Mohammad Barakat

Overview

Mohammad Barakat has spread anti-Semitism and demonized Israel on social media.

Barakat is a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

Barakat was added to the Muslim Students Association (MSA) at ASU [Arizona State University] Facebook group, in November of 2016.

As of July 7, 2017, Barakat’s Facebook page said he “studied” at Grand Canyon University (GCU), in Phoenix, AZ.

Anti-Jewish Social Media Posts

On February 1, 2017, Barakat tweeted: “The Knicks will never win a championship with James Dolan as the owner. History shows you won’t win while being ran by someone Jewish.”

On March 14, 2016, Barakat tweeted: “Arabs don't foul in basketball. They throw their shoe at you as if your a yahoodi [Jew] & curse you out the rest of the game.”

On March 5, 2016, Barakat tweeted: “Are you from Starbucks because you look Jewish.”

On November 25, 2012, Barakat tweeted: “New slang instead of the words ignorant, cheap or etc its: Stop acting jewish Lol #Jayz.”

On November 24, 2012. Barakat tweeted: “I told Desert Edge to put me on the squad but the coach was acting Jewish.”

Demonizing Israel

On July 28, 2014, during Israel’s Operation Protective Edge (OPE), Barakat tweeted: “On an international holiday for Muslims, Israel bombs the main hospital that provides for the people of Palestine. Makes me fckin sick.” Barakat’s tweet followed reports of explosions that day at Gaza’s Shifa hospital and the neighboring al-Shati refugee camp.

Hamas fired rockets, repeatedly, from Shifa Hospital (Shifa) at Israeli population centers during Operation Protective Edge. Hamas also misfired rockets which struck Shifa and the nearby al-Shati refugee camp. Hamas cleanup crews rushed to conceal the evidence. This was confirmed by Amnesty International and an independent Italian journalist.

On July 15, 2014 — also during OPE — Barakat tweeted: “If you're for what Israel is doing to Palestine let me know so I can unfollow you real quick .”

Israel commenced Operation Protective Edge (OPE) in July 2014, to stop rocket fire targeting Israeli civilians and to destroy Hamas attack tunnels.

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.