Saida Mahamud

Overview

Saida Mahamud has defended the terror group Hamas and spread hatred of Zionists and Israel on social media. Mahamud also demonized Israel on campus as an activist with Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at the University of Minnesota (UMN) from 2012 - 2016.

Mahamud is a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement and promoted the UMN Divest campaign in 2016 and in 2018. Mahamud’s LinkedIn page also said she was affiliated with the Muslim Student Association (MSA) at UMN. In April 2014, Mahamud indicated on Twitter that she was the “Events Coordinator” for the MSA.

As of July 2020, Mahamud’s LinkedIn page said she worked as a Commissioned Researcher at the World Health Organization (WHO), from “Nov 2019 - Present,” and was a Graduate Fellow at Harborview Medical Center, in Seattle, Washington, from “Jun 2020 - Present.”

Mahamud’s LinkedIn page also said she was a Master of Public Health candidate in Global Health at the University of Washington (UW), frowas “2019 - 2021,”and as of March 2020 she was a Teaching Assistant at UW in the Department of Global Health.

In April 2015, Mahamud was reportedly the Outreach Coordinator of the Al-Madinah Cultural Center (AMCC). AMCC endorsed the UMN Divest campaign in 2018.

In 2012 and 2013, Mahamud was affiliated with the Muslim American Society (MAS) - Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA).

As of December 2019, Mahamu used the alias “saida.tings” on Instagram and “SaidaRunThis,” on Twitter.

Defending Hamas

On March 26, 2013, Mahamud tweeted: “Hamas ain't no terrorist organization, they're freedom fighters!”

Hamas is a designated terrorist organization by the European Union, Canada, Australia, the United States and Israel.

On July 20, 2014, Mahamud tweeted: “Am I the only one who gets confused about Hamas. Correct me if I'm wrong they are resistance fighters and what else?”

Hamas's founding charter calls for the murder of Jews, while the terror group’s “summer camps” have taught children how to wage war.

On November 19, 2012, during Israel’s Operation Pillar of Defense (OPD), Mahamud tweeted: “Israel calls the so called terrorists they're targeting islamic jihadists Ummmmmm how do I define that. Israel so clueless.”

Israel launched OPD to stop Hamas rocket attacks on Israeli civilians from Gaza. Over the course of eight days in November 2012, Palestinian terrorist groups fired more than 1,500 rockets at Israel. The majority struck Israel, damaging homes, schools and other civilian areas. Human Rights Watch noted: “Palestinian armed groups made clear in their statements that harming civilians was their aim.”

Hatred of Zionists

On January 8, 2018, Mahamud tweeted: “Gal Gadot's ugly zionist Israeli trash a** pretending to embrace Oprah's speech has me heated.”

On April 7, 2016, Mahamud tweeted: “We're talking about people's homes being destroyed and this Zionist is smirking. Best believe Ima wipe that smirk off your face.”

On September 24, 2014, Mahamud tweeted: “There's 2 groups I can't stand Zionists and Amharas.”

On July 17, 2013, Mahamud tweeted: “The hate I have for Zionists.”

Spreading Hatred of Israel

On July 10, 2015, Mahamud tweeted: “Israel the country of snakes.”

On Jul 7, 2015, Mahamud tweeted: “They steal land and now they steal their food. Israelis disgust me.”

On July 17, 2014, during Israel’s Operation Protective Edge (OPE), Mahamud tweeted: “Oh god now Israel has launched a ground operation on Gaza. This is genocide..”

Israel commenced OPE in July 2014 to stop rocket fire targeting Israeli civilians and to destroy Hamas attack tunnels.

On July 12, 2014, Mahamud tweeted: “The irony of Israeli independence day.... Independence from whom?”

On July 1, 2014, Mahamud tweeted: “Israel is the epitome of evil. To launch attacks on Gaza during Ramadan. May allah help our Ummah [People]!”

On May 28, 2014, Mahamud tweeted: “Saw a comment that said: ‘There will be no peace until Palestinians accept Israel as a Jewish state’. Who do they think they are?”

On October 30, 2013, Mahamud tweeted: “Never used the F word on twitter/FB sites but if I ever had the chance to I would only say GO F YOURSELF @Israel @netanyahu @IDFSpokesperson.”

On November 23, 2012, Mahamud tweeted: “Just made some intense eye contact with an israeli at the mall you can tell by those weird makeup stores they own and those kiosks.”

On November 22, 2012, Mahamud tweeted: “Who's the b**ch in this situation israel or the u.s.a?”

On November 21, 2012, Mahamud tweeted: “Israel's got a pocketful of bull s**t.”

On November 19, 2012, during Israel’s Operation Pillar of Defense, Mahamud tweeted: “What angers me the most is that israelis speak as if they are entitled to israel and that they are the ones who want a cease fire wtf.”

Demonizing Israel on Campus

On July 4, 2014, Mahamud shared to Facebook a photo from an SJP UMN die-in, during Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) in April 2014.

Israel commenced OPE in July 2014 to stop rocket fire targeting Israeli civilians and to destroy Hamas attack tunnels.

On April 19, 2014, Mahamud tweeted: “Human suffering is universal.
FREE PALESTINE @sjp_umn #IAWUMN.”

On April 11, 2014, Mahaumud tweeted: “Pumped for the Die In Today! @SJP_UMN #IAWUMN #FREEPALESTINE.”

On April 9, 2014, Mahamud tweeted: “FREE PALESTINE!!! @SJP_UMN #IAWUMN.”

On September 24, 2013, Mahamud tweeted: “Kinda wanted to crash the ‘Students Supporting Israel’ group, but I'm better than that. Seriously though what is Israel, you mean Palestine?”

On November 30, 2012, Mahamud tweeted: “U of Minnesota Students for Justice in Palestine Die-In Fall 2012…” The tweet linked to a Youtube video from the die-in, held two days earlier.

The Facebook event description instructed participants where to “pick up signs and/or get the name of the martyr that you will be wearing” and said participants would hold the signs and “fall to the ground to portray the deaths of those in Gaza.”

Support for BDS

On January 8, 2019, Mahamud tweeted: “All these random beauty kiosks you see at the mall are funded by Israel. Just a heads up.”

A Twitter user replied: “Yeh the employees work in terrible conditions too as well and are mostly paid on commission so they’re super aggressive.”

Mahamud responded: “Yeah that makes sense. A lot of them are also Israeli nationals too.”

On November 8, 2017, Mahamud tweeted: “Woooooooooow my mom was spot on when it came to letting us know all the s**t Israel has produced. We'd be watching the Power Rangers and she'd yell at us to stop cuz the creators were Israeli. And that's just one small example.”

On October 26, 2015, Mahamud tweeted: “J.K Rowling is against BDS, not gonna read Harry Potter @Monalensa.”

On July 24, 2014, Mahamud tweeted: “S/O to the various Latin American nations boycotting Israel! Big respect!”

On July 9, 2014, Mahamud tweeted: “Brands You Can Boycott to Hold Israel Accountable for Its Violation of International Law by @bthsts http://mic.cm/1qCZDJk via @MicNews.”

On March 25, 2014, Mahamud tweeted: “Am I the only that can spot an Israeli cosmetic store at the mall. I don't want zionist makeup. Israelis at the mall https://vine.co/v/MmPZpuJLpwE.”

Mahamud continued: “@tessneema ugh at MOA there's so many kiosks, I wanna protest in front of them but I would probably get arrested.”

Mahamud added: “@tessneema ooooooh I make sure they get a death stare when I walk by them, they're not fooling me. I'm not giving them blood money.”

On November 23, 2012, Mahamud tweeted: “never realized how many kiosks Israelis owned at the mall,I just wanna protest right in front of it one day,embarrass the hell out of them.”

On July 19, 2012, Mahamud tweeted: “A Tunisian swimmer refused o swim because of a an Israeli swimmer who is a IDF soldier! Much respect for Taqi Murabit! #FreePalestine.”

Promoting BDS on Campus

Mahamud promoted and supported the UMN Divest campaigns in 2016 and 2018.

On February 15, 2016, SJP UMN launched UMN Divest, a campaign suggesting [00:01:53] Israel was like Apartheid South Africa and demanding [00:01:10] that the Minnesota Student Association (MSA) and UMNdivest from all companies “complicit in the Israeli occupation of Palestine.”.

On February 16th, SJP UMN issued a press releaseclaiming UMN’s divestment from four companies explicitly targeted by the campaign “would neutralize the University of Minnesota in this conflict [sic] …” and that “The call to divest is a response to the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement.”

UMN’s Chief Investment Officer reportedly told The Minnesota Republic, a student-run newspaper at UMN, that the university had “no direct exposure” to the four companies highlighted by the UMN Divest campaign.

On March 1, 2016, Mahamud featured in a UMN Divest promotion video posted on Youtube by SJP UMN, in which she said [00:02:10]: “Our decision now does make an impact on people thousands of miles away.”

On the same day, Mahamud tweeted: “Come to MCB 3-120 to witness history in the making. #UMNDivest.”

On March 1, 2016, Mahamud also shared to Facebook two group photos k of UMN Divest activists and commented: “#UMNDivest ✊🏾.”

On March 8, 2016, the MSA voted [00:26:24] to strike the divestment resolution from the MSA agenda.

In April 2016, the MSA passed a heavily amended resolution that removed all references to Israel and any specific corporations. The amended resolution endorsed divestment generally from “corporations involved in human rights violations,” and from “companies profiting from human rights abuses and violations of international law.”

On April 12, 2016, Mahamud tweeted: “@SJP_UMN my birthday wish is for divestment to pass! #UMNDIVEST.”

The 2018 UMN Divest campaign launched a petition calling to “demand that the University of Minnesota Investment Committee and any other responsible bodies authorized to make investment decisions divest fully from the companies mentioned in the UMN Divest campaign.”

On February 25, 2018, SJP UMN shared to Instagram a post launching the UMN Divest 2018 campaign that said: “UMN Divest is back and this time we’re doing a campus wide referendum. March 5-7 all undergraduate and graduate students can vote ‘yes’ to divest.”

SJP UMN’s “explanation statement” in support of its proposed “campus-wide” referendum claimed that UMN had investments in companies “that violate human rights” and called on UMN to divest from G4S, Boeing and Raytheon and Elbit Systems for being “complicit in Israeli violations of Palestinian human rights, 2) maintaining and establishing private prisons and immigrant detention centers, or 3) violating Indigenous sovereignty.”

In March 2018, the divestment referendum reportedly was passed by the UMN “All Campus Elections Commission” and sent to the UMN Board of Regents for review.

It was reported that 6,567 people out of UMN’s 51,367 students who were eligible to vote on the referendum actually voted upon the divestment referendum, representing less than 13% of eligible voters.

The resolution reportedly passed by 217 votes, with a total of 3,392 voting "yes" and 3,175 voting "no" on divestment. The “yes” votes represented 6.18% of the eligible voters.

On March 11, 2018, Mahamud tweeted: “YESSSSSSSSSSS UMN DIVEST PASSSD!”

SJP Activism

On March 9, 2016, Mahamud tweeted: “@SJP_UMN we gon be alright!”

On March 15, 2014, Mahamud tweeted: “@SJP_UMN ayy thanks for the dabke sesh! It was a good time!”

On October 4, 2013, Mahamud tweeted: “Come to the Dawah table! Table #3 ground floor Coffman! Also check out SJP's (Students for Justice in Palestine) bake sale!!!!!”

SJP UMN - Praising Violence

On October 20, 2017, SJP UMN shared on Instagram a graphic that featured a Palestinian woman carrying an assault rifle. The graphic was based on a poster originally published by the terror group, the Palestinian Front for Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).

The graphic shared by SJP UMN had the caption: “Glory to the Women of the Intifada.”

“Intifada” has carried the connotation of violence since the early 2000’s.

SJP UMN wrote on their Instagram post: “..come learn about Palestinian women’s resilience, contribution to the movement, and what a Palestinian feminist vision for liberation looks like…”

SJP UMN - Supporting a Terrorist 2018

On July 8, 2018, SJP UMN shared to Facebook a post that read: “This week marks the anniversary of the assassination of Ghassan Kanafani. A writer, intellectual, and spokesperson for the Palestinian resistance, he is remembered as one of the most significant literary and political figures of the 1960s-70s Palestinian revolution.”

Kanafani was a leading member and spokesperson for the terrorist organization, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) during their formative years. Kanafani was also involved in the Lod Airport Massacre near Tel Aviv, for which PFLP took responsibility.

SJP UMN - Hosting National SJP 2019

On September 16, 2019, SJP UMN shared a flier on Instagram announcing that the chapter would be hosting the 2019 National SJP Conference on November 1-3, 2019.

SJP UMN wrote on their Instagram post: “We are excited to officially announce that the 9th annual national SJP conference, Beyond Struggle: From Roots to Branches Towards Liberation, will be hosted by Students for Justice in Palestine at the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities (SJP UMN) on Fri.-Sun., November 1-3, 2019 in the Twin Cities, MN…”

SJP UMN - Hosting Anti-Israel Propagandists 2019

On March 30, 2019, SJP UMN and American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) Minnesota co-hosted an event titled: “Palestine Day Conference.”

The Facebook event page description said the events speakers included Miko Peled and Taher Hezallah.

Miko Peled is an anti-Israel activist. In January 2017 Peled said [00:00:06] that the Israeli army was one of the “best trained, best equipped, best fed, terrorist organizations in the world,” and claimed [00:00:16] that “their entire purpose is terrorism.”

Taher Herzallah is the Associate Director of Outreach & Grassroots Organizing of AMP, working to expand AMP activism.

On November 27-29, 2014, during the seventh annual AMP conference, Herzallah idolized [00:47:27] violent revolutionaries as models for change — and rhetorically asked [00:49:06]: “What if, as Muslims we wanted to establish an Islamic state? Is that wrong? What if, as Muslims, we wanted to use violent means to resist occupation? Is that wrong?”

On March 24, 2019, AMP shared on Facebook the program for the conference which included a session run by SJP UMN of a “detailed presentation on how to run a divestment campaign on campus and the important on Palestine in media.”

SJP UMN Honoring Terrorists: 2015 - 2016

On January 27, 2016, SJP UMN posted on Facebook support for Muhammad Al-Qiq. Al-Qiq was detained by Israel for his involvement in Hamas terror activity.

On October 14, 2015, SJP UMN held a “die-in” in support of Palestinians who were conducting a wave of stabbing attacks on Israelis, known as the “Knife Intifada.”

During the die-in, SJP UMN activists lay on the ground, while SJP UMN activist Motaz Nashawaty, spoke accusing [00:00:05] Israel of an escalation in “state violence” and [00:00:32] of “extrajudicial murders.”

Nashawaty continued: [00:00:41] “We will pay respects to the Palestinian martyrs executed by Israeli forces” and recited [00:01:57] the names of Palestinian terrorists, such as Fadi Aloon and [00:02:03] Muhannad Halabi, who he described [00:02:07] as “young Palestinians whose lives were unjustly taken away from them by Israeli security forces.”

Aloon stabbed a 15-year-old Israeli boy after posting “Either martyrdom or victory” on his Facebook page, and Halabi murdered two Israelis and injured two others, including a 2-year-old, during a stabbing spree. Halabi posted on his Facebook page “[t]he third Intifada is here…Let the revolution erupt.”

Nashawaty continued [00:02:43] “our people are dying in streets now in Palestine, but they are not helpless - they are resisting.”

On October 14, 2015, SJP UMN posted to Facebook photos from a rally in support of Rasmea Odeh and wrote: “Thank you to our friends for keeping us updated with some pictures from Rasmea's appeal today.” Participants in the rally held signs that read:“I support RASMEA” and “Minnesota stands with Rasmea Odeh.”

Odeh was a key military operative with the terrorist group the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). In 1969, Odeh masterminded a PFLP bombing that killed two college students in a Jerusalem supermarket.

One of the photos of Odeh that SJP UMN shared on Facebook was captioned: “This is what you call a #Warrior.”

On October 12, 2015, SJP UMN shared on their Facebook page a video that claimed Ahmed Manasra (sometimes spelled Mansara), purportedly “bled to death” and suffered abuse by Israeli soldiers.

Mansara was wounded while he engaged in a stabbing spree in Jerusalem, critically wounding a 13-year-old Israeli boy and moderately wounding a 25-year-old man.

Manasra was successfully treated at the same Israeli hospital as his victims and later convicted of attempted murder.

SJP UMN wrote in their Facebook post: “We cannot ignore these constant, heinous crimes, acts of racism, hatred, and inhumanity Palestinians are subjected to by Israeli settlers.”

SJP UMN Honoring Terrorists: 2012 - 2014

On November 10, 2014, SJP UMP posted on Facebook regarding Rasmea Odeh: “Our hearts go out to her” and said: “They find Palestinian activists as a threat and immediately label them as ‘terrorists.’”

Odeh was a key military operative with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terrorist organization. In 1969, she masterminded a PFLP supermarket bombing that killed two college students. She also attempted to bomb the British consulate in Jerusalem. Odeh later moved to the United States but was deported to Jordan in 2017 for immigration fraud.

On February 20, 2012, SJP UMN tweeted in support of Khader Adnan, a senior member of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) who was on a hunger strike.

A 2007 YouTube video showed Adnan praising and encouraging suicide bombings: "Who among you will carry the next explosive belt? Who among you will fire the next bullets? Who among you will have his body parts blown all over?”

SJP UMN Promoting Anti-Semitic Conspiracy Theories: 2011-2012

On September 24, 2011, SJP UMN promoted a post on Facebook alleging that Israel controls America and influences American mainstream media, so that one “will always find the news tailored” in Israel’s favor.

SJP UMN urged their followers to “READ IT & SHARE IT.”

On March 9, 2012, SJP UMN was scheduled to host an event for Israel Apartheid Week (IAW), titled “United States of Israel.” IAW is a series of events on university campuses promoting BDS.

One event included a screening of a documentary, titled: “AIPAC: The Israeli Lobby,” which claims AIPAC, Congress, the White House and Israel “seem to have ended up in a suffocating embrace.”

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC)’s mission is to strengthen the U.S.-Israel relationship and to enhance both nations’ security. Denouncing the influence of “the Israeli lobby” echoes an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory about Jewish control over foreign governments, popularized in the book “The Israel Lobby” by John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt.

SJP UMN Spreading Incitement: 2015

On November 1, 2015, SJP UMN tweeted: “Israel is a colonial bully, trying to take Al Aqsa under the guise of ‘sharing.’”

The allegation that Jews will destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, has been applied to Jews as a pretext for attacks by Arabs, even before the existence of Israel.

Such propaganda was the excuse for an upsurge in Palestinian violence in the fall of 2015, with Palestinian leaders fueling violence by promoting the libel that Israel intends to desecrate the Al Aqsa Mosque.

Hamas called on Palestinians to “take up arms” to defend Al Aqsa and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas praised those willing to martyr themselves. He also declared Jews would not be allowed to “desecrate” Al Aqsa with their “filthy feet.”

In October 2015, SJP UMN posted a photo on Instagram of their section on the Washington Avenue Bridge. One of their panels featured a map that erased Israel, portraying the whole country with no internal borders and entirely covered by a keffiyeh.

SJP UMN Campaigning Against a Jewish Heritage Trip: 2015

In February 2015, SJP UMN launched a campaign against the Jewish heritage trip to Israel, Birthright. Campaign flyers said: “FREE TRIP TO ISRAEL BUT WHO PAYS THE PRICE?”

The campaign condemned Birthright for presenting “a depoliticized image of Israel” and programming a trip that is “overall tailored to be pleasant experience devoid of conflict.” The campaign claimed that the program “would not discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict” and that “topics such as illegal settlements in the West Bank and restrictions on Gaza will not be covered.”.

SJP UMN encouraged Birthright participants to extend their trip and join tours with political groups such as Breaking the Silence (BTS) and The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD), whose director Jeff Halper has called for the end of Israel.

Breaking the Silence was discredited by Israeli investigative TV show, HaMakor, in July 2016, in a report revealing that a substantial number of BTS testimonies are untrue or distorted.

SJP UMN Disrupting an Israeli Speaker: 2015

On November 3, 2015, SJP UMN endorsed the disruption of an event where three activists were reportedly arrested and charged with disorderly conduct and trespassing.

The event was a talk on ethics and the law of war by Israeli law professor, Moshe Halbertal. The disruption was organized by the Anti-War Committee (AWC), whose campaigns mainly to end US aid to Israel.

Protesters reportedly sat in the audience and then stood and shouted chants, preventing Halbertal from speaking and accusing him of being a “war crimes apologist.” FightBack News said: “The lecture was scheduled for one hour, but most of that time was taken up by interruptions.”

The article also said that after protesters were removed from the hall by university police, they continued disrupting the event by shouting [00:00:01] chants including “free, free Palestine” and [00:01:55] “Israel is an apartheid state” in the hallway, which were audible from inside the lecture hall. Anti-Israel propagandist Sabry Wazwaz, who has called for the destruction of Israel and the U.S., spread anti-Semitism, compared Zionists to Nazis and expressed support for a terrorist, led the chants.

SJP UMN Demonizing Israel: 2015-2016

In April 2016, SJP UMN built a “mock apartheid wall” for its “Divest Week 2016,” which the group called a “divestment special edition of our annual Israeli Apartheid Week,” promoting the 2016 UMN Divest BDS campaign.

IAW is a series of events on university campuses that promote Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel and claim to “raise awareness of Israel’s settler-colonial project and apartheid system.”

On April 22 2015, SJP UMN wrote on Facebook that “Israel’s ‘birthday’ is established on the occupation and exile of an entire people,” in a post which also denied SJP involvement in the vandalism of a pro-Israel group’s display celebrating Israeli independence.

The next day, Rula Rashid, SJP UMN treasurer, reportedly approached a table set up by a pro-Israel campus group to educate students about Israel’s independence and said “you stole our land.”

On April 9, 2015, SJP UMN tweeted: “‘If it's centered around Judaism, why are only white Jews allowed to live in Israel? It's not a case about religion and Judaism.’ @MnarMuh.”

On March 4, 2015, SJP UMN hosted an event with Dan Cohen, a journalist with the anti-Israel Mondoweiss, speaking about his experiences reporting from Gaza during Israel’s Operation Protective Edge (OPE). OPE was launched by Israel to stop Hamas rocket attacks and destroy Hamas attack tunnels.

During his talk, Cohen reportedly said the war was “not an attack on Hamas....it was an attack on Palestinian society.” He also claimed that “Israeli soldiers were allowed to take revenge” and that they intentionally shot civilians.

SJP UMN Opposing Normalization: 2015

On April 23, 2015, SJP UMN posted on Facebook a “definition of normalization.” The definition said that normalization was “gathering (either directly or indirectly) Palestinians (and/or Arabs) and Israelis, whether individuals or institutions; that does not explicitly aim to expose and resist the occupation and all forms of discrimination and oppression against the Palestinian people.”

The policy of “anti-normalization” aims to ensure that all interactions between Israelis and Palestinians align only their agenda, including ending the occupation and a full right of return for Palestinians, which is a Palestinian demand discredited as a means to eliminate Israel. The policies are shared with the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

SJP UMN Hosting Anti-Israel Propagandists: 2015

On October 15, 2015, during the “Knife Intifada,” SJP UMN hosted anti-Israel propagandist Sabry Wazwaz at a vigil for “the Palestinian lives lost in the recent attacks.” The “Knife Intifada,” was an upsurge in violence across Israel incited by Palestinian political and religious leaders.

Wazwaz has spread religious incitement, promoted anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and called for intifada.

On April 20, 2015, SJP UMN co-sponsored an event featuring disgraced anti-Israel professor Steven Salaita on “how critique of American and Israeli colonization might be productively undertaken.” In 2014, Salaita had an offer employment retracted by the University of Illinois, after a series of anti-Semitic tweets he had posted were uncovered.

SJP UMN Promoting BDS: 2011-2012

On October 14, 2012, SJP UMN promoted a petition on Facebook calling on Minnesota’s NBA team, the Timberwolves, to boycott Israel and cancel a scheduled game against the Israeli team, Maccabi Haifa.

The petition was part of a campaign organized by Minnesota Break the Bonds (MN BBC), which sent a letter to each Timberwolves player. The letter said: “Don’t normalize apartheid!” and urged them to boycott the game. It also said they were being used by Israel’s “propaganda machine.”

MN BBC was reportedly formed in 2006 to pressure the State of Minnesota to break economic ties with Israel.

On November 29, 2011, SJP UMN posted on Facebook promoting an MN BBC Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign.

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.