Tala Salameh

Overview

Tala Salameh called for Israel’s destruction and spread incitement as an officer of an anti-Israel activist group at the University of Central Florida (UCF) in 2021 and 2022.

Salameh served as treasurer of the Palestinian Student Association (PSA) at UCF (UCF-PSA) from October 2021 until January 2022. She then served as secretary and executive board member of UCF-PSA for the spring 2022 semester.

Salameh graduated [p. 40] from UCF with a bachelor’s degree in biomedical sciences in 2023. UCF is located in Orlando, Florida.

Salameh also graduated [p. 42] from Valencia College (VC) with an associate’s degree in biomedical sciences in 2021. VC is located in Orlando, Florida.

As of July 2024, Salameh’s LinkedIn profile said her goal was to “become a successful Physician Assistant.”

As of the same date, Salameh’s LinkedIn said she is located in Orlando, Florida.

Calling for Israel’s Destruction & Spreading Incitement

On February 8, 2022, Salameh was featured [slide 13] in a UCF-PSA Instagram video where she joined other activists in chanting: “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, Salameh led chants calling for Israel’s destruction and promoting incitement at a UCF-PSA rally. At the rally, Salameh led [slide 1; 00:00:01] protesters in chanting: “...to the Sea, Palestine will be free!”

Salameh also led [slide 2; 00:00:01] the protesters in chanting: “End Israeli apartheid! Free, free Palestine! Free, free Palestine! Free, free 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.

The UCF-PSA rally was titled: “ALL EYES ON 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.

At the same March 2, 2022 rally, Salameh also chanted [00:00:15]: “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 Salameh’s tenure as UCF-PSA secretary, the group co-organized a rally in Orlando titled: “HANDS OFF PALESTINE.” The flyer said: “

THIS SATURDAY

ORLANDO FOLKS - SHOW OUT.

#FreePalestine #fromtherivertothesea #palestinerally #palestineprotest #orlando #freepalestineuntilitsbackward.”

The rally took place during a period of violence on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, where the Al-Aqsa Mosque is located. At the end of March and beginning of April 2022, Palestinian terrorists killed 14 Israelis in a number of attacks.

On February 23, 2022, UCF-PSA held a “GBM [General Body Meeting]+ Teach In.” The meeting 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, UCF-PSA held their “First general body meeting” as “A virtual Teach In.” Anti-Israel activist Hamzah Raza gave a talk at the event, titled: “Legacies of Apartheid: From South Africa to Palestine.”