Kareem El-Hosseiny
Overview
El-Hosseiny has also defended violent agitators and demonized American Jewish organizations, Israel [00:07:40] and Zionism. El-Hosseiny is a supporter [00:02:56] of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement. In 2019, he showed support for Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, after Omar was condemned for making anti-Semitic remarks.
As of July 2019, El-Hosseiny’s LinkedIn page said he has been the Government Relations Coordinator for American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) since August 2016. His responsibilities at AMP include lobbying against anti-BDS legislation and training activists during AMP’s annual Palestine Advocacy Day (PAD) in Washington, D.C.
El-Hosseiny has organized with members of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), IfNotNow (INN) and CODEPINK. He is also affiliated with the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA).
On March 1, 2018, Lacy MacAuley, an anarchist activist, tweeted that El-Hosseiny was a JVP “representative.”
El-Hosseiny’s LinkedIn page said he graduated from Ohio State University (OSU) in 2012 with a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and International Relations. He was active with the Muslim Students Association (MSA) chapter at OSU.
As of August 2018, El-Hosseiny went by the alias “Kareem Elhilim” on Facebook.
Arrested For Unlawful Conduct
On February 16, 2017, El-Hosseiny was arrested [00:03:23] for disrupting the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on David Friedman's nomination to be U.S. ambassador to Israel. El-Hosseiny accused Friedman of “supporting the theft of Palestinian land.” Capitol Police removed El-Hosseiny as he continued shouting accusations at Friedman.El-Hosseiny was later charged with unlawful conduct and disrupting the U.S. Congress. He and fellow AMP leader Taher Herzallah joined together with INN and CODEPINK activists to carry out the disruption.
On April 20, 2017, INN and AMP co-hosted a rally titled “#DropTheCharges” to pressure the U.S. Attorney into dropping the charges against El- Hosseiny and Herzallah. The charges were ultimately dropped.
Participating in a Pro-Hamas Aid Convoy
As of August 2018, El-Hosseiny’s AMP profile said that he participated in the “Viva Palestina” convoy to Gaza with British politician George Galloway in 2009, “one year after the Gaza Massacre.”Galloway has a history of supporting terrorists and his anti-Zionist rhetoric has been condemned as anti-Semitic many times. He led three “Viva Palestina” convoys within one year of Operation Cast Lead (OCL) in 2008-09, which Israel commenced to stop Hamas rocket fire from Gaza targeting Israeli civilians.
When the first convoy reached Gaza in March 2009, Galloway said [00:01:09]: “We will give all our vehicles, our keys, our aid, our money to [Hamas chief] Ismail Haniyeh, the elected prime minister of Palestine.” Participants in the June-July 2009 convoy spent [p.17] met with Haniyeh when they reached Gaza.
According to a report [p.27-29] by the Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT), the convoy delivered [p.29] vehicles and cash directly to Hamas. Activists with the Turkish group, The Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief (IHH) also participated [p.28].
IHH has documented terrorist connections and is designated as a terror group in Germany, the Netherlands and Israel.
Promoting an Anti-Semitic Conspiracy Theory
On October 26, 2017, El-Hosseiny posted an article on Facebook about Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque, by Taher Herzallah.In the article, Herzallah alleged [p.54] that Jerusalem is experiencing “ongoing Judaization (i.e. forcibly removing Palestinians and imposing Jewish authority).” He claimed that the “Judaization” and “the constant allegedly archaeological digs that undermine the mosque’s foundations” may lead to the mosque being “lost forever.”
The allegation that Jews “threaten” to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque has been a traditional pretext for Arab attacks on Jews long before the existence of the modern Jewish state. Such propaganda served as the excuse for an upsurge in Palestinian violence that flared in the fall of 2015 and incited Palestinians to attempt mass casualty attacks on Israeli civilians in July 2016..
Herzallah added [p.54]: “In a world where Zionism is slowly eating away at the crippled Muslim world, the Palestinians have essentially become our last line of defense. If Israel were to take over the entire compound or possibly even destroy al-Aqsa, it would be the death knell of the Muslim world …”
El-Hosseiny concluded his post with the hashtags “#FreeAlAqsa #FreePalestine.”
El-Hosseiny retweeted a July 19, 2017 tweet from @AMPalestine that said: “What's behind the current situation in Jerusalem? Check out our interactive timeline #SaveAlAqsa.”
The tweet linked to an AMP site called “Jerusalem in the crosshairs,” that said: “The Palestinians have always resisted the colonization and the attempted Judaization of Al Aqsa” [slide 1] and that the “Judaization of Jerusalem” [slide 2] began in 1917.
Defending Violent Agitators
On May 31, 2010, El-Hosseiny wrote a Facebook comment defending violent activists in on the Mavi Marmara affair. He alleged Israel committed “piracy on the high seas” when IDF soldiers intercepted the ship and claimed that “the only weapons found on the ship were just pieces of the ship and a slingshot.”The Mavi Marmara was the lead ship in the “Freedom Flotilla” that attempted to sail to Gaza in May 2010. Activists aboard the ship agitated for violent confrontation and chanted a slogan glorifying the killing of Jews. When Israeli security forces boarded the Marmara, protesters attacked them with iron bars, metal chairs, knives, stun grenades and firearms, rocks and bottles. A United Nations report found that the flotilla agitators initiated an organized, violent confrontation with Israeli forces, and that the Marmara was carrying no humanitarian aid, only weaponry.
On March 30, 2018, El-Hosseiny posted on Facebook in support of the Hamas-led March of Return riots at the Israel-Gaza border fence, writing: “No fence will stand in their ways. They are coming with the message of peace and non-violence.”
Multiple media reports confirmed [00:00:20] the protesters’ breaches and attempted breaches of the border fence. One Hamas leader declared [00:00:30]: “We will take down the border [with Israel] and we will tear out their hearts from their bodies.”
The “right of return” is a Palestinian demand discredited as a means to eliminate Israel.
On May 14, 2018, El-Hosseiny again posted on Facebook in support of the March of Return. He also alleged that Israel was “massacring Palestinians,” denying their “very right to exist,” and that for “12 years Israel has caged Palestinians in Gaza as if they were farm animals.”
Demonizing American Jewish Organizations
On July 10, 2017, El-Hosseiny shared on Facebook a 2015 Facebook post that said: “Unfortunately, some mainstream American Jewish organizations have also been involved in subtle and passive promotion of Islamophobia while openly claiming to be against bias and in favor of interfaith dialog.” El-Hosseiny commented: “Hit the nail on the head.”On October 31, 2017, El-Hosseiny shared a JVP Facebook post accusing the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) of “spreading hate through police brutality in Palestine and the U.S.” and “funding the #DeadlyExchange between U.S. police and the Israeli military.”
On the same date, El-Hosseiny shared another Facebook post and tweeted in support for the #DeadlyExchange multiple times.
In 2017, JVP launched the “Deadly Exchange” campaign that accused American Jewish organizations of promoting human rights abuses.
JVP also released a video that blamed [00:04:04] US-based Jewish organizations for violence that occurs against Black and Brown communities, immigrants and activists in the U.S.
Demonizing Israel
On May 20, 2018, El-Hosseiny shared a Facebook post claiming that Israel was “murdering children in Gaza” during the March of Return. The post also said that “white Christian people” should condemn Israel without fear of offending their “Jewish Zionist friends.”On March 30, 2018, El-Hosseiny posted on Facebook praising “armed insurgencies against the occupation.” He also accused the media of pushing Israel’s “racist and supremacist narrative” and alleged that Israel has “ghettoed” Gazans in order “to maintain a Jewish state.”
On March 1, 2018, El-Hosseiny tweeted: “Today I testified that DC Metro Police should not be training with Israeli military, police, and intelligence. Israel is a state founded on displacement and discrimination. Israeli repression is not an example to follow.” His tweet embedded another tweet that identified him as a “representative” of JVP.
On October 23, 2017, El-Hosseiny alleged in a Facebook post that there is “Israeli apartheid in Jerusalem.” In the post, he shared an event page for an event titled: “From DC to Jerusalem: Fighting Displacement & Colonization.”
El-Hosseiny retweeted a May 13, 2017 tweet from @AMPalestine that accused Israel of “69 years of ongoing ethnic cleansing.”
On February 14, 2017, El-Hosseiny livestreamed on Facebook an anti-Israel protest with JVP and CODEPINK activists. In his chanting, he accused [00:07:40] Israeli Prime Minister, Binyamin Netanyahu of “genocide,” promoted [00:01:25] BDS and called [00:05:30] Israel’s security barrier the “apartheid wall.”
El-Hosseiny retweeted two July 21, 2014 tweets from the official twitter account of the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) UN representative that, respectively, accused Israel of “massacres in #Gaza” and used the hashtag “#GazaUnderAttack.”
Demonizing Zionism
On October 5, 2017, El-Hosseiny posted to Facebook a photo of Arab Knesset member, Haneen Zoabi, with the comment:“‘Zionism is racism.’” Zoabi has been investigated for inciting anti-Israel violence on a number of occasions.On May 26, 2018, El-Hosseiny shared a Facebook post that claimed: “Normalization with Zionism is the premiere threat to Palestinian justice.” The post went on to say: “Zionism, all of it, not just the right-wing brand, is predicated on the notion that Palestinian, Arab, & Muslim lives are expendable.”
The post also opposed the Muslim Leadership Initiative (MLI) program, claiming: “Zionist groups are emboldened to kill Palestinians and deprive us of our basic rights when they can point to their ‘successes’ (or, more accurately, coopting) in Muslim communities.”
MLI "invites North American Muslim leaders to explore how Jews understand Judaism, Israel and North American Jewish identity through a Zionist lens," and to expand their understanding of Jewish “ethics, faith, and practice.” According to MLI founder Imam Abdullah Antepli, “MLI aims to put mainstream North American Jewry in conversation with their Muslim counterparts.”
Following Omar’s presentation at Busboys&Poets TownHall, then-Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Congressman Elliot Engel, issued an online statement describing Omar’s comments [00:04:08] as a “vile anti-Semitic slur” as well as “unacceptable and deeply offensive.”
Other anti-Israel activists, including INN activist Natalie Bamdad, participated in the press conference defending Omar.
AMP
American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) was founded by UC Berkeley Professor Hatem Bazian as a vehicle to generate mainstream support in the United States for the Palestinian national cause.
On its website, the organization lists Bazian as the chairman of its national board and describes itself as “a national education and grassroots-based organization, dedicated to educating the American public about Palestine and its rich cultural, historical and religious heritage.”
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has accused AMP of promoting “extreme anti-Israel views and has at times provided a platform for anti-Semitism under the guise of educating Americans” about Palestinians. The ADL further stated that AMP is directly involved in campus-based anti-Israel activity through Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP).
Prior to founding the AMP in 2006, Dr. Bazian created SJP together with fellow UC Berkeley Professor Snehal Shingavi in 2001. The close working relationship between AMP and SJP has been documented several times over the years by several organizations, including NGO Monitor and StandWithUs.
In addition to providing financial, public relations and legal assistance to SJP, AMP has also been accused of having connections to Hamas. The AMP national board includes former members of both the Islamic Association of Palestine (IAP) and Holy Land Foundation (HLF), both of which were found liable for aiding and abetting Hamas. The IAP was founded by Mousa Mohammed Abu Marzook, a senior member of Hamas.
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.
IfNotNow (INN)
INN claims to be “young Jews angered by the overwhelmingly hawkish response of American Jewish institutions” to OPE. INN presents three demands on its website: “Stop the War on Gaza, End the Occupation, and Freedom and Dignity for All.”
INN defines “the Occupation as the military rule over Palestinians in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza,” which is land Israel has controlled for nearly 50 years since the 1967 Six-Day War. However, INN leaders have made [00:34:32] the claim [00:13:49] at protests that the occupation is 70 years long, referring to Israel’s founding in 1948.
INN actions have aimed to demonize [00:38:13] Israel, harass [00:05:44] mainstream American Jewish organizations like the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and decrease support for Israel among American Jews.
INN has used “public action and imaginative ritual” to achieve its goals, including disruptions where activists were arrested.
One of the high-profile arrests occurred at a May 2018 disruption at a U.S. Senator’s office in Washington, D.C. to protest legislation against the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.
At the same incident, INN used [00:07:17] the Jewish ritual of the Mourner’s Kaddish prayer to mourn [00:09:10] protesters who were killed during the Hamas-organized and funded Great March of Return riots on the Israel-Gaza border.
INN activists have also staged and promoted walk-offs from Birthright Israel trips, a heritage trip to Israel for young Jewish adults from across the world.
INN claims to take no position on the BDS movement and that it is “open to any who seek to shift the American Jewish public away from the status quo that upholds the Occupation.” However, INN organizes with pro-BDS, anti-Israel organizations including American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP).
JVP
JVP was founded in Berkeley, California in 1996, as an activist group with an emphasis on the “Jewish tradition” of peace, social justice and human rights. The organization is currently led by Rebecca Vilkomerson and its board members include Israel critics Naomi Klein, Judith Butler, Noam Chomsky and Tony Kushner.
JVP, which generally employs civil disobedience tactics to disrupt pro-Israel speakers and events, consists of American Jews and non-Jewish “allies” highly critical of Israeli policies. A staunch supporter of the BDS movement, JVP claims to aim its campaigns at companies that either support the Israeli military (Hewlett-Packard) or are active in the West Bank (SodaStream).
Although several Jewish groups critical of Israeli policies, like J Street and Partners for a Progressive Israel, make efforts to operate within the mainstream American Jewish community, JVP functions outside. The group is often criticized for serving as a tokenized Jewish voice for the pro-Palestinian camp and is widely regarded as the BDS movement’s “Jewish wing.”
JVP denies the notion of “Jewish peoplehood” and has even gone so far as to refer to its own Ashkenazi (Jews who spent the Diaspora in European countries) leadership as “white supremacy inside of JVP.”
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has accused JVP of being “the largest and most influential Jewish anti-Zionist group in the United States,” and said the group “exploits Jewish culture and rituals to reassure its own supporters that opposition to Israel not only does not contradict, but is actually consistent with, Jewish value.”
The ADL also claimed that “JVP consistently co-sponsors rallies to oppose Israeli military policy that are marked by signs and slogans comparing Israel to Nazi Germany, demonizing Jews and voicing support for groups like Hamas and Hezbollah.”
According to the ADL website, JVP “uses its Jewish identity to shield the anti-Israel movement from allegations of anti-Semitism and provide it with a greater degree of legitimacy and credibility.”
Social Media and Weblinks
Twitter:https://twitter.com/kelhosseinyFacebook:https://www.facebook.com/12454701/
Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/kelhosseiny/ [Private]
LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelhosseiny/
Videos
Photos & Screenshots
