Ruaa AbuAishah

Overview

Ruaa AbuAishah [Ruaa Aishah] is a teacher who has glorified terrorists, spread anti-Semitism and promoted anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.

In the spring of 2016, AbuAishah served as the president of the Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (SJP at UAB). She also attended the SJP South regional conference in January 2016.

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

In 2015, AbuAishah was a member of the Muslim Students Association (MSA) at UAB (MSA at UAB).

As of April 2024, AbuAishah’s Twitter bio said she was a “High school teacher by day.”

Also as of April 2024, AbuAishah’s LinkedIn profile said she had been a student researcher at UAB Medicine since June 2018.

As of the same date, AbuAishah’s LinkedIn said she graduated from UAB in 2018. However, her Instagram bio said she graduated from UAB in 2019.

As of the same date, AbuAishah’s LinkedIn said she had been a project manager at the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) in Birmingham, Alabama, from March 2015 to May 2017.

As of the same date, AbuAishah’s LinkedIn said she was located in Birmingham, Alabama.

As of April 2024, AbuAishah used the handle “@ruaa913” on Twitter and the handle “@ruaa09” on Pinterest.

AbuAishah also spread incitement while in high school.

Glorifying Terrorists

As of April 2024, AbuAishah featured on her“امي فلسطين [My Name is Palestine]” Pinterest board an image of Hamas terrorist Yahya Ayyash. AbuAishah captioned the image: “A true Palestinian Hero and a personal role model.”

Ayyash, known as the Engineer of Death, was the chief bomb-maker for Hamas during the mid-1990s. He manufactured the explosives used in numerous suicide bombings that targeted Jewish civilians.

On February 1, 2019, AbuAishah tweeted: “Read it. It’s worth your time.” She linked to a another tweet promoting a book titled: “Injustice: The Story of the Holy Land Foundation Five.”

The Holy Land Five (HLF5) were five individuals associated with the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF) indicted for funneling funds to Hamas in the guise of humanitarian aid. The men were all convicted and sentenced in 2009 to federal prison terms ranging from 15 to 65 years.

On October 12, 2015, during the “Knife Intifada,” AbuAishah tweeted: “Resistance... because if we fight, we might lose, but if we don’t fight, we have already lost.

Long Live Palestine.”

Among Palestinians and anti-Israel activists, the term “resistance” can be a euphemism for nationalistic terror. It is often used to excuse or even glorify anti-Israel and anti- Semitic violence.

In October 2015, there was an upsurge in violence across Israel incited by Palestinian political and religious leaders. The wave of stabbings, known as the “Knife Intifada,” was characterized by young Palestinians throughout the country stabbing and attempting to stab Israeli civilians.

Anti-Semitism

As of April 2024, AbuAishah featured on her “امي فلسطين [My name is Palestine]” Pinterest board a meme with a photo of Hitler and text that said: “WE ARE THE MASTER RACE” alongside a photo of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and text that said: “WE ARE GOD’S CHOSEN PEOPLE.” AbuAishah captioned the image: “No difference, racism is racism.”

The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) highlights as one possible contemporary example of anti-Semitism: “Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis.” The U.S. State Department adopted the IHRA’s working definition of anti-Semitism in 2016. Over 40 countries have adopted the definition as well.

Also as of April 2024, AbuAishah also featured on her “امي فلسطين [My Name is Palestine]” Pinterest board a photo of a sign held at an anti-Israel rally that said: “ONE HOLOCAUST DOES NOT JUSTIFY ANOTHER.”

As of the same date, AbuAishah featured on her “Exposing Zionism” Pinterest board an image with text that said: “Zionist [sic] say ‘God gave Israel to the Jewish people’ First tell us who is your God?...God did not sign on Balfour declaration but UK and prime minister of UK did.” AbuAishah wrote next to the image: “I have to say, this made me laugh a bit.”

Zionism is the belief that Jews have the right to self-determination in their own national home, and the right to develop their national culture.

The 1917 Balfour Declaration favored the establishment of a Jewish National home in British Mandate Palestine.

One way that anti-Israel activists spread anti-Semitism is by claiming that Jews have no connection to the Land of Israel.

Also as of April 2024, AbuAishah featured on her “Exposing Zionism” Pinterest board an image of the Israeli flag and text that said: “God did not give you the land - The UK did. ILLEGALLY.” AbuAishah commented on the image: “The UK gave Palestine to Israel..ILLEGALLY.”

Anti-Semitic Conspiracy Theories

As of April 2024, AbuAishah featured on her “Exposing Zionism” Pinterest board an image of a mouth being zipped shut with a Star of David on the zipper. The text on the image said: “ANTISEMITISM / A TERM USED TO SHUT ANYONE QUESTIONNING [sic] ISRAEL’S BARBARISM AND ZIONIST WORLD CONTROL.” AbuAishah commented on the image: “Anything is anti-semitism these days.”

“Anti-Semitism” is a term used to describe hatred of Jews. It was first coined in 1860 by an Austrian Jewish scholar. However, the term was later popularized in Germany in 1879 when publicist Wilhelm Marr founded the “League of Antisemites,” which advocated for Jews to be expelled from Germany.

The assertion that Jews secretly control the Western governments through banking and finance is traced to the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a fabricated anti-Semitic text that portrays wealthy Jews as conspiring to take over the world. This anti-Semitic conspiracy theory has often employed the imagery from Nazi cartoons that depict Jews as octopuses encircling the globe.

Also as of April 2024, AbuAishah featured on her “Exposing Zionism” Pinterest board an image with a quote by anti-Israel activist Alison Weir. AbuAishah commented on the image: “How sad is it that the U.S. Wants us to be more loyal to Israel than the U.S. Itself?! Wake up my fellow citizens, Israel has total control of our country!”

The concept of “dual loyalty” is an anti-Semitic accusation that alleges Jews are more loyal to Israel than to their own nations.

On March 7, 2016, AbuAishah shared on Facebook a video featuring former University of South Florida (USF) SJP member Mahmoud Ali-Mohamed.

In the video, Ali-Mohamed, pretending [00:00:03] to be a representative of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), claimed [00:02:10] that AIPAC buys support for Israel and said [00:00:38]: “The people calling shots in Florida, they don’t even live here, I’m here on behalf of another country, forcing you to do business with it.”

The implication that AIPAC buys political support for Israel has been described as playing into “anti-Semitic tropes” that led to “centuries of stereotypes about Jews using money to control the world.”

AbuAishah commented on the video: “This is great.”

On March 4, 2016, AbuAishah shared a video on Facebook featuring Brother Nathanael, a Jewish convert to Christianity, known for spreading anti-Semitism and promoting anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. The video was captioned: “Why Israel Gets Away With Murder In Under 5 Minutes.”

In the video, Nathanael claimed [00:00:16] that “international Jewry gives to Israel... unchecked criminality” and that [00:00:24] “international Jewry controls central banks that transfer billions in aid to nuclear-armed Israel.” Nathanael further claimed [00:00:31] that Stanley Fischer and his “Rothschild masters” control the world’s money and [00:00:44] “that’s why every hack panders to the Jewish state.”

Conspiracy theories regarding the Rothschild family date back to the 18th century. Anti-Semites frequently cite the family’s wealth to support the claim that “Jews control the world’s money supply.”

Anti-Israel Activism (SJP)

On October 31, 2016, AbuAishah posted on Facebook, promoting an SJP at UAB event, and wrote: “Join SJP at our event tomorrow outside the Hill Student Center…” AbuAishah also promoted the same event on Facebook on October 20, 2016.

The Facebook page for the event, which was scheduled during the “Knife Intifada,” said: “Join SJP at UAB in commemorating the lives of innocent students wrongfully murdered in Gaza and the occupied West Bank by the oppressive Israeli government.”

On March 2, 2016, AbuAishah was featured in an SJP at UAB video, in which she claimed [00:01:29] that Gaza “has been turned into the world’s largest open-air prison by Israel.”

Referring to Gaza as an "open-air prison" is a way to delegitimize the United Nations-approved [pp. 39–41] joint Israeli-Egyptian blockade of the Gaza Strip imposed in 2011 to prevent Hamas from acquiring more sophisticated rockets.

Pre-University Spreading Incitement

On May 21, 2012, AbuAishah set her Facebook profile picture to an image of the Al Aqsa mosque with excavations taking place below, and text that said: “AL AQSA MOSQUE UNDER ATTACK / STOP ISRAEL.”

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.

On August 4, 2012, AbuAishah set her Facebook cover photo to an image of a masked man wearing a keffiyeh shown while throwing rocks and text in Arabic with instructions on how to use slingshots.

Although romanticized as a form of “popular resistance,” rock throwing remains a deadly form of violence.

Annotations on the image said in Arabic: “Your guts are [like] an explosive charge,” and: “You want to become a martyr.”

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 Students 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.

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.

CAIR

CAIR describes itself as a “grassroots civil rights and advocacy group” and “America's largest Muslim civil liberties organization, with regional offices nationwide.” Its official mission is “enhance understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.”

CAIR reportedly has “significant ties” to the Muslim Brotherhood, as well as Hamas. A number of former CAIR employees have been convicted on fraud and terrorism-related charges that resulted monetary fines, jail terms and, sometimes, deportation.

CAIR was founded in 1994 and opened its first office in Washington, DC, with the help of a $5,000 donation from the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF), a charity founded by Mousa Abu Marzook.

Marzook, who was listed as a "Specially Designated Terrorist" by the U.S. Treasury Department in 1995, is reportedly a senior member of Hamas.

In May 2007, CAIR was listed as an “unindicted co-conspirator” in a U.S.-filed action against the HLF for providing funds to Hamas.

CAIR was also listed as a terrorist entity by the United Arab Emirates, in 2014.