Alex Kerry

Overview

Alex Kerry [Alex Salah] has expressed support for terrorists, demonized Israel, whitewashed a violent protest and promoted anti-Israel agitators.

Kerry was an organizer [00:36:52] with Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at the University of Houston (UH) in 2020 and in 2018. He has also supported the Boycott Divestment Sanctions (BDS) movement.

In November 2019, Kerry reportedly attended the 2019 National SJP Conference, using the alias “Alex Salah.” As of August 2020, Kerry used the alias “Alex Salah” on Facebook.

National SJP held their conference at the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities (UMN), from November 1-3, 2019. The conference was themed: “Beyond Struggle: From Roots to Branches Towards Liberation.”

In November 2018, Kerry indicated on Twitter that he attended the 2018 National SJP Conference and posed for a group photo taken at the 2018 National SJP Conference. In July 2018, Kerry was reportedly a freshman at UH.

The 2018 National SJP conference was held on November 16-18, 2018 at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). The conference was themed “Radical Hope: Resistance in the Face of Adversity.” The conference website stated: “[t]he reason we can have hope is that Zionism...can be destroyed.”

Kerry was an organizer [00:36:52] with the Palestine Youth movement (PYM) in 2020 and helped fundraise for PYM on Twitter in 2018. PYM has expressed support for terrorists, promoted incitement to violence and advocated for the dissolution of Israel.

As of July 2017, Kerry was a member of the “Al-Awda News” Facebook group.

In July 2018, Kerry was reportedly a freshman at UH. In December 2018, Kerry indicated on Twitter that he was located in Houston, Texas.

On December 27, 2016, Kerry said on Facebook that he is the nephew of Hanan Ashrawi, Executive Committee Member of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).

As of February 2019, Kerry used the alias “Alex Salah” on Facebook.

Supporting Terrorists

On July 15, 2020, Kerry was interviewed by the online radio talk show Arab Voices as a representative of SJP Houston, regarding their participation in a July 11, 2020 "Houston Day of Rage Car Caravan Against Annexation.”

During the interview, Kerry condemned what he called [00:37:20] Israel’s “systems” of annexation and gave [00:37:28] as an example “the martyr Basel al-Hasr who was murdered in his home in Ramallah... when Israeli forces broke into his home and murdered him. He was an intellectual and an activist.”

Basel Al Araj was killed in a shoot-out with Israeli troops during an arrest raid. He had been suspected of belonging to a terror cell planning to carry out attacks on Israeli targets. Two M-16 assault rifles and an improvised Carlo-style submachine gun were found inside his home.

Kerry also quoted [00:39:10] from Ghassan Kanafani, who, he stated, “was murdered 48 years ago, almost to the day.”

Kanafani was a leading member and spokesperson for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) during the terrorist organization’s early years. Kanafani announced the PFLP’s responsibility for the Lod Airport Massacre of May 1972 and was linked to the airport attackers. The attack killed 26 people and wounded 80 others.

On May 1, 2017, Kerry posted to Facebook: “Hello, Marhaba, and Shalom! Today I'm doing the #Saltwaterchallenge to show my solidarity for the 1500 Palestinian political prisoners on hunger strike in Israel jails.”

The “Saltwater Challenge” was held in solidarity with hunger-striking Palestinian prison inmates convicted of terrorism. The strike was initiated by Marwan Barghouti, who was serving five consecutive life sentences for his role in suicide bombings that killed five Israelis during the second intifada. Aarab Barghouti, the son of Marwan Barghouti, launched the "Saltwater Challenge."

On the same day, Kerry tweeted: “Today I am fasting in solidarity with #PalestinianPoliticalPrisoners

.”

Kerry retweeted a March 6, 2017 tweet glorifying suspected terrorist Basel Al-Araj that said: “Bassel al-Araj, Palestinian pharmacist, youth activist & writer, executed by Israeli forces in a raid this morning. Glory to your brave soul.”

Demonizing Israel

On July 15, 2020, Kerry was interviewed by Arab Voices, where he claimed [00:37:54] that Israel wants “all of Palestine and they want to colonize all our lands” and that “this has been policy since before ‘48.”

In December 2018, Kerry’s Twitter bio had a link to a YouTube video featuring anti-Israel propagandist Abby Martin interviewing Eran Efrati, a senior member of the anti-Israel Breaking the Silence organization.

In the video, Efrati claimed [00:07:26] that IDF snipers intentionally targeted unarmed Palestinian civilians during Israel’s 2014 Operation Protective Edge (OPE), which commenced in July 2014 to stop rocket fire targeting Israeli civilians and to destroy Hamas attack tunnels.

In July 2016, Breaking the Silence (BTS) was discredited by Israel’s investigative Channel 10 TV show, HaMakor (The Source). HaMakor presented a report revealing that a substantial number of BTS testimonies are untrue or distorted.

On October 21, 2018, Kerry tweeted: “A fascist, apartheid state at its finest.” Kerry embedded in his tweet a Ma’an News Agency tweet that claimed: “Israeli forces detain youth for wearing shirt of Palestinian flag.”

On May 15, 2017, Kerry tweeted: “Today marks the 69th anniversary of the dispossession, expropriation, and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from their land. #NakbaDay.”

The term “Nakba” is generally translated as “catastrophe” in Arabic, referring to the outcome of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. It is a term often used to delegitimize the creation of the State of Israel by defining it as a catastrophe.

On March 15, 2017, Kerry tweeted: “The UN declared that Israel is imposing an apartheid regime on the Palestinians... in other news water is wet. We've known this for 70 yrs.”

In March 2017, a UN commission composed of 18 Arab states produced a report claiming Israel established an “apartheid regime.” Anti-Israel professor Richard Falk co-authored the report. Soon after the report’s release, UN Secretary General Antonió Guterres ordered it withdrawn, claiming the report was published without consultation with Guterres’s office and it did not reflect the UN secretariat’s views.

On December 27, 2016, Kerry tweeted: “Today marks the 8 year anniversary of Israels assault on Gaza. Rest in Power to the 1,417 Palestinians killed and the 5,303 injured

.”

Israel commenced Operation Cast Lead (OCL)in 2008-09 in order to stop Hamas rocket fire from Gaza targeting Israeli civilians. In 2010, Hamas admitted that nearly 700 of the Palestinian casualties in OCL were combatants.

On December 27, 2016, Kerry shared on Facebook a video of Hanan Ashrawi accusing Israel of exercising [00:03:31] “systematic state terrorism” against Palestinians.

Ashrawi also said [00:03:03] “The problem is that you can not enslave a whole nation, and treat it like a sub-human species, with the most racist, hard-line extremist violent government in history, and then ask them to lie down and die quietly.”

Kerry commented: “Very appropriate that this is being posted today, on the anniversary of Israel's assault on Gaza in 2008, where 1,417 Palestinians were killed and 5,303 Palestinians were injured. My aunt Hanan is such an intelligent woman and amazing public speaker.”

On December 7, 2017, Kerry tweeted: “#HandsOFFJersualem” along with a video clip of himself participating in a protest. In the video, demonstrators held up [00:00:07] signs that said “Occupation is Terrorism.”

The hashtag “#HandsOffJerusalem” was created to protest the U.S. government’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and to relocate the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

On March 25, 2016, Kerry posted to Facebook: “I recommend everyone reads this post... It's worth it” and embedded a Facebook post describing Zionism as “a supremacist and exclusionary ethnic fantasy carried out through colonialism, ethnic cleansing, and apartheid.”

Whitewashing Violent Protest

Kerry retweeted a March 30, 2018 tweet that said: “Israel killed 15 Palestinians today. They were killed by bullets, gas suffocation and tank shells; not ‘clashes’. #GreatReturnMarch.”

On March 30, 2018, some 30,000 Palestinians in Gaza approached Israel’s border to take part in “Land Day Protests,” or the “March of Return.” The march was organized and funded by Hamas as a campaign of violent protests to spotlight the Palestinian demand to “return” to Israel. The “right of return” has since been discredited as a means to eliminate Israel.

March participants sent scores of kites bearing explosive devices across Israel’s border to burn Israeli crops and homes. Participants also attempted to breach the border fence, which caused the Israeli Defense Forces to respond with live fire. Agitators also threw Molotov cocktails and firebombs, shot firearms and threw rocks.

Kerry retweeted a March 30, 2018 tweet that said: “Snipers are shooting and killing protesters from hundreds of meters away. This isn't a clash.”

Kerry retweeted a March 30, 2018 tweet that said: “You can tell how little mainstream publications cares about Palestinians, esp those protesting in Gaza right now, by the passive voice used to describe them being killed by IDF. As if they just up and died on their own instead of being mowed down by snipers at an unarmed protest.”

Kerry retweeted a September 28, 2018 tweet that said: “If you're curious what it looks like when a government tries to justify murdering children at a protest, it looks like this.”

The tweet attached an IDF tweet that said “IMAGINE: A mob of 20K people, throwing bombs & grenades, attempting to reach your home. The people of southern Israel don’t have to imagine; this is happening right now on Israel’s border fence with Gaza. Our troops are there to do what is necessary to protect Israeli civilians.”

On September 28, 2018, Palestinians on Israel’s Gaza border hurled over 100 grenades and improvised bombs at Israeli security forces, in the midst of attempts to breach and damage the border fence.

Promoting Anti-Israel Agitators

Kerry retweeted a March 8, 2018 tweet that said: “March 8 marks #InternationalWomensDay. Today, we stand with Dareen Tatour, a #Palestinian poet who has been detained by #Israel for 2 ½ years as a result of her poetry and activity on social media. #FreeDareen #IWD2018.”

In October 2015, Tatour was placed under house arrest for incitement to violence and for support of a terrorist organization on social media. Tatour had supported the terror group Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and posted to Facebook: “I am the next shahid [martyr].”

Kerry retweeted a January 31, 2018 tweet that said: “Ahed Tamimi turned 17 today inside a cold Israeli prison for defending her people. #FreeAhed and free the land.”

Ahed Tamimi has a long history of physically attacking Israeli soldiers. Tamimi is the daughter of Bassem Tamimi, who is known for exploiting young children as political props in staged confrontations with Israeli soldiers.

Attending the 2019 National SJP Conference

On November 3, 2019, Kerry was quoted in a Minnesota Daily article about the 2019 National SJP conference, describing the need to be “to be tactical and strategic in how we engage with” a “more electoral space.”

The 2019 National SJP Conference was held at the University of Minnesota- Twin Cities (UMN), from November 1-3. The Conference themes centered on support for BDS as well as the rejection of Israel and Zionism.

The Conference partnered with numerous anti-Israel organizations and conducted their event in a clandestine manner.

2019 National SJP - Supporting BDS

The Conference website called to capitalize on shifts in the political climate, represented by the elections to the U.S. Congress of Representatives Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, who both support BDS. National SJP speakers also reportedly drew attention to Rep. Omar’s support for the BDS movement as the Representative for UMN’s Congressional district.

During the Conference, National SJP speakers reportedly “noted the success of past divestment campaigns at the University [UMN], which ultimately resulted in the passing of a campus-wide [BDS] referendum in 2018.”

The UMN resolution passed in 2018 by a margin of 3.4 percent of those students who voted, translating to approval by 6.18% of all eligible voters. Less than 13% of the eligible voters actually voted on UMN’s BDS referendum.

2019 National SJP - Rejecting Israel and Zionism

The 2019 National SJP Conference website indicated that the goal of their “solidarity movement” was to push for policies that “demanded the end of” the state of Israel, referred to as “the Israeli occupation.”

The website clarified that “the Palestinian struggle against Zionism, extends beyond the confines of 1967, and well before the Nakba,” and was based on the rejection of Jewish national self-determination in Israel.

Nakba is an Arabic term for “catastrophe” and refers to the outcome of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. It is a term often used to delegitimize the creation of the State of Israel.

2019 National SJP - Heightened Secrecy

The 2019 National SJP Conference required attendees to be “verified and vouched for” by an SJP chapter to which they belonged and required each chapter to register as a group. The conference also required each group to be verified by a “reference––someone who is NOT going to this conference but who is or has recently been a part of your SJP.”

Members of allied student groups could register only as part of an SJP chapter delegation which, in turn, needed to be “vouched for by their campus’s SJP” for “security culture and accountability reasons.”

The Conference also restricted media access to journalists “registered and confirmed by our Media Committee in advance to attend the conference. Absolutely no exceptions will be made.”

During the Conference, National SJP reportedly covered the windows of the conference hall.

2019 National SJP - Partnering Organizations

National SJP partnered with other anti-Israel organizations to table, sell merchandise and lead workshops, including CODEPINK, Palestine Youth Movement (PYM), Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), US Palestinian Community Network (USPCN), Palestine Legal, Watan Palestine and the Adalah Justice Project.

Keynote speakers included Loubna Qutami, Chair of PYM, as well as Taher Herzallah of American Muslims for Palestine (AMP). Other speakers included Miko Peled, Sandra Tamari, Suhad Katib, Chris Gazaleh, Clarissa Bitar, Tariq Luthun, Maytha Alhassen and Sima Shakhsari.

Attending the 2018 National SJP Conference

On November 2018, Kerry indicated on Twitter that he attended the 2018 National SJP Conference and posed for a group photo taken at the 2018 National SJP Conference.

SJP UH - Spreading Anti-Israel Propaganda

UH’s IAW featured a mock apartheid wall, erected on campus. Text on the wall read: “If you want to find a safe place in Gaza, do not stand beside a child.” Another piece of text read: “Israel uses sophisticated attack jets to bomb densely crowded refugee camps, schools, apartment blocks, mosques and slums to attack a population that has no airforce, no navy, army and calls it a war. It is not war, it is murder.”

SJP UH - Spreading Propaganda

On October 1, 2017, SJP UH shared a Facebook post that read: “17 years ago today, 12yr old Muhammad Al-Durra was shot dead on LIVE TV in his father's arms.
#Coogs4Palestine #FreePalestine.”

The Al-Durah hoax is an iconic piece of anti-Israel propaganda, fabricated on September 30, 2000 at the start of the Second Intifada by a France 2 reporter.

On May 8, 2017, SJP UH organized Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) on UH’s campus. One IAW event featured a mock “apartheid wall” erected on campus. Text on the wall read: “If you want to find a safe place in Gaza, do not stand beside a child.” Other text read: “Israel uses sophisticated attack jets to bomb densely crowded refugee camps, schools, apartment blocks, mosques and slums to attack a population that has no airforce, no navy, army and calls it a war. It is not war, it is murder.”

Throughout the summer of 2014 — during Operation Protective Edge (OPE) — Hamas’ continued deployment of human shields was extensively documented and publicized. Hamas encouraged gazans to act as human shields, to specifically frustrate Israeli efforts to avoid civilian casualties in Gaza. Israel commenced OPEin July 2014, to stop rocket fire targeting Israeli civilians and to destroy Hamas attack tunnels.

SJP UH - Supporting Terrorists

On September 5, 2017, SJP UH shared a graphic on Facebook of an image and quote by Leila Khaled.

Khaled is a leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and participated in the hijacking of TWA Flight 840 in 1969 and El Al Flight 219 in 1970. As of 2017, Khaled was a member of PFLP's Political Bureau.

Khaled has said that the second intifada failed because it was not violent enough, advocated for the use of children in terror activities and compared Zionists to Nazis.

The PFLP claimed credit for the 2014 Har Nof Massacre where six people were murdered during morning prayers in a Jerusalem synagogue. The PFLP also claimed credit for the 2001 assassination of the Israeli tourism minister.

On May 25, 2017, SJP UH rallied behind convicted Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails on hunger strike, by organizing a “symbolic hunger strike” and participating in a Saltwater Challenge. The event organizers wrote on the Facebook event page: “we demand that Israel end its policies of apartheid, colonization, military occupation, displacement, dispossession, and mass incarceration.”

The hunger strike was initiated by Marwan Barghouti, who was serving five consecutive life sentences for his role in suicide bombings — and shooting attacks that killed five Israelis during the second Intifada. Barghouti led the the Palestinian Authority (PA) terrorist Tanzim force and founded the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. Barghouti also financed the guitar-case bomb used in the Sbarro Cafe massacre where 15 civilians were killed and 130 injured.

More than 1,000 other Palestinian prisoners participated in the hunger strike — most of whom were also convicted for acts of terrorism.

According to CNN , the “Saltwater Challenge” appears to have been started by Aarab Marwan Barghouti, the son of Marwan Barghouti.

On May 26, 2017, SJP UH joined protesters outside the Israeli consulate chanting (1:46): “1234, open up the prison doors… We will fight day and night… to support the hunger strike…”

On March 28, 2016, SJP UH shared a post on Facebook supporting terrorist Rasmea Odeh.

Odeh was a key military operative [00:02:08]with the terrorist group the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). In 1969, Odeh masterminded a PFLP bombing that killed two college students in a Jerusalem supermarket. Odeh also attempted to bomb the British consulate.

Odeh confessed, in a highly detailed account, the day following her arrest. In a 2004 documentary, one of Odeh’s co-conspirators directly implicated [00:10:53] Odeh as the mastermind.

In 1970, an Israeli court tried and convicted Odeh for her involvement in both bombings and sentenced her to life imprisonment. However, Odeh was released 10 years later, in a prisoner swap and emigrated to the United States.

On November 10, 2014, a Michigan federal jury convicted Odeh for immigration fraud because she failed to disclose her prior conviction and life sentence on her immigration application. On March 12, 2015, she was sentenced to 18 months in prison.

In 2017, after an appeal and a lengthy court battle, Odeh admitted to immigration fraud, was stripped of her U.S. citizenship, deported to Jordan and banned from re-entering the U.S.

SJP UH - Disrupting Campus Events

On November 3, 2017, SJP activists disrupted a lecture by David Horowitz at UH. SJP activists stood up holding a Palestinian flag and a Pan African/Black Liberation flag and yelled [00:07:04] at Horowitz. The protesters began shouting, “Zionists! Off our campus! Racists! Off our campus! Islamophobes! Off our campus!” and walked out of the lecture hall as they continued to chant.

The protesters included members of other campus organizations that comprised the Cougar Voice Coalition (CVC), such as the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), the Muslim Students Association (MSA), United Muslim Relief (UMR) Houston and Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM) Houston.

SJP

SJP is a student organization engaged in anti-Israel activity on North American college and university campuses.

The first chapter of SJP was founded in 2001 at the University of California at Berkeley by Professor Hatem Bazian. Bazian has spread classic anti-Semitism, reportedly promoted religious anti-Semitism and defended the Hamas terror group. In 2004, Bazian called for “intifada” in America.

SJP organizes anti-Israel campaigns, including running annual Israel Apartheid Weeks, often in collaboration with Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) and Muslim Students Association (MSA) campus chapters.

SJP has been a major force in pushing the anti-Semitic Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement on campuses. Chapters have initiated dozens of BDS resolutions in student governments, which have been proposed on or around Jewish holidays, a time when many Jewish students are off-campus.

SJP activists have reportedly physically assaulted, intimidated and harassed Jewish students, disrupted pro-Israel campus events and demonized pro-Israel campus organizations.

Chapters have often endorsed and campaigned for numerous terrorists and whitewashed terrorism.