Paul Larudee

Paul Larudee (born April 25, 1946) is an Iranian-born American political activist involved in the pro-Palestinian movement. Based in the San Francisco Bay area, he is involved with the International Solidarity Movement and was a founder of the Free Gaza Movement and the Free Palestine Movement. During the Syrian civil war, he advocated in favor of Bashar al-Assad.

Early life and education Larudee was born in Iran

He attended Georgetown University from 1970 to 1973 and received a Ph.D. in linguistics. He also graduated from the Niles Bryant School of Piano Technology in 1990. He opposes Israel confiscating Palestinian land and the blockade of Palestinian cities into "concentration camps." He has also expressed sympathy for Palestinians who turn to terrorism. He defines Palestine as "Israel, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and Jerusalem."

At a 2009 fundraiser for Gaza, Larudee said that "Palestine will be freed in our lifetime" and that "We are all Palestinians ... What happened to Palestinians can happen to everyone."

In response to the notion that Israel has a natural right to sovereignty and existence, Larudee has responded "I am sorry but there is no nation on earth that has the right to exist and this was articulated by Thomas Jefferson.... nations have risen and fallen and disappeared from the earth and will appear on the earth according to the necessity and requirements of their population. No nation on the earth has the right to exist, let us get rid of this myth."

Larudee has said of Palestinian acts of violence against Israel:I do not see wild-eyed religious fanaticism as the reason for the attacks. I see instead a resilient people without other means of resistance, pushed to desperation by the increasing pressures of ethnic cleansing, while their cries for help are ignored. Is there a proud people anywhere that might not be driven to such measures to defend themselves? Elsewhere, he has stated that he is opposed to suicide bombing.

In a 2019 appearance on Iran's Press TV alongside his regular collaborator, Holocaust denier Kevin Barrett, Larudee argued that U.S. foreign policy is dictated by Israel and that officials "who are supposedly appointed by Trump are actually appointed by Tel Aviv, for the most part."

Activism

International Solidarity Movement Larudee is an active member and local leader of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), in which capacity he has acted as a human shield in the West Bank. He has also written training materials for new ISM members. He has been described as the head of ISM's northern California chapter.

Beit Jala incident Larudee was one of about 100 individuals who visited refugee camps in the vicinity of Bethlehem and Nablus between March 29 and April 13, 2002, to protest and, in his words, to "check on the families...to see how they were". Larudee claimed to have been shot at and wounded at a camp in Beit Jala on April 1. In a CNN interview, he said that before visiting the families he and his colleagues had to ask the IDF forces at the camps for permission. "But their reaction was to simply fire at us". After the CNN interviewer noted that a report stated the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers had "fired at your feet," Larudee acknowledged that the IDF had not fired at their bodies. He claimed, however, that shots had bounced off the stone walls and caused "several head injuries" in his group. In a June 2002 interview, he admitted that it was "possible in some cases I was protecting the wrong people". Larudee was one of the passengers on the Free Gaza Movement's first trip, on August 23–29, 2008. Fellow passengers included ISM co-founder Huwaida Arraf.

Larudee jumped into the water, later explaining that "I chose to resist by jumping overboard from the Sfendoni soon after we were captured, far out at sea. I took the calculated risk that Israel would find it hard to explain its failure to rescue me, and that the act might disrupt their operations to at least some extent".

After this, according to Larudee, the IDF subjected him to "multiple beatings in two days of captivity in Israel". He wrote that he "continued to protest by refusing to speak or walk, forcing my captors to carry me. Pain was used to force me to comply, and of course, when pain didn't work, they applied more pain, with the same result".

Although Larudee said he practiced nonviolence during this entire episode, he said that "it's not necessarily for everyone" and expressed his admiration for those on the Mavi Marmara, another boat in the flotilla, who resisted the IDF violently. He also maintained that all of the flotilla's participants were unarmed.

Larudee was arrested in and deported from Israel in 2006. Larudee was accused by Israeli authorities of being engaged in "anti-Israeli" activities that included meetings with Hamas a group accused by the United States of being a terrorism. Larudee had been photographed with Hamas leaders when he received an award after the Gaza flotillas. He was traveling this time under the false identity Paul Wilder because he had been banned from the country before due to his association with Palestinian terrorist groups according to Lee Kaplan. Lee Kaplan from StoptheISM.com alerted the Israeli security before his trip. LaRudee tried to remain in Israel in a case that went to Israel's Supreme Court but Larudee claimed he was deported due to Kaplan's articles about him. "This is something small I can do to make life under occupation just a little more bearable for people, so I do it," he said. But when he disembarked from his plane, Israeli authorities put him in a holding cell. When they ordered him back onto the plane to be deported, he refused to go and instead contacted an Israeli leftist human-rights attorney.

Larudee organized the 2011 Gaza Freedom Flotilla under the auspices of the Free Palestine Movement, but Greek authorities refused to let the ships leave port. According to Larudee, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton cautioned the 2011 flotilla organizers against "creating a situation in which the Israelis have a right to defend themselves".

Free Palestine Movement Larudee is a co-founder of the Free Palestine Movement, which achieved official recognition by the United Nations in 2011.

Global March to Jerusalem Larudee was one of the organizers of the Global March to Jerusalem. He and the other organizers, Feroze Mithiborwala and Ali Mallah, wrote at the Huffington Post in March 2012 that "Israel is justifiably concerned about being treated as an international pariah" because "Israel has, in effect, put all its eggs in the American basket. American power is what allows Israel to receive deferential treatment in most European countries....Without U.S. diplomatic intervention, advocacy and arm-twisting, it is doubtful that any country in the world would defend Israel's policies". They added that the Greek government had "humiliated itself by preventing a peaceful flotilla of boats from leaving its shores for Gaza in 2011, for the sake of relations with Israel". And they concluded that the Global March to Jerusalem was "merely the latest and possibly the largest and most diverse expression" of swelling worldwide anti-Israeli sentiment.

Deportation from India Larudee was taken into custody in December 2012 in Tirur in the Malappuram district of India, where he had spoken at a Student Islamic Organisation conference. Charged with "violating visa norms," he was issued a "quit India" notice, which required that he "leave India as early as possible". He was then blacklisted by police in Kerala, which means that he cannot enter India again.

According to one report, Larudee was taken into custody and was sent back due to his violation of the visa condition that tourists are not allowed to deliver speeches to the public.

Association for Investment in Popular Action Committees/Syrian Solidarity Movement Larudee is the treasurer of the Association for Investment in Popular Action Committees, an umbrella nonprofit for other nonprofit organizations formed in 2007 and the parent body of the Syria Solidarity Movement (SSM), which opposes "military conflict and imperialist interests" in Syria,

SSM was formed in 2013 to facilitate a North American speaking tour for Agnes Mariam de la Croix, a nun who argues that chemical attacks in Syria such as Ghouta in 2013, were perpetrated by rebels. The Association has been described as a pro-Assad group. The Association's president, Kamal Obeid, has propounded 9/11 conspiracies in the past.