|
|
|
|
Steven Emerson,
Executive Director
|
February 19, 2019
|
|
|
Emerson:
Virginia Voters Need to Understand, Reject Sameerah Ibrahim's Anti-Semitism
by Mornings on the Mall
WMAL Radio
February 19, 2019
|
|
|
|
Share:  
|
  Be the
first of your friends to like this.
Mary Walter: Good morning. Joining us now, Steve Emerson. He's
the executive director of the Investigative Project on Terrorism. It's a
non-profit group that investigates the threat of radical Islam. Steve, good
morning. Welcome to "Mornings on the Mall."
Emerson: Good morning.
Walter: There is a special election today for the Virginia House
of Delegates for the 86th District, which is a suburban area in
Fairfax County, to fill a seat. Two people running for the seat are
Ibraheem Samirah, who is a dentist, 27 years old. He's the favorite in this
race. He's running against Greg Nelson, who is an Air Force veteran. And
we're finding out now that apparently there were some comments made by Dr.
Samirah about five years ago that were very anti-Semitic, comparing giving
money to Israel worse than donating to the KKK; also saying that Israeli
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon would burn in hell; Israeli teenagers were
using Tinder to cover up the murders in their names. Very anti-Semitic
statements. Is this going to affect him at all though?
Emerson: I don't know whether it will affect him but I think it
should affect him because the comments are undeniably anti-Semitic. Now he
has said he has apologized for those comments, but he's also said that they
were taken out of context and that they were part of a slander campaign.
Both of those latter allegations are demonstrably false. None of them were
taken out of context and to the extent that he says that he's only
mitigating his apology. He also has supported two groups that are very anti-Israel
in their positions. One group has supported a radical Islamic terrorist who
was convicted in the killing of two Jews in a bombing in Israel several
decades ago. Another group supports the movement called BDS – boycott,
divestment – that is designed to strangle the economy of Israel. He has not
disavowed his support for those two groups. So all in all his total
position is a virulently anti-Israeli position, and more than that I would
say anti-Semitic. To the extent that people vote for him they should be
aware of those positions.
Vince Coglianese: Now are you of the opinion that people are
aware and they're just kind of forgiving him for this, or is this just a
matter of hey, no one really knows about it and they're gonna go to the
polls and they're gonna vote with ignorance of where he actually stands on
them?
Emerson: I think the latter. When I read the Washington Post
story about it, it was almost a semi-apologetic letter. It said that he
posted a letter decrying 'the Palestinian civilian death caused by Israeli
missile strikes in Gaza.' What he did was actually post a letter in support
of Hamas during the Israeli-Gaza war in which Hamas attacked Israel with
several thousand rockets. And then he said that supporting Israel is like
supporting the Ku Klux Klan. The Washington Post also did not explain the
meaning of his support for those two groups that supported terrorism. So I
think that if voters go on the basis of just the Washington Post story,
they will be ill-informed. Our organization posted the real comments on the
Investigative Project on Terrorism web site. And if people dig into the
real background I think they would reject his candidacy.
Walter: Why is it that it seems to be that American Jews seem to
be okay with these types of comments because they're really anti-Israel?
They don't view them as anti-Semitic. Is there a disconnect there for the
American Jewish population?
Emerson: I think you're right. I think we saw this with
Congresswoman Ilhan Omar when she made her comments that were anti-Semitic
just a couple of weeks ago. She made an apology but she actually
conditioned her apology in a way that sort of negated the apology and that
made her comments sort of stick that were anti-Semitic. And I think people
sort of accept the fact to the extent that they say, well criticizing
Israel is not the same as criticizing the Jewish community. I think that's
true. You can criticize Israel without being anti-Semitic, but he didn't
just criticize Israel; he criticized the Jewish community and supported
Islamic terrorists who killed Jews. And I think that goes beyond the pale.
Now whether it sticks, I'm not clairvoyant.
Coglianese: Sure.
Emerson: But it should stick if one examines his actual comments
because I think they're beyond the pale and beyond the pale for a candidate
running for office.
Coglianese: Steve, can you explain to me why it is that you think
Democrats are graded on a curve on this, because it seems like his party
affiliation for whatever reason offers him a shield from these criticisms?
Emerson: I think you're 100% right and I think that's the same in
the Democratic Party in the U.S. Congress. They've offered a shield for the
anti-Semitic posts by Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib. There's an infection of
anti-Semitism, I hate to say, within the Democratic Party locally and
nationally. And it's similar to what we're seeing in Britain with the UK
Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn that has been infected in a major way by
anti-Semitism. For reasons that are inexplicable the Democratic Party does
not want to go out on a limb and unilaterally condemn as anti-Semitic these
comments. And I think ultimately it's gonna go down to their detriment in
the elections.
Coglianese: I mean it's a bizarre double treatment. Look at the
way for instance Steve King was treated recently. Congressman Steve King
basically run out of Congress on a rail. All of his committee assignments
taken away, all because of what he says was a misunderstanding, that he
wasn't defending white nationalism or white identity politics. But whatever
you think of his comments, they came down very hard on him. We don't see a
similar reaction to Democrats who get into the very trouble that you're
talking about.
Emerson: You're 100% right. Congressman Steven King was stripped
all of his committee assignments by the Republican Party, taken off every
single committee, and yet Ilhan Omar was simply castigated orally but not
taken off the very prestigious and powerful Foreign Affairs Committee in
the House. That should have been the reaction by Nancy Pelosi, but it
wasn't. And to the extent that she continues to allow Ilhan Omar to serve
on that committee is a stain on the moral level of the Democratic Party. I
have called for the removal of Ilhan Omar because I think her continuation
of inclusion on that committee is a national security threat because she is
close to the group called CAIR – the Council on American-Islamic Relations
– which itself is a front group for Hamas. And to the extent that she is
close to them, speaking for them, fundraising for them, being an advisory
member for them, that is a threat because the FBI itself refuses to engage
in any contact with CAIR because of their contacts with Hamas.
Walter: This is very interesting. It'll be interesting to see
what happens today in this election. Thank you so much. We appreciate your
comments, Steve. Have a great day.
Emerson: You're welcome. Thanks a lot.
|
The IPT accepts no funding from
outside the United States, or from any governmental agency or political or
religious institutions. Your support of The Investigative Project on
Terrorism is critical in winning a battle we cannot afford to lose. All
donations are tax-deductible. Click here to donate online. The
Investigative Project on Terrorism Foundation is a recognized 501(c)3
organization.
202-363-8602
- main
202-966-5191
- fax
|
|
Print
Send
RSS
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment