Pele IrgangLaden
Overview
Pele IrgangLaden [Pele M. IrgangLaden] has spread hatred of Israel, endorsed anti-Israel agitators, demonized a Philadelphia philanthropist and engaged in anti-Israel activism.In 2017, IrgangLaden was a national coordinator with IfNotNow (INN) and an organizer with INN’s Philadelphia chapter (INN Philly) since 2014. In 2016 and 2017, IrgangLaden helped train INN leaders and groups as part [00:00:06] of INN’s “Mobile Training Team.”
As a national leader of INN, IrgangLaden either made the decision or was complicit in INN’s decision to partner with the anti-Semitic AMP.
IrgangLaden was affiliated with Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) in Philadelphia (JVP Philly) in 2021.
As of May 2022, IrgangLaden’s LegiStorm bio said he previously served as the District Office Director for Rick Krajewski until April 2021. His LinkedIn page said he was a full-time Campaign Manager for Krajewski. Krajewski was elected as a representative at the Pennsylvania House of Representatives on June 2, 2020 and was listed as Member of the House since 2021.
In 2018, IrgangLaden’s Facebook page said he graduated from Temple University (Temple) in 2015.
As of May, 2022, IrgangLaden’s LinkedIn said he was located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Also of the same date, IrgangLaden used the handle “pele_phl” and screen name “Pele IL” on Instagram and the name “Pele IL” on Facebook.
Hatred Israel
On February 15, 2017, IrgangLaden posted to Facebook, accusing the then-U.S. President, Donald Trump, and and the then-Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, of “committing to full on annexation and apartheid.”On August 6, 2016, IrgangLaden posted to Facebook an INN statement that called “on the JCRC [Boston Jewish Communal Relations Council] to Retract Their Statement Condemning the Vision for Black Lives and the movement behind it.”
In August 2016, the Movement for Black Lives (M4BL) activist group authored its Policy Platform, which accused Israel of “genocide” and “apartheid.” Black Lives Matter (BLM) was part of M4BL when it issued its platform statement.
On October 28, 2014, IrgangLaden wrote an article for WHYY, in which he laid out his reasons for joining INN as an anti-Israel activist. In the article, he claimed: “Zionists who built the kibbutz communal villages and established the state of Israel, were the same people who systematically displaced an entire people in the name of Jewish entitlement to the land.”
Endorsing Anti-Israel Agitators
On April 13, 2019, IrgangLaden tweeted: “#IStandWithIlhanOmar, will democratic leadership do the same?..”On the same day, IrgangLaden posted to Facebook: “#IStandWithIlhan.”
Ilhan Omar was elected to the U.S. Congress in 2018. In February 2019, top Congressional leaders denounced Omar for tweeting anti-Semitic remarks.
On November 30, 2018, IrgangLaden posted to Facebook: “I'm with Marc Lamont Hill. He should be reinstated at CNN immediately…”
In November 2018, Hill was fired from his contributor position at CNN (Cable News Network) after he gave an anti-Israel speech at the United Nations. He called [00:20:47] for a “free Palestine from the river to the sea,” a phrase associated with demands to dismantle the State of Israel. Hill also accused [00:16:19] Israel of “ethnic cleansing,” as well as [00:17:49] “white supremacy” and [00:17:56] “settler colonialism.”
On December 27, 2017, IrgangLaden tweeted: “...#AhedTamimi and her family are brutalized and behind bars...”
Ahed Tamimi has a long history of physically attacking Israeli soldiers. Tamimi is the daughter of Bassem Tamimi, who is known for exploiting young children as political props in staged confrontations with Israeli soldiers.
Demonizing a Philadelphia Philanthropist
In June 2021, IrgangLaden participated [00:02:22] in a JVP Philly protest held outside the private residence of Philadelphia-based philanthropist Jeffrey Yass. The protest was part of a JVP Philly campaign of harassment against Yass. On September 23, 2021, during the Jewish festival of Sukkot, JVP Philly activists erected a tent on the private lawn of Jeffrey Yass to protest his funding of various causes in the United States and Israel.
JVP Philly protesters gathered there with signs that said: “YASS FUNDS FASCISTS” and “YASS FUNDS ISRAELI APARTHEID,” as well as “YASS CASH HARMS OUR PLANET” and “YASS CASH HARMS OUR SCHOOLS.”JVP Swarthmore also participated in the protest.
A JVP Philly Facebook post about the protest claimed: “...his money is making the world a more dangerous, violent, and unequal place…But we are watching…His neighbors are hearing about it. His employees are hearing about it. The word is out. #AllEyesOnYass 🧿.”
JVP Philly passed out a flyer to Yass’s neighbors that claimed Yass was financing “Israeli apartheid policies which cause great harm to Palestinians and any possibility of peace in the region.”
The flyer also said: “TIRED OF SEEING US HERE? TELL JEFF HIS CHOICES ARE NOT JUST HARMING THE WORLD, THEY’RE BUGGING HIS NEIGHBORS TOO. MAYBE THAT WILL MAKE HIM CHANGE HIS WAYS!”
The protest reportedly marked the launch of JVP Philly’s “All Eyes on Yass” campaign, following two other protests they had held earlier that year against Yass.
On June 4, 2021, JVP Philly held a protest with around 100 participants outside Yass’s home. JVP Philly accused Yass of funding “the displacement and murder of Palestinians” and demanded that he stop his support of pro-Israel initiatives.
Protesters stood in Yass’s front yard holding [00:00:24] a large sign that said: “ISRAELI APARTHEID FUNDED HERE” and shouted [00:01:30] “shame” while banging on tables.
In a Facebook live stream of the protest, Elana Baurer, a JVP organizer, said [00:00:35] the protesters were calling on Yass to “stop participating in the ongoing Nakba.”
At the protest, Alissa Wise, a JVP leader, said [00:11:30] into a megaphone: “last week we were at his office…this week we’re at his house because his employees, his staff, his colleagues, his neighbors, they know what he’s doing,” and continued [00:12:20]: “we must build outrage in everyone in his community until we get what we want.”
On May 21, 2021, JVP Philly held a sit-in at the lobby of Yass’s office in Philadelphia. Protesters held anti-Israel banners outside the office and accused [00:00:40] Yass and his business partner, Arthur Dantchik, of “funding genocide, apartheid and ethnic cleansing” in Israel, as they chanted [00:00:52]: “Israeli apartheid is funded here, Jews say Free Palestine.”
JVP Philly activists also placed flyers on employees’ cars that accused Israel of “the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians…and violent murder and destruction.”
The protest ended with JVP Philly leader Alissa Wise leaving a voicemail on Yass’s personal number, saying [00:21:08]: “what you’re doing to the Palestinian people is a shande [disgrace]...we’re really disgusted by what you’re funding and we want to urge you to cease funding it now...and we’ll keep coming back as long as it takes.”
JVP Philly protesters gathered there with signs that said: “YASS FUNDS FASCISTS” and “YASS FUNDS ISRAELI APARTHEID,” as well as “YASS CASH HARMS OUR PLANET” and “YASS CASH HARMS OUR SCHOOLS.”JVP Swarthmore also participated in the protest.
A JVP Philly Facebook post about the protest claimed: “...his money is making the world a more dangerous, violent, and unequal place…But we are watching…His neighbors are hearing about it. His employees are hearing about it. The word is out. #AllEyesOnYass 🧿.”
JVP Philly passed out a flyer to Yass’s neighbors that claimed Yass was financing “Israeli apartheid policies which cause great harm to Palestinians and any possibility of peace in the region.”
The flyer also said: “TIRED OF SEEING US HERE? TELL JEFF HIS CHOICES ARE NOT JUST HARMING THE WORLD, THEY’RE BUGGING HIS NEIGHBORS TOO. MAYBE THAT WILL MAKE HIM CHANGE HIS WAYS!”
The protest reportedly marked the launch of JVP Philly’s “All Eyes on Yass” campaign, following two other protests they had held earlier that year against Yass.
On June 4, 2021, JVP Philly held a protest with around 100 participants outside Yass’s home. JVP Philly accused Yass of funding “the displacement and murder of Palestinians” and demanded that he stop his support of pro-Israel initiatives.
Protesters stood in Yass’s front yard holding [00:00:24] a large sign that said: “ISRAELI APARTHEID FUNDED HERE” and shouted [00:01:30] “shame” while banging on tables.
In a Facebook live stream of the protest, Elana Baurer, a JVP organizer, said [00:00:35] the protesters were calling on Yass to “stop participating in 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.
At the protest, Alissa Wise, a JVP leader, said [00:11:30] into a megaphone: “last week we were at his office…this week we’re at his house because his employees, his staff, his colleagues, his neighbors, they know what he’s doing,” and continued [00:12:20]: “we must build outrage in everyone in his community until we get what we want.”
On May 21, 2021, JVP Philly held a sit-in at the lobby of Yass’s office in Philadelphia. Protesters held anti-Israel banners outside the office and accused [00:00:40] Yass and his business partner, Arthur Dantchik, of “funding genocide, apartheid and ethnic cleansing” in Israel, as they chanted [00:00:52]: “Israeli apartheid is funded here, Jews say Free Palestine.”
JVP Philly activists also placed flyers on employees’ cars that accused Israel of “the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians…and violent murder and destruction.”
The protest ended with JVP Philly leader Alissa Wise leaving a voicemail on Yass’s personal number, saying [00:21:08]: “what you’re doing to the Palestinian people is a shande [disgrace]...we’re really disgusted by what you’re funding and we want to urge you to cease funding it now...and we’ll keep coming back as long as it takes.”
Anti-Israel Activism
IrgangLaden participated in a March 26, 2017 INN protest held outside the Washington, D.C. venue of the AIPAC Policy Conference, where protestors chained themselves to the entrance of the conference center to block the entrance to the conference.The stated mission of AIPAC is to “strengthen, protect and promote the U.S.-Israel relationship in ways that enhance the security of the United States and Israel.”
In an INN-produced video filmed during the protest and posted to Facebook, Thomas Corcoran, who was then-INN’s Digital Coordinator, said [00:35:37] that AIPAC had “perpetuated Islamophobia” for years.
Four INN activists purchased tickets to the conference, posing as AIPAC delegates, in order to gain access to the building. Once inside, the INN activists dropped banners from the center’s third floor, stating that they “reject AIPAC and the occupation,” before being removed by security.
On March 28, 2017, following the anti-AIPAC rally, INN’s activities were endorsed by Robert Warren Ray, a “Feature Writer” from the Neo-Nazi website the Daily Stormer.
Ray wrote on the Daily Stormer: “I am officially endorsing the Jew vs Jew AIPAC protests...You’re doing our work for us. Keep it up.”
On March 27, 2017, IrgangLaden participated in an INN-organized training event in Washington, D.C., titled: “ResistAIPAC Anti-Islamophobia Training,” that was “developed and facilitated in coordination” with Taher Herzallah, the Associate Director of Outreach and Grassroots Organizing for American Muslims for Palestine (AMP).
The training event’s Facebook page promised to “continue the theme of the day with an action” that focused on the ways “AIPAC supports Islamophobia.”
The INN organizers wrote they were “excited to be joined by” Ramah Kudaimi, who was then serving as Director of Programs and Operations for U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USCPR), a coalition of American-based anti-Israel organizations, which lobbies the U.S. Congress to adopt anti-Israel policies and to end support for Israel.
INN reported that the event was attended by “55 IfNotNow members from Washington D.C, Boston, Philadelphia, and New York City.”
They also reported that the training session looked at “messages of Islamophobia” and “focused on the ways the Jewish institutions in which many of us grew-up teach and propagate these messages.”
INN then listened to Herzallah go into “greater detail about various Jewish institutions that perpetuate Islamophobia support the occupation.”
The training event was followed by a protest outside of AIPAC's Conference at the Mt. Vernon Convention Center that evening to focus “on the ways AIPAC supports Islamophobia.”
At the protest, INN organizer Jill Raney said that the training earlier that day taught [00:22:10] her how Islamophobia is closely tied to the “American support for the Occupation.”
During the protest, one leader claimed [00:30:18] that AIPAC is “Islamophobic” and “peddles Islamophobia.” Another INN speaker took the bullhorn to explain [00:09:04] that he came out to “make sure that we continue to resist the awful influence that AIPAC has on the Jewish community and our country as a whole.”
On October 1, 2016, prior to the Jewish high holiday of Rosh Hashanah, IrgangLaden promoted INN’s “#HeedTheCall” actions on Facebook.
INN’s “#HeedTheCall” actions [00:01:53] have repurposed [00:00:31] “the rituals and themes of the High Holidays” to condemn “the ways the Jewish establishment has supported the occupation for 50 years.”
On September 15, 2016, IrgangLaden led [00:00:13] an INN Philly demonstration held outside a Greater Philadelphia Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) Gala dinner.
The protesters held [00:00:34] a sign that said “Inside: Jews Celebrating Israeli Occupation. Outside: Jews Mourning Palestinian Victims” and recited [00:02:07] the Mourner’s Kaddish for Palestinians killed during “50 years of occupation.”
The Jewish ritual of the Mourner’s Kaddish is a prayer customarily reserved for close relatives or Jews murdered for being Jews.
On September 30, 2014, IrgangLaden organized an INN Philly event titled “#ifnotnowTashlich: Confronting the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia.”
Tashlich is a Jewish High Holiday ritual in which individuals symbolically cast off their sins.
The Facebook event description said the group would hold an “alternative Tashlich service” and “we call on them [Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia] to account for these sins... ”
The description went on to say: “Traditionally, white garments are worn on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur to symbolize a cleansing of the soul. On Tuesday we will wear BLACK to demonstrate that the communal Jewish soul is unclean as long as the Occupation continues.”
On December 13, 2017, IrgangLaden featured in INN’s “#StopTheMove” campaign to “condemn the Jerusalem embassy move.”
In December 2017, the U.S. government announced its decision to formally recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and to relocate the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
On December 6, 2017, IrgangLaden posted a photo of himself to Facebook holding a sign opposing the U.S. government’s decision to relocate the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. IrgangLaden wrote: “I am beyond enraged at this reckless dangerous decision” and linked to an INN petition opposing the recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
IfNotNow (INN)
IfNotNow (INN) is an anti-Israel organization founded in 2014, in response to Israel’s Operation Protective Edge (OPE) against Hamas.
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 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 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.”
JVP Philly Chapter Overview
JVP Philly whitewashes terrorism, shows support for terrorists, demonizes Jewish organizations and actively promotes the BDS movement. In 2021, JVP Philly led a campaign of harassment against a Philadelphia-based philanthropist Jeffrey Yass and organized a series of anti-Israel protests.JVP Philly - Promoting BDS 2021
JVP Philly signed a May 19, 2021 statement by Penn Students Against the Occupation of Palestine (PAO) that called on the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) to “divest from companies that profit from and/or are complicit in the Israeli occupation of Palestine.”The statement accused Israel of the “ongoing ethnic cleansing of Palestinians,” a “massacre of Gaza” and of having “genocidal intentions.” It also urged Penn students, faculty, staff and alumni to “call on the US government to place sanctions on Israel.”
JVP Philly - Spreading Incitement 2021
On May 15, 2021, JVP Philly co-hosted an event with other anti-Israel groups, including Philly BDS and Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapters at Temple University and Drexel University in Philadelphia, titled: “PHILADELPHIA: #SaveSheikhJarrah.”Incitement around Al-Aqsa and Sheikh Jarrah were leading factors in Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorists firing over 4,300 rockets from Gaza at Israel’s major centers on May 10-21, 2021. In response, Israel launched “Operation Guardian of the Walls (OGW),” striking military targets in the terrorist-controlled enclave.
Protesters held signs that said: “RESISTANCE IS JUSTIFIED” and “WHEN INJUSTICE BECOMES LAW… RESISTANCNCE (SIC) BECOMES A DUTY!!!” Other signs said “F**K ISRAEL,” claimed that “ZIONISM IS GENOCIDE” and called to “END ZIONISM.”
Zionism is the belief in the right to self-determination and statehood of the Jewish people in their ancestral homeland, Israel. The word Zion originates in the Bible, where it refers to the land of Israel and Jerusalem.
Demonstrators also displayed signs that read: “FROM THE RIVER TO THE SEA PALESTINE WILL BE FREE” and “HANDS OFF OF OUR LAND.”
The chant “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free” has also been employed by Hamas leader Khaled Mashal to call for the replacement of Israel with an Islamic state. It is a chant calling to dismantle the State of Israel.
The cover photo on the Facebook page of the event JVP Philly co-hosted was a flyer featuring a graphic of Palestinians armed with rifles and text that read: “RESISTING COLONIALISM SINCE 1948.”
The Facebook event description called for protesters to “march against the state-sanctioned violence, settler-colonialism and apartheid occurring in Sheikh Jarrah and all of Occupied Palestine” and accused Israel of “genocide and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.”
JVP Philly - Whitewashing Terrorism 2019
On May 6, 2019, JVP Philly shared a Facebook post by anti-Israel agitator Linda Sarsour that said: “...Friday, Israel gunned down 4 Palestinians peacefully protesting. No condemnations. No one saying how immoral it is to kill Palestinians…”On May 3, 2019, two Israeli soldiers, patrolling near the Gaza border, were shot and injured from sniper fire in Gaza. In response, the Israeli Air Force struck a Hamas base nearby, killing two members of Hamas’s armed wing. Two other Palestinians were killed while participating in riots along the Gaza border.
On March 30, 2019, JVP Philly held a “GreatReturnMarch Memorial and Teach-In.” The Facebook event description claimed: “Since March 30th, 2018 tens of thousands of Palestinians have marched peacefully every Friday along the Gaza/Israel border…” A JVP Philly email promoting the event described it as “A Martyrology Inspired Memorial Teach-In.”
Approximately 30,000 Palestinians in Gaza approached Israel’s border on March 30, 2018 as part of the “March of Return,” which was organized and funded by Hamas. This was used as a campaign of violent protests to spotlight the Palestinian demand to “return” to Israel.
The “right of return” is a Palestinian demand discredited as a means to eliminate Israel.
JVP Philly retweeted a January 30, 2019 tweet by JVP that said: “Another day, another Palestinian child murdered Samah Mubarak was killed by the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] at a checkpoint for an alleged ‘knife attack’...”
On January 30, 2019, 16-year-old Samah Mubarak attempted to stab an Israeli security officer and was shot by Israeli Security forces.
Social Media and Weblinks
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Pele.IrgangLaden [Private]Twitter: https://twitter.com/PeleIrgangLaden
https://twitter.com/Pele_PHL [Deleted]
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pele_phl
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pele-irgangladen-1abab61b3/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/peleshaden
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@peleirgangladen
Extra Videos
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Infamous Quotes
“This summer 2,200 people died at the hands of Jewish weapons funded by the United States, Jewish weapons fired by Jewish people. Every morning I would wake up to learn that Israel had killed dozens of civilians.”
