University of South Florida: ‘Jihad U’
The Canary Mission reports:
In part 2 of our report on the University of South Florida (USF), we provide more damning examples of incendiary activities of radical students and graduates.
In addition, we give a run-down of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) USF’s nefarious 2013 BDS Resolution. We end with links to the remaining USF students making campus unsafe for pro-Israel and Jewish students.
The USF Media Group Spreading Hate
Peace House Productions is an ironically-named brainchild of 2014 USF graduate and SJP member Ahmad Saadaldin. Their videos demonize Israel and make anti-Semitic references to a “Jewish Lobby.” They claim Jews are obsessed with money and use bribery to pass bills through congress.
On February 2, 2016 — after Florida became the fifth American state to pass a resolution condemning the anti-Semitic and anti-Israel BDS movement — Peace House produced avideo featuring SJP USF member Mahmoud Ali-Mohamed portraying the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).
The video — a spoof on MTV Cribs — portrays the AIPAC actor walking around the Florida Legislature as if it were his own house. He is depicted presenting a bill and then bribing Senator Joe Negron to get it passed. The AIPAC actor holds a check for Negron with the amount “whatever you need” after which he states that “when you got money you can do whatever you want.”
The video ends with the AIPAC actor stating “I know there are a lot of problems in this state…but all your Floridians should be worried about is me, and what I want, and that’s your money.” He then “opportunistically” dresses up as a beggar in order to dishonestly solicit funds.
Another video features University of Tampa student Taylor Valentine and Ali-Mohamed, again playing AIPAC — dressed in a suit patterned with dollar signs. The AIPAC actor holds up his middle finger to the first amendment and states, “We have money, just tell us how much you need.” AIPAC is then portrayed paying off senators to pass an anti-boycott bill. Towards the end of the video, the actor says “It is not about doing what is right, it is about taking what you can when you can.”
Radical Sister and Brother Pair
Recent USF graduate sibling pair of Danya and Homam Zituni are members of numerous anti-American and anti-Israel groups including SJP, BDS, CAIR, MSA, Students for a Democratic Society and Stop FBI Repression.
In a January 2015 radio interview with WMNF.org, the Zitunis called to “keep the FBI out of mosques.” Danya had previously organized a call-in day against the FBI, to discuss “state repression” and the “persecution” of the “Arab and Muslim Americans in the United States.”
On March 17, 2015 Danya posted her intention to engage in “…good ole radical islamism/communism with my comrades.”
In a May 23, 2015 post she slammed both the US and Israel stating, “The only thing Zionists say which I absolutely cannot disagree with is ‘If you hate Israel, then you hate the United States!’”
On July 3, 2015 she participated in the burning of multiple American flags, which she called“…the largest symbol of White supremacist national oppression and imperialism.”
On social media, Homam Zituni goes by the alias “George Nasser.” He was self-described on his Twitter page (before shutting it down) as a “Marxist-Leninist. Proletarian Feminist. Aspiring revolutionary.”
He is an avid supporter of terrorist-murderer Rasmea Odeh — posting numerous times on Facebook and Twitter in praise of her. On January 27, 2015, Zituni called to prepare for an “Emergency Response to demand #Justice4Rasmea” calling her a “Palestinian Hero.”
The Billboard and the BDS Campaign
In January 2013, SJP USF launched a divestment campaign, featuring an insidious and highly misleading cartoon video. The video misinformed students that USF invests in companies that make fighter jets and rockets that the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) “uses against civilians in the Gaza strip.” In the video, bombs labeled “made 2 kill” are dropped on the Gaza strip, with the resulting explosions exclaiming “kaboom” and “kill!”
The campaign eventually generated a 2014 petition that SJP USF claimed reached over 10,000 student signatures.
On May 5, 2014, SJP USF was given the opportunity to present their petition to the CEO and Foundation Board Chair of USF. Following the presentation, the USF Investment Committee issued a resounding rejection of the petition. Lara Wade-Martinez, the Director of Media Relations at USF added that the matter would not be taken up again or voted on at future meetings.
SJP USF considered the Foundation’s rejection as equivalent to “silencing”. In January 2015 they purchased a large billboard near the Tampa campus. The billboard featured a person’s face with tape over the lips and demanded that the university end investment “in Israeli Apartheid.”
On January 14 2015, Zaid Dabus, the SJP USF spokesperson was interviewed by WMNF news regarding the billboard. He stated that it was a response to a meeting with the USF Foundation which “went terribly.” Dabus claimed “they killed the bill within less than 15 minutes…they [SJP] get absolutely shut out in less than 15 minutes by a group of super rich foundation members.” Dabus then falsely claimed the Palestinians are targeted based on race, “just like in South Africa.”
When the interviewer questioned the claim, asking “Palestinians can vote and be members of Knesset, and you still call it apartheid?” Dubas answered: “First and foremost I’m not an expert on the politics of that, I don’t live there, I’m not from there, I’ve haven’t come from there, I’ve never experienced that”, but that “there’s no way they have equal rights” because “people on the inside” say “they are not allowed on the same bus.”
Other USF Anti-Israel and Anti-Semitic Activity
- On February 14, 2015, SJP USF posted a link from their Facebook to an article, stating entirely fabricated claim that “Israeli authorities usually open the floodgates to their dams in the direction of the Gaza Strip – without prior notice – in order to discharge the enormous quantities of water that had accumulated due to the heavy rains in the region.” The story was debunked by Al Jazeera. There are no dams in Southern Israel — it’s a desert.
- In November 2014, SJP USF member Khadra Ali-Mohamed organized a campaignto condemn the National Basketball Association (NBA) for bringing an Israeli basketball club to play two pre-season games in New York. The campaign claimed the NBA would be honoring “war criminals” if they played.
- Following the August 2014 Gaza war ceasefire, SJP USF member Omar Erchidaccused Israel on his personal blog of “systematic and indiscriminate killing.” He also likened Hamas terrorists to “freedom fighters” and praised their decision to remain armed. Erchid labeled supporters of Israel’s defensive actions in Gaza “genocide apologists” and falsely claimed that Hamas was “Firing homemade rockets into areas where there is almost no chance of casualties.”
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ABOUT THE CANARY MISSION:
The Canary Mission database was created in order to document people and groups that are promoting hatred of the USA, Israel and the Jewish people, particularly on college campuses in North America.
Canary Mission is run by students and concerned citizens motivated by a desire to combat the rise in anti-Semitism on college campuses. The purpose of the website is to expose those who promote lies and attacks on Israel and the Jewish people. We pursue our mission by presenting the actions and records of individuals and organizations at the vanguard of the anti-Semitic Boycott, Divest, and Sanctions (BDS) movement. By shining a light on hate group members and their activities, the public will become better informed about those involved in hate movements in their communities.
Canary Mission believes that we all have the right to know if an individual has been affiliated with movements that seek the destruction of Israel, routinely engage in anti-Semitic rhetoric and actions, and promote hatred of Jews.
Canary Mission provides freely available material gathered from publicly available sources. We have organized this information in a concise and easily searchable format for the easy access of the general public and anyone interested in tracking hate movements on college campuses.
RELATED ARTICLE: Why Are ‘Peace-Activists’ at U South Florida Rallying for a Convicted Terrorist-Murderer?
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