Kumars Salehi
Overview
Kumars Salehi has spread hatred of Israel as a student activist with Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at New York University (NYU). Salehi was also a member of SJP at the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley).Salehi is an advocate of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.
Salehi promoted and participated in Block the Boat, an anti-Israel campaign organized by the Arab Resource and Organizing Center (AROC) in the San Francisco Bay Area to prevent a Zim container ship from unloading its cargo of Israeli trade items at the Port of Tampa.
As of May 7, 2019, Salehi is the co-host of a podcast called: “Delete Your Account,” about “the worlds of politics and pop culture.”
As of April 2019, Salehi’s Facebook page said he was a Graduate Student Instructor at UC Berkeley. His Facebook page also said that he studies Germanistik at Berkeley since 2014.
Spreading Hatred of Israel
Salehi wrote a blog called: “The Red Fury” between December 2011 and April 2015.On March 23, 2013 he asserted that “shared values" between Israel and the U.S are "militarism" and "apartheid."
On August 2, 2014, he wrote a blog titled: “Every Senate Democrat just voted to fund Israel’s genocide in Gaza.”
On April 19, 2014, Salehi quoted Columbia University professor Joseph Massad’s assertion that "Zionism and white nationalist anti-Semitism have historically been allies" in a blog post titled: “Why does the alleged KC terrorist see Israel as a model for a ‘White Christian state?’”
In February 2014, Salehi was interviewed [00:00:07] on PressTV, an Iranian propaganda channel described as "a platform for the full fascist conspiracy theory of supernatural Jewish power." During the interview, Salehi accused [00.02;28] Israel of ethnic discrimination, advocated [00:01:48] for BDS and promoted [00:02:32] the “right of return”.
The “right of return” is a Palestinian demand discredited as a means to eliminate Israel. International law mandates no absolute right of return and UN Resolution 194, which defined principles for “refugees wishing to return to their homes,” was unanimously rejected by Arab nations following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.
On July 6, 2015, Salehi tweeted: “tfw 47% of Dems say Israel is a racist country but ur still an apartheid loving piece of sh*t.”
On July 2, 2015, Salehi posted to Facebook: “Berlin wall museum invites guests to leave a message. My reminder that Israel's West Bank wall is 2x as high as East Germany's.”
Salehi’s post included a photo of his hand-drawn “reminder” that read: “Israel’s apartheid wall is 2x as tall as Berlin.”
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.
On May 3, 2015, Salehi posted a photo on Facebook of a sign that read: “Falafel & Shwarma is NOT Israeli food. culinary APPROPRIATION is a part of the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.”
SJP Activism at UC Berkeley
On March 27, 2016, Salehi promoted SJP’s Palestine Awareness Week (PAW) at UC Berkeley on Twitter, specifically drawing attention to a mock checkpoint and a die-in .Salehi tweeted: “Bay Area friends of SJP: this week is Palestine Awareness Week (fka IAW) at Cal! Would love to see you there
He also said: “this Thursday, wear red and join @SJPatBerkeley for a die-in & march for Palestine—a radical time will be had by all https://www.facebook.com/events/447042462151836/…”
Palestine Awareness Week (PAW) is a re-branding for American audiences of Israel Apartheid Week (IAW), originally presented as “an international series of events that seek to raise awareness of Israel’s settler-colonial project and apartheid system over the Palestinian people” and build support for the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.
At the PAW March, SJP at UC Berkeley leaders reportedly called on the UC Board of Regents to divest from Israeli businesses.
Salehi was featured in a series of SJP at UC Berkeley’s photos posted on Facebook from the week and listed as a contact for the die-in.
On March 29, 2016, Salehi tweeted photos from SJP at UC Berkeley’s 2016 mock checkpoint. One photo featured pro-Israel students holding signs memorializing terror victims. Salehi tweeted: “nbd just repping apartheid.”
On November 17, 2015, Salehi was featured in an SJP at UC Berkeley photo posted on Facebook with Remi Kanazi after a November 16, 2015 event at UC Berkeley.
Poet Remi Kanazi is known for his aggressively anti-Israel spoken-word performances. He has supported terrorism and has compared Israel to both ISIS and the Ku Klux Klan.
The event’s Facebook description said the day was “a call for activists and organizations on campuses across the world to organize massive protests on every college and university campus.including “...rallies, sit-ins, civil disobedience, and push for BDS activities.”
At the event, Unis Barakat a Cal SJP affiliate, led protesters in chanting: “Intifada, Intifada! We support the Intifada!”
On February 26, 2015, Salehi shared audio from SJP UC Berkeley’s mock checkpoint set up in front of one of the University gates for Cal SJP’s 2015 Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) at UC Berkeley.
On February 25, 2015, Salehi posted photos on Twitter and on Facebook of IAW which included a mock apartheid wall meant to represent Israel’s securtiy 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.
On November 8, 2014, Salehi featured in an interview on KPFA speaking about his SJP activism.
On February 24, 2015, SJP at UC Berkeley put mock eviction notices under the doors of almost 600 students residing in UC Berkeley student dormitories. The action led to Salehi receiving an email reprimanding SJP at UC Berkeley “for our mock eviction action during IAW, warning future actions would get us suspended.”
On February 1, 2015, Salehi wrote on Facebook: “all done with my SJP/BDS workshop for student leaders. Three different sessions, my Zionist meter didn't go off once.” Salehi’s post included a photo on Facebook of the outline of the workshop that he gave to student leaders where he demonized Israel.
SJP Activism at NYU
In the early hours of April 24, 2014, Kumars and other NYU SJP members distributed fake eviction notices under the doors of over 2000 students living in two student residence halls at NYU. The notices ordered the students to leave their dorm rooms, declaring that their suites were “scheduled for demolition within three days.”
Several Jewish NYU students said that the notice was an attempt to intimidate them. According to at least one source, the eviction notices specifically targeted Jewish students by distributing the notices in a dormitory where many Jewish students resided.
NYU spokesman John Beckman released a statement condemning the manner in which the flyers were distributed saying it was not consistent with the university’s tradition of professional discourse.”
On April 25, 2014, NYU SJP claimed on Facbook that those who claimed the NYU SJP’s action was anti-Semitic, did so “to distract from the real atrocities committed by the Israeli government.”
On April 26, 2014, Salehi defended SJP's actionsin an article published on Mondoweiss titled: “Our eviction action at NYU created more dialogue than ever before,” where he said that NYU SJP’s action didn’t specifically target Jewish students at NYU.
On May 13, 2014, Salehi also wrote an article published in the Electronic Intifada titled: “New York University conflates Palestine solidarity with religious prejudice,” where he accused the vice-president of the pro-Israel student group on NYU’s campus, who had objected to the distribution of the eviction notices on campus, of making “baseless, incoherent accusations parroted by the Anti-Defamation League and the mainstream media.”
One year after the eviction notices were posted, on April 24, 2015, NYU SJP celebrated the anniversary on its Facebook page, proclaiming: “We continue to be proud of this action.”
On March 5, 2014, Salehi posed for a photo posted by NYU SJP on Facebook tabling at an event that promoted the boycott of Sabra and Tribe hummus. NYU SJP’s Facebook post read: “From the river to the sea, our hummus is occupation free! (Come talk to us at Kimmel).”
“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.
On March 11, 2014 Salehi posed for a photo posted to Facebook by NYU SJP from that year’s IAW, with anti-Israel activists Max Blumenthal and Ali Abunimah, who co-founded the anti-Israel Electronic Intifada (EI).
The event's Facebook description said Blumenthal and Abunimah spoke about “the next steps of removing the apartheid and settler colonial system set up by Israel and the current state of affairs within the BDS movement.”
Pushing BDS
UAW 2865 is a union representing 13,000 Academic Student Employees (ASEs), including teaching assistants, tutors and graders, at the nine teaching campuses of the University of California (UC).
After the vote was proposed in July 2014, UC’s Office of the Provost circulated a cautionary letter to all Chancellors. The letter clarified the University’s position on ASE’s advocating for BDS in class, stating: “the university should remain aloof from politics and never function as an instrument for the advance of partisan interest.”
On November 12, 2014, leading up to vote, the UAW 2865 BDS Caucus brought BDS advocates, including Arab Resource and Organizing Center (AROC) organizer Lara Kiswani, to UC Berkeley to promote the vote. Salehi interviewed and introduced Kiswani at the “BDS Caucus event” promoting the vote.
Kiswani declared [00:00:15]: “BDS is about isolating Israel economically, politically and culturally.” She also claimed [00:00:20]: “bringing down Israel will really benefit everyone in the world, everyone in society, particularly the workers”.
In November of 2014, UAW International issued a letter reiterating its firm position opposing BDS. Furthermore, the California Teamsters, representing nearly 250,000 workers statewide, criticized UAW 2865 Executive Board’s involvement with BDS.
The Teamsters said: “we cannot conceive of an action more hostile to the interests of our [Teamsters] members and more antithetical to the most basic principles of the union movement.”
UAW 2865’s BDS Proposal voted on by UAW 2865 on December 4, 2014, stated: “UAW 2865 should call on the University of California (UC) and UAW International to divest their investments from Israeli state institutions and certain international companies.
The proposal also called upon the U.S. government to end military aid to Israel.
The divestment proposal passed. However, in December 2015, UAW International overturned the UAW 2865 boycott resolution.
Salehi co-authored an article published in Mondoweiss on November 7, 2014, titled: “Unionizing solidarity with Palestine: Support grows for BDS among grassroots labor movement.”
The authors accused Israel of massacre and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. They also praised the Block the Boat protests and UAW 2865’s BDS proposal.
In February 2014, Salehi promoted BDS when he was interviewed on PressTV, an Iranian propaganda channel described as "a platform for the full fascist conspiracy theory of supernatural Jewish power."
He called [00:02:13] BDS a huge strategy and a campaign that demands not only the end of the occupation of Palestinian territory but also an end to ethnic discrimination in what's called israel proper
On August 8, 2014, Salehi tweeted: “.@LanaDelRey I'm a big fan but your Palestinian fans ask you to boycott, & rescheduling isn't that. #BoycottIsrael or I'll boycott you #BDS.”
On December 1, 2014, Salehi reportedly stated: “‘BDS is the future - the peace process is the past.’”
On November 18, 2014, Salehi promoted the UAW BDS resolution in a debate with the pro-Israel group called Informed Grads who opposed to the resolution.
Salehi authored a January 26, 2015 article in the Berkeley Journal of Sociology titled: “BDS in the United States,” where he described: “BDS tactics act...to normalize the isolation of Israel on the level of public discourse by grounding the case for boycott ...rather than as a ‘conflict’ between comparable parties.”
On the same day, Salehi tweeted: “The core of #BDS isn't a tactic but an analysis of the problem: the colonial project of an ethnically-exclusive state.” In the same thread he tweeted: “#BDS tactics don't just isolate Israel in the global community, they also normalize the isolation of Israel on the level of public discourse.”
On July 11, 2016, Salehi tweeted an interview he did on the podcast show he co-hosted called: “Delete Your Account” with BDS movement founder Omar Barghouti titled: “Ending Complicity.” The interview focused on the strategy and theory of BDS.
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.
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/1951950Twitter: https://twitter.com/kumarssalehi
Website:https://theredfury.wordpress.com/
Youtube:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCH0L7-WzoM1v3GQ1kMm8TRQ
MySpace: https://myspace.com/ksalehi/
- Status:
- Student
- University:
- New-York,
- more...
- California-Berkeley
- Organizations:
- BDS,
- SJP
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- Last Modified:
- 06/23/2025
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