Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI-13) hosted a private dinner in Detroit after being sworn into Congress last week, and among her guests was a man who has expressed praise for the leaders and members of Hezbollah, a terrorist organization.
“I was honored to be at Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib swearing in ceremony in Detroit and private dinner afterward with the entire family, friends, and activists across the country,” Abbas Hamideh wrote on Twitter Saturday.
I was honored to be at Congresswoman @RashidaTlaib swearing in ceremony in #Detroit and private dinner afterward with the entire family, friends and activists across the country. #Palestine #TweetYourThobe #RashidaTlaib pic.twitter.com/caJPN12ODX
— Abbas Hamideh (@Resistance48) January 12, 2019
Of note is the scarf draped around Tlaib’s neck in the painting Hamideh seemingly presented to her. The black and white checkered scarf is called a keffiyeh, and has become a symbol of Palestinian solidarity. In the painting, Tlaib’s keffiyeh is seen wrapped around the U.S. Capitol.
Jewish News Syndicate and Clarion Project later unearthed several of Hamideh’s past controversial comments. In one case, he mourned the passing of “legendary Hezbollah martyr” Samir Kuntar, who led an attack that resulted in the deaths of four Israelis. During that attack, Kuntar personally murdered a four-year-old child by smashing her head in with the butt of his rifle.
In other social media posts, Hamideh has praised Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah as a “heroic resistance leader.”
“Israel does not have a right to exist. The terrorist entity is illegal and has no basis to exist other than a delusional ISIS like ideology,” he wrote in another Tweet. He’s also spread imagery that equates Zionism with Nazism, and said that “there’s no Jewish history” at the Temple Mount.
israel does not have a right to exist. The terrorist entity is illegal and has no basis to exist other than a delusional ISIS like ideology.
— Abbas Hamideh (@Resistance48) November 19, 2016
Hamideh is an activist with the Palestine Right to Return Coalition, described by the Clarion Project as an “anti-Israel group that regularly vilifies Israel and oppresses its right to exist.”
“Unfortunately, we really aren’t surprised. Tlaib is turning out to be the exact person we were warning she is. What is perhaps the worst part about this is Democrats won’t do a single thing about it, nor will Democratic Jewish groups,” Republican Jewish Coalition spokesperson Neil Strauss said in response. “And it’s all because they’re afraid to stand up to their rabidly anti-Israel, far-left base.”
The Jewish Democratic Council of America joined its Republican counterparts in condemning Tlaib and Hamideh.
“JDCA stands unequivocally against Abbas Hamideh’s radical record and his extremist anti-Israel views which should be condemned by all,” the group told Jewish News Syndicate. “Since August of last year, JDCA has repeatedly stated our strong policy disagreements with Rep. Rashida Tlaib and we urge her to make clear where she stands with regard to Abbas Hamideh.”
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Anthony Gockowski is managing editor of Battleground State News and The Minnesota Sun. Follow Anthony on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Rashida Tlaib” by Abbas Hamideh.
