Charlotte Kates is a law student at Rutgers University and one of the leaders of New Jersey Solidarity, a pro-Palestinian student group. According to a July 18th New York Times article on her:
- She calls for all land between the Jordanian River and the Mediterranean to be returned to the palestinians
- Does not condemn suicide bombings (“it is not our place in the United States to dictate the tactics Palestinian groups use in the liberation struggle.”)
- Claims to be a communist
But is there something more sinister about Kates? The first hint of her not being upfront comes from another article in which she says her group calls for the end of US aid and support for Israel, but takes no position on what the group calls “Palestinian resistance,” including terrorism or the use of homicide bombers. Yet we know from the New York Times article that her group does not condemn homicide bombings and supports there being NO jewish state at all. Clearly, their position is that the terrorism is legitimate resistance and a tool for ridding the Middle East of the state of Israel.
But perhaps there is even more to her dishonesty. According to Religious Freedom Watch, Kates suddenly decided to become a Scientologist, but then left after only 5 months. It was discovered months later that she had been in touch with an anti-religious hate group prior to joining the religious organization and had apparently been recruited to infiltrate the Church of Scientology. The people she has allegedly been in contact with includes Arnaldo Lerma, who supposedly has ties with noted neo nazi Willis Carto. Kates was apparently involved with spreading hate propoganda.
I won’t pretend that there is some “smoking gun” in this case. These are only allegations, and it seems that Religious Freedom Watch is run by the Church of Scientology, which has an interest in disparaging Kates, Lerma and company. However, if the allegations are true, it raises some very interesting questions about Kates anti-Israel activities.
In any event, Kates is clearly a hate-filled person. If you want to tell her what you think of her activities, she can be reached at [email protected]. Or even better, you could follow Meryl Yourish’s great suggestion and support Magen David Adom.
