Politics

Rashida Tlaib Stays Quiet On Top Ally Who Spread Anti-Semitic Conspiracies

REUTERS/Rebecca Cook

Daily Caller News Foundation logo
Font Size:
  • One of Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s key fundraisers, Maher Abdel-qader, has repeatedly promoted anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.
  • Tlaib has remained silent on the controversy, even as it has put other Democrats in an awkward position.
  • Abdel-qader apologized on Wednesday and said he didn’t mean to share anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. 
  • Tlaib previously came under scrutiny for having ties to other anti-Israel figures and for questioning the loyalties of pro-Israel lawmakers.

Democratic Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib has declined to address the fact that one of her top campaign allies repeatedly promoted anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.

A key fundraiser for Tlaib, Maher Abdel-qader, repeatedly promoted anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, an investigation by The Daily Caller News Foundation revealed Monday.

Two days after TheDCNF’s report, Tlaib has continued to remain silent on the matter, even as other Democrats have faced questions about her ties to anti-Semitism. Her office declined to return multiple requests for comment.

Tlaib is a member of the Facebook group “Palestinian American Congress,” where members have repeatedly demonized Jews. The group’s founder, Abdel-qader, was a key fundraiser for Tlaib in 2018 and organized campaign events for her around the country.

In January 2018, Abdel-qader shared an anti-Semitic video that claimed Jews aren’t actually Jewish and invented their historical claim to Israel and secretly control the media. (RELATED: Maxine Waters Attended Nation of Islam Convention Where Farrakhan Defended Suicide Bombers)

The video, which described Jews as “satanic,” also questioned whether 6 million Jews actually died in the Holocaust.

“Research the truth about the Holocaust, and you’ll definitely start to question what you thought you knew,” the video’s narrator says.

Abdel-qader shared the video both on his personal Facebook page and within the group that now includes Tlaib.

He posted an apology on Facebook Wednesday for sharing the video, and said he was unaware that it contained anti-Semitism before sharing it. He told TheDCNF in an email on Tuesday that he has “great respect for the religion and the Jewish people.”

Screenshot/Facebook

Screenshot/Facebook

screenshot/facebook

Screenshot/Facebook

Tlaib has been a member of the Facebook group since February 2018 when Abdel-qader added her, according to Facebook. The group has a little over 11,000 members.

Other members of the Facebook group have promoted anti-Semitic conspiracy theories about Jews secretly controlling the media.

Tlaib presented Abdel-qader in March 2018 with a medal showing her appreciation for his help with the campaign, according to Voices of New York, a project of the City University of New York (CUNY). She posted multiple pictures of herself with Abdel-qader on Facebook during the campaign and emphasized how important his support was to her.

screenshot/facebook

Screenshot/Facebook

screenshot/Facebook

Screenshot/Facebook

screenshot/Facebook

Screenshot/Facebook

screenshot/facebook

Screenshot/Facebook

Abdel-qader took credit on Facebook for organizing fundraisers for Tlaib among Arab-Americans, pulling in hundreds of thousands of dollars for her campaign. Photos he’s posted on social media show him speaking at Tlaib campaign events.

Screenshot/Facebook

Tlaib previously came under scrutiny for having ties to other anti-Israel figures and for questioning the loyalties of pro-Israel lawmakers.

She sparked controversy after posting a tweet that questioned whether Republicans who support anti-Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) legislation “forgot what country they represent.” Tlaib supports the anti-Israel BDS movement, which has often overlapped with anti-Semitic causes.

She also came under fire after posing for a picture with Palestinian activist Abbas Hamideh, a supporter of Hezbollah who believes Israel shouldn’t exist, at her swearing-in ceremony in Washington, D.C., earlier this month

The left-leaning Anti-Defamation League demanded an explanation from Tlaib, who told the Detroit Free Press on Friday that she didn’t know who Hamideh is.

Nine months before that controversy, in April 2018, Tlaib posted a picture of herself and Hamideh on Facebook.

screenshot/facebook

Screenshot/Facebook

Palestinian-American professor Amer Zahr, a supporter of the BDS movement, also appeared at campaign events and attended Tlaib’s swearing-in ceremony. Zahr posted a Facebook video he recorded from Tlaib’s office to show that he had re-labeled Israel as “Palestine” on a map hanging in the office.

WATCH:


An article recounting the label change received positive reactions when shared within the “Palestinian American Congress” group that Tlaib belongs to on Facebook.

One group member commented: “They will be wiped off the map soon inshallah [God willing].”

Women’s March co-chair Linda Sarsour was also an early Tlaib supporter and attended her swearing-in ceremony as well.

Sarsour and other Women’s March leaders have come under scrutiny for their support of Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, a notorious anti-Semite who has praised former German dictator Adolf Hitler and described Jews as “satanic.”

Follow Hasson on Twitter @PeterJHasson

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

PREMIUM ARTICLE: Subscribe To Keep Reading

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign Up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
BENEFITS READERS PASS PATRIOTS FOUNDERS
Daily and Breaking Newsletters
Daily Caller Shows
Ad Free Experience
Exclusive Articles
Custom Newsletters
Editor Daily Rundown
Behind The Scenes Coverage
Award Winning Documentaries
Patriot War Room
Patriot Live Chat
Exclusive Events
Gold Membership Card
Tucker Mug

What does Founders Club include?

Tucker Mug and Membership Card
Founders

Readers,

Instead of sucking up to the political and corporate powers that dominate America, The Daily Caller is fighting for you — our readers. We humbly ask you to consider joining us in this fight.

Now that millions of readers are rejecting the increasingly biased and even corrupt corporate media and joining us daily, there are powerful forces lined up to stop us: the old guard of the news media hopes to marginalize us; the big corporate ad agencies want to deprive us of revenue and put us out of business; senators threaten to have our reporters arrested for asking simple questions; the big tech platforms want to limit our ability to communicate with you; and the political party establishments feel threatened by our independence.

We don't complain -- we can't stand complainers -- but we do call it how we see it. We have a fight on our hands, and it's intense. We need your help to smash through the big tech, big media and big government blockade.

We're the insurgent outsiders for a reason: our deep-dive investigations hold the powerful to account. Our original videos undermine their narratives on a daily basis. Even our insistence on having fun infuriates them -- because we won’t bend the knee to political correctness.

One reason we stand apart is because we are not afraid to say we love America. We love her with every fiber of our being, and we think she's worth saving from today’s craziness.

Help us save her.

A second reason we stand out is the sheer number of honest responsible reporters we have helped train. We have trained so many solid reporters that they now hold prominent positions at publications across the political spectrum. Hear a rare reasonable voice at a place like CNN? There’s a good chance they were trained at Daily Caller. Same goes for the numerous Daily Caller alumni dominating the news coverage at outlets such as Fox News, Newsmax, Daily Wire and many others.

Simply put, America needs solid reporters fighting to tell the truth or we will never have honest elections or a fair system. We are working tirelessly to make that happen and we are making a difference.

Since 2010, The Daily Caller has grown immensely. We're in the halls of Congress. We're in the Oval Office. And we're in up to 20 million homes every single month. That's 20 million Americans like you who are impossible to ignore.

We can overcome the forces lined up against all of us. This is an important mission but we can’t do it unless you — the everyday Americans forgotten by the establishment — have our back.

Please consider becoming a Daily Caller Patriot today, and help us keep doing work that holds politicians, corporations and other leaders accountable. Help us thumb our noses at political correctness. Help us train a new generation of news reporters who will actually tell the truth. And help us remind Americans everywhere that there are millions of us who remain clear-eyed about our country's greatness.

In return for membership, Daily Caller Patriots will be able to read The Daily Caller without any of the ads that we have long used to support our mission. We know the ads drive you crazy. They drive us crazy too. But we need revenue to keep the fight going. If you join us, we will cut out the ads for you and put every Lincoln-headed cent we earn into amplifying our voice, training even more solid reporters, and giving you the ad-free experience and lightning fast website you deserve.

Patriots will also be eligible for Patriots Only content, newsletters, chats and live events with our reporters and editors. It's simple: welcome us into your lives, and we'll welcome you into ours.

We can save America together.

Become a Daily Caller Patriot today.

Signature

Neil Patel