ADVERTISEMENT

Outrage After Germany Permits Convicted Terrorist Entry to Speak

Convicted terrorist Rasmea Odeh / Twitter
Rasmea Odeh / Twitter
March 14, 2019

Germany is facing backlash from U.S. officials and other international observers following its decision to permit a convicted terrorist entrance into the country to speak at an anti-Israel forum tied to anti-Semitic boycotts of the Jewish state.

German officials, despite criticism, will allow Rasmea Odeh, a convicted terrorist and avowed member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, or PFLP, who was deported from the United States for lying about her terror conviction, into the country later this week.

The decision has sparked outrage, including among top U.S. officials who see Germany as attempting to mainstream anti-Semitic views.

Odeh, a member of the U.S. designated PFLP terror group, was convicted of carrying out a 1969 bombing that left at least two dead. Odeh was recently deported from the United States for lying about her terror conviction on immigration forms.

Odeh was reportedly invited to speak in Berlin on Friday by the "pro-BDS group Jewish Voice for a Just Peace in the Middle East, which is a supporter of the alliance of BDS groups." BDS groups support the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement, which wages economic warfare on Israel.

U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell told the Washington Free Beacon that Odeh represents a toxic form of anti-Semitism that has no place in Germany. He has petitioned German leaders on behalf of the Trump administration to ban Odeh from entering the country.

"The rise of anti-Semitism around the world is very troubling," Grenell said. "Some people plant the seeds of anti-Semitism while others water it and help it grow. Offering a public speaking role to a Palestinian terrorist convicted of murder, terrorism and immigration fraud legitimizes anti-Semitism at a time when we should be condemning it. I join the chorus of others who have raised their voices in Berlin standing against anti-Semitism no matter where it's found."