Mohammad Soltan

Overview

Mohamed Soltan was a two-time president of the Muslim Student Association at Ohio State University (OSU).

Soltan is a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement and supported the 2016 OSU Divest campaign at OSU.

Soltan is the son of Muslim Brotherhood (MB) leader Salah Soltan, who in 2008 claimed that 9/11 was "planned within the U.S., in order to enable the U.S. to control and terrorize the entire world." His family claimed that Mohamed himself is not a member of the brotherhood.

On November 27-28, 2015, Soltan was a featured speaker at the American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) Conference.

Soltan is a 2012 graduate of Ohio State University, where he majored in Economics.

Arrest and Deportation from Egypt 

On April 12, 2015, an Egyptian court sentenced Soltan to life imprisonment for supporting an Islamist protest against the military ouster of President Mohamed Morsi in the summer of 2013. In the same case, death sentences were handed out for his father, Salah Soltan and MB’s supreme spiritual leader Mohamed Badie.

Mohamed Soltan was working as a translator for journalists covering a sit-in at Rabaa al-Adawiya Square to protest the takeover that had been dispersed by security forces. Soltan was shot in the arm during the assault on the sit-in. The police arrested him at his home several days later on possession of documents urging members of the army and police to defect. In January 26, 2014, Soltan began a hunger strike to protest his detention by the Egyptian authorities. He was released and sent back to the United States on May 31, 2015.

Supporting Hamas

In 2009, Soltan was reported as having participated in the "Viva Palestina" convoy, which presented Hamas with hundreds of thousand of dollars in cash. The convoy also met with Hamas leaders, including Hamas representative in Lebanon Osama Hamdan, deputy Hamas leader Musa Abu Marzook and Hamas political leader Khaled Meshaal.

In Jordan, en route to the Gaza convoy participants attended a welcoming rally, featuring a speaker who chanted (at 3:37): "Allah is our goal. The Prophet Muhammad is our leader. The Quran is our Constitution. Jihad is our path. Death for the sake of Allah is our most exalted desire."

The speaker also invoked the names of noted terrorists like Yahya Ayyash.

Demonizing Israel

Soltan tweeted anti-Israel posts during and after Israel’s Operation Protective Edge (OPE) against Hamas.

On July 29, 2014, Soltan tweeted: "While the #Palestinian resistance is at war killing IDF soldiers & officers, #Israel was striking homes/schools killing women & children."

On August 1, 2014, Soltan tweeted: "If Arab/Muslim world rises now in solidarity w/Palestine, the scenario will definitely change for both Palestine & rest of the ME."

On August 5, 2014, Soltan tweeted: "Breaking: IDF attacking and firing tear gas at women in Aqsa mosque in Jersulem [sic.]. #PalestineUnderAttack"

On August 6, 2014 — in response to a tweet saying: "#Egypt isn't an honest broker in these indirect negotiations. Palestinian demands weren't ALL passed to the Israeli delegation," Soltan tweeted: “what do u expect from traitors? They're the enemy, Israel went 2war on their behalf. Theyre [sic.] negotiating terms w/resistance.”

On August 26, 2014, Soltan tweeted: "There isn't a doubt in the minds of any1 that knows Soltan, that he's as happy for Palestine's victory as he would be for his own freedom!"

Pushing BDS at OSU

On March 23, 2016, Soltan supported a divestment resolution presented by OSU Divest to the University Student Government The resolution, which targeted companies the group claimed were "complicit in human rights violations," failed in a secret ballot by 21-9 votes with 15 abstentions. During the pre-vote discussion of the bill, OSU divest members accused Israel of “apartheid” and claimed that presidential election candidates were “paraded to AIPAC to pledge allegiance to a foreign government.”

Soltan tweeted criticism for U.S. Senators who condemning the boycott vote, reiterating his support for BDS as a "mechanism" to “combat apartheid.”

OSU Divest was launched in late January, 2015. In March of 2015, the group attempted, unsuccessfully, to put a last-minute divestment referendum on the USG election ballot.

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.

AMP

American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) was founded by UC Berkeley Professor Hatem Bazian as a vehicle to generate mainstream support in the United States for the Palestinian national cause.

On its website, the organization lists Bazian as the chairman of its national board and describes itself as “a national education and grassroots-based organization, dedicated to educating the American public about Palestine and its rich cultural, historical and religious heritage.” 

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has accused AMP of promoting “extreme anti-Israel views and has at times provided a platform for anti-Semitism under the guise of educating Americans” about Palestinians. The ADL further stated that AMP is directly involved in campus-based anti-Israel activity through Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP).

Prior to founding the AMP in 2006, Dr. Bazian created SJP together with fellow UC Berkeley Professor Snehal Shingavi in 2001. The close working relationship between AMP and SJP has been documented several times over the years by several organizations, including NGO Monitor and StandWithUs. 

In addition to providing financial, public relations and legal assistance to SJP, AMP has also been accused of having connections to Hamas. The AMP national board includes former members of both the Islamic Association of Palestine (IAP) and Holy Land Foundation (HLF), both of which were found liable for aiding and abetting Hamas. The IAP was founded by Mousa Mohammed Abu Marzook, a senior member of Hamas.

Social Media and Weblinks

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

Twitter:https://twitter.com/soltanlife