Paul-Michael Irvin
Overview
Paul-Michael Irvin has called for Israel’s destruction, whitewashed Hamas terrorism, promoted incitement and compared Israel to Nazis. Irvin has also spread hatred of Zionists and Zionism, demonized Israel and is a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement.As of June, 2021, Irvin referred [00:29:26] to himself on Instagram as an "organizer" with Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP)’s chapter at the University of California Berkeley (UC Berkeley.)
As of August 2021, Irvin’s LinkedIn page said he graduated from UC Berkeley with a bachelor’s degree in Philosophy in 2019, and attended Berkeley City College in 2014-2016.
Irvin’s LinkedIn said he was located in Oakland, California.
In August 2021, Irvin tweeted he was “moving to LA [Los Angeles] this month.”
As of August 2021, Irvin used the name “PM Irvin” on Facebook and “Garfisms” on Twitter and Instagram.
Calling for Israel’s Destruction
On May 12, 2021, during Israel’s Operation Guardian of the Walls(OGW) in Gaza, Irvin tweeted: “a two-state solution is no solution at all. if you really want peace, Israel needs to be disarmed, defunded, sanctioned, and disbanded. Palestinian resistance to this apartheid regime, whether it be stones or rockets, is justified.”In May 2021, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorists fired over 4,300 rockets from Gaza at major population centers in Israel. Israel responded by launching OGW, carrying out targeted military strikes in Gaza.
Also, on May 12, 2021, Irvin tweeted: “there’s no question that it’s justified to launch rockets into Israel...”
On May 11, 2021, Irvin tweeted: “...Palestinians are overwhelmingly justified in resisting their oppressors by any and all means...”
On May 11, 2021, Irvin tweeted: “...we are responsible for putting an end to the occupation... so it’s very much our responsibility to fight against the existence of Israel. criticism is not enough.”
Whitewashing Hamas Terrorism
On May 12, 2021, during Israel’s OGW in Gaza, Irvin tweeted: “...palestinians, including hamas, are defending themselves against ethnic cleansing and ongoing genocide. the aggressor is unilaterally israel.Also, on May 12, 2021, Irvin tweeted: “... let’s not pretend that hamas has anywhere near the military potential and fighting power as israel, which has billions of US dollars in hand.”
On May 11, 2021, Irvin tweeted, claiming Hamas was “acting in self-defense, protected under international law.”
An August 2021 Human Rights Watch (HRW) report accused Hamas of “committing war crimes” during OGW “by indiscriminately firing thousands of rockets toward Israeli population centers.”
On May 10, 2021, Irvin tweeted: “Hamas’ retaliatory violence is absolutely incomparable to Israel’s ongoing genocide against Palestinians.”
On the same day, Irvin tweeted: “...israel is unilaterally the aggressor here; it has the blessing of the US empire, with money and arms, along with other western imperialist countries.”
Promoting Incitement
On May 12, 2021, during Israel’s OGW in Gaza, Irvin tweeted: “Hamas’ sent rockets to Tel Aviv after Israel bombed densely populated apartment buildings and schools. do you condemn Israel’s one-sided violence against the Palestinians, including the forced displacement of families in Sheikh Jarrah, and the desecration of Al Aqsa?”In May 2021, Palestinian violence erupted in anticipation of an Israel High Court ruling on eviction proceedings concerning over 70 Palestinian tenants illegally residing in Jewish-owned properties in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah.
Incitement surrounding Al-Aqsa and Sheikh Jarrah were leading factors in Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorists firing over 4,300 rockets from Gaza at Israeli population centers from May 10 to 21, 2021. In response to rocket attacks from Gaza, Israel launched “Operation Guardian of the Walls (OGW),” striking military targets in the terrorist-controlled enclave.
A “Kapo” was a prisoner in a concentration camp during the Holocaust who was assigned by the Nazis to supervise other prisoners.
Comparing Israel to Nazis
On August 8, 2021, Irvin tweeted: “...why would israel, the self-proclaimed ‘jewish state’ align itself with nazis?...the simple answer is that israel is fascist too: it is a white supremacist settler-colony whose existence requires genocide and displacement of Palestinians from their indigenous land...supporting fascist movements abroad is directly advantageous to the zionist project...”On May 22, 2021, Irvin tweeted: “Zionists always weaponize antisemitism to demonize Palestinians, and obfuscate legitimate critique of a fascist settler-colonial Jewish ethnostate, which is committing an ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people. do not waste your breath talking about antisemitism.”
Also on May 22, 2021, Irvin tweeted: “...72,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been displaced by the fascist colonial regime of Israel in the past ten days alone. we must focus our political attention on the ongoing Nakba.”
The term “Nakba” is generally translated as “catastrophe” in Arabic, referring to the outcome of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. It is a term often used to delegitimize the creation of the State of Israel by defining it as a catastrophe.
Hatred of Zionists
On October 17,2021, Irvin tweeted: “denounce israeli occupation and apartheid all you’d like, but if you support the settler-colonial project of israel then you support the ongoing Nakba. you’re just as fascist as any other zionist.”
On June 7, 2021, Irvin tweeted: “thank god discourse has progressed past ‘all experiences are valid’ — as if the ‘lived experiences’ of zionists are important at all.”
On June 6, 2021, Irvin responded to the tweet that read: “What radicalized you on Palestine?” and tweeted: “also campus organizing; the cruelty and the fascism of these zionists radicalized me more and more.”
On June 5, 2021, Irvin tweeted: “if we’re going to talk about self-hatred, to be a Zionist Jew is to be self-hating... it is to support a state that funds and arms Nazis.”
On the same day, Irvin tweeted: “worst of all, to be a Zionist Jew is to inflict upon Palestinians unspeakable violence that is no different from what our ancestors were subjected to. it is to become a Nazi yourself.”
On May 24, 2021, Irvin tweeted: “god zionist jews are absolutely pathetic.”
On May 10, 2021, Irvin tweeted: “as i said, which side are you on? zionist or anti-zionist? if it’s anything less than unconditional support for the Palestinian people, then you’re apologizing for genocide.”
Also on May 10, 2021, Irvin tweeted: “jews who make excuses for israel’s genocide against the palestinians are kapos...”
Hatred of Zionism
On October 22, 2021, Irvin tweeted: “...zionism is a settler-colonial movement that always required genocide and forced displacement of the indigenous Palestinian population...”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.
On May 10, 2021, Irvin tweeted: “...as jews we should be united in opposing zionism in all its forms. ❤️”
On May 11, 2021, Irvin tweeted: “...zionism is a fascist death cult.”
Demonizing Israel
On May 10, 2021, Irvin tweeted: “israel is ethnically cleansing palestinians in #SheikhJarrah you f**king kapo. don’t wave away genocide. you bring shame on our ancestors who lost their lives to fascism.”On May 9, 2021, Irvin tweeted: “the history of israel is a story of genocide, which began before 1948 with fascist zionist mobs and gunmen forcing palestinians out of their homes, and is occuring today with settlers and the israeli state colluding to ethnically cleanse palestinians from #SheikhJarrah.”
Also, on May 9, 2021, Irvin tweeted: “we are witnessing ethnic cleansing in palestine. do not let zionists silence, bemoan, or obfuscate this fact!”
Anti-Israel Activism
On June 24, 2021, Irvin tweeted a flyer for a demonstration scheduled for June 25, 2021, by the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM) and JVP Berkley called “Save Silwan” and commented: “tune in on IG [Instagram]live in the morning!! #SaveSilwan #FreePalestine.”Irvin featured in an Instagram video from a June 25, 2021 demonstration in front of the MZ Foundation offices in San Francisco, where JVP along with PYM came with banners and bullhorns to confront employees of the foundation. Participants chanted: “MZ, MZ you can’t hide, we charge you with genocide.”
In the video, Irvin stated: [00:31:12] “We call on all Jews to...focus on these settler organizations and U.S.-based nonprofits that claim to be Jewish organizations, but are really, materially just funding genocide and advancing the goal of Zionism, which is the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people.”
Supporting BDS
On May 21, 2021, Irvin tweeted, calling for “the academic and cultural boycott [of Israel].”In a May 15, 2021 video by Irvin, posted to Facebook by JVP Berkeley, Irvin said [00:04:23]: “It is absolutely crucial to support Palestinian resistance in all its forms, including the Palestinian call for boycott, divestment, and sanctions BDS against Israel.”
Irvin retweeted a May 19, 2021 tweet from @BDSmovement that said: “Thank you to everyone who is boycotting consumer goods from Israeli and international companies complicit in the violation of Palestinian human rights...Find out what to boycott here.” The post linked to a list of companies to target for boycotting.
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 values.”
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.”
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
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