The son of a close adviser to Hillary Clinton praised the terrorist group Hamas and compared Israel to the terror group ISIS in a secretly recorded speech before an anti-Israel group.
Max Blumenthal, son of Sidney Blumenthal, a longtime Clinton adviser and failed war profiteer, is a far-left anti-American and anti-Israel activist. The recording, obtained by the UK Telegraph, shows Blumenthal lauding Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel in candid language.
Palestinians "want to recover their dignity, and one way they can find it is through the al-Qassam Brigades or another armed faction," says Blumenthal, referring to a Hamas offshoot that specializes in terrorist attacks on Israel.
Blumenthal goes on to praise Hamas attacks on civilians as "sending a strong signal to the Israelis … that Israel’s security bubble could be popped with [tunnel attacks] or with long-range rockets." Blumenthal praises one Hamas terrorist attack because "the message it sent to young Palestinians in the West Bank, Jerusalem, and abroad was also incredible."
Blumenthal’s audience is not limited to gatherings of fringe terrorism supporters and anti-Semites.
Sidney Blumenthal used his closeness to Hillary Clinton to promote his son’s anti-Israel work, which was often warmly received by Clinton, according to emails. "Pls print for me," Clinton emailed an aide after receiving one of Max Blumenthal’s articles.
The elder Blumenthal often referred to his son simply as "Max" in his emails to Clinton. One email subject line to Clinton read, "Max from Israel: deconstruction of propaganda and media." Sidney also sent Clinton the preface to one of his son’s books and hosted a party to promote his son’s book about the Gaza Strip, a comparison of Israel to Nazi Germany which left-wing Israel critic Eric Alterman said "could have been published by the Hamas Book-of-the-Month Club."
Max Blumenthal’s support for terrorism, the Telegraph reports, was one of the factors that caused the British government to rescind taxpayer funding for War on Want, a group that sponsors "Israel Apartheid Week" and other pro-Hamas events in Britain.