Calla Walsh is a radical-left activist based in Boston. Walsh is a member of numerous activist groups, including Massachusetts Peace Action, the Democratic Socialists of America, and the National Network on Cuba. She is a notable supporter of anti-Israel activism through Palestine Action US and the Boston, Massachusetts branch of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement, BDS Boston. 1 2
Career
Calla Walsh is an undergraduate student at McGill University. 3
Walsh is a member of BDS Boston. 1
Walsh is a board member and former office manager at Massachusetts Peace Action, an anti-war group. 3
From November 2020 to September 2021, Walsh was a regional organizer and strategist at Act on Mass, a government watchdog. 3
In 2021, Walsh worked as a digital director for Boston City Council member Julia Mejia (D). 3
In August 2021, Walsh was the youngest delegate at the national Democratic Socialists of America convention. 4
In 2020, Walsh worked on U.S. Senator Ed Markey’s (D-MA) reelection campaign. 3 Walsh has claimed that she helped build a “youth movement and cult of personality” to elect Markey. She later expressed disappointment in Markey and said, “the experience permanently disenchanted me from electoral politics and made me question whether “accountability” even exists for representatives of a capitalist, settler-colonial empire like the United States.” 5
Walsh is co-chair of the National Network on Cuba. 6
Activism
Calla Walsh opposes Israel and supports the BDS movement. Walsh has tweeted that “defending your friends for their zionism [sic] should be understood as an act of defending racism and settler colonialism.” 2
Walsh has called for the abolition of the United States, which she considers to be founded on “genocide and slavery.” 7
In June 2023, Walsh and two other activists were arrested for refusing to leave the office of U.S. Senator Bob Menendez, Sr. (D-NJ). While being escorted out of the building, Walsh claimed she was trying to have a conversation with Menedez about the continued blockade of Cuba. 8
Walsh supports the communist Cuban government and opposes current anti-Cuban policies enacted by the American government, including the ongoing trade embargo. 9 In November 2022, Walsh wrote about going to Cuba as part of the U.S.-Cuba Youth Friendship Meeting to observe Cuba’s purported elections. Walsh later wrote that the experience offered “an inside look into a true people’s democracy, where workers decide who will govern them, not wealthy oligarchs and corporations.” 10
In 2022, Walsh posted a Tweet including a school worksheet given to her younger sister asking her to list the negative and “positive effects of imperialism.” Walsh wrote that “forcing students into the mental exercise of justifying/rationalizing genocide because of its supposed ‘positive effects’ itself perpetuates genocide and indoctrinates them into supporting an imperial war machine.” The tweet was featured in a story by the Boston Globe. 11
Walsh has expressed anti-police views. In Mary 2022, she posted to Twitter: “idk [sic] who needs to hear this but the cops you are related to are still agents of the ruling class and if you are related to someone becoming a cop you should actively oppose their entry into white supremacist vigilantism.” 2
In March 2021, Walsh spoke at a Cambridge City Council meeting in support of an order to prohibit the city from contracting with any company “whose products are used to perpetuate violations of International Human Rights Laws and Cambridge’s policy on discrimination.” 2
On May 26, 2024, Walsh posted on X, formerly Twitter, “Sanction and invade israel, the united states, britain, australia, and canada.” 12
In November 2023, Walsh was one of three pro-Palestinian activists arrested and charged with vandalism during a protest with Palestine Action US outside the Merrimack, New Hampshire office of Israeli-owned defense contractor Elbit Systems. 13 As of December 2024, Walsh was released from prison and posted on her X profile “Just got released, still catching up but – anyone celebrating the counterrevolution in Syria, no matter how much they do it under a progressive guise, is no better than a Zionist. Long live the sovereign Syrian Arab Republic. The Axis of Resistance will still triumph.” 14
References
- “The Unseen Threat of the Mapping Project.” Zachor Legal Institute. February 2023. Accessed September 22, 2023. https://zachorlegal.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Mapping-Project-Special-Brief.pdf.
- “Calla Walsh.” Canary Mission. Accessed September 22, 2023. https://canarymission.org/individual/Calla_Walsh.
- “Calla Walsh.” LinkedIn. Accessed September 22, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/callawalsh/.
- Walsh, Calla. “The Democratic Socialists of America Can Mobilize Gen Z’ers Like Me.” Yahoo!. August 5, 2021. Accessed September 22, 2023. https://www.yahoo.com/video/democratic-socialists-america-mobilize-gen-110000347.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly9jYW5hcnltaXNzaW9uLm9yZy8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAD3Tq4Vlz4E5IWK7fZCTwNZbaLMHWJcqc2jle9NiEJobPkulRufBveUt3qpB0SThYI0HTYvYvrNoU4lDFgm4msFdBRJxXVCSn-EF_uw-kjbkc4NSLJLpMH6Fq68kO56JWRXVdq6O1x8_-53-HVpbiZq9l4I2oRLb5wMB8OC4mqG5.
- Walsh, Calla. “Stan Politics, Ed Markey, and Palestine.” Mondoweiss. December 15, 2021. Accessed September 22, 2023. https://mondoweiss.net/2021/12/stan-politics-ed-markey-and-palestine/.
- Walsh, Calla. “US youth observe Cuba’s elections – and learn about real democracy.” Midwestern Marx. December 5, 2022. Accessed September 22, 2023. https://www.midwesternmarx.com/articles/us-youth-observe-cubas-elections-and-learn-about-real-democracy-by-calla-walsh.
- “Calla.” Archive.Today. Accessed September 22, 2023. https://archive.ph/IsBUL.
- “Calla.” Twitter. September 22, 2023. Accessed September 22, 2023. https://twitter.com/CallaWalsh/status/1705222454853919047.
- “Calla Walsh.” Linktree. Accessed September 22, 2023. https://linktr.ee/callawalsh.
- Walsh, Calla. “US youth observe Cuba’s elections – and learn about real democracy.” December 2, 2022. Accessed September 22, 2023. http://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2022/12/02/cuba-elections-democracy/.
- [1] Martin, Naomi. “Cambridge high schooler’s homework assignment to list ‘positive effects of imperialism’ goes viral.” Boston Globe. March 23, 2022. Accessed September 22, 2023. https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/03/22/metro/cambridge-high-schoolers-homework-assignment-list-positive-effects-imperialism-goes-viral/.
- Calla (@Calla Walsh). “Sanction and invade israel, the united states, britain, australia, and canada.” May 26, 2024. https://x.com/callawalsh/status/1794869680592871728?s=46&t=jI5pta-LqWTQoagVEw7hsA
- Sedacca, Matthew. “Disney Channel actress, activist, arrested for vandalizing Israeli company’s offices.” New York Post, November 25, 2023. https://nypost.com/2023/11/25/news/disney-channel-actress-arrested-for-vandalizing-nh-israeli-company/
- Rifai, Kareem (@KareemRefai). “Calla Walsh’s first order of business after being released from prison — praising Assad while mass Syrian graves are still being discovered.” X, December 20, 2024. https://x.com/KareemRifai/status/1870239882343526436