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Tony Kelso
Tony Kelso participated [00:01:52] in an anti-Israel protest in New York City in November 2025 that targeted Jews who were attending an event at a synagogue.
The profilee's activism occurred during an extended period of global antisemitism that began with the October 7, 2023, terror attacks, when Hamas murdered nearly 1,200 Israelis, injured thousands and kidnapped hundreds. Israel immediately launched a war against Hamas.
Kelso has justified violence against Israelis, spread hatred of Israel and is a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.
As of November 2025, Tony Kelso’s LinkedIn profile said he was a professor emeritus of media at Iona University (Iona), and that he retired on September 1, 2024. His LinkedIn said he was located in New York, New York.
On November 19, 2025, approximately 200 anti-Israel protesters gathered outside the Park East Synagogue in New York City to oppose an event being hosted inside the synagogue by Nefesh B’Nefesh (NBN), a non-profit organization dedicated to assisting potential Jewish immigrants to Israel.
Many protesters wore keffiyehs over their faces, and they stood directly outside the synagogue and chanted in support of terrorism. Individual protesters threatened violence and reportedly shouted antisemitic slurs.
The protest was organized by the Palestinian Assembly for Liberation (PAL-AWDA NY/NJ) and promoted by the New York City chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), known as JVP NYC. The pro-Hamas group Within Our Lifetime (WOL) was reportedly also among the organizers.
Protest videos posted on X showed protestors chanting: “Resistance, you make us proud! Take another settler out!" Among anti-Israel activists, the term “resistance” is a euphemism for nationalistic terror and is used to glorify and encourage anti-Israel and anti-Semitic violence.
Protesters also chanted: "Intifada, intifada! Long live Gaza! Say it loud, say it clear, we don't want no Zionists [here]!" The term “intifada” carries the connotation of terrorist violence.
Pro-Israel counterprotesters stood in front of the synagogue and were shouted at by the protesters. One threatened to slit a counterprotester's throat, while another reportedly shouted: "F**king Jewish pricks."
Another video showed protesters shouting: "Death, death, to the IDF [Israel Defense Forces]!" and: "Go to hell! Go to hell!"
Fox News showed [00:00:35] protesters stomping on an Israeli flag and chanting [00:00:22]: "From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free!", a chant used to call for the elimination of the State of Israel.
One day before the protest, PAL-AWDA NY/NJ posted a promotional flyer to X that said: “NO SETTLERS ON STOLEN LAND / PROTEST THE SETTLER RECRUITING FAIR." The flyer featured a photo of Jewish immigrants disembarking from a chartered NBN flight. On the front of the plane was the word "Jerusalem," which PAL-AWDA NY/NJ underlined and inserted text alleging: "Established in Europe."
One way that anti-Israel activists spread antisemitism is to claim that Jews do not descend from the ancient Israelites, but are allegedly white Europeans who lack a connection to the Land of Israel entirely. The same flyer also accused Israel of "Genocide," and referred to the IDF as the "IOF," a term meaning the "Israel Occupation Forces."
On November 24, 2025, PAL-AWDA NY/NJ posted on X: "It's our duty to protest NBN's role in the ongoing colonization of Palestine." The post had a graphic promoting a December 2, 2025, protest, and the post accused Israel of perpetrating an "ongoing genocide...illegal settlement and ethnic cleansing of Palestine." The graphic featured a sign that said: "F**k Israel."
On October 7, 2023, Hamas murdered approximately 1,200 Israelis, kidnapped hundreds and wounded thousands. War crimes included mass rape and torture. Many Palestinian civilians participated in and supported the attacks, and Gazans working in the targeted Israeli communities gave intelligence to Hamas on where to strike.
CNN reported that in response to the protest, the spokesperson for New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani said that Mamdani “believes every New Yorker should be free to enter a house of worship without intimidation...and that these sacred spaces should not be used to promote activities in violation of international law."
On March 20, 2025, Hebron University published an article about a seminar that Kelso gave to students at the university. The article reported that: "The professor [Kelso] emphasized that Palestinian resistance represents a 'natural response to occupation.'" Kelso linked to the article in his own Medium post about visiting the university.
Anti-Israel activists use the term “resistance” to refer to violence and terror perpetrated against Israeli civilians and their allies. It is used to glorify and encourage anti-Israel and anti-Semitic violence. Anti-Israel activists chant slogans such as: “Resistance by any means necessary!” and “Resistance is justified when people are occupied!” in response to terror attacks.
On November 28, 2025, Kelso wrote in a Medium article about proposing the subject of his talk at Hebron University: "Well, I guess I can talk about the dominant narrative of the so-called Israeli-Palestinian conflict propagated by the US media...and how I came to reject that narrative and discover the truth about the history and goals of the Zionist project and the true nature of the oppression Israel imposes on the Palestinians."
A Hebron University report about Kelso's seminar said: "He [Kelso] explained how he came to understand Palestinians as the oppressed indigenous people, contrary to the terrorist stereotypes promoted in American media."
One way anti-Israel activists spread antisemitism is by denying Jewish history, with the aim of delegitimizing restored Jewish sovereignty, attacking Israel’s legitimacy and portraying Jews as foreign to the Land of Israel.
In his November 28, 2025 article, Kelso wrote that: "...in the case of Israel, the list of Zionist colonial aggressions is seemingly unlimited" and gave as examples "The 1917 Balfour Declaration" and "The Israeli hasbara, the exceedingly sophisticated and developed propaganda system that has justified and sold all of these hostile acts and more, whose tentacles spread far and wide to advance the Zionist narrative and tamp down even the most minor reproach of Israel, often branding its critics as antisemites and 'Jew haters.'"
Tentacles and octopuses are known anti-Semitic used to Jewish control and influence.
The 1917 Balfour Declaration favored the establishment of a Jewish National home in British Mandate Palestine.
On October 18, 2025, Kelso claimed in a Medium article: "Although Israel’s official name for its military is the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), many Palestinians and their allies refer to the fighting establishment as the Israel Occupation Forces (IOF) to more accurately represent the Israeli military’s true mission. Since the political Zionist project was launched in the late 1800s, its goal has always been centered on taking over the Palestinian land and eliminating the Indigenous population either through ethnic cleansing or killing."
On October 1, 2025, Kelso referred in a Medium article to: "...the Zionist political project, which is centered on driving the Palestinians from the land their people have inhabited for centuries and, for those who refuse to leave, ruling over them — both through law and by force — as second-class human beings in an apartheid state."
Also on October 1, 2025, Kelso wrote in a comment on Medium: "...Israel is so ruthless and a betrayer of the faith its supposedly based on..."
On May 22, 2025, Kelso wrote on Instagram: "How can a nation whose people are the ancestors of the #Holocaust turn around and commit a #genocide ? #antizionism IS NOT #antisemitism."
Anti-Israel activists compare Israel to Nazi Germany to insinuate that the plight of Palestinians has eclipsed Jewish suffering during the Holocaust.
On April 12, 2025, Kelso posted a video on Instagram showing that he visited the Western Wall in Jerusalem and copied the Jewish tradition of inserting written prayers into the cracks of the wall. Kelso's video showed his note that read "Free Palistine [sic]!"
The Western Wall refers to a part of the retaining wall of the complex that housed the Second Jewish Temple approximately 2,000 years ago in Jerusalem.
The Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement was founded by pro-terror activist Omar Barghouti in 2005 to turn “Israel into a pariah state, as South Africa once was.” Barghouti has also called for Israel's destruction and the BDS movement demands would result in that same goal.
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 infiltrating university campuses through lobbying for “BDS resolutions.” In these cases, student governments propose resolutions to boycott or divestment from Israel or Israeli-affiliated entities. 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 and pro-terror activism on campus.
