A group of Democratic lawmakers met with an alleged member of a terrorist organization during a trip funded by an anti-Israel nonprofit last spring, according to government documents obtained by THE WEEKLY STANDARD.
Seventy-one members of Congress were invited on the all-expenses-paid trip to east Jerusalem and Ramallah in the West Bank, but only five accepted: Illinois congressman Luis Gutierrez, Michigan congressman Dan Kildee, Wisconsin congressman Mark Pocan, Pennsylvania congressman Matt Cartwright, and Georgia congressman Hank Johnson.
According to the trip itinerary, the American lawmakers met on May 29 with Shawan Jabarin, an alleged long-time activist for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a designated terrorist organization that has engaged in suicide bombings, assassinations, and plane hijackings. Jabarin serves as director of the Palestinian human rights organization Al Haq, which advocates for economic boycotts of Israel and exploits courts to delegitimize the country, according to NGO Monitor, a pro-Israel watchdog.
The Israeli Supreme Court has described Jabarin as a “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, acting some of the time as the CEO of a human rights organization, and at other times as an activist in a terror organization which has not shied away from murder and attempted murder.” Jabarin was found guilty of recruiting operatives on behalf of the PFLP in 1985 and has since been denied exit visas by Israel and Jordan.
The congressmen did not respond to requests for comment about the trip.
Terrorism experts told TWS that the lawmakers either did not look into Jabarin’s background before the meeting, or knowingly met with a figure who has been convicted for his ties to terrorism.
“At best, this was poor vetting and poor decision making on the part of these members, who may not have fully understood who they were meeting with,” said Jonathan Schanzer, vice president for research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. “At worst, they were knowingly engaging with a virulently anti-Israel figure with disconcerting ties to a known terrorist organization.”
The Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue & Democracy (MIFTAH), which provided funding for the trip, also portrays itself as a human rights organization but often engages in rhetoric that is anti-Semitic or supportive of terrorism, an NGO expert told TWS.
“MIFTAH is an organization that is engaged in blatantly anti-semitic rhetoric, that has spoken very romantically and positively about suicide bombings and things of that nature,” said Yona Schiffmiller, director of the North America desk at NGO Monitor.
MIFTAH has previously praised Palestinian suicide bombers, charged Israel with “cultural genocide”, and published an article accusing Jews of blood libel.
Schiffmiller advised those looking to engage with such organizations to investigate groups beyond their mission statement.
“If you narrow yourself to … just evaluating the particular mission that the organization claims to work towards, you’re going to miss a lot of these other things,” he said. “You’re going to miss the anti-semitism, you’re going to miss the promotion of terrorism.”
The May trip also included meetings with Palestinian political and finance officials, including Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas. The meeting with Jabarin featured a number of other officials from Palestinian nonprofits as well as the Palestinian minister for prisoner affairs.
The American Global Institute was another sponsor of the trip.
