by Staff Reporter | Jan 11, 2025 | News
By Staff Reporter |
A prominent Hamas supporter and online influencer was arrested again this week, this time for trespassing.
Saiaf Abdallah — the Gilbert-area CEO of the Tempe-based Voyage Medical who goes by the username “Resistance is Beautiful” online — was arrested for trespassing after refusing to leave a Lifetime gym in Gilbert from which he was asked to leave.
In his recording of an interaction with Lifetime management and police, Abdallah wore a black t-shirt that read “Israel Kills Children… and we pay for it with taxes.” The management member informed Abdallah that he had trespassed because his membership wasn’t active. In response, Abdallah questioned whether the employee was motivated by bigotry or racism.
“Is the problem the shirt? Or the skin color?” asked Abdallah. “Are you offended by the shirt, or by the fact that you guys kill all of the Palestinians in the gyms over there?”
Abdallah then claimed to cops that the gym staff trespassed him for his shirt, not his inactive membership.
“They’ve always said, ‘Oh that shirt is offensive’ — typical Gilbert white supremacy stuff,” said Abdallah.
Following his latest arrest, Abdallah launched a GoFundMe fundraiser to cover the cost of court cases and his protesting across the state. As of this report, Abdallah’s GoFundMe has raised over $11,000 of its $12,000 goal from about 250 donors.
Abdallah has had frequent run-ins with law enforcement over his activism.
Earlier this week, Abdallah was detained for obstructing a public thoroughfare along a busy road. Like in his other videos, Abdallah wore his “Israel Kills Children” t-shirt, along with a keffiyeh headband. As he does in other videos frequently, Abdallah carried a Palestinian flag on a makeshift flagpole.
In 2023, Abdallah was arrested at a pro-Hamas protest led by Democratic Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib at Arizona State University following Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israel. In the months following that attack, Abdallah organized pro-Hamas protests at Arizona malls, including “die-ins” during Black Friday shopping, and helped coordinate a protest inside of Senator Mark Kelly’s office.
Although he was trespassed from ASU property in November 2023, Abdallah’s posted videos online show he participated in pro-Hamas protests on the public property abutting ASU campuses and around the Valley through the better half of last year.
Abdallah has been active with the Arizona chapter of CAIR. The national CAIR is an entity of the Muslim Brotherhood officially linked to Hamas activity.
Abdallah has been documented extensively by Canary Mission, an organization that profiles individuals and organizations promoting hatred of the U.S., Israel, and Jewish people.
Under the username “@Vingati2” on X, Abdallah expressed overt support for Hamas violence.
“Palestinians are going to take thousands more hostage. This is f*****g LIBERATION, and it isn’t pretty,” wrote Abdallah in one post.
“Hamas is eating your b***h a*s soldiers. They weak like you,” wrote Abdallah in another post. “Liberation is gonna get shoved down your f*****g throat.”
Abdallah’s father, Akram Abdallah, was sentenced to 18 months in prison in 2010 for making false statements to the FBI regarding his raising funds for the Holy Land Foundation for Relief & Development (HLF), a criminal organization that provided material support for Hamas. Character support letters submitted to the sentencing court identified Abdallah as the son of Akram Abdallah.
Abdallah maintained similar sentiments as his father around that time. While his father was facing trial for his ties to Hamas, Abdallah was active with Students For Justice in Palestine (SFJP) while attending Arizona State University. Abdallah filmed and edited multiple videos of SFJP activism.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
by Matthew Holloway | Nov 12, 2024 | Education, News
By Matthew Holloway |
The Arizona Board of Regents held special board and committee meetings last week. And despite a year of scandal and serious allegations, Arizona State University (ASU) President Michael Crow received a significant pay increase along with a contract extension.
For those who’ve been keeping up with the news regarding ASU over the past year, scandals included:
Given all of the above, one might expect that university leaders would face a reckoning from the Arizona Board of Regents, but they would be wrong.
According to AZCentral, Crow will now receive a base salary of $892,500, around a 7% increase over his last contract, and the new agreement will keep him with the university until June 2029.
The ASU President has also received an additional $305,000 in bonuses for meeting goals laid out for him by the board. According to the report, these goals included “launching a training center to support the semiconductor industry in the state and creating a strategic plan to implement AI at the school.” He was also up for an additional $35,000 if the university exceeded a 10% enrollment growth goal over 2021 numbers, which ASU missed.
As reported by The College Fix, College Republicans at ASU called for an investigation into possible election interference when “70,000 Arizona State students received a text from the Kamala Harris campaign which is data from the Arizona state database and should be confidential!”
Carson Carpenter, president of College Republicans at ASU, told the outlet that the group had confirmed that the text message from Kamala Harris’ failed campaign was sent to “students from [all] Arizona universities,” including ASU, Northern Arizona University, and the University of Arizona.
The group asked, “If Kamala Harris has access to all of Arizona college students’ phone numbers, what ELSE do they have?”
In an emailed statement to College Fix, an ASU Spokesman told reporters on condition of anonymity, “Under Arizona Public Records Law, ASU’s records are public unless there is a specific confidentiality requirement.”
“While most student records are confidential under [the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act], FERPA exempts from confidentiality ‘directory information,’ which includes contact information. ASU is therefore required to release student directory information upon request.”
State Representative Jake Hoffmann posted to X that he would be launching a full Senate investigation into the matter, which he called, “a MAJOR security breach!”
He added, “I’m receiving lots of evidence from many Arizona public university students who received unsolicited text messages promoting Kamala Harris for president that appear to have come from Arizona universities illegally providing their personally identifiable information to her campaign. This seems like yet more election interference in Arizona, which is why my investigation for the Arizona Senate has already begun.”
Democrat Governor Katie Hobbs and Republican Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne serve on the board as ex-Officio members. However, neither were present for the meeting or took part in the vote to approve Crow’s contract. According to the annotated meeting agenda, the vote to approve was unanimous with seven of the twelve voting members present, “Regents Mata, Goodyear, DuVal, Penley, Pacheco, Brewster, Archuleta, Stein, and Zaragoza voted in favor. None opposed and none abstained.”
The regents are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Senate. With the exception of the Governor, Superintendent, and two student members, they serve 8-year terms.
In the meeting agenda and annotation, no mention is made of the ongoing controversies that have rocked ASU in 2024.
Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.
by Matthew Holloway | Oct 15, 2024 | Education, News
By Matthew Holloway |
Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell has announced that her office has filed misdemeanor trespassing charges against 68 demonstrators who were arrested during a pro-Hamas protest at ASU in April. The demonstrators defied the orders of ASU police to disperse and leave the ad hoc encampment they illegally created on the alumni lawn near Old Main.
Under A.R.S. 13-1502, criminal trespassing entails “knowingly entering or remaining unlawfully on any real property after a reasonable request to leave by a law enforcement officer, the owner or any other person having lawful control over such property.” As a Class-3 misdemeanor, the penalty, if the accused are found guilty, could be up to 30 days in the county jail with a $500 fine and up to one year of probation.
“The right to free speech does not extend to violating the law,” County Attorney Mitchell said.
“The university’s policy is clear – encampments are not permitted in this particular area on campus. The protestors – many of whom were not students – were given the chance, over and over again, to peacefully take down the encampments and leave the area. ASU, along with local law enforcement, had a responsibility to keep the area safe for students and faculty. My office is now playing the equally important role of holding these people accountable for their actions.”
Shortly after the arrests on April 26th, ASU released a statement, now seemingly confirmed by Mitchell, that the demonstrators were mostly not ASU students or faculty:
“ASU Police arrested 72 people for trespassing after they set up an unauthorized encampment Friday, in violation of university policy. Encampments are prohibited on Arizona State University property. Lawful demonstrations can take place except overnight between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m.
A group of people – most of whom were not ASU students, faculty or staff – created an encampment and demonstration that continued until well past 11 p.m. when the group was instructed repeatedly to disperse. Individuals who refused to leave after numerous warnings were arrested and charged with criminal trespass. Of the 72 arrested throughout the day Friday, 15 were ASU students; about 80 percent of those arrested were not students.“
According to later reporting from ABC15, twenty of the people arrested were later revealed to be ASU students who were subsequently suspended from the university after their arrest.
In the days following the arrest, independent journalist Kyle Becker reported that ASU fraternity members could be seen assisting campus police to tear down the demonstrators’ encampment. Speaking to Campus Reform, the students told reporters that the university was happy to have their help.
“It’s our duty to help keep our freedoms secure. Jews should not have to feel threatened to hide on campus,” they told the outlet. “When they call for “Jewish genocide” the answer was extremely clear: help the police.”
In May, charges against the 68 suspects were initially vacated due to a failure on the part of ASU police officials to refer them to the prosecutor’s office in a timely manner. The charges were eventually submitted over the next few months.
The incident resulted in ASU police chief Michael Thompson being placed on administrative leave after a series of complaints were filed against him for his actions during the demonstration. He ultimately retired.
Mitchell’s office stated that the arrests were carried out by Tempe Police, Arizona Department of Public Safety, and the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Officers, and that trial dates for the accused are pending.
Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.
by Staff Reporter | May 12, 2024 | Education, News
By Staff Reporter |
A majority of college students support pro-Hamas protests and a significant percentage condone violence.
According to a survey of nearly 800 full-time college students by Intelligent.com, 65 percent of students were supportive of the pro-Hamas protests. 36 percent of those students supportive of protests condoned the use of violence. About 18 percent of respondents opposed punishment for student protesters who broke the law, compared to 60 percent who were supportive of punishment for lawbreakers and 22 percent who were unsure.
A slightly higher percentage of students expressed opposition to punishment for student protesters who violate school policy, compared to 55 percent who expressed support for punishment and 24 percent who were unsure.
51 percent of protest supporters said they sympathized with Hamas. By comparison, 40 percent of all respondents said they sympathized with Hamas. However, 71 percent of all respondents expressed the belief that Israel has the right to exist.
While not all condoned acts of violence, a greater majority supported aggressive and even unlawful protest tactics. 75 percent reported support for encampments, 45 percent reported support for blocking students from attending class, and 38 percent reported support for canceling graduation ceremonies.
36 percent of students revealed that the protests caused them to be more supportive of Palestine, and 46 percent said the protests didn’t sway their level of support.
Eight percent of protest supporters revealed that they disliked Jewish people, 39 percent said they had no opinion, and 51 percent had a favorable opinion.
The survey also offered insight to a main source of information for college-age students: TikTok. 31 percent reported that the Chinese-owned social media app provided them with the background and updates on the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
By comparison, about 15 percent of college students reported TV news as their source of information on the conflict. As for the others: a little over ten percent cited Instagram and YouTube, respectively, while about ten percent cited friends and family. Less than ten percent cited newspaper articles, and less than five percent cited professors, academic papers or books, or other sources of information.
This survey took place from May 1 to 2, across 763 full-time college students ages 18 to 24 balanced across four U.S. regions: Northeast, Midwest, West, and South.
Though gatherings and smaller protests began after Israel’s response to the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, the larger and rowdier pro-Hamas protests — marked by their encampments — broke out across all of Arizona’s public universities late last month. Many persist despite encampment teardowns from law enforcement as well as punitive measures like arrests and student suspensions.
Several activist groups have led in organizing the protests, facilitating resources for protesters, or establishing encampments, including: Arizona Palestine Solidarity Alliance, Mass Liberation Arizona, Muslim Students of America, Students for Justice in Palestine, Tucson Coalition for Palestine, Arizona Palestine Network, and Jewish Voice for Peace.
Activists with Mass Liberation Arizona and other groups also plan to pack the Maricopa County courthouse next Tuesday to protest the charges filed against those who encamped at Arizona State University.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
by Corinne Murdock | Oct 16, 2023 | Education, News
By Corinne Murdock |
Arizona State University (ASU) leadership has ignored Meghan McCain’s request to condemn the pro-Hamas protest that occurred on campus last week.
The ASU chapter of Students For Justice in Palestine (SJP) held the protest. The silence from ASU leadership prompted McCain to question the decision to have the name of her late father, Sen. John McCain, associated with a new library at ASU.
“No entity that condones such behavior on their campus has any business hosting my fathers library in his name. Full stop,” said McCain.
One user asked whether foreign students who attended the protest would have their visa status revoked due to their support of a terrorist group. Hamas is a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO).
On Sunday, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) requested Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to revoke the visa statuses of those who attended any pro-Hamas protests.
SJP of ASU held the rally at the behest of their National SJP, which called for a National Day of Resistance last Thursday. Not all campuses who pledged to participate ended up following through.
University of Arizona (UArizona) President Robert Robbins issued a condemnation of pro-Hamas sentiment from the SJP chapter on their campus, but ultimately allowed the protest to take place on First Amendment grounds.
“The national organization has made statements endorsing the actions of Hamas in Israel, which are, of course, antithetical to our university’s values,” said Robbins.
The SJP of UArizona canceled their protest in response to Robbins’ letter, declaring that the president’s rhetoric endangered them. The chapter denied endorsement of Hamas activity, specifically distancing themselves from the National SJP.
“[O]ur organization is independently run and led specifically by students at the University of Arizona. Associating our chapter with any and all claims made by other SJP affiliates is a gross misrepresentation of our values, clearly designed to misalign our goals and demonize our presence on campus,” said the chapter.
Yet, SJP of UArizona heeded the National SJP’s call to host its protest on the National Day of Resistance.
In their call to action, the National SJP declared in a since-deleted post that Hamas terrorism constituted “a historic win for Palestinian resistance” and encouraged its supporters to engage in “armed confrontation with the oppressors” in addition to rallies. The toolkit provided for hosting the National Day of Resistance included the infamous template depicting a Hamas paraglider.
“This is what it means to Free Palestine: not just slogans and rallies, but armed confrontation with the oppressors,” stated NSJP.
SJP of ASU relied on the other graphic provided by the National SJP for their protest.
SJP of ASU plans to hold another protest at the end of this month.
The chapter also called on ASU to engage in the Boycott, Divest, and Sanctions (BDS) Movement.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
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