A Virginia school board member warned graduating high school students that they were readying to enter a capitalist world with racism, white supremacy, and “extreme versions of individualism.”
“Our world is overwhelmed with need. We struggle with human greed, racism, extreme versions of individualism and capitalism, white supremacy, growing wealth gaps, disease, climate crisis, extreme poverty amidst luxury and waste right next door. And the list goes on,” Fairfax County School Board member Abrar Omeish told the graduating class of mostly minority students.
Omeish, who is the only Muslim member of the school board, gave the keynote address at the graduation for students at Justice High School in Falls Church. She was introduced by a member of the student council, who noted that she had previously campaigned for Sen. Bernie Sanders’s bid for president and is the daughter of Esam Omeish, a “leader and board member of the Dar al-Hijrah Islamic Center,” a mosque attended by two 9/11 hijackers and the 2009 Fort Hood shooter.
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Omeish began her speech with relatively typical subject matter, congratulating the graduates on overcoming personal and academic obstacles. She also frequently switched between Arabic, English, and Spanish while delivering her remarks.
“Today, we checked off a box in your academic journey. As a human being, you have developed and you have grown,” Omeish said.
But the speech quickly became controversial, most notably when Omeish encouraged students to remember their “jihad” at one point in Arabic.
“The world sees the accolade, the diploma, the fruit of all your years yet be reminded of the detail of your struggle,” Omeish said in English before switching languages to tell students to remember their “jihad” in Arabic.
Her speech from there continued to have a political and racial theme, at one point suggesting that the school was sitting on land stolen from the Manahoac people, a Native American tribe.
“You understand that social justice is only political for those that can afford to ignore it,” Omeish said. “You understand that ‘neutral’ is another word for complicit. And you have made a choice to take a stand.”
The school board member warned the students that the world would try to keep them down, but she encouraged them to “remain steadfast” and “keep your eyes on the prize.”
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But she also struck an optimistic tone, telling students that “your truth, your courage, and your path to uplift those who are not heard will leave you on the right side of history.”
