Illicitinfo| Democratic Representative Rashida Tlaib of Michigan has been reportedly been attending “events and posing in pictures with one of her campaign fundraisers who repeatedly shared anti-Semitic conspiracy theories,” according to the Daily Caller.
The Daily Caller reports:
Maher Abdel-qader, a Palestinian-American businessman, was a key fundraiser for Tlaib in 2018 and organized campaign events for her around the country. The Michigan Democrat faced backlash after The Daily Caller News Foundation revealed Abdel-qader’s history of promoting anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.
In January 2018, for example, Abdel-qader shared an anti-Semitic video that claimed Jews aren’t actually Jewish, invented their historical claim to Israel, and secretly control the media. The video, which described Jews as “satanic,” also questioned whether 6 million Jews actually died in the Holocaust.
Abdel-qader apologized for sharing the video and deleted the post following TheDCNF’s report in January.
After the controversy subsided, Tlaib continued attending events and posing for photographs with Abdel-qader, who has continued posting content that plays on anti-Semitic tropes in a Facebook group that includes the congresswoman.
Abdel-qader posted to Facebook on June 4th that the “Zionist lobby” is buying the “blind loyalty” of America’s politicians.
Two days before the post was made, he posted a photo that said that the US had forfeited its “sovereignty” to Israel.
Abdel-qader shared a video on that same day that, asserting that Israel “controls U.S. foreign policy” via the influence of Jewish-American donors as well as the Israeli-American Council, a non-profit that is run out of Los Angeles.
“Israel, the world is wise to your bullshit. Your cries of ‘anti-Semitism’ don’t work anymore,” a meme Abedel-qader posted to Facebook on the 2nd read.
Another meme that he shared on Saturday, said, “Someone once asked me if I am anti-Semitic. I replied, ‘Not at all, I like Palestinian people!’”
Abdel-qader’s went on to promote anti-Semitic tropes.
The Daily Caller reports that he “posed for photos with the congresswoman at two events within the span of a week in April and May, his Instagram account shows. Abdel-qader, who did not return an email seeking comment, played a key role in Tlaib’s 2018 campaign, according to both himself and Tlaib. Abdel-qader took credit on Facebook for organizing fundraisers with Arab-Americans for Tlaib, pulling in hundreds of thousands of dollars for her campaign. Photos he posted on social media showed him speaking at Tlaib campaign events.”
“Tlaib thanked Abdel-qader for his support in March 2018 and presented him 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),” the Caller explains.
