Please sign this petition to release nonviolent Palestinian rights activist Mohamad Hamad back onto house arrest before his trial. Mohamad, who just turned 23 years old, is facing trumped up federal charges as a result of his nonviolent alleged advocacy for Palestinians, which was simple graffiti. His case is being blown out of proportion by the prosecution, who are painting him as a danger to his community. As a result, the court rescinded his peaceful house arrest, violently raiding his home, arresting him, and taking him to prison, where his mental & physical health has been deteriorating for the last 6 months. Mohamad faces medical neglect, and is unable to heal while in prison.

Mohamad tells us in a letter that “I have lost 10 pounds since the start of all of this due to the stress and the horrible food in jail and continue to lose more weight. The meat comes in bags that say ‘not for human consumption’…The jail is also incredibly filthy, people are catching weird body fungus and other sicknesses left and right. People try to stay as clean as possible in here but with the weird laundry schedules and the very limited amount of clothes we have and the extreme depression and stress peoples body go through in here its a challenge to not get sick. I'm dealing with some extremely horrible medical neglect and am in pain. I seem to have caught something on my skin from this horrible environment that I'm trying to treat.”

Before all of this, Mohamad was under strict pre-trial house arrest. For over 6 months, he was a model citizen, never violating any of the terms of his home detention. Mohamad spent his time honing his skills as a mechanic, feeding his passion for fixing cars, so that he may go on to lead a productive life when all of this is over. In his own words “on April 23rd, 2025 at approximately 8 am, multiple FBI agents and police officers with body armor and guns raided my house. They pushed my 77 year old dad out of the way at the door after he refused to let them in because they did not have a warrant.”

This aggression was completely unnecessary, and he describes it as “a show of force, a message to every Arab and Muslim that lives in America, that you will never be safe here and if you ever decide to speak up about your oppression and go against the grain, you will be dealt with and made an example to all.”

Mohamad worries this is his last chance to be free again, surrounded by his family, before his trial and possible sentence. His attorneys are requesting a Detention Hearing to plead for his right to resume home detention, but prosecution is determined to deny this on the basis that he is, somehow, a danger to his own community. Mohamad is active with the Jewish community here in Pittsburgh, attending Shabbat dinners and enriching the deep bonds between the Muslim & Jewish communities in our city.

Mohamad's case is part of the alarming crackdown on civil liberties that activists throughout the country have faced over the last two years while supporting the people of Palestine. The crushing of such voices of dissent is a direct attack on the democracy of this country and intends to intimidate people into silence. Today, we must come together to speak out against the extrajudicial arrests and reaffirm our resolve to speak up for the oppressed and against those perpetrating acts of genocide. We must stand up for Mohamad, and not be intimidated. Here is further testimony from Mohamad:

“It is not lost on me just how much the prosecutor is trying to scare the Jewish community, and use their fear against them. At my detention hearing they showed videos of the October 7th attacks and I hope it's obvious but I had nothing to do with that.”

Please sign and share this petition with your community in support of Mohamad’s right to resume his pretrial home detention in peace.