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Paul Larudee (born April 25, 1946) is an Iranian-born American political activist involved in the pro-
Palestinian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...
movement. Based in the
San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
Bay area, he is involved with the International Solidarity Movement and was a founder of the
Free Gaza Movement The Free Gaza Movement (FGM) is a coalition of human rights activists and pro-Palestinian groups formed to break Egypt and Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip and publicise the situation of the Palestinians there. FGM has challenged the Blockad ...
and the Free Palestine Movement. During the Syrian civil war, he advocated in favor of
Bashar al-Assad Bashar al-Assad (born 11September 1965) is a Syrian politician, military officer and former dictator Sources characterising Assad as a dictator: who served as the president of Syria from 2000 until fall of the Assad regime, his government ...
.


Early life and education

Larudee was born in
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
to an Iranian
Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...
minister and his American missionary spouse in 1946 and grew up in the
American Midwest The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four List of regions of the United States, census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern c ...
. He attended
Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...
from 1970 to 1973 and received a Ph.D. in
linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...
. He also graduated from the Niles Bryant School of Piano Technology in 1990.


Career

Larudee spent 14 years in
Arab Arabs (,  , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...
countries, supervising a
Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a $25,000 (about $550,000 in 2023) gift from Edsel Ford. ...
project in
Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...
, working as a Fulbright-Hays lecturer in Lebanon, and a United States government adviser to
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...
. Larudee has worked in the U.S. and abroad as a piano technician. He is certified as a Registered Piano Technician by the Piano Technicians Guild and has conducted training classes for the Guild and in overseas programs. He is the inventor of the patented Lo-Torq tuning pin, which is used for piano rebuilding. He has also compiled an English-Spanish glossary of piano terminology. He now runs the company Sharpe & Flatte Piano Service in
El Cerrito, California El Cerrito (Spanish language, Spanish for "The Little Hill") is a city in Contra Costa County, California, United States, and forms part of the San Francisco Bay Area. It has a population of 25,962 according to the 2020 United States census, 2 ...
. He often appears on Iranian state media.


Views

Larudee supports the
Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) is a nonviolent Palestinian-led movement promoting boycotts, divestments, and economic sanctions against Israel. Its objective is to pressure Israel to meet what the BDS movement describes as Israel's ...
(BDS) movement and opposes Jewish emigration to Israel. He has accused Israel of carrying out
pogrom A pogrom is a violent riot incited with the aim of Massacre, massacring or expelling an ethnic or religious group, particularly Jews. The term entered the English language from Russian to describe late 19th- and early 20th-century Anti-Jewis ...
s and committing genocide against Palestinians. He believes that Israel confiscates Palestinian land and turns Palestinian cities into "concentration camps." He has also expressed sympathy for Palestinians who turn to
terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...
. He defines Palestine as "Israel, the
West Bank The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
, the
Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...
and Jerusalem." He believes that the Palestinian issue is the "root" of many problems in the wider
Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...
and even in the United States. 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." He supports
lawfare Lawfare is the use of legal systems and institutions to affect foreign or domestic affairs, as a more peaceful and rational alternative, or as a less benign adjunct, to warfare. Detractors have alternately begun to define the phrase as, "An att ...
against Israel. 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 Press TV (stylised as PRESSTV) is an Iranian state-owned news media organisation, owned by Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), that broadcasts in the English and French languages. The 24-hour channel, which has headquarters in Tehra ...
alongside his regular collaborator,
Holocaust denier Denial of the Holocaust is an antisemitic conspiracy theory that asserts that the genocide of Jews by the Nazis is a fabrication or exaggeration. It includes making one or more of the following false claims: *Nazi Germany's "Final Solution" wa ...
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." On the Syrian Civil War, Larudee has said that NGOs such as
Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...
and
Physicians for Human Rights Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) is a US-based not-for-profit human rights NGO that uses medicine and science to document and advocate against mass atrocities and severe human rights violations around the world. PHR headquarters are in New Y ...
are in league with NATO's warmongers and exaggerate the
Syrian Air Force The Syrian Air Force () is the air force branch of the Syrian Armed Forces. It was established in 1948, and first saw action in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. Under Ba'athist Syria until December 8, 2024, it was known as the Syrian Arab Air Forc ...
's use of barrel bombs.


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 Bethlehem is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, located about south of Jerusalem, and the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate. It had a population of people, as of . The city's economy is strongly linked to Tourism in the State of Palesti ...
and
Nablus Nablus ( ; , ) is a State of Palestine, Palestinian city in the West Bank, located approximately north of Jerusalem, with a population of 156,906. Located between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, it is the capital of the Nablus Governorate and a ...
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 Beit Jala () is a Palestinian Christian town in the Bethlehem Governorate of Palestine, in the West Bank. Beit Jala is located 10 km south of Jerusalem, on the western side of the Hebron road, opposite Bethlehem, at altitude. In 2017, Be ...
on April 1. In a
CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...
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 The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...
(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".


Free Gaza Movement

Larudee is a co-founder of the
Free Gaza Movement The Free Gaza Movement (FGM) is a coalition of human rights activists and pro-Palestinian groups formed to break Egypt and Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip and publicise the situation of the Palestinians there. FGM has challenged the Blockad ...
(FGM) (along with Greta Berlin, Mary Hughes Thompson, Sharyn Lock and Renee Bowyer), which was formed in fall 2006 to challenge the Israeli
blockade of the Gaza Strip The restrictions on movement and goods in Gaza imposed by Israel date to the early 1990s. After Hamas took over in 2007, Israel significantly intensified existing movement restrictions and imposed a complete blockade on the movement of good ...
. Its first attempt to break the Israeli blockade took place in August 2008. FGM has asserted that its activities fall under the banner of "
civil resistance Civil resistance is a form of political action that relies on the use of nonviolent resistance by ordinary people to challenge a particular power, force, policy or regime. Civil resistance operates through appeals to the adversary, pressure and co ...
" and "direct action" against Israel's "brutal siege" and its "collective punishment" of Gazans. FGM has conducted eight separate trips to Gaza, between August 2008 and July 2009. 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.


Gaza Freedom Flotilla

Larudee was a member of the U.S. delegation aboard the 2010
Gaza Freedom Flotilla The 2010 Gaza Freedom Flotilla was a small fleet of ships by the Free Gaza Movement and the Turkish Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief (İHH) carrying humanitarian aid and construction materials with the ...
, which was attacked by Israeli forces on May 31, 2010. Larudee was on board the ship ''Sfendoni'' when the raid took place. He later said that he and his collaborators "locked arms to prevent the Israelis from coming in but they used electric
tasers Taser (stylized in all caps) is a line of handheld conducted energy devices (CED) sold by Axon Enterprise (formerly Taser International). The device fires two small barbed darts intended to puncture the skin and remain attached to the targe ...
,
stun grenade A stun grenade, also known as a flash grenade, flashbang, thunderflash, or sound bomb, is a Non-lethal weapon, non-lethal explosive device used to temporarily disorient an enemy's senses. Upon detonation, a stun grenade produces Flash blindness, ...
s, and batons and they smashed the windows of the wheelhouse and then they tied us. When it got light, they had removed all the handcuffs. I spoke to some of my Greek friends and got an OK to jump into water. So I made sure that everybody could see me, because I wanted lots of witnesses, and when the Israeli started coming closer to me, I jumped. My goal was to delay the Israelis and spoil their plans, and encourage the others on the ship to resist". 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". In an interview he said that "I forced them to carry me everywhere. I wouldn't open my mouth for most of the time. They were very rough with me. They put my arm behind my back and twisted my joints. This was basically torture. I screamed, but I also told them that you can tear my arm out and it's not going to make me walk. So they ended up carrying me". All Israeli government officials and members of the military were exonerated by an internal inquiry into these events. 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. Gene St. Onge, who took part in the 2010 flotilla, later said that in response to the IDF's orders, Larudee had "resisted at every point. If they told Paul to sit, he'd stand. If they told him to stand, he'd sit". It was when soldiers started paying attention to another passenger, St. Onge continued, that Larudee jumped overboard. Larudee was arrested in and
deported Deportation is the expulsion of a person or group of people by a state from its Sovereignty, sovereign territory. The actual definition changes depending on the place and context, and it also changes over time. A person who has been deported or ...
from Israel in 2006. Larudee was accused by Israeli authorities of being engaged in "anti-Israeli" activities that included meetings with
Hamas The Islamic Resistance Movement, abbreviated Hamas (the Arabic acronym from ), is a Palestinian nationalist Sunni Islam, Sunni Islamism, Islamist political organisation with a military wing, the Qassam Brigades. It has Gaza Strip under Hama ...
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 Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
authorities refused to let the ships leave port. According to Larudee, U.S. Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...
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 The Free Palestine Movement () is a Palestinians in Syria, Palestinian Syrian armed movement and community organization that is led by the businessman Yasser Qashlaq and supported the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Syria Region, Ba'athist gove ...
, which achieved official recognition by the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...
in 2011.


Eviction in Contra Costa County

On March 17, 2011, Larudee was lawfully evicted by the
Contra Costa County Contra Costa County (; ''Contra Costa'', Spanish language, Spanish for 'Opposite Coast') is a U.S. county, county located in the U.S. state of California, in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area. As of the 2020 United States census, the ...
Sheriffs Department. During the eviction, he was warned that he would be arrested if he refused to cooperate. He refused, and was carried to a transportation vehicle. Larudee later described this as "torture".


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 ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers ...
'' 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 Anti-Israeli sentiment or simply anti-Israel may refer to: * Anti-Zionism * Criticism of Israel ** Anti-Israel lobby in the United States See also * Antisemitism ** New antisemitism * Anti-Judaism ** Criticism of Judaism Early criticism of ...
sentiment.


Deportation from India

Larudee was taken into custody in December 2012 in
Tirur Tirur is a major municipal town in Tirur Taluk, Malappuram district, in the Indian state of Kerala, spread over an area of . It is one of the major business centers in Malappuram district and is situated west of Malappuram and south of Kozh ...
in the
Malappuram district Malappuram (), is one of the List of districts of Kerala, 14 districts in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kerala, with a coastline of . The most populous district of Kerala, Malappuram is home to around 13% of the tot ...
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 Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...
, 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 2007Pro-Peace or Pro-Assad? Dennis Kucinich, Richard Cordray and Attempts to Frame a "Bombshell" $20,000 Speech
''Cleveland Scene''
and the parent body of the Syria Solidarity Movement (SSM), which opposes "military conflict and imperialist interests" in Syria, and of which Larudee is a steering committee member. From 2007 to 2017, the Association received over $1.8 million in support from undisclosed donors. During the Syrian civil war, the Syria Solidarity Movement supported the
Assad regime Ba'athist Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic (SAR), was the Syrian state between 1963 and 2024 under the one-party rule of the Syrian regional branch of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party. From 1971 until its collapse in 2024, it was rule ...
and more specifically the
Syrian Social Nationalist Party The Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP; ) is a Syrian nationalist party operating in Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan. It advocates the establishment of a Greater Syrian nation state spanning the Fertile Crescent, including present-day Syria, Leb ...
, which has been criticized as
fascist Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural soci ...
and "rabidly anti-semitic". SSM was formed in 2013 to facilitate a North American speaking tour for
Agnes Mariam de la Croix Mother Superior Agnes Mariam of the Cross (born 1952), also known as Mother Agnes, is a Lebanese Christian nun. She is mother superior of the Monastery of Saint James the Mutilated (Qara), monastery of St James the Mutilated in Syria, a Melkite Gr ...
, a nun who argues that chemical attacks in Syria such as Ghouta in 2013, were perpetrated by rebels. In 2014, the SSM sponsored a delegation, including Larudee, to Syria to observe the
2014 elections * 2014 United Nations Security Council election 16 October 2014 Africa * 2014 Algerian presidential election 17 April 2014 * 2014 Botswana general election 24 October 2014 * 2014 Comorian presidential election 21 February and 10 April 2014 * 2014 ...
, hosted by the International Union of Unified Ummah, an Iranian NGO. On the morning of the election, the delegation announced "The poll is about to demonstrate the real scale of public support President Assad is enjoying inside the country, heroically resisting foreign-sponsored aggression for more than three years." Larudee appeared on Syrian state television during the visit. Commenting in 2016 on the visit, Larudee said "It's easy for us to come off as apologists for Assad when we're working to correct the false information in the hostile Western media." In 2017, the Association paid
U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...
from
Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...
Dennis Kucinich Dennis John Kucinich ( ; October 8, 1946) is an American politician. Originally a Democratic Party (United States), Democrat, Kucinich served as U.S. Representative from Ohio's Ohio's 10th congressional district, 10th congressional district fro ...
$20,000 to attend a conference of the pro-Assad European Centre for the Study of Extremism in London. The Association has been described as a pro-Assad group.Democrat Dennis Kucinich returns $20K he received to speak in 2017 to pro-Syrian group
Cincinnati.com
Kucinich later returned the money after reports of the Association's support for Assad. At the time, Larudee said he did not “care that ssadis a dictator” and the Syria Solidarity Movement described Syrian government chemical weapons attacks such as the 2017 Khan Shaykhun attack as "false flag" operations designed to discredit the government. The Association's president, Kamal Obeid, has propounded 9/11 conspiracies in the past. Former Ohio governor
Ted Strickland Theodore Strickland (born August 4, 1941) is an American politician who served as the 68th governor of Ohio from 2007 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served in the United States House of Representatives, representing ( ...
, referring to Larudee, Obeid and the Association, described them as "a group that has been a cheerleader for this murderous dictator, with ties to the disgusting 9/11 truther movement, and... individuals who claim that Israel's goal is ethnic cleansing." The Association manages the Serena Shim Award for Uncompromised Integrity in Journalism, named for deceased
Press TV Press TV (stylised as PRESSTV) is an Iranian state-owned news media organisation, owned by Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), that broadcasts in the English and French languages. The 24-hour channel, which has headquarters in Tehra ...
journalist
Serena Shim Serena Shim (, ''Serena Ali Suhaim''; October 10, 1985 – October 19, 2014) was a Lebanese-American journalist for Iranian state-owned Press TV.
, which has awarded thousands of dollars to alternative media figures such as
Max Blumenthal Max Blumenthal (born December 18, 1977) is an American journalist, author, blogger, and filmmaker. He was a writer for ''The Nation'', AlterNet, ''The Daily Beast'', '' Al Akhbar'', '' Mondoweiss'', and Media Matters for America, and has contr ...
,
Ajamu Baraka Ajamu Sibeko Baraka ( ; born October 25, 1953) is an American political activist. In 2016, he was the Green Party nominee for Vice President of the United States on the ballot in 45 states and received 1,457,216 votes (1.07% of the popular vote) ...
and
Rania Khalek Rania Khalek () is an American journalist, video host, and presenter. She hosts the program Dispatches on '' BreakThrough News'' and has contributed to ''The Nation'', ''The Grayzone'', ''The Intercept'', ''Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting'', ''T ...
. Larudee is the treasurer of the award. In 2019 Larudee travelled to Syria to participate in the Third International Trade Union Forum, presided over by President
Bashar al-Assad Bashar al-Assad (born 11September 1965) is a Syrian politician, military officer and former dictator Sources characterising Assad as a dictator: who served as the president of Syria from 2000 until fall of the Assad regime, his government ...
. In May 2021, he went with the Syria Solidarity Movement on a regime-sponsored tour, for the stated purpose "to witness the presidential election in Syria and to investigate on-the-ground conditions of Syrian life in the current period". The group concluded that "the re-election of President Bashar al-Assad, of the Arab Socialist Ba’ath Party and the National Progressive Front, is the legitimate, democratic expression of the Syrian people."


References


External links


first interview with Larudee after he was released, unedited from KTVU

Richmond Confidential article on Paul and Betty Larudee

"East Bay Palestine activists may be on the way home"

"El Cerrito man beaten in assault on Gaza aid flotilla"

"East Bay Citizens Condemn Israel Attack on Gaza Aid Flotilla"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Larudee, Paul 1946 births Living people American human rights activists American Presbyterians Georgetown University alumni Iranian Protestants American people of Iranian descent American activists for Palestinian solidarity People of the Syrian civil war