John Kallas
Overview
John Kallas [John J. Kallas] has spread hatred of Israel, endorsed the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement, promoted anti-Israel agitators and demonized the police.Kallas was listed on the New York University (NYU) organization page for Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), as the group’s Treasuer for 2019-2020.
As of August 2019, Kallas served on NYU’s Student Senator's Council (SSC), as a Senator-at-Large for Middle Eastern or North African (MENA) Students.
Also as of August 2019, Kallas’s LinkedIn page said he was Assistant Managing Editor at the on-line magazine Jadaliyya, in Washington, D.C.
As of the same date, Kallas’s LinkedIn page also said he was pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Economics from NYU, slated to graduate in 2022. He was also listed on Academia as an undergrdaute at NYU in “Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies.”
Spreading Hatred of Israel
On August 4, 2019, Kallas tweeted: “anytime someone who went on birthright speaks to me they give me this bit like they’re not standing on stolen Syrian land.”Birthright Israel is a heritage trip to Israel for Jewish young adults from across the world.
The same day, Kallas tweeted: “HOW U GONNA SAY I HAVE NO DOG IN THE ANTI ZIONIST FIGHT LIKE ISRAEL ISNT OCCUPYING SYRIAN TERRITORY RIGHT NOW?????”
On May 5, 2019, Kallas tweeted about New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio: “breaking! the mayor of the city that performs evil and violent surveillance on Muslims and Arabs doesn’t care about the Muslim and Arab Palestinians being murdered by colonial forces.”
Kallas’s tweet included a tweet from de Blasio, which read: “Innocent civilians lie dead in the wake of Hamas’ brutal rocket attacks in Israel. It’s an affront to humanity. This city stands united against this indiscriminate violence and we join the world in mourning the lives lost.”
A day earlier, nearly 300 rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip into Southern Israel. In response, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched attacks against more than 120 Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terror positions across the Gaza Strip.
On March 21, 2019, Kallas tweeted: “@Israel give the Golan Heights back to Syria cowards.”
In March 2019 the U.S. government recognized the Golan Heights as Israeli territory.
Endorsing BDS
On May 18, 2019, Kallas tweeted: “its so easy to support Palestine and Palestinians just do what they ask and boycott israel. don’t go to israel to try to push Palestinian liberation. it’s ineffective and only provides more money for apartheid. literally just boycott israel. that’s it. the end.”Kallas retweeted a May 18, 2019 tweet from the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) which used the hashtags “#BoycottEurovision2019 #ESC2019 #Eurovision2019 #esf19 #EurovisionSongContest #DareToDreamTogether #DareToDream #Eurovision.”
#BoycottEurovision2019 was a hashtag that called for a boycott of annual the Eurovision Song Contest, an international competition, because it was being held in Tel Aviv, Israel in May 2019.
The tweet also included a flyer that read: “Palestinians are calling on all Eurovision contestants to withdraw from the contest in apartheid Tel Aviv...The most meaningful expression of solidarity is to cancel performances in apartheid Israel.”
Kallas retweeted a May 3, 2019 tweet from the NYU school newspaper, NYULocal, about the passage of an academic boycott resolution, which was passed by NYU’s Department of Social and Cultural Analysis (SCA).
Promoting Anti-Israel Agitators
On March 26, 2019, Kallas tweeted: “what an absolutely unapologetic bada** @lsarsour [Linda Sarsour].”Linda Sarsour has frequently used the word “Zionist” as a pejorative and has tweeted that “nothing is creepier than Zionism.” She has aligned with noted anti-Semite Louis Farrakhan, dismissed [00:07:45] those who see her alignment with Farrakhan as problematic and slammed the “Jewish Media” for calling attention to it.
At Farrakhan’s 2015 #JusticeOrElse March, Sarsour asserted [00:00:36]: “The same people who justify the massacres of Palestinian people and call it ‘collateral damage’ are the same people who justify the murder of young black men and women.”
Kallas’s tweet referred to a March 25, 2019, NYU SJP co-sponsored event featuring Sarsour and included pictures of Sarsour from the event.
At the event, Sarsour said [01:22:45] she was “proud” of students who have passed BDS resolutions and specifically praised NYU students for voting to pass a divestment resolution in December 2018.
On April 14, 2019, Kallas tweeted: “#IStandWithIlhanOmar and every conservative, centrist, and liberal who doesn’t because they don’t like that that a Black muslim refugee who wears a hijab is in office and talking openly about the evils of US foreign policy can f**k off”
Ilhan Omar was elected to the U.S. Congress in 2018. In February 2019, top Congressional leaders denounced Omar for tweeting anti-Semitic remarks.Omar has demonized Israel and endorsed BDS. In July 2019, Omar introduced a pro-BDS resolution in the U.S. Congress, which she described as “an opportunity for us to explain why it is we support…the BDS movement.”
Anti-Israel Activism
On February 19, 2019, Jadaliyya posted Kallas’s interview of NYU SJP member Benjamin Zinevich on his experience at the 2018 National SJP Conference.Kallas indicated on Facebook that he “went” to an April 16, 2019 event hosted by NYU SJP, titled: “The Deadly Exchange: Fighting Surveillance, Reclaiming Safety,” about a campaign from the anti-Israel organization, Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP).
In 2017, JVP launched the “Deadly Exchange (DX)” campaign, which accused American Jewish organizations of promoting human rights abuses. JVP also released a video that blamed [00:04:04] U.S.-based Jewish organizations for violence that occurs against Black and Brown communities, immigrants and activists in the U.S.
The event’s Facebook description said: “Come listen for a discussion on ‘The Deadly Exchange’, or the security partnerships between the IDF and local police forces across the United States. Learn how topics of Islamophobia, ‘border security’, and the surveillance state in the United States are bolstered by alliances by Israeli security forces. [sic]”
Kallas indicated on Facebook that he “went” to an April 15, 2019 event, co-hosted by NYU SJP and NYU JVP, that would be moderated by Leen Dweik, the 2018-2019 President of NYU SJP. The event’s Facebook page also said it would feature as panelists Executive Director of the anti-Israel organization JVP, Rebecca Vilkomerson, Marc Lamont-Hill and Omar Barghouti.
In November 2018, Marc Lamont Hill was fired from his position as a contributor to CNN News network following controversial comments where he reportedly whitewashed Palestinian violence and accused Israel of “state violence and ethnic cleansing.” He also called for a “free Palestine from the river to the sea.”
At the event, which Barghouti attended via video link, he said [00:00:01]: “When I heard that the divestment resolution passed with 50 groups supporting it I said NYU must be called the student capital of the BDS movement of the world.”
Barghouti, founder of the BDS movement, has claimed [00:04:28] that international law grants everyone with Palestinian ancestry the unqualified right to settle in Israel. Barghouti has also insisted [01:18:21]that the demands of BDS are “inflexible” and “non-negotiable” — and if people object, then “tough.”
A day later, NYU SJP posted the video on Facebook and wrote: “Omar Barghouti just called NYU student capitol of the BDS movement of the world!!! We are WINNING!”
Demonizing The Police
On August 3, 2019, Kallas tweeted: “ALL COPS ARE MOTHERF**KING BASTARDS”On June 7, 2019, Kallas tweeted: “i rest easy knowing these vanguards of justice are *check notes* stealing cheap bags from poor people so poor people can’t make money.”
Kallas’s tweet linked to a tweet from the New York Police Department 1st Precinct, reporting the seizure of counterfeit items.
On July 26, 2018, NYU SJP posted to Facebook a statement supporting Ahed Tamimi’s release from Israeli prison.
The Facebook description of the protest, titled: “ACTION: Resisting the Celebration of Apartheid,” said: “speak out against the lack of acknowledgement of the expulsion, massacre, and destruction of Palestinians and their homes.”
NYU SJP also called Israel’s Independence on Twitter an “act of ethnic cleansing and apartheid.”
On April 18, 2019, NYU SJP posted a photo on Facebook of students with their faces obscured by emojis, in front of a table featuring the Israeli flag and a banner that said: “Jews are Indigenous to the Land of Israel CHANGE MY MIND.”
The Facebook post said: “Thumbs Up If You’re a Racist: they intimidated to sue us because they don’t like getting called out version!”
NYU SJP’s post referred to anoriginal version of the NYU SJP post which reportedly showed the faces of the pro-Israel students and said: “Thumbs Up If You’re a Racist.”
On April 27, 2018, NYU SJP organized a protest against the annual “Rave in the Park” celebration of Israel’s Independence Day. The protest’s Facebook description said: “We refuse to let such a disturbing public celebration of colonialism and apartheid on our campus and in our park go by without a response.”
During the protest, activists chanted [00:04:55]: "Intifada, Intifada, Long live the Intifada" and two protestors were reportedly arrested and charged with reckless endangerment and assault after grabbing [00:00:41] a microphone and an Israeli flag out of the hands of a student singing the Israeli national anthem.
Other protesters wiped [00:00:10] their feet on the Israeli flag and stomped on it.
That same day, NYU SJP posted to Facebook, urging anyone “angered at this celebratory event” to file a noise complaint with the police.
NYU SJP hosted Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) 2017, from March 20-24, 2017.
During IAW 2017, NYU SJP exhibited a mock apartheid wall, with text that demonized Israel, simulating Israel’s security barrier.
The resolution was co-authored by then-student senators and members of SJP, Rose Asaf, Leen Dweik and then-student senator Bayan Abubakr, who was reportedly a member ofNYU SJP.
The resolution demonized Israel, invoked the “threefold” goals of the BDS movement and was passed by the SGA on December 6, 2018, using a secret ballot. NYU’s administration opposed the BDS resolution.
NYU’s then-President Andrew Hamilton said: “‘A boycott of Israeli academics and institutions is contrary to our core principles of academic freedom, antithetical to the free exchange of ideas, and at odds with the University's position on this matter...and divestment from Israeli-related investments is not under consideration.’”
On April 9, 2018, NYU SJP posted to Facebook: “We are proud to announce a coalition of 50 NYU student groups who have pledged to support the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement for Palestinian human rights by pledging not to spend NYU club funds on Israeli goods, to boycott pro-Israel groups at NYU and off campus, and to call on NYU to divest from companies that profit off the violation of Palestinian human rights.
In 2017, JVP launched the “Deadly Exchange (DX)” campaign, which accused American Jewish organizations of promoting human rights abuses. JVP also released a video that blamed [00:04:04] U.S.-based Jewish organizations for violence that occurs against Black and Brown communities, immigrants and activists in the U.S.
The Facebook event description said: “Learn how topics of Islamophobia, ‘border security’, and the surveillance state in the United States are bolstered by alliances by Israeli security forces.”
On April 18, 2018, NYU SJP co-hosted an event titled: “IAW 2018: War, Deportations, and Deadly Exchanges,” as part of that year’s IAW on campus.
On April 13, 2018, NYU SJP tweeted: “We call for an end to these deadly exchange trips, which are primarily facilitated by @ADL_National and pro-Israel groups, such as @birthright, which runs a trip for Jewish cops.
NYU SJP Support for Anti-Israel Agitators
On March 13, 2019, NYU SJP posted to Facebook an image from a petition calling to “Disinvite Linda Sarsour” and wrote: “This is just a list of Islamophobes. As always, solidarity with Linda Sarsour!”Anti-Israel agitator Linda Sarsour frequently uses the word “Zionist” as a pejorative and has tweeted that “nothing is creepier than Zionism.” She has aligned with noted anti-Semite Louis Farrakhan, dismissed [00:07:45] those who see her alignment with Farrakhan as problematic and slammed the “Jewish Media” for calling attention to it.
On July 26, 2018, NYU SJP posted to Facebook a statement supporting Ahed Tamimi’s release from Israeli prison.
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.
NYU SJP Anti-Israel Activity
On May 9, 2019, NYU SJP staged a “die-in” protest, next to Realize Israel’s annual "Rave in the Park" event celebrating Israeli Independence Day. Realize Israel is a pro-Israel club at NYU.The Facebook description of the protest, titled: “ACTION: Resisting the Celebration of Apartheid,” said: “speak out against the lack of acknowledgement of the expulsion, massacre, and destruction of Palestinians and their homes.”
NYU SJP also called Israel’s Independence on Twitter an “act of ethnic cleansing and apartheid.”
On April 18, 2019, NYU SJP posted a photo on Facebook of students with their faces obscured by emojis, in front of a table featuring the Israeli flag and a banner that said: “Jews are Indigenous to the Land of Israel CHANGE MY MIND.”
The Facebook post said: “Thumbs Up If You’re a Racist: they intimidated to sue us because they don’t like getting called out version!”
NYU SJP’s post referred to anoriginal version of the NYU SJP post which reportedly showed the faces of the pro-Israel students and said: “Thumbs Up If You’re a Racist.”
On April 27, 2018, NYU SJP organized a protest against the annual “Rave in the Park” celebration of Israel’s Independence Day. The protest’s Facebook description said: “We refuse to let such a disturbing public celebration of colonialism and apartheid on our campus and in our park go by without a response.”
During the protest, activists chanted [00:04:55]: "Intifada, Intifada, Long live the Intifada" and two protestors were reportedly arrested and charged with reckless endangerment and assault after grabbing [00:00:41] a microphone and an Israeli flag out of the hands of a student singing the Israeli national anthem.
Other protesters wiped [00:00:10] their feet on the Israeli flag and stomped on it.
That same day, NYU SJP posted to Facebook, urging anyone “angered at this celebratory event” to file a noise complaint with the police.
NYU SJP hosted Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) 2017, from March 20-24, 2017.
Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) is presented internationally as a “series of events that seeks to raise awareness of…Israel’s settler-colonial project and apartheid system over the Palestinian people.” One of its goals is to build support for the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement. IAW has been renamed Palestine Awareness Week.
During IAW 2017, NYU SJP exhibited a mock apartheid wall, with text that demonized Israel, simulating Israel’s security barrier.
Israel’s security barrier, 97 percent of which is a low chain-link barrier, was built as a deterrent to Palestinian terror attacks. The concrete portions of the fence were built in response to Palestinian sniper attacks.
NYU SJP 2018 Divestment Campaign
On November 1, 2018, members of NYU SJP presented a divestment bill to the NYU Student Government Association (SGA), to further the agenda of the Boycott, Divestment Sanctions (BDS) movement.The resolution was co-authored by then-student senators and members of SJP, Rose Asaf, Leen Dweik and then-student senator Bayan Abubakr, who was reportedly a member ofNYU SJP.
The resolution demonized Israel, invoked the “threefold” goals of the BDS movement and was passed by the SGA on December 6, 2018, using a secret ballot. NYU’s administration opposed the BDS resolution.
NYU’s then-President Andrew Hamilton said: “‘A boycott of Israeli academics and institutions is contrary to our core principles of academic freedom, antithetical to the free exchange of ideas, and at odds with the University's position on this matter...and divestment from Israeli-related investments is not under consideration.’”
NYU SJP Promoting BDS
On April 15, 2019, NYU SJP hosted an event featuring a panel that included Omar Barghouti. The panel was moderated by Leen Dweik, then-President of NYU SJP.Barghouti, the founder of the BDS movement, has claimed [00:04:28] that international law grants everyone with Palestinian ancestry the unqualified right to settle in Israel. Barghouti has also insisted [01:18:21]that the demands of BDS are “inflexible” and “non-negotiable,” and if people object, then “tough.”
A day later, NYU SJP posted the video from the event on Facebook and wrote: “Omar Barghouti just called NYU student capitol of the BDS movement of the world!!! We are WINNING!”
On November 19, 2018, NYU SJP wrote on Facebook: “When we fight, we win.BDS works” and attached an article in the post reporting the decision by Airbnb Inc. to remove listings in Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
On October 24. 2018, NYU SJP hosted a panel about BDS where anti-Israel Professor Jasbir Puar was listed among the panel of speakers. Puar is on the Advisory Board of the U.S. Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (USACBI) and applauded the American Studies Association (ASA)’s move for an Academic Boycott of Israeli universities.
NYU SJP hosted NYU Israel Apartheid Week (IAW) 2018, from April 15-21, 2018. The Facebook event description said: “IAW will be an opportunity to reflect on this history of resistance and further advance BDS campaigns for the continued growth and impact of the movement.”
On November 19, 2018, NYU SJP wrote on Facebook: “When we fight, we win.BDS works” and attached an article in the post reporting the decision by Airbnb Inc. to remove listings in Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
On October 24. 2018, NYU SJP hosted a panel about BDS where anti-Israel Professor Jasbir Puar was listed among the panel of speakers. Puar is on the Advisory Board of the U.S. Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (USACBI) and applauded the American Studies Association (ASA)’s move for an Academic Boycott of Israeli universities.
NYU SJP hosted NYU Israel Apartheid Week (IAW) 2018, from April 15-21, 2018. The Facebook event description said: “IAW will be an opportunity to reflect on this history of resistance and further advance BDS campaigns for the continued growth and impact of the movement.”
On April 9, 2018, NYU SJP posted to Facebook: “We are proud to announce a coalition of 50 NYU student groups who have pledged to support the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement for Palestinian human rights by pledging not to spend NYU club funds on Israeli goods, to boycott pro-Israel groups at NYU and off campus, and to call on NYU to divest from companies that profit off the violation of Palestinian human rights.
Support for JVP’s Deadly Exchange Campaign
On April 16, 2019, NYU SJP hosted an event titled: “The Deadly Exchange: Fighting Surveillance, Reclaiming Safety.”In 2017, JVP launched the “Deadly Exchange (DX)” campaign, which accused American Jewish organizations of promoting human rights abuses. JVP also released a video that blamed [00:04:04] U.S.-based Jewish organizations for violence that occurs against Black and Brown communities, immigrants and activists in the U.S.
The Facebook event description said: “Learn how topics of Islamophobia, ‘border security’, and the surveillance state in the United States are bolstered by alliances by Israeli security forces.”
On April 18, 2018, NYU SJP co-hosted an event titled: “IAW 2018: War, Deportations, and Deadly Exchanges,” as part of that year’s IAW on campus.
On April 13, 2018, NYU SJP tweeted: “We call for an end to these deadly exchange trips, which are primarily facilitated by @ADL_National and pro-Israel groups, such as @birthright, which runs a trip for Jewish cops.
BDS
The Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement was founded by Omar Barghouti in 2005 to challenge “international support for Israeli apartheid and settler-colonialism.” BDS is an allegedly “Palestinian-led movement,” although leading BDS activists have admitted [00:01:01] this is not true.
One of the demands of BDS includes [point 3] what is generally known as the “right of return,” a demand discredited as a way to eliminate Israel. Barghouti said the “right of return” is a means to “end Israel’s existence as a Jewish state.”
Barghouti has said that BDS “aims to turn Israel into a pariah state, as South Africa once was.”
In his activism, Barghouti has also said [00:05:55] regarding Israel: “Definitely, most definitely, we oppose a Jewish state in any part of Palestine. No…rational Palestinian, not a sellout Palestinian, will ever accept a Jewish state in Palestine.”
The movement has been linked to numerous terrorist organizations and received a public endorsement from Hamas in 2017.
BDS initiatives include calling on institutions and individuals to divest from Israeli-affiliated companies, promoting academic and cultural boycotts of Israel, and organizing anti-Israel rallies, protests and campaigns.
The movement’s most notable achievement has been the infiltration of university campuses through lobbying for “BDS resolutions.” In these cases, student governments and student groups, backed by their own anti-Israel members and affiliates, have proposed resolutions on some form of boycott of, or divestment from, Israel and Israeli-affiliated entities.
Boycott resolutions, although non-binding, have been passed by student governments on numerous North American campuses.
BDS activity is often aggressive and disruptive. It has been noted that universities that pass BDS resolutions see a marked increase in anti-Semitic incidents on campus. On one campus, when the student government debated a BDS resolution, reports emerged of violent threats against those opposing it.
Social Media and Weblinks
Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/100023463045536
Twitter:https://twitter.com/absolutezerp
LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-k-2707509a/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/johnkallas14/ [Private]
Twitter:https://twitter.com/absolutezerp
LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-k-2707509a/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/johnkallas14/ [Private]
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Infamous Quotes
“ALL COPS ARE MOTHERF**KING BASTARDS”
