Tarek Khalil
Overview
Tarek Khalil [Tarek Muhammad Khalil] has promoted incitement, trivialized anti-Semitism, expressed support for violent protests and spread hatred of Israel.In February 2019, Khalil appeared in a group photo of board members on the Facebook page of the American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) chapter in Chicago (AMP-Chicago).
Khalil is a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.
In May 2013, Khalil was listed on a webpage for the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) as a new “volunteer lawyer” in its Chicago office (CAIR-Chicago). The site said Khalil has a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) and a law degree from the John Marshall Law School (JMLS).
In November 2018, AMP said on one of its websites that Khalil was a member of the Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter at UIC. He has been a featured speaker at SJP UIC events in 2018 and 2019.
As of July 2019, Khalil’s LinkedIn page said he has been a law clerk at the Office of the Cook County Public Defender since June 2011.
As of the same date, Khalil’s Facebook page said he had studied at Moraine Valley Community College (MVCC).
Promoting Incitement
On October 18, 2015, Khalil spoke at an AMP-Chicago rally, during the “Knife Intifada,” that was promoted on Facebook with the hashtag “#HandsOffAl-aqsa.” Khalil accused [00:01:26] Israel of “Ku-Klux-Klan style lynching and burning,” the dispossession of Palestinians and [00:02:16] “the control and occupation of al-Aqsa mosque.”In October 2015, there was an upsurge in violence across Israel incited by Palestinian political and religious leaders. The wave of stabbings, known as the “Knife Intifada,” was characterized by young Palestinians throughout the country stabbing and attempting to stab Israeli civilians. The attacks were incited by Palestinian leaders propagating the libel that Israel intended to desecrate the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.
On October 19, 2015, Khalil posted a video of his speech from the AMP-Chicago rally to Facebook. Additionally, during the speech Khalil said: [00:00:59]: “[Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu also announced that he will be taking aggressive steps…against what he calls terrorists, but that we call the oppressed.”
Other speakers at the rally included Leena Yousef, who has celebrated the Holocaust and Ahmed Hamad, who led [00:00:11] the chant at the rally: “Intifada! Intifada! Intifada! Intifada! We Support the intifada!”
Since the early 2000s, the term “intifada,” which translates from Arabic as “uprising” or “insurrection,” has carried the connotation of violence.
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..
On May 15, 2019, Khalil wrote on Facebook: “The Judaization, or more accurately de-Arabization, of Palestine continues today…”
Trivializing Anti-Semitism
On December 5, 2018, Khalil wrote a Facebook post where he condemned an article that asked: “What stands in the way of our capacity to grasp the undeniable need for justice for Palestinians and the understandable fear of annihilation of the Jews in Israel?”Khalil wrote: “‘understandable fear of annihilation of the Jews in Israel?’ W H A T! ! ! The invocation of the victimhood myth, or better yet drawing an implied connection between past Jewish suffering with current reality.”
On January 8, 2019, Khalil posted an article on Facebook about Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, titled: “TLAIB STARTS TERM IN CONGRESS ACCUSING ISRAEL ADVOCATES OF 'DUAL LOYALTY.'” Khalil wrote: “Yes and she’s 💯% right.”
On February 12, 2019, Khalil wrote on Facebook in support of Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, after she was denounced for an anti-Semitism remarks. Omar’s remarks were seen by many as a variation of the assertion that Jews control politics through money.
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 the video, Zakaria documented the “pervasive anti-Semitism and its history in the Islamic world.” This included terror attacks [00:01:10] against Jews in Europe in the 2010’s, the rise [00:01:58] of anti-Semitism in the late 19th century in the Middle East and the use [00:02:40] of anti-Semitic propaganda to promote hatred of Israel.
Khalil wrote in his post: “Fareed is wrong, and he’s toeing Zionist talking points. This has nothing to do with Islam, the Islamic world, or anti-semitism, absolutely nothing. It has everything to do with calling out aiders and abetters of oppression and dirty political money influencing policy makers.”
On March 5, 2019, Khalil wrote on Facebook in defense of Omar after she made additional anti-Semitic remarks. That week, Omar discussed Israel and said [00:03:25] that there is “political influence in this country that says it is OK to push for allegiance to a foreign country.” Her remarks were widely seen as accusing Jews of “dual loyalty.”
Khalil wrote on Facebook: “The charge that Congresswoman Omar’s remarks were a ‘vile anti-Semitic slur,’ as Rep. Eliot Engel, the Jewish chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee put it, and stating that she needs to apologize, is yet another attempt to silence her and other courageous voices who dare speak truth to power.”
Supporting Violent Protests
On October 25, 2018, Khalil posted to Facebook a picture of a man swinging a slingshot during the March of Return riots, with the comment: “Resistance is our right. FREE PALESTINE!!!!”March participants sent scores of kites bearing explosive devices across Israel’s border to burn Israeli crops and homes. Rioters also made numerous attempts to breach Israel’s border fence, which caused the Israeli Defense Forces to respond with live fire.
On April 1, 2019, Khalil wrote on Facebook in support of the “Great March of Return.”
Spreading Hatred of Israel
On July 31, 2014, Khalil tweeted: “Slaughtering Palestinians is anti-semitic.”Israel commenced Operation Protective Edge (OPE) in July 2014, to stop rocket fire targeting Israeli civilians and to destroy Hamas attack tunnels.
On August 1, 2014, during OPE, Khalil tweeted: “There's a crucial difference b/w supporting Hamas as an entity & supporting Hamas resistance to Zionist aggression.”
Hamas fired over 4,564 missiles and rockets at Israeli population centers during Operation Protective Edge (OPE) in July 2014.
On March 15, 2018 and February 21, 2018 Khalil posted photos to Facebook of himself giving talks which incorporated a series of maps known as the “Map That Lies.”
The maps claim that lands once controlled by Britain, Egypt and Jordan as autonomous “Palestinian land” were purportedly stolen by Israel. In February 2016, publisher McGraw-Hill Education recalled copies of a college textbook containing the fraudulent maps. In October 2015, American cable news network MSNBC apologized for airing a similar series of maps and retracted them.
On December 1, 2018, Khalil wrote on Facebook: “Apartheid exists from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, not just the West Bank & Gaza.”
On the same day, Khalil wrote on Facebook: “Any sane human being would advocate the destruction of the Apartheid structure assembled in the form of a Nation State called Israel.”
On March 26, 2019, Khalil wrote on Facebook: “Israel is not exercising self-defense, she’s exercising aggression. Palestinians anywhere in the world, especially in Gaza, are in a defensive posture vis-à-vis Israel. Israel is always on the offensive. Gaza is under attack.”
Khalil’s post came during Israeli airstrikes on Hamas sites in Gaza, after a rocket fired from Gaza hit an Israeli home 15 miles north of Tel Aviv.
On May 15, 2019, Khalil wrote a Facebook post the day after Israeli Independence Day. In the post, he called David Ben Gurion, the first Israeli Prime Minister “a terrorist.” He called the declaration of the modern State of Israel a “ruthless & terroristic destruction...well-executed campaign of ethnic cleansing...We [Palestinians] regard this day as the NAKBA (i.e. catastrophe). The Zionist struggle was and is not one of liberation, but one of colonization. FREE PALESTINE!!!!!!!!!!!”
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.
On May 30, 2019, Khalil posted to Facebook a video from an anti-Israel rally in Chicago. Jinan Chehade, the president of SJP at Depaul University, spoke at the rally and said: “...organize until every elected official knows that taking money from AIPAC to commit genocide is not acceptable.”
On June 2, 2019, Khalil posted to Facebook, calling the Israel Day Parade in New York City, the “Apartheid Day parade.”
Supporting BDS
On December 8, 2018, Khalil wrote on Facebook: “One of the essential components of BDS is that we, especially ‘Leaders,’ must not engage in normalization projects …”Proponents of the “anti-normalization” policy seek to police all interactions between Israelis and Palestinians and shut down all conversations and interactions perceived as being ideologically unaligned with their own agenda. They believe “liberal Zionist” dialogue with Palestinians “normalizes” entrenched power dynamics. This policy was originally dictated by the BDS National Committee (BNC), which prioritized the “Monitoring & Rapid Response” against interactions that recognize or cooperate with “Israel’s regime.”
On February 21, 2019, Khalil promoted on Facebook an upcoming lecture, writing: “This was last year. I’ll be at UIUC next week to discuss BDS, the movement that all Apartheid lovers fear.”
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.
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.
Social Media and Weblinks
Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/32813274/
Videos
Photos & Screenshots
