Jon Russell

Overview 

Jon Russell has spread hatred of Zionism, demonized Israel and targeted Jewish organizations as an activist with the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement in the Boston area. He has also promoted [00:20:10] hatred of the police.

Russell was an organizer with BDS Boston in 2019 and 2020, as well as in 2021 and 2022. In May 2019, the BDS group Massachusetts Against Hewlett-Packard (MAHP) decided to rebrand itself as BDS Boston in order to focus on more campaigns.

In June 2022, BDS Boston launched the Mapping Project, a BDS campaign targeting Jewish and pro-Israel institutions in Massachusetts. The campaign’s website said that its goal was to reveal “the local entities and networks that enact devastation, so we can dismantle them.” 

As of August 2022, Russell worked as a “Food Justice Organizer” for the Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance (NAMA). He was also a member of The COMP (Cultures of Mixed People) musical group.

As of the same date, Russel went by the alias “Jon Carnel” on Instagram and Youtube.

March 31, 2022 - BDS Boston Rally

Russell led chants at an anti-Israel rally demonizing the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). The rally was outside of Boston City Hall and ADL’s Boston office. It was co-hosted by BDS Boston and other activist groups, including chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP). 

The day of the rally, BDS Boston tweeted a video of Russell leading [00:00:01] the chant: “ADL’s not fighting hate!” with the crowd responding: “They send cops to a racist state!” The tweet included the hashtags, “#DropTheADL #EndTheDeadlyExchange,” referring to two separate campaigns demonizing the ADL. 

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.

 Protesters Calling for Intifada

JVP Boston posted a video to Youtube where one rally speaker led [00:42:34] the chant: “Intifada, intifada! Free, free Palestine! Long live Palestine! Long live the intifada! Intifada, intifada! Intifada, intifada!”

Since the early 2000s, the term “intifada,” which translates from Arabic as “uprising” or “insurrection,” has carried the connotation of violence.  

May 24, 2021 - City Council Hearing

Russell demonized Israel at a hearing of the Cambridge City Council (CCC) where he promoted BDS.

On May 24, 2021, the CCC held a hearing and vote on Policy Order #109 (POR #109), which, as originally worded, would prohibit Cambridge from contracting with any company “whose products are used to perpetuate violations of International Human Rights Laws and Cambridge’s policy on discrimination.” 

At the May 24, 2021 hearing, Russell said [00:17:29]: “I am speaking in support of Policy Order #109…We should take this opportunity, too, to divest from HP and anybody else who supports the Israeli apartheid state.”

The Order as originally proposed failed to pass. On May 25, 2021, CCC adopted an amended Policy Order, which recognized Israel’s right to exist and defend itself.

December 13, 2020 - BDS Boston Protest

Russell was featured [slide 2] in a BDS Boston Instagram video picketing a local PUMA store. He held a sign that read: “Boycott PUMA. End sponsorship of Israeli settlement teams on stolen Palestinian land.” The post said: “Picketing Puma with BDS Boston.”

BDS Boston has staged multiple events to protest PUMA’s sponsorship of the Israeli Football Association (IFA). The protests were organized as part of the BDS Movement’s global #PumaBoycott campaign. 

July 1, 2020 - BDS Boston Rally

Russell was a featured [00:00:56] speaker at a BDS Boston “Day of Rage” event where he spread [00:13:55] hatred of Zionism, demonized [00:14:09] Israel, promoted [00:20:10] hatred of the police and targeted [00:00:46] local Jewish organizations.

The protest where Russel spoke was held in front of the Massachusetts State House in Boston. The protest was in objection to then-Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s announcement that Israeli sovereignty would be applied to certain areas of the West Bank. The annexation plan was postponed in August 2020. 

 Hatred of Zionism

At the event, Russel said [00:13:55]: “We will resist white supremacy in all forms. That includes Zionism!”

Zionism is the belief that Jews have the right to self-determination in their own national home, and the right to develop their national culture.

 Demonizing Israel

At the event, Russel said [00:14:09] that he wanted Israel to be “returning the land of ‘67,” referring to territory gained during the 1967 Six Day War, as well as “the land of ‘48 and all of Palestine. Free, free Palestine!” 

The phrases “Occupied 48” or “48 Palestine” are two common ways that anti-Israel activists refer to the State of Israel.  

At the event, protestors chanted [00:07:55]: “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free!” Russel clapped in support.

“From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free” is a chant calling to dismantle the State of Israel. It has also been employed by Hamas leader Khaled Mashal to call for the replacement of Israel with an Islamic state.

In another video, Russell also said [00:08:12]: “Until all the land is returned here on Turtle Island [North America] or in Palestine. If there is no justice, what will there be?” The crowd chanted back: “No peace!” Russell then twice led the chant: “No Justice!,” with the crowd responding: “No peace!”

 Hatred of Police

Russell later said [00:20:10]: “We are here for Palestinian liberation. We are here to abolish the police. We are here to free them all.”

 Targeting Jewish Organizations

Protesters also marched to the offices of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston (JCRC). 

Once there, Russell read [00:00:46] from a prepared statement signed by BDS Boston and other groups that was against the JCRC and ADL. 

Russell said [00:00:46]: “We demand that the ADL stop funding militarization trips for the police and that the JCRC stop funding propaganda trips to Israel for state and Congressional Representatives. These investments in the infrastructure of white supremacy harm our communities … We demand that the ADL and JCRC pay restitution to Black and indigenous communities that they have harmed in Massachusetts.”

One part of the BDS Boston statement that Russell did not read from said: “Zionism is a white supremacist ideology that originated in Europe in the late 1800's and has called for the continued colonization of Palestine and the displacement of the indigenous Palestinian people.”

April 20, 2020 - Online Event 

During the coronavirus pandemic, Russell participated in an online event organized in support of Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association and the group’s demand for the release of all “political prisoners” held in Israeli prisons.

At the event, Russell said [00:00:01]: “We are BDS Boston and we demand the release of all Palestinian prisoners…” He held a sign that referred to a Massachusetts prison and an Israeli prison, that said: “From MCI Norfolk to Ofer Prison: #FreeThemAll.”

Addameer is an NGO that advocates on behalf of prisoners held in Israeli jail, including many terrorists such as Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) recruiters Mohammad Allan and Khader Adnan. Addameer’s senior leadership includes [pp. 29-35] senior Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terrorists like Khalida Jarrar, whom Addameer also advocates for. In 2021, Israel officially designated Addameer as a terror organization.  

April 6, 2019 - BDS Boston Protest 

Russell participated [00:00:06] in a BDS Boston protest titled: “Don’t Dance With Apartheid,” which aimed to boycott a performance in Boston by the Israeli Batsheva Dance Company. In a BDS Boston Facebook video, he tore [00:00:11] an entrance ticket to the performance. 

The demonstrators at the “Don’t Dance With Apartheid” protest reportedly chanted: “While we dance to liberate, Batsheva dances for a racist state!” Other speakers also said: “I’m up for dancing as much as anybody else. I love music, but there’s no dance in the world, and there’s no flag big enough to clean the blood of colonized people.”

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 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joncarnel [Private]  

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/jcr5304

Extra Videos

BDS Boston stands with Addameer to release all prisoners Facebook Apr 20 2020

BDS Boston March to "Drop the ADL" Twitter Mar 31 2022

BDS Boston Day of Rage to Drop the ADL Facebook Jul 1 2020

BDS Boston Day of Rage to Drop the ADL Facebook Jul 1 2020

BDS Boston Boycotting an Israeli Dance Company Facebook Apr 6 2019

BDS Boston Boycotting Puma Instagram Dec 13 2020