Last week, as the StopAntisemitism X account highlighted, Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) participated in an event at the Palestinian American Community Center (PACC). She even involved her son, Adam. Also speaking at that event? Wisam Rafeedie, a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) who has been in prison before. The United States has designed the PFLP as a terrorist group since October 1997. Now, one of Tlaib's fellow Democrats, Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) is getting involved to ask the Department of Justice (DOJ) to look into the matter.
More on the event here: https://t.co/IeDPomRMN1
— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) April 2, 2025
Tlaib was spreading her propaganda to children through a "Palestine storytime" event, which took place last Thursday. According to an ad shared by The Washington Free Beacon, this "Youth Day" was the first day of many of the event.
On Sunday, Rafeedie participated in a completely virtual event, focused on "Centering Palestinian Political Prisoners." The Washington Free Beacon offered some ideas as to why that might be:
Rafeedie's session—which is "fully virtual," likely because Rafeedie could not secure a visa to enter the United States—is "dedicated to shedding light on the lives of Palestinian political prisoners and their ongoing resistance within Israeli prisons," according to PACC's promotional materials. While those materials first included the names and photos of all speakers, including Rafeedie, PACC quietly amended its website in the last week to swap in graphics that mention Tlaib but not Rafeedie.
...
It is not the first time that Tlaib has spoken at a conference that also featured Rafeedie. Last year, she spoke at the People's Conference for Palestine alongside Rafeedie and Salah Salah, a founding member of the PFLP. Rafeedie has, in recent years, defended Hamas’s Oct. 7 terror spree in Israel, claimed the "Zionists lie like they breathe," and deemed Hamas "part of the resistance of the Palestinian people."
An ad for this specific event breaks it down further about this Day Four, "Voices from Palestine" event. The "Centering Palestinian Political Prisoners" segment took place from 12:30-1:45. Before that was a segment devoted to "What Do Palestinians Want? Freedom!" Later in the day, there were segments on "International Advocacy: Gaza." The closing remarks were focused on "Grounded in Action."
PACC is just as problematic as Tlaib and Rafeedie, it would appear:
PACC, a registered nonprofit, bills itself as a "strictly a non-political and non-religious organization" with a mission to "sustain and strengthen ties to Palestinian heritage while empowering the success and well-being of the entire community."
That same day that Rafeedie spoke, Gottheimer put out a press release about calling for an investigation of the conference. PACC is based in New Jersey, the same state where Gottheimer's district is located.
Even worse, PACC receives financial support from another problematic group, American Muslims for Palestine (AMP). As the congressman's press release mentioned about AMP and Rafeedie:
The PACC receives financial support from American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), which is not only under investigation by the Virginia Attorney General’s Office, but is also the subject of an investigation led by the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) for assisting other terrorist organizations, including Hamas.
...
Rafeedie’s Long History of Supporting Terrorism and Engaging in Antisemitic Rhetoric:
- Rafeedie ran a clandestine publishing house for the PFLP during the 1980s.
- During Rafeedie’s last appearance at the event on May 26, 2024, Rafeedie repeatedly defended Hamas’ actions on October 7, and downplayed several documented atrocities, commenting that “Zionists lie like they breathe.”
- Following cheers from the audience, Rafeedie stated support of PFLP’s goals, noting, “There is no longer a place for the two-state solution for any Palestinian. The only solution is one democratic Palestinian state on all Palestinian land, which will end the Zionist project in Palestine.”
- In 2021, Rafeedie participated in a Zoom event as part of the “Ghassan Kanafani Symposium,” in reference to the former PFLP leader.
- The event featured senior PFLP officials, including Nidal Abdel Aal, who was the head of PFLP’s Lebanon Branch, which the IDF eliminated for his role in planning multiple terror attacks.
- The same 2021 event featured Maher Harb, a PFLP leader from Nablus, who Israeli officials detained for two years for supporting terrorist activity against Israel.
The letter from Gottheimer was sent to Attorney General that same day. As his letter mentioned in part:
Rafeedie has a long history of supporting terrorism and engaging in antisemitic rhetoric. According to Amnesty International and the UN’s Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, Rafeedie ran a clandestine publishing house for the PFLP during the 1980s. During Rafeedie’s last appearance at the event on May 26, 2024, Rafeedie repeatedly defended Hamas’ action on October 7, and downplayed several documented atrocities, commenting that “Zionists lie like they breathe.” Following cheers from the audience, Rafeedie stated support of PFLP’s goals, noting, “There is no longer a place for the two-state solution for any Palestinian. The only solution is one democratic Palestinian state on all Palestinian land, which will end the Zionist project in Palestine.”
Rafeedie’s continued association with PFLP is a matter of public record. In 2021, Rafeedie participated in a Zoom event as part of the “Ghassan Kanafani Symposium,” in reference to the former PFLP leader. The event featured senior PFLP officials, including Nidal Abdel Aal, who was the head of PFLP’s Lebanon Branch, which the IDF eliminated for his role in planning event still list the title of Rafeedie’s session as “Centering Palestinian Political Prisoners,” he is named, but not pictured, as the speaker.
Concerningly, PACC receives financial support from American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), which is not only under investigation by the Virginia Attorney General’s Office, but is also the subject of an investigation being led by the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. The Virginia investigation alleges that AMP may have used raised funds for impermissible purposes, including benefiting or providing support to terrorist organizations. AMP’s ties to Hamas, which the U.S. Department of State has designated as a “Foreign Terrorist Organization,” are well-documented. According to testimony from Jonathan Schanzer, the Executive Director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), AMP is associated with several individuals with ties to Hamas or Hamas-linked groups. This includes Jamal Said, Salah Sarsour, and Kifah Mustafa, all three of whom raised money for the Holy Land Foundation, which the U.S. government shuttered after it “sent approximately $12.4 million outside of the United States with the intent to willfully contribute funds, goods, and services to Hamas.”
Gottheimer is thus asking that the DOJ's District of New Jersey "investigate PACC for possible violations of United States law, including but not limited to violations or conspiracy to violate, Section 2339B of the Anti-Terrorism Act." As he points out, "Section 2339B of the Anti-Terrorism Act criminalizes not only the provision of material support to terrorist organizations, but also attempts or conspiracies to do so."
He also made mention of his request over X on Sunday night, a move which was also applauded by StopAntisemitism.
Wisam Rafeedie is a known associate of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine — a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization.
— Rep Josh Gottheimer (@RepJoshG) April 6, 2025
I’m calling on @TheJusticeDept to investigate the Palestinian American Community Center for hosting someone with a record of antisemitism and…
Update: Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) calls on the @TheJusticeDept to investigate the Palestinian American Community Center after they hosted PLFP terrorist Wisam Rafeedie.
— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) April 8, 2025
Rafeedie appeared alongside Rashida Tlaib and her son Adam last week at the Center.
Again we must ask -… https://t.co/6qVwxOr9jq pic.twitter.com/RHVj4D3uaf
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