but SodaStream products (commercial after the Tide).. Israeli company that steals water from Palestine.”

On November 15, 2012, Yousif tweeted: “We got no love for israel i swear. Got it stamped on my passport #Sudan only love #Palestine.” The tweet included a photo of Yousifs passport of a stamp that read — “All Countries Except Israel.”

On October 11, 2012, Yousif tweeted: “Just watched The Dictator ehhh movie, but i liked the end where he called America a dictatorship and all the anti israel stuff.”

On August 2, 2012, Yousif tweeted: “We taught our Nephew to say ‘Booooooo’ when an Israeli Olympian comes on the TV screen.”

SJP Activism

On April 9, 2011, Yousif featured in photos shared on Facebook by SJP UMN, taken during Palestine Awareness Week.

In one photo, Yousif held next to a sign that read: “260+ Children killed in 2nd Intifada…”

The second intifada (2000-2005) was characterized by more than 120 suicide bombings targeting Israeli civilians on buses and in cafes.

On April 9, 2011, Yousif was tagged in a photo posted on Facebook by SJP UMN, speaking to an audience in a lecture hall during an SJP UMN Palestine Awareness Week event.”

Palestine Awareness Week (PAW) is a re-branding for American audiences of Israel Apartheid Week.

On March 5, 2012, Yousif posted on Facebook a flyer promoting Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW).

Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) is presented as “an international series of events that seek to raise awareness of…Israel’s settler-colonial project and apartheid system over the Palestinian people” and build support for the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.

On April 30, 2013, Yousif tweeted: “SJP elections in Room 325 Coffman @ 2:00 today #Snacks! And I'll be there ;).”

SJP UMN Honoring Terrorists: 2012 - 2014

On November 10, 2014, SJP UMP posted on Facebook regarding Rasmea Odeh: “Our hearts go out to her” and said: “They find Palestinian activists as a threat and immediately label them as ‘terrorists.’”

Odeh was a key military operative with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terrorist organization. In 1969, she masterminded a PFLP supermarket bombing that killed two college students. She also attempted to bomb the British consulate in Jerusalem. Odeh later moved to the United States but was deported to Jordan in 2017 for immigration fraud.

On February 20, 2012, SJP UMN tweeted in support of Khader Adnan, a senior member of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) who was on a hunger strike.

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?”

SJP UMN Promoting Anti-Semitic Conspiracy Theories: 2011-2012

On September 24, 2011, SJP UMN promoted a post on Facebook alleging that Israel controls America and influences American mainstream media, so that one “will always find the news tailored” in Israel’s favor.

SJP UMN urged their followers to “READ IT & SHARE IT.”

On March 9, 2012, SJP UMN was scheduled to host an event for Israel Apartheid Week (IAW), titled “United States of Israel.” IAW is a series of events on university campuses promoting BDS.

One event included a screening of a documentary, titled: “AIPAC: The Israeli Lobby,” which claims AIPAC, Congress, the White House and Israel “seem to have ended up in a suffocating embrace.”

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC)’s mission is to strengthen the U.S.-Israel relationship and to enhance both nations’ security. Denouncing the influence of “the Israeli lobby” echoes an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory about Jewish control over foreign governments, popularized in the book “The Israel Lobby” by John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt.

SJP UMN Demonizing Israel: 2012-2014

In April 2014, SJP UMN featured a “mock apartheid wall,” meant to mock Israel’s security barrier and held a “die-in,” as part of that year’s Israel Apartheid Week (IAW). Israel’s security barrier was built as a deterrent to Palestinian terror attacks.

SJP UMN launched its annual Palestine Awareness Week in April 2011, a re-branding of IAW, with events demonizing Israel such as a “die-in.”

On November 28, 2012, SJP UMN held a “Die-in for Gaza,” to protest Israel’s Operation Pillar of Defense (OPD), against Hamas to stop rocket attacks launched from Gaza on Israeli civilians.

The Facebook event description instructed participants where to “pick up signs and/or get the name of the martyr that you will be wearing” and said participants would hold the signs and “fall to the ground to portray the deaths of those in Gaza.”

On February 13, 2012, SJP UMN shared a video on Facebook, titled: “Sh*t Zionists Say,” that mocked [00:00:15] Israel supporters for feeling unsafe.

SJP UMN Promoting BDS: 2011-2012

On October 14, 2012, SJP UMN promoted a petition on Facebook calling on Minnesota’s NBA team, the Timberwolves, to boycott Israel and cancel a scheduled game against the Israeli team, Maccabi Haifa.

The petition was part of a campaign organized by Minnesota Break the Bonds (MN BBC), which sent a letter to each Timberwolves player. The letter said: “Don’t normalize apartheid!” and urged them to boycott the game. It also said they were being used by Israel’s “propaganda machine.”

MN BBC was reportedly formed in 2006 to pressure the State of Minnesota to break economic ties with Israel.

On November 29, 2011, SJP UMN posted on Facebook promoting an MN BBC Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign.

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.