Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-MN-05) communications director is denying reports that his boss was scheduled to speak alongside Islamist Relief USA’s Yousef Abdallah, a flagrant anti-Semite.
The Jerusalem Post first reported that Omar would be keynoting Islamist Relief USA’s upcoming fundraiser for Yemen taking place in Tampa, Florida. Abdallah was allegedly listed as a speaker for the event, and images screen captured by The Post show that he was.
Abdallah has shared several anti-Semitic posts on his social media account, as documented by the Middle East Forum’s Islamist Watch Blog. In one case, Abdallah shared a “very beautiful” story about the killing of “more than 20 Jews.” He’s referred to Jews as “stinking,” and liked another comment that called for “revenge on the damned rapists Zionists.”
The story was quickly picked up by several national outlets, including Washington Examiner and The Daily Wire, and came amid reports about Omar’s own anti-Semitic comments.
A spokesperson for Omar, Jeremy Slevin, took to Twitter to deny the reports that Omar would be speaking alongside Abdallah.
“He was never scheduled to speak with the Congresswoman. The flyer is inaccurate,” Slevin wrote on Twitter. “Yousef Abdallah will not be speaking or attending the event with Rep. Omar and was never scheduled to do so.”
Slevin apparently told The Post that the flyer containing Abdallah’s name was based on a template used for a previous event that Abdallah did speak at. The event page for the fundraiser no longer displays Abdallah’s name, though the Examiner reports that Abdallah had been “prominently featured as one of the slated speakers both in flyers and in online advertisements for the event since at least January 31,” or 13 days.
Additionally, Abdallah remains an employee of Islamic Relief USA, which has a troubled reputation as being a potential ally of the Muslim Brotherhood.
“Islamic Relief USA does not condone or defend any statement made by Abdallah, or any individual, who promotes discrimination or violence of any kind. In accordance with Islamic Relief USA’s strict non-discrimination policies and standards of conduct, Yousef Abdallah was immediately subjected to internal disciplinary and remedial action following knowledge of his actions,” the organization told the Examiner.
Omar is still scheduled to headline the February 23 event.
– – –
Anthony Gockowski is managing editor of Battleground State News and The Minnesota Sun. Follow Anthony on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Ilhan Omar” by Leopaltik1242. CC BY-SA 4.0.
