This thread on a member of the VA legislature and former volunteer for Rep. Rashida Tlaib is both disconcerting and fascinating.
THREAD: A member of the Virginia legislature and former volunteer for Rep. Rashida Tlaib is connected to multiple anti-Semitic organizations and is the son of a Hamas fundraiser. (1/x)
— Mikhael Smits (@mikhaelsmits) May 21, 2019
A volunteer for Rashida? We’re SHOCKED! SHOCKED we say!
Heh.
Ibraheem Samirah describes himself as the youngest Muslim lawmaker in America. His name might be familiar: he was in the news last week for claiming his faith was attacked at a town hall when "asked how he planned to implement Sharia law" pic.twitter.com/kIg4Ne3LuU
— Mikhael Smits (@mikhaelsmits) May 21, 2019
His faith was attacked.
Alrighty then.
Samirah is involved with several anti-Israel causes: Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS), Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP).
Despite not being Jewish, Samirah takes credit for starting a JVP chapter on his campus.
He also encourages this: pic.twitter.com/Y9RZaspNX8
— Mikhael Smits (@mikhaelsmits) May 21, 2019
But that's standard for today's anti-Israel students. Samirah goes further.
SJP is heavily funded by American Muslims for Palestine (AMP). SJP and AMP's co-founder, Hatem Bazian, is an anti-semite. He once spoke at a fundraiser for an org tied to Hamas:https://t.co/m8qBaiif16 pic.twitter.com/s1KQTqMIjW
— Mikhael Smits (@mikhaelsmits) May 21, 2019
Nothing to see here.
Nope.
Just last year, Bazian and Samirah both spoke at AMP's annual conference in Chicago. (Samirah's father also spoke at an earlier AMP conference. More on him in a second.) You can read Samirah's bio on the event page here: https://t.co/CNe9Ql3Rjr
— Mikhael Smits (@mikhaelsmits) May 21, 2019
Recommended
Yikes.
In a 2017 post, Samirah links to AMP propaganda claiming "Zionist Jews" are trying to "take over" and "Judaize" Jerusalem. He pledges thousands of dollars to "empower Palestinians in Jerusalem and beyond to end the illegal Israeli occupation." pic.twitter.com/IoVHwZczyl
— Mikhael Smits (@mikhaelsmits) May 21, 2019
Where did AMP come from? According to the Anti-Defamation League, AMP came about in 2005 as a successor to the Islamic Association of Palestine (IAP), which closed in 2004. https://t.co/SpqmwKgQW8 pic.twitter.com/65zG7Cea1n
— Mikhael Smits (@mikhaelsmits) May 21, 2019
Double yikes.
In 2008, in Boim v. Holy Land Foundation, a judge ruled that IAP had directed funds to Hamas and had culpability for an American citizen shot dead by Hamas gunmen.
An FBI memo in the case cites an IAP employee, saying that the org gave $3 MILLION… pic.twitter.com/FY1zRa77AE
— Mikhael Smits (@mikhaelsmits) May 21, 2019
…per year to Hamas via Holy Land.
And who chaired IAP's board? Here's an internal document from IAP's annual convention in 2000:https://t.co/d6cit0hz71 pic.twitter.com/D5h0q81eYY
— Mikhael Smits (@mikhaelsmits) May 21, 2019
Dr. Sabri Samirah is Ibraheem Samirah's father. Between 2002-2010, he lived in Jordan. He was barred from returning to the US in 2002 because DHS deemed him a "security risk." (He was allowed to return in 2010. see: Sabri Samirah v. Eric Holder, Jr., No. 08-1889 (7th Cir. 2010))
— Mikhael Smits (@mikhaelsmits) May 21, 2019
So his dad is a security risk.
This just keeps getting better.
Al-Jazeera describes Dr. Samirah him as a "leading member of the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan." He also served as spokesman for the Islamic Action Front, the political arm of the Brotherhood in Jordanian. pic.twitter.com/S6sB0oJy6Z
— Mikhael Smits (@mikhaelsmits) May 21, 2019
Muslim Brotherhood.
Meep.
In this 2011 interview with al-Jazeera, Dr. Samirah calls for the military invasion of Israel. "I ask my government and my army to help liberate Jerusalem and Hebron and all those cities that were occupied," he says.https://t.co/BKAeKslcKH
— Mikhael Smits (@mikhaelsmits) May 21, 2019
Samirah, now a member of Virginia's government, praises his father's work:
"He is a man of principle both in his words and deeds. I would never have been able to truly dedicate my life to the liberation of Palestine without his lifelong courage."
link: https://t.co/Z45vcZwgMG pic.twitter.com/wDUucKs7s0
— Mikhael Smits (@mikhaelsmits) May 21, 2019
Samirah's office did not reply to a request for comment. Full story via @FreeBeacon: https://t.co/bXpm0NNzhK
— Mikhael Smits (@mikhaelsmits) May 21, 2019
No comment? This is almost as shocking as the fact that this guy volunteered for Rep. Rashida Tlaib.
Re: Samirah's connection to Rashida Tlaib, in his bio from the AMP conference, he describes "taking charge" of voter mobilization for her campaign in Michigan. https://t.co/CNe9Ql3Rjr pic.twitter.com/bSdX2p70Yb
— Mikhael Smits (@mikhaelsmits) May 21, 2019
Almost as shocking.
Yup.
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