Hezbollah Sympathizer To Host Anti-Israel Extremist Rally in DC Next Week

Next week the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) will hold their annual policy conference in Washington, DC.  Down the street, there will be an anti-AIPAC protest, pledging support for Palestinians, in front of the White House.

This protest is being endorsed by a number of pro-Palestinian and left-wing radical groups.

The event is being hosted by an organization known as Al-Awda, The Palestinian Right to Return Coalition.  While I’m sure many of the individuals attending the protest are simply interested in peace between the Israelis and Palestinians, make no mistake, this organization does not want peace.  This organization is calling for the mass expulsion of Jews.

Al-Awda and its founder Abbas Hamideh routinely utilize duplicitous rhetoric only so eloquently spoken by those with a forked tongue.  A quick look at Hamideh’s social media pages shows his disinterest in any type of peace that doesn’t involve the complete destruction of The State of Israel and the ethnic cleansing of Jews from the land.  Hamideh routinely calls Israel’s neighborhoods in Judea and Samaria “illegal criminal settlements.”  Last month, I wrote an op-ed that touched on some of the important legal aspects of these neighborhoods and highlights the fraud being perpetrated by those, like Hamideh, who try desperately to delegitimize these neighborhoods.

Many people wrongfully hold the viewpoint that Jewish neighborhoods in Judea and Samaria are illegal and call for their removal. However, Hamideh and his organization take a position beyond that, he and his organization view the entire State of Israel as an illegal settlement of “European colonizers.”

Al-Awda’s Facebook event page for the protest openly calls Israel an “illegal foreign entity.”

His group calls for the destruction of the State of Israel, using the oft-heard slogan of “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free,” a reference to the area between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, within which the entirety of Israel is located.

On his personal Facebook account, Hamideh openly states his belief that the cities of Haifa, Yaffa, and Deir Yassin (a neighborhood of Jerusalem within Israeli territory following the 1948 armistice agreement) are each a part of Palestine.

Hamideh is clear about his position that Palestine includes all of Israel.  Both his Facebook and Twitter profiles highlight his unwillingness to “compromise on one inch” of what he views as Palestine.

Additionally, Hamideh has expressed solidarity with the Iranian backed terrorist group Hezbollah.  On his personal Facebook page, he posted a news article regarding The Arab League’s decision to label Hezbollah a terrorist group with the comment that highlights his distaste for the move, saying that The Arab League can “kiss [his] Palestinian ass.”

Not only has he shown his sympathies for Hezbollah by chastising the The Arab Leagues decision, he has also expressed a man-crush for Hezbollah’s leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, describing him as “the most honorable man on the face of the earth.”

It is clear from his duplicitous rhetoric that when he describes Israeli “settlements” as “illegal” and demands the removal of these “settlers,” he is not just referring to neighborhoods in Judea and Samaria; he is demanding the removal of Israel and its people.  Hamideh often bloviates rhetoric of the ethnic cleansing and genocide of Palestinians, while – sometimes in the same sentence – demands the mass, forceful expulsion of millions of Israeli Jews from their historic homeland.

Make no mistake, Hamideh and his group Al-Awda, hold an opinion of the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians that is considered an extremist position.

It would behoove those who profess concerns over human rights, international law, and facts to oppose this hate rally and to renounce groups like Al-Awda and their extremist positions.