Mohammad Hamad

Overview

Mohammad Hamad (not to be confused with Mohammad G. Hammad) is a member of the Harvard College (Harvard) Palestine Solidarity Committee a campus anti-Israel organization, which came to Harvard University (Harvard) in 2002. PSC is an affiliate of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP).

Hamad is also an active organizer for the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) Movement and a member of the American Studies Association (ASA).

On January 17, 2016, Hamad announced on Facebook that there is a petition calling for his "expulsion from the United States."

Hamad is a graduate Student and Adjunct Faculty Instructor in Sociology at York College (York). York is part of City University of New York (CUNY). Hamad was an undergraduate at Harvard until 2013. He received a Masters in Sociology from the New School for Social Research in 2015.

Vandalizing Sabra Hummus Products

Hamad caused an uproar in January 2016 when he raided local grocery stores and numerous CVS Pharmacies in New York City placing stickers on Israeli Sabra Hummus and other products, which read: "DON’T BUY: THIS PRODUCT SUPPORTS ISRAELI APARTHEID." Placing a mark on private property to damage it without the permission of the owner is considered a form of graffiti — and illegal according to New York State Penal Law.

The stickers were promptly removed by CVS Pharmacies after they were alerted to the vandalism by a consumer.

Hamad’s first raid was on January 7, 2016, after which he announced on Facebook that that he was "thinking about printing a couple thousands and throwing them out of skyscrapers." On the same day, Hamad recommended in a Facebook thread that the host of potluck dinner should been “punched” for having Tribe hummus on the table.

After his second raid on January 12th, Hamad gloated and threatened on his Facebook page: "I just raided another CVS pharmacy. If I'm banned from every grocery store in New York City, there's always FreshDirect."

On January 12, 2016, Aline Gubrium, an associate professor at the University of Massachusetts (UMass), Amherst approached Hamad on Facebook, asking him where to obtain the stickers. "I would love to cover my local grocery stores," she wrote.

Shortly afterwards, a petition was launched to prevent Professor Gubrium from acquiring the stickers from Hamad and carrying out her own vandalism.

Later in January 2016, UMass issued a statement loosely defending what they called Professor Gubrium’s "freedom of speech" regarding the incident. Nevertheless, at the time Gubrium reported that “I have not put stickers to anything.”

Inciting Violence Against Israelis

In a February 22, 2016 Facebook post, Hamad legitimized violence by Palestinians against Israelis, in a statement accompanying a video posted by Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP).

He asserted that Palestinians have a right to be violent because the "laws of war" are appropriate:

"Palestinians are often encouraged by the Western world to respond to apartheid Israel with nonviolence, on ideological grounds. However, who can dictate to people living with structural violence and racism the actions they must take? Who can say we have no right to use tactics that the laws of war say are legal; tactics that Israelis are allowed to use without condemnation? It's clear that our occupier does not differentiate between violent and nonviolent resistance, in Palestine or otherwise."

Supporting Terrorism

Hamad expressed his support for terrorism and violence against Israeli citizens, by promoting a rally in New York to show solidarity with the October 6, 2015 Palestinian "Day of Rage." That Day of Rage resulted in the deaths of four Israeli civilians by shootings, stabbings and car rammings.

In September 2015 Hamad alerted his Facebook followers to an event hosting Bassem Tamimi. Tamimi’s family and his entire village, Nabi Saleh, have been involved in violence against Israelis — and exploiting women and children to stage altercations — for decades.

On August 18, 2016, Hamad attended a demonstration organized by NYC Students for Justice in Palestine in support of Mohammad Allan.

Allan is a member of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), a terror group “whose objective is the destruction of the State of Israel and the establishment of a sovereign, Islamic Palestinian state.” Allan was first jailed by Israel in 2006 for trying to recruit a suicide bomber to carry out an attack in Israel. He was detained in 2014 for similar reasons. PIJ is backed by Iran and has killed dozens of Israelis in suicide bombings and other attacks.  

Hamad took a video on August 18 of an Allan family member, Ziad Allan, giving an impassioned speech condemning the United States and Israel, claiming: "Israel is the only state on Earth that the laws of humanity does not [sic.] apply to, whatsoever."

Boycotting Idan Raichel, Kanye West and Lady Gaga

In October 2015, Hamad promoted a protest calling on the Beacon theater to cancel the performance of Israeli musician Idan Raichel.

In September 2015, Hamad encouraged his facebook viewers to sign a petition to pressure American hip-hop artist Kanye West not to play in Israel. Hamad urged his followers to tweet West. The petition failed and West played in Israel on September 30, 2015.

In 2014, Hamad created a petition on change.org titled "Boycott Apartheid Israel", requesting American singer-songwriter Lady Gaga not to play in Israel in the summer of 2014. Hamad wrote that “Gaga is scheduled to perform to a segregated audience in Israel” and that “this boycott is "inspired by the struggle of South Africans.” Gaga played in Israel in September 2014 and commented in an interview that the world’s image of Israel is inaccurate, calling the country “a beautiful place.”

In February 2013, Hamad signed a cultural pledge to boycott all Israeli artists. The protest was organized by Adalah-NY, a BDS advocacy group that defines itself as “The New York Campaign for the Boycott of Israel.” Adalah “affirm(s) that "Brand Israel" is not welcome in New York and we commit to upholding the cultural boycott however we can:” On 13th November 2013, he was involved with a launch party in NYC to “amplify” the Cultural Boycott of Israel.”

PSC (SJP) Harvard

In March 2013, PSC initiated Israel Apartheid Week on Harvard’s campus by plastering mock eviction notices on dorm room doors — informing students that their rooms were "scheduled for demolition in the next three days."

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 Student 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.

Social Media and Weblinks

Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/100001471662445

Linkedin:https://www.linkedin.com/in/mohammad-hamad-1a501629