Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro on Tuesday gave Max Blumenthal, an anti-Israel activist and son of longtime Hillary Clinton adviser, and other activists a replica of Bolivar's sword.
Blumenthal, who leads the website "The Grayzone," which he founded, was joined by his colleagues Ben Norton and Anya Parampil. Additionally, there were Code Pink activist Patricia Wieland and multiple representatives from groups such as Popular Resistance and Act Now to Stop War and End Racism (ANSWER). The activists were invited down to Venezuela to meet with Maduro after they occupied the Venezuelan embassy in Washington, D.C. back in May.
Blumenthal, who was cited by a Kansas Klu Klux Klan leader who went on a murder spree at two Jewish community centers in 2014, has a history of being anti-Israel and praising the the terrorist group Hamas, according to the Washington Free Beacon.
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."
Reuters reporter Luc Cohen on Tuesday tweeted out two pictures of the activists meeting with Maduro at Miraflores
Maduro has now gifted them a replica of Bolivar’s sword to bring back to the United States pic.twitter.com/8LdfO7aOgA
— Luc Cohen (@cohenluc) July 31, 2019
Maduro tweeted out a video of all the activists gathered around him, writing in Spanish what translated out to "In gratitude and affection I give you the replica of the victorious saber of our Liberator Simón Bolívar."
Envío un saludo bolivariano afectuoso a nuestro hermano pueblo de los EE.UU. En señal de gratitud y afecto le entrego la réplica del sable victorioso de nuestro Libertador Simón Bolívar. ¡Un Abrazo! pic.twitter.com/LRIfRilfl6
— Nicolás Maduro (@NicolasMaduro) July 31, 2019
Another Twitter account posted pictures of each of the activists shaking Maduro's hands, including Blumenthal.
Blumenthal's father, Sidney Blumenthal, was a close adviser to Bill and Hillary Clinton and often defended his son's anti-Israel work, including a controversial book he wrote comparing Israel to Nazi Germany, the Free Beacon reported.
The book, written by Max Blumenthal, accuses Israel of being a fascist country and has chapter titles explicitly comparing the Jewish State to Nazi Germany, such as "The Concentration Camp" and "The Night of Broken Glass."
According to the Nation columnist Eric Alterman, who harshly reviewed the book, long-time Clinton confidant Sidney Blumenthal has sent "nasty emails" to "our mutual friends and professional acquaintances" attacking him for "telling the truth about his son’s book."