Neda Hamood

Overview

Neda Hamood has called for the destruction of Israel and participated in anti-Israel activism as the event coordinator for the Palestinian Student Association (PSA) at the University of Central Florida (UCF).

Neda Hamood served as the event coordinator for UCF-PSA from January 2022 through August 2022. UCF is located in Orlando, Florida.

As of February 2024, Hamood’s LinkedIn said she was a member of the Muslim Student Association (MSA) from August 2018 through May 2022.

Hamood graduated from UCF with a bachelor's degree in biomedical sciences in May 2022 and a master’s degree in biomedical sciences in 2024.

As of November 2024, Hamood’s LinkedIn said she was a medical student at Nova Southeastern University (NSU), College of Osteopathic Medicine, in Davie, Florida, slated to graduate in 2028.

Hamood’s LinkedIn also said she was a a volunteer at NSU’s Student Medical Center since October 2024 and that she was located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Hatred of Israel

On February 8, 2022, Hamood was featured [slide 3] in a UCF-PSA Instagram video where she chanted [slides 13-14] alongside other activists: “Free, free Palestine! From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!”

“From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be Free” is a chant used [00:02:47] to call for the elimination of the State of Israel. It has also been employed by Hamas leader Khaled Mashal to call for the replacement of Israel with an Islamic state. In April 2024, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution condemning the chant as antisemitic.

On March 2, 2022, Hamood led chants calling for Israel’s destruction at a UCF-PSA rally on campus.

The rally was titled: “ALL EYES ON SHEIKH JARRAH,” where UCF-PSA said activists would be “shedding light on the ongoing displacement & ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in Sheikh Jarrah.” The rally was called for one day after Israel’s High Court suspended planned evictions from Sheikh Jarrah.

In May 2021, Palestinian violence erupted in anticipation of an Israel High Court ruling on eviction proceedings concerning over 70 Palestinian tenants illegally residing in Jewish-owned properties in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah.

Hamood was featured [slide 1] in a UCF-PSA Instagram video where she helped lead other protesters in chanting: “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free!” At the same rally, activists again chanted [slide 6]: “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free...” Hamood also helped lead [slide 10] the chant: “Hey hey, ho ho! The occupation has got to go!”

Hamood and the other activists led [00:00:01] protesters in chanting: “End Israeli apartheid! Free, free Palestine! Free, free Palestine! Free, free Sheikh Jarrah!”

Incitement surrounding Al-Aqsa and Sheikh Jarrah were leading factors in Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorists firing over 4,300 rockets from Gaza at Israeli population centers from May 10 to 21, 2021. In response to rocket attacks from Gaza, Israel launched “Operation Guardian of the Walls (OGW),” striking military targets in the terrorist-controlled enclave.

Hamood then joined [00:00:15] in a chant about Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque: “Be-ruh be-dam nifdik ya Aqsa [With spirit, with blood, we will redeem you, Aqsa]!”

The allegation that Jews “threaten” to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque has been a pretext for Arab attacks on Jews long before the existence of the modern Jewish state. Such propaganda has led to multiple periods of violence against Israeli civilians.

The chant: “Be-ruh, be-dam, nifdik ya Aqsaبروح ودم نفديك يااقصى [With spirit, with blood, we will redeem you, Aqsa]” can be heard [00:01:14] at anti-Israel rallies [00:02:19] in America. Yasser Arafat popularized the chant [00:00:23], which is invoked by anti-Israel protesters regarding a variety of causes.

Anti-Israel Activism (UCF-PSA)

On April 23, 2022, during Hamood’s tenure as UCF-PSA event coordinator, the group co-organized a rally in Orlando titled: “HANDS OFF PALESTINE.” The rally took place during a period of violence on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, where Al-Aqsa Mosque is located, and which was preceded by a period of terrorism in Israel.

At the end of March and beginning of April 2022, Palestinian terrorists killed 14 Israelis in a number of attacks.

On February 23, 2022, Hamood and the UCF-PSA held a “GBM [General Body Meeting]+ Teach In,” which was titled: “The importance of sustaining the 2021 Palestinian Uprisings.”

On May 11, 2021, during OGW, violent Arab riots broke out in Israel’s mixed Jewish-Arab city of Lod and in other Israeli cities with large Arab populations. The rioters in Lod reportedly raised Hamas and Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) flags and attacked Israeli civilians with slabs and rocks, as well as firebombs and metal rods. Rioters also torched synagogues, cars and businesses, and vandalized hospital medical equipment, schools and government buildings.

On January 26, 2022, Hamood and the UCF-PSA held their “First general body meeting” as “A virtual Teach In.” Anti-Israel activist Hamzah Raza spoke at the event, which was titled: “Legacies of Apartheid: From South Africa to Palestine.”