Every May chapters of the Muslim Students Association (MSA) hold programs which call for Israel’s population to be eliminated. The students do so by presenting fraudulent images and quotes to dehumanize Jews under the socially acceptable guise of “anti-Israelism” or “anti-Zionism.” Divestment campaigns which are rampant and attempt to ostracize a tiny Israel, the only secular democracy in a sea of theocratic nations, are to be expected.
Leaders from the MSA portray themselves as human rights activists, who, on one hand, denounce alleged Israeli and American atrocities, yet pay no heed to nations like Iran, whose spiritual leaders have asserted that it is perfectly acceptable to torture and execute dissidents.
Occasionally students from the MSA make their virulent contempt for Jews evident outside the now accepted rhetoric of “anti-Israelism.” Such an incident occurred on Monday, May 10th at the University of California, San Diego. The video is below, courtesy of the David Horowitz Freedom Center.
The MSA may assert that it is merely an innocuous organization furthering Muslim life on campus. However, the very leadership at the national level of the group and the hosted events which condone terrorism have been anything but innocent. For example, in 2004, Abdurahman Alamoudi, who had been acting president of MSA National from 1982 to 1983, was sentenced to 23 years in prison after pleading guilty to terrorism-related charges for raising a million dollars for al-Qaeda. On October 22, 2000, Ahmed Shama, the former president of the Muslim Students Association of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), led a crowd of demonstrators outside the local Israeli consulate with chants of “Death to Israel!” and “Death to the Jews!” Hamid Ayloush, a member of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which co-sponsored the rally, was one of the guest speakers. In his speech Ayloush solicited contributions for the Holy Land Foundation, a group which was convicted of funneling over $12 million to Hamas. These are just a few examples of the MSA’s hateful activities which denote support for Islamic Totalitarianism.
Consider, moreover, organizations, such as Al-Awda, which network with MSA chapters, and present the same vilification of Israel on so-called humanitarian grounds while supporting Hamas and Hezbollah. Al-Awda is the same group which rallied in San Francisco on July 12, 2006. Their members began chanting “al Yahud kelabna” in Arabic. That literally translates to “the Jews are our dogs” and signifies, at least in my mind, the antisemitic philosophy of the membership of Al-Awda. My father’s family is from Baghdad. Arab Nationalists who looted from and maimed Jews in Iraq would also refer to the native Jewish population as “dogs” and “pigs.” It’s amazing— and offensive— to see that kind of nonsensical hatred, which in modern history resulted in the ethnic cleansing of Mid-Eastern Jews from their native lands, in front of consulates and on college campus in America.
MSA chapters, which receive training and support from MSA regional zones, host lectures and other events on campuses to spread their reprehensible views. MSA chapters are extremely well-organized in their attempts to legitimize support for theocratic and violent organizations like Hamas and Hezbollah. The university, unfortunately, is the perfect stage for gathering activists and sympathizers while abusing the rights of freedom of speech and expression.
Reut Cohen is a JPC contributor and author of the blog www.reutrcohen.com.
