Rep. Colin Allred (D., Texas), who is looking to unseat incumbent Sen. Ted Cruz (R.), recruited an Austin city councilman who sided with anti-Israel students and accused the Jewish state of apartheid to lead an initiative targeting Asian and Pacific Islander voters.
Councilman Zo Qadri announced last week that he would co-chair the newly launched AAPI Texans for Colin Allred coalition. According to the Substack "Austin Texas Times," Qadri deleted anti-Israel posts from 2021 after they resurfaced in the days following Hamas's Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack. In the spring, he criticized police for breaking up illegal encampments protesting the Jewish state at the University of Texas at Austin.
"The state of Israel has no right to talk about human rights or human issues. Not as they slaughter folks. Not as long as they deal in the apartheid business," Qadri wrote in May 2021, as Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad—both U.S.-designated terrorist organizations—launched rockets into Israel.
A day later, he criticized Israel supporters.
"Anyone who has a 'Proud supporter of Israel' in their bio or a I support the [Israel Defense Forces] or Israel banner on their pic really needs to reevaluate a lot of things," Qadri wrote.
Two days after Hamas's Oct. 7 attack last year, Qadri apologized to a constituent for his comments but said they were taken out of context.
"I regret that I didn't articulate my initial remarks with the thoughtfulness and compassion that this situation demands," Qadri wrote in an email. "The past few days have given me a lesson on the perils of social media and how impulsive statements can hurt feelings."
"I'm also reminded that posts can frequently be taken out of context and stripped of their original intent," he added.
Allred, meanwhile, already holds ties to anti-Israel groups and sentiments. His Senate campaign has raked in more than $260,000 through J Street, which frequently criticizes Israel for defending itself against Palestinian terrorism. The group has also set up a dedicated donation page for Allred and has attacked Cruz's pro-Israel policies.
Despite claiming to be a "steadfast supporter" of the Jewish state, Allred voted twice against congressional measures urging the U.S. government to condemn Israel boycotts. In 2019, Allred voted against a Republican-led resolution that declared it "in the national security interest of the United States to condemn and oppose" the anti-Semitic Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement. That same year, he opposed an amendment that would have required pension plans to refrain from participating in Israel boycotts to be eligible for federal funding.
Also in 2019, Allred posted a picture with Imam Omar Suleiman, an anti-Semitic Muslim preacher who has compared Israeli authorities to the Nazis, called on Palestinians and supporters to "resist" Israel "by any means necessary," and accused the Jewish state of being a "racist, oppressive, psychotic, Apartheid regime." Allred wrote in his 2019 tweet that the preacher's "message of peace, unity, and support for our fellow Americans is needed now, more than ever."
Although Qadri backpedaled from his anti-Israel stance immediately following Hamas's Oct. 7 attack, the city councilman sided with campus agitators on at least two occasions.
Police on April 24 arrested nearly 60 anti-Israel students at the University of Texas at Austin after the students tried to set up an illegal encampment and refused to disperse. Qadri spoke the next day at an anti-Israel rally where the gathered crowd of protesters chanted after him.
"My name is Councilmember Qadri. … Yesterday I was pissed. I was disappointed at what happened here. A peaceful protest was met with violence by the hands of the [Department of Public Safety], [University of Texas Police], and [Austin Police Department]. That's bullshit. Movements are strongest with students leading," he said. "So thank you, keep it up in the bullshit war that continues to happen and needs to end."
The university issued a statement emphasizing it would "not tolerate disruptions of campus activities or operations" when students were studying for their finals. Qadri, meanwhile, released his own statement.
"We need answers as to why such a flagrant and wasteful show of force by [the Department of Public Safety] was authorized, and if any peaceful protestors had their 1st Amendment Rights violated," Qadri wrote.
Law enforcement was again called to UT Austin on April 29, after agitators illegally erected a tent encampment "with a barricade enclosure of tables secured by metal chains, and strategically placed tools, tents, and rocks," the university reported. The protesters became physically and verbally combative when university staff approached them. Police arrested nearly 80 agitators who ignored repeated orders to disperse.
In response, Qadri accused police of using "excessive" force and said that tax dollars "shouldn't be used to violate students' right to assemble." He noted that the protesters arrested in the previous sweep had their charges dropped.
"Protestors had their charges dropped for a reason - bc these have been lawful, peaceful protests," Allred posted on X, noting that he requested a legal brief on Austin police's role.
In his role on the city council, Qadri supported a ceasefire resolution by the Austin for Palestine Coalition, a local anti-Israel group that has accused the Jewish state of being an oppressive "colonizer." The councilman also hosted a fundraised for anti-Semitic congresswoman Cori Bush (D., Mo.) in July.
Allred and Qadri did not respond to a request for comment.