Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), already known for her connections to prominent anti-Semitic leaders and pro-Palestinian interest groups, once wrote an op-ed for known anti-Semite Louis Farrakhan’s Nation of Islam newsletter, “Final Call.”
Independent journalist Jeryl Bier discovered the op-ed from 2006, which focuses on immigration and deportation, and published a copy of the article, which still appears on the Nation of Islam website. “The article is entitled ‘Bills must stop deportations for minor offenses’ and addressed the problem of legal immigrants deported for technicalities and other relatively minor issues,” Bier reports.
Tlaib, whose name is featured prominently in the byline, identifies herself as the “advocacy coordinator of the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS) in Detroit.” The Nation of Islam describes her as a “guest columnist.”
The article appears to have been authored specifically for the Nation of Islam’s newsletter; a Google search confirmed that the article is not a reprint and does not appear in any other contemporaneous pulbications.
Although this is her first concrete connection to the Nation of Islam — a religious sect whose openly anti-Semitic leadership, including Farrakhan, regularly preaches hatred against the Jewish people — Tlaib is no stranger to anti-Semitic and anti-Israel figures or anti-Israel policy.
Tlaib has spoken out regularly in defense of the anti-Semitic Boycott-Divest-Sanction movement, which seeks to cut the Jewish state of Israel off from international trade. Late last year, she clashed with Republican Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), who exposed an inside effort among far-left Democrats to oppose a congressional measure barring the federal government from contracting with companies and entities that embrace the BDS movement.
In her zeal to oppose the anti-BDS legislation, Tlaib unleashed an anti-Semitic slur against her congressional colleagues, accusing those who did not support BDS of having “dual loyalties” to the United States and the state of Israel — a favorite topic of anti-Semites like Farrakhan.
During a podcast interview with The Intercept, Tlaib also seemed to accuse Israel of supporting “Apartheid” policies against the Palestinians, another smear.
“Do you know what we’ve done in this country with the right to boycott, what we’ve done in this country with the right to speak up and to protest and to say we disagree with this country and their doings? You look at Apartheid. You look at all the, you know, anti-blackness in our country and what we’ve been able to try to do to push back against that, you know, I don’t even call it an anti-B — I call it anti-First Amendment, anti-speech bill,” Tlaib told The Intercept’s hosts.
One of Tlaib’s key fundraisers, “Palestinian activist” Maher Abdel-qader, is also a prominent anti-Semite, a Daily Caller investigation discovered. Tlaib is a member of Abel-qader’s private Facebook group, where he shares anti-Semitic videos, and “[i[n March 2018, Tlaib presented Abdel-qader 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).”
As for the Nation of Islam newsletter, “Final Call,” The Daily Caller reports that it is “the official communications organ of the Nation of Islam.”
The Daily Wire reached out to Tlaib’s office for comment, as did The Washington Free Beacon and The Daily Caller. It does not appear that any publication has received a response.
UPDATE: Business Insider was able to coax a response out of Rep. Tlaib’s office. She says, “The piece was from 2006 and was not an endorsement of Farrakhan or anyone for that matter. The Congresswoman has not had any direct contact with Farrakhan and condemns his anti-Semitic and anti-LGBTQ views”