State: California
City: Los Angeles
Campus: University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
Robin Kelley, born in New York City, is the Professor of American History at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Despite his academic prestige, Kelley has repeatedly aligned himself with anti-Israel activism, engaged in antisemitic rhetoric, and supported student encampments that foster hostility toward Jewish students.
Participation in UCLA Encampment
On May 1, 2024, Kelley was shown in an Al Jazeera interview attending the pro-Palestinian encampment at UCLA. His presence at the encampment publicly aligned him with disruptive campus protests that created an intimidating environment for Jewish students.
Endorsement of BDS and Boycotts
Kelley is listed as a board member of the U.S. Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (USACBI), which promotes the boycott of Israeli academic and cultural institutions. On November 21, 2022, in a video posted by Claremont Students for Justice in Palestine, he supported suspending ties with Haifa University and advocated for divestment, while referencing the antisemitic “Israel Lobby” conspiracy theory.
Defending Terror-Affiliated Figures
In 2019, Kelley served on the board of judges for the Palestinian Youth Movement’s “Annual Ghassan Kanafani Resistance Arts Scholarship.” The scholarship is named after Ghassan Kanafani, spokesperson for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), who claimed responsibility for the 1972 Lod Airport Massacre carried out by the PFLP. By supporting this scholarship, Kelley directly associated himself with the legacy of a terrorist-linked figure.
Antisemitic Rhetoric and Comparisons to Nazis
Kelley has repeatedly used Holocaust inversion and inflammatory rhetoric. In an August 8, 2014 article for Mondoweiss, during Israel’s Operation Protective Edge, he compared Israel to Nazi Germany and equated Gaza to concentration camps. In a 2022 lecture, he claimed that German reparations to Holocaust survivors and Israel served as “start-up capital for a new settler-colonial state.” Such statements trivialize the Holocaust and fall under the IHRA definition of antisemitism.
Criticism of Jewish and Pro-Israel Organizations
In an April 12, 2022 Jewish Voice for Peace video, Kelley attacked the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), accusing it of serving as a proxy for the U.S. and Israel and “providing intelligence to the apartheid regime in South Africa.”
Recent Activity
On November 11, 2024, Kelley partnered with Dania Buttu, a Hamas apologist formerly affiliated with the PLO, to launch a podcast attacking Israel. In the program, they claimed October 7th was being used to “arouse anti-Palestinian racism, justify this latest chapter of the Nakba, and rationalize colonial violence.”
Conclusion
Through his public support of encampments, endorsements of boycotts, defense of terror-linked figures, and repeated use of antisemitic comparisons, Robin Kelley has become a leading academic voice spreading anti-Israel hostility on campus. His rhetoric and activism contribute to an environment where antisemitism is normalized and Jewish students are marginalized at UCLA and beyond.
