Omar Suleiman
Overview
Omar Suleiman has spread anti-Semitism, promoted incitement, tokenized anti-Israel Jews and demonized Israel. He is a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.As of June 2023, Suleiman’s Twitter bio said he was the founder and president of the Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research in Irving, Texas.
Also as of June 2023, Suleiman’s LinkedIn profile said he had been an adjunct professor at Southern Methodist University (SMU) since 2016. In January 2023, he reportedly taught Islamic Studies at SMU.
Suleiman was a speaker at the 2018 annual conference of American Muslims for Palestine (AMP). He also headlined an AMP rally in 2017 in Washington, D.C.
As of June 2023, Suleiman had 2.7 million followers on Facebook, 1.8 million on Instagram and over 700,000 on Twitter.
Spreading Anti-Semitism
On March 13, 2013, Suleiman appeared in a YouTube video speaking about the “Bani Israel,” an Islamic term for the Jewish people. He quoted [00:05:30] an Islamic text as saying: “‘If it was not for Bani Israel, meat would not decay’ … ‘food would never become stale.’”Suleiman summed up the idea, saying [00:06:01]: “The blessing of food that we see today decays and becomes stale and becomes rotten … had it not been for Bani Israel, that even wouldn’t happen. So, we’re still seeing the effects of that today.”
Later in the video, Suleiman said [00:14:51] that the Koran relays many stories of the Bani Israel in order to tell Muslims “not to be like them in their bad things, to learn from their good and to avoid their evil.”
On August 4, 2014, Suleiman tweeted during Israel’s Operation Protective Edge (OPE) against Hamas: “Still don’t think this is a holocaust? Israeli official calls for concentration camps in Gaza. #ICC4Israel…”
Promoting Incitement
On July 24, 2014, Suleiman tweeted during OPE: “The 3rd Intifada starts on the 27th night of Ramadan. Oh Allah make it blessed. #FreePalestine #48kmarch.”The term “intifada,” which translates from Arabic as “uprising” or “insurrection,” carries the connotation of violence. Palestinian intifadas waged against Israel have been marked since 1987 by hundreds of hijackings, shootings, stabbings, bombings and suicide missions.
In the same tweet, Suleiman shared a screenshot of a Facebook post he wrote that said: “God willing on this blessed night as the 3rd Intifada begins, the beginning of the end of Zionism is here. May Allah help us overcome this monster, protect the innocent of the world, and accept the murdered as martyrs. ameen #48kMarch #3rdIntifada #FreePalestine.”
On August 2, 2014, Suleiman wrote on Facebook: “How symbolic: 2 books buried in the rubble of a destroyed home in Gaza: One about Moses and the other about Muhammad (peace be upon them both). The Zionists are the enemies of God, His Messengers, sincere followers of all religions, and humanity as a whole.”
On October 30, 2014, Suleiman posted on Facebook: “For the first time since 1967, Masjid Al Aqsa is closed. A third intifada is near insha'Allah [Allah-willing].
#FreePalestine #AlAqsaUnderAttack.”
In the fall of 2014, Palestinian leaders and media incited a wave of violence against Israelis with the lie that Israel intended to desecrate the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. This resulted in the November 18, 2014 Har Nof massacre, in which terrorists murdered six people in a Jerusalem synagogue during morning prayers.
On October 30, 2014, Suleiman tweeted: “For the first time since 1967, Masjid Al Aqsa is closed. A third intifada is near insha'Allah. #FreePalestine.”
On November 2, 2014, Suleiman wrote: “A beautiful picture of a rainbow over the Dome of the Rock today via @iFalasteen #FreePalestine#HandsOffAlAqsa.”
Tokenizing Anti-Israel Jews
On January 4, 2015, Suleiman tweeted about the anti-Israel Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) organization, writing: “#faithwashing Zionism is rejected even by sincere Jews @jvplive.”On July 12, 2014, Suleiman posted a photo to Facebook from an anti-Israel demonstration during OPE that showed members of Neturei Karta. He wrote: “Demonstrations around the world for Gaza this weekend. The world stands against Israeli terror#freepalestine.”
Neturei Karta is an anti-Israel Jewish fringe group whose leader, Yisroel Dovid Weiss, was excommunicated from many Ultra-Orthodox Jewish groups for participating in a 2006 Holocaust denial conference in Iran. The group opposes Zionism on religious grounds and has called to dismantle Israel.
On July 10, 2014, Suleiman tweeted a video of Neturei Karta members protesting a pro-Israel parade, which took place a month earlier. Suleiman wrote in his tweet: “These protestors against zionism are clearly anti-semitic right?...#FreePalestine.”
Demonizing Israel
On January 17, 2023, Suleiman was featured as a guest speaker on the Lex Fridman podcast on YouTube.In the interview, Suleiman said [02:33:25] in reference to Israel’s founding in 1948: “There were people there, our ancestors. Seven hundred and fifty thousand Palestinians expelled in the Nakba.” He later accused [02:34:36] Israel of “apartheid.”
The term “Nakba” is generally translated as “catastrophe” in Arabic, referring to the outcome of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. It is a term used to delegitimize the creation of the State of Israel by drawing a comparison to the Holocaust, known in Hebrew as the Shoah, meaning “catastrophe.”
Suleiman also mourned the “over 50 killed” that day. A senior Hamas official stated two days later that 50 out of 62 protesters killed during the protest were Hamas operatives. Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) claimed three of its members were killed then.
On July 28, 2016, Suleiman implied in a Facebook post that Israel practices: “racism, xenophobia, apartheid, oppression, and terrorism.”
On January 4, 2015, Suleiman tweeted: “#faithwashing No need to sit and talk while you commit ethnic cleansing/genocide against my people #FreePalestine #BDS #resistance”
On December 6, 2014, Suleiman tweeted: “#Peshawarattack Senseless, cold, cruel murder. Reminds me of the IDF's targeting schools in Gaza a few months…”
Suleiman’s tweet referred to a terror attack by the Taliban on a Pakistani school where reportedly 149 people were killed, included 132 children.
On October 25, 2014, Suleiman posted a Facebook photo of Arwa Hammad, who was shot by Israeli troops while he was about to throw a molotov cocktail onto a busy highway.
On August 26, 2014, Suleiman tweeted: “The people of #Gaza made us proud. You refused to let terror break you and we refuse to let Zionist media silence you. #FreePalestine.”
On August 24, 2014, Suleiman claimed on Facebook that Israel is a “terrorist regime.”
On July 26, 2014, Suleiman posted a graphic to Facebook suggesting that Israel is like apartheid South Africa. He commented: “A racist, oppressive, psychotic, Apartheid regime shouldn't be tolerated. #ICC4Israel.”
On July 24, 2014, during OPE, Suleiman tweeted: “A genocide not a war. #FreePalestine #SupportGaza #GazaUnderAttack.”
Anti-Israel Activism
On December 8, 2017, Suleiman was the featured speaker at an AMP rally condemning United States President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and move the American embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.Suleiman alleged [00:44:30] that America has “blind support and loyalty” to Israel which has “weighed our nation down” and caused America to be “an unprincipled and contradictory nation.”
On August 13, 2014, Suleiman tweeted support for a BDS campaign run by JVP.
On July 13, 2014, Suleiman tweeted: “For the next few days I will be calling imams and organizations around the country to boycott Israeli products #BDS.”
Featured Speaker at 2025 People’s Conference for Palestine
Omar Suleiman was listed as a speaker at the 2025 People’s Conference for Palestine in Detroit, Michigan.Speakers for the 2025 conference, the theme of which is “Gaza is the Compass,” include two terrorists released from Israeli prisons, as well as anti-Israel political figures Linda Sarsour, Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib and pro-Hamas activist Mahmoud Khalil.
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.
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.
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