An anti-Israel extremist claimed he was at Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s swearing-in ceremony and attended a private dinner afterwards, according to a social media post published Saturday.
Abbas Hamideh, executive director and co-founder of Al-Awda, has repeatedly stated his belief that Israel does not have a right to exist.
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
He posted a photo of the newly elected official and himself holding up a painting of the freshman congresswoman. The caption of the post reads, “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.”
Al-Awda is a non-partisan organization dedicated to “comprehensive public education on the rights of all Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and lands of origin, and to full restitution of all their confiscated and destroyed property.”
Hamideh’s Twitter feed is full of rants against Israel. On Monday, when his tweet with Tlaib started receiving negative attention, he tweeted in part, “Many Zionists get enraged when someone tweets that ‘[I]srael’ doesn’t have a right to exist.” (RELATED: Rashida Tlaib Condemns CNN For Firing Marc Lamont Hill Over Anti-Israel Comments)
70 years ago White European Supremacists declared Palestine to be “israel” & today another deranged White Supremacist, Trump wants to declare Jerusalem the Zionist capital. Why don’t you all go fuck yourselves. It’s not your fucking land, you criminal terrorizing bastards…
— Abbas Hamideh (@Resistance48) December 2, 2017
Tlaib is the first Palestinian-American woman member of Congress. She and Rep. Ilhan Omar have stated their support of the Boycott, Divest and Sanction (BDS) movement. The official BDS website describes the movement as one trying to uphold “the simple principle that Palestinians are entitled to the same rights as the rest of humanity.” But many others view it as an anti-Semitic movement.
She also opted not to attend an AIPAC-led trip to Israel for incoming members of Congress. Instead, Tlaib took a trip to what has been referred to as Palestine. Her stated goal is to “humanize Palestinians.”
Tlaib’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.