Kit O'Connell
Overview
O’Connell’s LinkedIn also said he was a “Daily Staff Writer” for MintPress News (MPN) from April 2015 to January 2017. On September 8, 2014, O’Connell indicated on Facebook that he started working as a blog editor for MPN.
MPN is an online anti-Israel publication that has published articles expressing support for terrorists, demonizing Israel and promoting BDS.
Promoting Intifada
Since the early 2000s, the term “intifada,” which translates from Arabic as “uprising” or “insurrection,” has carried the connotation of violence.
The Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs [MFA] reported that there were 316 terrorist attacks perpetrated by Palestinians in July 2016, with one person being murdered and 17 injured. There were multiple stabbing attacks, shooting attacks, a car-ramming attack, “pipe/roadside” bombs, 231 stone-throwing incidents and 51 petrol bombs.
On July 27, 2016, O’Connell tweeted: “Masked protesters by the gate chanting "Free #FreePalestine! Intifada! Intifada!" #DNCinPHL #SeeYouInPhilly.”
Spreading Hatred of Israel
.”“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.
O’Connell’s tweet featured a screenshot of a Twitter post that read: “Tell your Senators that you don’t want your tax dollar going to murderers...” The post also contained a graphic of murdered United States veteran Taylor Force, with text that read: “Palestinian Terrorist Kills American Veteran Taylor Force.”
On March 8, 2016, Palestinian terrorist Bashar Masalha murdered Force in a stabbing attack in Tel Aviv. Force’s murder led to U.S. Congress passing the Taylor Force Act in March 2018 “which ends American aid to the Palestinian Authority (PA) unless the PA ceases to pay stipends to the terrorists and their families”.
On March 14, 2016, O’Connell tweeted: “Aharoni says Israelis are ‘the most self critical people in the world.’ But meanwhile,they are mostly fine with apartheid? #Israel #SXSW.”
On September 14, 2015, O’Connell tweeted: “Zionists all in my mentions demonstrating their inhumanity. Sorry, #Israel, you can't your genocide. #FreePalestine!”
On May 15, 2015, O’Connell posted to Facebook: “It's not a matter of whether American cops are being trained by #Israel, but a matter of how much and what they're learning. And the results can be seen on the streets of our cities …” O’Connell’s sentiments were later mirrored by Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP)’s“Deadly Exchange” campaign.
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.
O’Connell’s May 15, 2015 Facebook post linked to an article he wrote for MPN and publishedto his website, headlined: “From NYC, Ferguson To Baltimore, American Police Are Trained In Apartheid Israel.”
On November 14, 2014, O’Connell tweeted:: “@BaburRealer I hear from the #JSIL extremists every time we tweet about Rasmea, too. @MintPressNews.”
The hashtag “#JSIL” means “Jewish State in the Levant” and is used as a way of comparing Israel to the Islamic State (ISIS), also known as the Islamic State in the Levant (ISIL).
Odeh was a key military operative with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terrorist organization. In 1969, she masterminded a PFLP supermarket bombing that killed two college students. She also attempted to bomb the British consulate in Jerusalem. Odeh later moved to the United States but was deported to Jordan in 2017 for immigration fraud.
In an October 25, 2014 article written by O’Connell, he claimed the “Gaza Freedom Flotilla” was “an attempt to bring humanitarian aid and construction materials into Gaza’s blockaded port.”
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 August 3, 2014, during Israel’s Operation Protective Edge (OPE), O’Connell posted to Instagram a photo of a protester from a “Texas Stands with Gaza” rally held on August 2, 2014. On the same day, O’Connell agreed with a comment on his Instagram post that equated Israel and Zionism with terrorism.
Israel commenced OPE in July 2014 to stop rocket fire targeting Israeli civilians and to destroy Hamas attack tunnels.
On August 2, 2014, O’Connell tweeted: “Not Our Fault? #USA tax dollars support #Israel's genocide. #GazaUnderAttack #Gaza #Palestine.”
Defending Anti-Israel Agitators
On October 20, 2015, O’Connell posted to the National Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) Facebook page: “Hi! If you're a SJP supporter or other student support of #Palestine, and you've faced harassment recently, please get in touch for a story I'm writing for Mint Press News. #FreePalestine!”
SJP is an anti-Israel student organization that has campaigned for numerous terrorists. SJP has also been a major force in pushing the BDS movement on campus. Their activists have intimidated and harassed Jewish and pro-Israel students.
On November 3, 2015, O’Connell published an MPN article that stated: “MintPress spoke with representatives of both the University of Illinois at Chicago and the University of Minnesota Twin Cities chapters about their experiences in campus activism…”
Also on November 3, 2015, O’Connell tweeted praise for the two SJP Chapters, writing: “@SJP_UMN @SjpUic Thanks for help with my @MintPressNews article & for your ongoing, important work for #Palestine!”
Throughout his article, O’Connell showcased numerous SJP activists and also quoted one SJP activist’s defense of a terrorist: “First of all, there’s no proof that Fadi Alon [sic] did retaliate and did stab this boy, but if he did, and like the others that actually did, there are always reasons why these crimes are happening.”
The article claimed that Fadi Alloon was “a Palestinian teen, being hunted and killed by Israeli settlers,” and said the SJP chapter at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities took to their Facebook page to express solidarity with the slain youth.
Fadi Aloon was shot by Israeli security forces after he stabbed a 15-year-old Israeli boy. Several hours before the attack, Aloon posted “Either martyrdom or victory” on his Facebook page.
Supporting BDS
In November 2018, Airbnb announced it would remove 200 listings in Israel’s West Bank from the Airbnb platform, due to pressure from BDS activists. In April 2019, Airbnb reversed its decision and allocated profits from the region to non-profit organizations dedicated to humanitarian aid.
On September 14, 2015, O’Connell published an article to his website he wrote for MPN, titled: “Boycott On Aisle Three: Avoid These 6 Products That Support Israeli Apartheid.” O’Connell wrote: “One of the simplest ways to support BDS is by making the right choices at the grocery store.” He provided readers with a list of products to boycott that he said was “compiled from bdslist.org.”
On July 8, 2015, O’Connell posted to Facebook: “Happy 10th Birthday to the BDS Movement حركة بي دي إس! [BDS Movement!] Here are 5 of the movement's best accomplishments, as selected by yours truly. My latest on Mint Press News! #BDS #Palestine.”
On July 7, 2015, MPN promoted on Twitter one of O’Connell’s article’s that endorsed BDS. O’Connell responded to MPN,writing: “Thanks, looking forward to sharing this one. Go #BDS! You are unstoppable!”
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
Twitter: https://twitter.com/KitOConnell
Instagram: https://instagram.com/KitOconnell/
Website:http://kitoconnell.com/
- Status:
- Professional
- University:
- Organizations:
- BDS
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- Last Modified:
- 05/04/2026
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