Kenneth Nichols O'Keefe (born July 21, 1969) is an American-Irish citizen<!-- US citizenship never officially renounced --> and activist and former United States marine and Gulf War veteran. In 2001, he set fire to his United States passport. Subsequently, he led the human shield action to Iraq and was a passenger on the MV Mavi Marmara during the 2010 Gaza flotilla raid, where he disarmed two of the Israeli commandos who boarded the ship,

According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, starting in 2012, O'Keefe began giving speeches to white supremacist groups – often promoting antisemitic beliefs – and endorsed David Duke, leading what the SPLC terms the "larger Palestinian-rights and antiwar communities" to disavow him.

Early life

O'Keefe was born in Napa, California, He is of Irish descent, with family from County Kerry.

Military background

O'Keefe served as a United States marine in the First Gulf War. According to his own website, he often "spoke out openly about abuse of power by my 'superiors'...the Marines supplied me with my first serious taste of injustice."

Marine conservation

O'Keefe created a marine conservation social enterprise "to protect and defend the marine environment" in Hawaii in 1996. This enterprise conducted ghost net recoveries and rescues of endangered green sea turtle wrapped in monofilament fishing line. O'Keefe became a pioneer in sea turtle rescues in Hawaii and led a campaign to create a marine sanctuary (Pupukea MLCD) on the North Shore of Oahu.

In 1998 he joined an anti-whaling campaign in which he was bloodied when attempting to retrieve a boat belonging to the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, of which he was a crew member. At this time he was being mentored by Paul Watson. Eventually he served as the regional director for the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, in Hawaii.

Human shield action to Iraq

In December 2002, O'Keefe started the human shield action to Iraq group. Intended to "make it politically impossible for them to bomb" Iraq by placing western civilians as "shields" at non-military locations, about 75 activists traveled over land from London to Baghdad in two double-decker buses. Critics of the human shields argued that their mission would only protect Saddam Hussein. O'Keefe argued the "people of Iraq" would suffer the most from a war and publicly acknowledged Hussein as a "violent dictator". but O'Keefe was deported. He received Irish citizenship in 2003 O'Keefe considers himself a world citizen.

O'Keefe said of the experience that it was like "combat but without combat weapons". He said, "We had in our full possession, three completely disarmed and helpless commandos" who were "surrounded by at least 100 men ... [W]e could have done anything with them", adding that "woman provided basic first aid, and ultimately they were released, battered and bruised for sure, but alive. Able to live another day."

O'Keefe was among those arrested and detained in Israel, where he (according to himself and another activist) was beaten at Tel Aviv airport when he resisted deportation while still in Israeli custody. He claims a policeman hit him on the head with a truncheon and that he was choked until he almost blacked out. He said he spent two more days in a detention facility in the airport after the incident. O'Keefe said the Irish consul general tried to convince him to agree to leave and asked him to wash the blood off his face but he refused. He responded: "If they had a supposed terrorist in their possession, why the hell did they let me go?" He acknowledged having had meetings with Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and other senior Hamas officials.

Organisers of the convoy claimed that despite paying a shipping agent for the charter of the ship, O'Keefe and the others were "kidnapped" from the port by the owner and the captain of the ship who "went nuts". The ship owners claimed that the activists had boarded the ship without any contract or charter. Due to a "tense atmosphere" aboard the ship, and (as he claimed) receiving no response from the Libyan authorities, the captain feared for the safety of the ship and decided to sail out of Libyan waters.

The People's Voice

In September 2013 O'Keefe joined David Icke on the team of The People's Voice, an internet TV station. In particular, he is presenting The Middle East Show, reporting news and comments on the subjects related to Middle east politics. In 2013 he spoke on this program with Gilad Atzmon, an Israel-born saxophonist and activist who has often been described as antisemitic. After looking at submitted video and media material, the police came to the opinion that no criminal offences had been committed and no further action was taken.

Six student societies in the Palestine solidarity movement released a statement condemning O'Keefe's remarks as anti-Semitic, stating that such opinions had no place in their struggle "against all forms of racism". However, Middlesex University's Student Union awarded the Free Palestine Society for O'Keefe's speaking event with the 'best society event of the year'.

O'Keefe has also denied the Holocaust and has spoken against European laws against Holocaust denial. He has favorably compared Adolf Hitler to John F. Kennedy for “bypassing the Jewish banking debt.”

References

  • World Citizen Ken O'Keefe official website