Mohammad Omaren
Overview
Mohammad Omaren burned Israeli flags and led chants in support of violence and calling for Israel's destruction at an August 2022 rally in Philadelphia.The rally was organized by a coalition of local anti-Israel groups that included the Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter at Temple University (Temple SJP).
As of October 2022, Omaren used the handle “@moe_omaren” on Instagram, TikTok and Twitter. He described himself as an “Athlete” in his bios on all three platforms.
August 10, 2022 - Burning an Israeli Flag at an Anti-Israel Rally
At the protest, Omaren burned and stomped on Israeli flags and led multiple chants, including ones supporting violence and calling for Israel’s destruction. He also climbed [slide 4] the City Hall’s gate waving a Palestinian flag.
On August 10, 2022, an anti-Israel protest titled: “Philly Stands with Gaza,” was held in central Philadelphia during the late-afternoon rush hour. Speakers spread anti-Semitism and promoted incitement, while protesters blocked traffic and threatened drivers. The protest was in opposition to Israel’s Operation Breaking Dawn (OBD) against the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terror group in Gaza.
Philadelphia Coalition for Palestine (PCP) organized the rally in order to “Honor the 45 Palestinian martyrs; End the blockade on Gaza; Defend Palestinian resistance!” PCP includes Temple SJP and the Philadelphia chapters of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and IfNotNow (INN).
The protest demonstration consisted of two rallies and a march in between. The first rally was held on the east side of Philadelphia's City Hall and the second one was held later on the west side of City Hall.
Toward the end of the rally, Ahmed Shaat, another protest leader who was holding a bullhorn, threw [01:28:01] two Israeli flags onto the pavement. Omaren then burned [01:28:20] the flags.
While the flags burned, Shaat led [01:28:26] protesters in the chant: “Allahu Akbar! [God is the greatest].” Other leaders led [01:28:32] protestors in the chant: “Hey, hey! Ho, ho! The Occupation has got to go!”
Shaat then yelled [01:28:57]: “Hey, hey! Ho, ho! The yahoodi [Jew] must go!”
Omaren then trampled [01:30:30] on the Israeli flags repeatedly.
Spreading Incitement
At the protest, Omaren chanted [00:53:09]: “From Philly to Gaza, globalize the Intifada!” and [01:33:22]: “Be-ruh, be-dam, nifdik ya Falasteen! [With spirit, with blood, we will redeem you, Palestine].”
Since the early 2000s, the term “intifada,” which translates from Arabic as “uprising” or “insurrection,” has carried the connotation of violence.
Omaren also directed [00:37:38] the crowd and led [00:38:20] the chant: “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!”
Anti-Israel protesters use [00:02:52] the chant to call for the elimination of the State of Israel.
Hatred of Israel
Omaren shouted [01:00:26]: “No more money for Isra-Hell!” and chanted [01:00:32]: “Israel out of Palestine!”
Omaren also led [00:15:05] the chant: “Justice is our demand, no peace on stolen land!”, followed by [00:15:19]: “Brick by brick, wall by wall, apartheid has to fall!”
He also led [00:15:42] the chant: “Not another nickel, not another dime; no more money for Israel's crimes!”
Violence from Protesters
Protesters were directed [01:06:23] to “occupy the streets,” purposely blocking commuter traffic. Omaren walked [01:06:39] in front of the blocked traffic waving a Palestinian flag and chanting [01:06:41]: “One, two, three, four, occupation no more!” He later chanted [01:07:30]: “Israel out of Palestine!”
Brice Peterson, who was also a speaker, marched with other protesters and joined them in intentionally blocking [01:08:45] traffic. He slammed [01:08:47] his hand on one of the cars when its driver tried to move slowly past the protesters. He then threatened [01:09:27] the driver, yelling: “Don’t do it, do not do it! I will break your f**king window and beat the f**k out of you! Don’t you dare!”
During Peterson’s incident with the driver, a march leader chanted [01:09:17]: “Israel, Israel, you can’t hide! We charge you with genocide!”
After the march reached the west side of City Hall, one speaker said [01:15:01]: “We need to end the blockade on Gaza and support the Palestinian resistance in any way that we can. We need to be boycotting Israeli companies. We need to be taking action. This is a settler colonialist project and we need to shut it down, finally.”
Israel and Egypt implemented a United Nations-approved [pp. 39–41] joint blockade of the Gaza Strip in 2011 to stop Hamas from acquiring more sophisticated rockets.
At the very end of the protest, Omaren burned [01:28:20] the Israeli flags as outlined above.
Multiple signs over the course of the rally promoted hatred of Israel. One protester held a sign that read: “Stop Israeli Holocaust against Palestinians.” Temple SJP posted photos to Instagram from the protest that featured a sign claiming [slide 5] Israel was a “TERRORIST STATE.” Another sign accused [slide 4] America and Israel, saying: “THERE IS BLOOD ON YOUR HANDS.”
On August 11, 2022, the day after the rally, Omaren wrote a comment on a Temple SJP Instagram post: “Alhamdllah [praise God] it was an amazing protest!! Thanks to everyone that showed up. 💪🏽🇵🇸👊🏽”
Social Media and Weblinks
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mohammad.omaren.52Twitter: https://twitter.com/moe_omaren
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/moe_omaren/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@moe_omaren
- Status:
- Unknown
- University:
- Organizations:
- SJP
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- Last Modified:
- 05/04/2026
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