NEW REPORT: UC San Diego Appoints Anti-Israel Activist as a Community Liaison
On May 22, 2024, the Ethnic Studies Department at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) announced that Ramah Awad would be the first Palestinian community leader in residence. In a radio interview, Awad explained that beginning in the fall of 2024, she will act as a liaison between the university and the local Palestinian community and will offer seminars on campus on subjects of her choosing.
Who is Ramah Awad?
On October 15, 2023, just eight days after Hamas massacred 1,200 Israelis and kidnapped 250 more, Awad helped organize an anti-Israel rally in San Diego, California. In an interview with ABC 10 News, Awad downplayed the terror attacks of October 7, saying, “I don’t think it serves anyone…to be focusing in on the events of this week…I think it’s so important to look at this week within the context of the past 75-plus years.”
Awad is the executive director of Majdal: Arab Community Center of San Diego.
During her undergraduate education at Stanford University, Awad was a leader in the BDS campaign on campus. She was also involved with Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM). Both organizations have known connections to terrorists and have shown their support for the destruction of the State of Israel.
On November 5, 2020, Awad published an article in Sage Journals titled, “BDS as the baseline of solidarity: toward a model of co-struggling with Palestinians in their movement for justice and liberation.”
In the article, Awad defended a policy known as the “right of return,” which is understood as a path to the destruction of Israel as a Jewish state.
On June 2, 2021, in an interview with the Muslim Network TV posted on Facebook, Awad said, “I think the most accurate way to talk about what is happening in Palestine is a settler-colonial project. You can see the ways that the Israeli state is doing everything that it can to ensure that there are minimal Palestinians on minimum land.”
Why Did UC San Diego Appoint Ramah Awad?
The appointment of Awad is particularly troubling in light of the post-October 7 atmosphere on UCSD’s campus.
Since the October 7 massacre, Jewish students at UCSD have been harassed and intimidated by Hamas-supporting protesters. Less than a week after Hamas’ October 7 massacre of Jews, a gang of Hamas supporters beat up a supporter of Israel in San Diego (see video below).
On November 1, Israel supporters attending a student government meeting required a police escort to exit the building due to a threatening anti-Israel mob that had gathered outside chanting explicit support for terrorism.
(The UCSD chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine planned a “walk out” of the meeting once they discovered Jewish students would be in attendance.)
Despite video footage of the incident (see below), the university later denied anything had happened and claimed that the police knew nothing about it.
Awad was hired by UCSD to be a liaison to the Palestinian community and to teach seminars on subjects of her choosing. Will she serve to foment an already charged and antisemitic atmosphere on campus?
Ramah Awad’s Staff at Majdal
Under Awad’s leadership of Majdal, several anti-Israel and antisemitic individuals, including individuals who support terror, serve in key positions:
Subrein Damanhoury – Program & Communications Coordinator
Member of the San Diego chapter of the pro-terror activist group Palestine Youth Movement (PYM)
Showed support for arch-terrorist Zakaria Zubeidi, the former Jenin chief of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades
Tweeted: “I f**kin hate zionists” (December 17, 2020)
Tweeted: “In conclusion f**k Israel and Zionism but more specifically f**k American Zionists” (December 3, 2019)
Nadine Hassoun – Chair of the Advisory Board
Affiliated with the pro-terror organization PYM
Referred to Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terrorist Ghassan Kanafani as a “revolutionary”
Supported BDS and was a member of SJP while at San Diego State University
Yasmeen Obeid – Advocacy & Campaigns Coordinator
Active with the pro-terror organization PYM in 2021
Affiliated with anti-Israel organizations Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) and U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USCPR)
Jeanine Erikat – Advisory Board
Board member of SJP at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) in 2017
Shouted at an Israeli reserve soldier during a speaking engagement at UCI
Promoted anti-Zionist activities on campus
Selma Hassane – Development Associate
Promoted the illegal encampment at UCSD led by her father, Imam Hassane
Supported BDS
Activist with the San Diego chapter of the anti-Israel organization CAIR in 2013
Promoted anti-Zionism week at UCI organized by SJP in 2017
Connections to Anti-Israel Organizations
Majdal receives funding from private donors and government funds from California Humanities, California Mental Health Services Authority, California Natural Resources Agency and California Department of Social Services. Majdal’s partners include several anti-Israel organizations:
U.S. Campaign for Islamic Rights – a coalition of American-based anti-Israel organizations that lobbies the U.S. Congress to adopt anti-Israel policies and end government support for Israel.
National Network for Arab American Communities (NNAAC) – a pro-Arab lobbying group. Posts on NNAAC’s Instagram account promote the myths of Israeli “genocide,” “ethnic cleansing” and “apartheid” against Palestinians. Other posts push pure antisemitic content.
San Diego for Palestine Coalition, a politically active anti-Israel organization in San Diego, which Majdal reposted.
Islamic Center of San Diego
The head of the mosque, Imam Taha Hassane, is a community activist and leader who played a part in organizing the illegal encampment at UCSD in 2024. He is a member of the anti-Israel organization CAIR. In his role at the mosque, he has shared antisemitic ideas and conspiracy theories.
On May 5, 2024, Hassane posted on his Instagram account, “We demand from UCSD to boycott and divest from the genocidal zionist state. Free Palestine!”
Sermons at the mosque have come under fire for their antisemitic and pro-terror messages, including:
On October 20, 2023, Imam Hassane said, “What we are witnessing now did not start last week or October the 7th! This is a result of a 75-plus years of brutal Zionist occupation of Palestine and it is the result of the 16-plus years of the brutal barbaric blockade of Gaza!”
On December 23, 2023. The mosque hosted an event featuring speakers from American Muslims for Palestine (AMP). Speeches were filled with antisemitic and anti-Israel rhetoric. AMP’s Associate Director of Outreach & Grassroots Organizing Taher Herzallah said:
“…the floodgates have opened…When we talk about student activism, this is the moment, this is the time to agitate, to make Zionists feel very uncomfortable on campus.”
“We are clear about our objectives. Free Palestine, from the River to the Sea. Don’t let anybody make you feel uncomfortable about saying that, because we don’t follow their moral authority.”
Imam Hassane’s wife, Lallia Allali, an employee of the University of San Diego at the time, was in the press for an offensive antisemitic picture she posted on social media following October 7. Due to the post, she resigned from her job. Allali is also involved with the anti-Israel organizations CAIR and PYM.
EDITORS NOTE: This Canary Mission column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.
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