Ahlam Muhtaseb
Overview
Ahlam Muhtaseb has spread anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, promoted incitement and expressed support for terrorists. She has also spread hatred of Israel and shown support for violent protests.Muhtaseb is a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.
Muhtaseb is the co-producer and co-director of “1948: Creation and Catastrophe,” an anti-Israel documentary released in 2017 about the “Nakba.”
The term “Nakba” is generally translated as “catastrophe” in Arabic, referring to the outcome of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. It is a term often used to delegitimize the creation of the State of Israel by defining it as a catastrophe.
On May 8, 2024, Muhtaseb said she was a member of Faculty for Justice in Palestine (FJP), founded to support the members of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP). In November 2018, Muhtaseb was a speaker at the 2018 National NSJP conference.The 2018 National SJP conference was held on November 16-18, 2018 at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). The conference was themed “Radical Hope: Resistance in the Face of Adversity.” The conference website stated: “[t]he reason we can have hope is that Zionism...can be destroyed.”
As of September 2023, Muhtaseb was a member [p. 22] of the advisory council of the Los Angeles chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) since 2014.
In November 2017, Muhtaseb was a guest speaker at the American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) Annual Convention.
As of May 2024, Muhtaseb was listed as a professor of media studies at California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB).
Muhtaseb received a Ph.D. in computer-mediated communication from the University of Memphis (UofM) in 2003. She also graduated from UofM with a master’s degree in public relations/government relations in 2000.
As of May 2024, Muhtaseb’s LinkedIn profile said she was located in Murrieta, California.
Spreading Anti-Semitic Conspiracy Theories
On January 1, 2016, Muhtaseb posted on Facebook: “Israel today ‘delivered’ the bodies of 17 Palestinians…after they illegally harvested their internal organs, without their or their families’ consent for Israeli use, which mounts to war crimes…”The tweet linked to a video from an Arabic news source, captioned in Arabic and English, that said: “...Receiving the bodies of 17 martyrs from Hebron City today.”On January 7, 2021, Muhtaseb was featured in a TEDx talk titled: “Decolonizing Knowledge on Palestine.” Speaking about her documentary, Muhtaseb said [00:07:56]: “We faced so many roadblocks from funding to access to information to attacks by the Israeli lobby and its many arms…”
The “Israel Lobby” is a conspiracy theory alleging Israeli and Jewish control over the U.S. government. Proponents of the theory decry the negative effects on American interests, particularly in foreign policy.
On May 19, 2022, Muhtaseb tweeted: “How A Pro-Israel Lobby Group Spent Millions To Sway Democratic Primaries…#IsraeliLobby #AIPAC PLEASE SPREAD.”
The stated mission of AIPAC is to “strengthen, protect and promote the U.S.-Israel relationship in ways that enhance the security of the United States and Israel.”
Incitement
On June 28, 2021, Muhtaseb tweeted: “Palestinian families in Silwan are forced by the Israeli colonial forces to either leave their homes and demolish them or pay for the Israeli government to demolish their houses and force to pay for the cost of demolition! #IsraeliWarCrimes.”On May 2, 2021, Muhtaseb tweeted: “How is the world OK with ethnically expelling (cleansing) Palestinians who are not Jewish for the use of Jewish colonial settlers in #SheikhJarrah?...#SaveSheikhJarrah.”
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.
On June 3, 2018, Muhtaseb shared on Facebook a video of clashes in the Al-Aqsa Mosque, titled: “هجوم الجيش الصهيوني على المسجد الأقصى المبارك” [Attack of the Zionist army on Al-Aqsa Mosque].”
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.
Support for Terrorists (PFLP, PIJ, Hamas)
On September 25, 2020, Muhtaseb tweeted: “As critics call for deplatforming, defunding, and prosecution over Leila Khaled discussion, San Francisco State University president gets it right #boycottzoom #boycottfacebook…”Leila Khaled is a leading member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and participated in the hijacking of TWA Flight 840 in 1969 and El Al Flight 219 in 1970. As of 2017, Khaled was a member of PFLP's Political Bureau. Khaled has said that the second intifada failed because it was not violent enough, advocated [00:36:07] for the use of children in terror activities and compared Zionists to Nazis.
In September 2020, anti-Israel professor Rabab Abdulhadi co-organized an online “conversation” with Leila Khaled. Zoom canceled the planned live stream of the event, and Facebook followed Zoom’s lead. YouTube shut down the event after 23 minutes, stating that Khaled’s speech violated its policies with “content praising or justifying violent acts carried out by violent criminal or terrorist organizations.”
Khader Adnan was a senior member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorist organization. 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?” In May 2023, Adnan died in prison after refusing medical treatment during a hunger strike.
On July 31, 2017, Muhtaseb shared on Facebook a post from another user that said: “...show support for Rasmea [Odeh] - join the social media campaign…”
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 July 2, 2017, Muhtaseb shared on Facebook a February 7, 2017 article titled: “Palestinian Legislative Council member Khalida Jarrar arrested by Israeli occupation forces.”
On April 16, 2017, Muhtaseb shared on Facebook an article about Lina Jarbouni titled: “Longest-serving female Palestinian prisoner released after 15 years of imprisonment.”
In April 2017, Jarbouni was released from prison after serving 15 years of a 17 year prison sentence for aiding terrorists from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) during the second intifada and for conspiring to commit terrorist attacks.
On August 9, 2016, Muhtaseb shared on Facebook a December 17, 2014 Newsweek article titled:“EU Court Removes Hamas From Terrorist List,” and commented: “Should have happened long ago. Now, it is time they list Israel!”
On October 29, 2015, Muhtaseb shared to Facebook a photo of Mahdi Mohammad Ramadan al-Mohtasib and said: “Al-Khaleel was killed today...the knife the army claimed he had...was probably planted by the soldiers themselves.”
On October 29, 2015, during the Knife Intifada, al-Mohtasib stabbed an Israeli soldier in the face, before he was shot dead.
Hatred of Israel
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.
On July 12, 2023, Muhtaseb tweeted: “Typical Israeli theft...The whole country is based on theft and appropriation!”
On June 27, 2023, Muhtaseb tweeted: “...Israeli Nazi programs against Palestinians have been a constant part of the colonial project and history in Palestine.”
On March 19, 2023, Muhtaseb tweeted: “Fascist Israelis #IsraeliTerrorism.”
On February 23, 2023, Muhtaseb tweeted: “While Israel is massacring Palestinians, @serraclub is traveling to apartheid Israel for a ‘nature tour…” The tweet included a link to a post from the NY chapter of Adalah Justice Project (Adalah-NY) that said: “We condemn Sierra Club’s upcoming trips to Apartheid Israel…”.
On December 21, 2020, Muhtaseb tweeted: “…It’s time to #EndtheDeadlyExchange…”
In 2017, JVP launched the “Deadly Exchange” (DX) campaign, accusing American Jewish organizations of promoting human rights abuses by coordinating exchange programs between American and Israeli security personnel to advance “worst practices" and racist policies. The campaign blamed [00:04:04] Jewish organizations for violence against Black and Brown communities, immigrants and activists in the U.S.
On May 16, 2020, Muhtaseb tweeted: “...#Nakba72 #NakbaDay. 72 years of Nakba/Catastrophe and the colonization of Palestine…”
Supporting Violent Protests
During the 2018 March of Return, Hamas routinely directed its members to infiltrate the border between Gaza and Israel to train for an attack on Israeli communities in the area, leading to the October 7, 2023 massacre. For more information, see the Canary Mission page on Hamas.
On May 23, 2018, Muhtaseb tweeted: “Great March of Return organizers: Israeli claims that Hamas is behind protests are lies…”
On May 16, 2018, a Hamas senior official, Salah al-Bardawil, stated that 50 out of 62 protesters killed during the May 14 Gaza border protest were Hamas operatives. Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) also claimed that three of its members were killed at the same protest.
On June 26, 2018, Muhtaseb shared on Facebook another user’s post titled: “A Call to Action from Gaza!” The post called upon people “to make posters of the fallen heroes of the recent Great March of Return and plaster these all over your cities and towns, especially opposite Israeli and American embassies…
Attending the National SJP 2018 Conference
On November 7, 2018, Muhtaseb posted on Facebook that she would be speaking at the conference and later posed for a photo from the event.
2018 National SJP - Undermining U.S. Support for Israel
On November 18, 2018, the US Palestine Community Network (USPCN) posted on Facebook the 2018 National SJP keynote speech by Hatem Abudayyeh, USPCN’s co-founder.Abudayyeh has supported [00:08:45] convicted terrorists, praised terror organizations, called for Israel’s destruction and is an activist in theBoycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.
In his 2018 National SJP Keynote, Abudayyeh said [00:53:01] that the “specific role” of Palestinian and Arab students was to organize [00:53:42] in order to weaken “Zionist Israel” and force [00:54:23] the U.S. to “no longer provide it with diplomatic, political, financial and military cover and support.”
Abudayyeh predicted [00:55:37] that once U.S. support to Israel ends, National SJP attendees would return to Palestine as “conquering heroes,” end [00:54:38] the “occupation and colonization of all Arab lands including the Golan Heights” and replace “Zionist Israel” with a Palestinian state.
2018 National SJP - Demonizing Israel and Jews
During his keynote speech, Abudayyeh defended [00:27:25] the “Irvine 11” — eleven Muslim Student Union (MSA) members who were arrested in 2010 for repeatedly shouting down former Israeli ambassador Michael Oren during an address at the University of California at Irvine (UC Irvine).Abudayyeh referred [00:27:37] to Oren as a “racist fascist speaker, representative of a racist, fascist country.”
Abudayyeh went on to claim [00:29:48] that “today, even in the United States, Israel is finally being seen as the criminal, apartheid, racist state that it is.”
Abudayyeh also called for increased action in the face of President U.S. Donald Trump, and referred [00:48:41] to Jared Kushner, Trump’s Jewish son-in-law and senior advisor, as “that pig son-in-law of his.”
2018 National SJP - Celebrating Violence
Since the early 2000’s, the term “intifada” has carried the connotation of violence. The second intifada was characterized by more than 120 suicide bombings targeting Israeli civilians on buses and in cafes.
Anti-Israel activist Omar Zahzah also reportedly [00:00:07] led National SJP attendees in chanting, in Arabic, “With our bodies and our blood, we will free Palestine.”
As of November 2018, the 2018 National SJP website glorified “radical hope and upfront defiance of Zionism,” citing as examples the “early revolts through the Intifadas to the Great Return March.”
The Great Return March of 2018 was organized and funded by the terror group Hamas as a campaign of violent protests along Israel’s border to spotlight the demand of Palestinians to “return” to Israel.
Tens of thousands of rioters gathered on Israel’s Gaza border, attempting numerous breaches of Israel’s border fence, with leaders andparticipants declaring their intention to harm Jews.
National SJP originally promoted a conference logo featuring a keffiyeh-wearing bear, looking toward a kite bearing the colors of the Palestinian flag.
On October 27, 2018, National SJP said the kite signified “the power in the Gaza March of Return.”
Since March 2018, March of Return participants and Hamas’s “Kite Unit” have sent hundreds of kites bearing incendiary devices and IEDs (improvised explosive devices) across the border into Israel to terrorize Israelis. The kites are often marked with swastikas.
By the time National SJP produced its 2018 conference logo highlighting the kites in October 2018, Gazan terror kites and balloons had ignited more than 1,300 fires in Israel, over seven months.
2018 National SJP - Defending Terrorist Rasmea Odeh
During his keynote speech, Abudayyeh claimed [00:08:28] that pro-Israel organizations “go after students like you,” adding [00:08:20] “just like they went after my friend and colleague, Rasmea Odeh.”2018 National SJP - Excluding Students
The 2018 National SJP Conference welcomed only students who were verified and vouched for by an SJP (or otherwise named campus Palestine solidarity group). Media requests needed to be “approved by the NSJP press team” prior to the conference.A November 7, 2018 Columbus Jewish News article reported that the Los Angeles City Council unanimously passed a resolution calling on UCLA to cancel the 2018 NSJP conference, stating that a “public university should not allow any group to implement a litmus test for event participation on their campus.”
On November 12, 2018, UCLA Chancellor Gene Block published an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times that criticized National SJP’s exclusion of members of pro-Israel student groups.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Social Media and Weblinks
University Website:https://www.csusb.edu/profile/amuhtaseFacebook:https://www.facebook.com/ahlam.muhtaseb
Twitter:https://twitter.com/ahlammuhtaseb
Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/ahlammuhtaseb/
LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-ahlam-muhtaseb-ab3b6315/
Academia.edu:https://csusb.academia.edu/AhlamMuhtaseb
YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/@amuhtaseb100
- Status:
- Professor
- University:
- California-State-San-Bernadino,
- more...
- Organizations:
- AMP,
- Al-Awda,
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- Related Profiles:
- Dany Doueiri,
- Jamal Nassar,
- Ece Algan,
- Razan Tabel,
- Last Modified:
- 05/04/2026
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