Sen. Chris Murphy (D., Conn.) is scheduled to participate in a panel discussion on Iran alongside a controversial freelance writer and former Center for American Progress (CAP) blogger who is known for his sympathetic views on Iran and hostility to pro-Israel organizations.
Murphy will participate in a July 18 panel titled, "Iran: Diplomacy or War?" with former CAP blogger Ali Gharib, a self-described "vociferous critic of Israel’s policies" who left CAP in 2011 after being implicated with other writers in a series of posts that were deemed by many to border on the anti-Semitic.
Murphy’s presence on the panel—which will take place at the progressive community’s flagship Netroots Nation conference—drew criticism from some in the pro-Israel community, who accused Murphy of legitimizing Gharib’s controversial views.
Gharib, who once accused a sitting member of Congress of being loyal to Israel, not America, and taking his marching orders from the pro-Israel community, has a history of picking fights with leading pro-Israel groups and has consistently downplayed the threat posed by Iran’s nuclear program.
Murphy’s office did not respond to multiple requests for comment from the Washington Free Beacon asking if he was aware of Gharib’s background and comfortable sharing the stage with him.
"It seems like the senator's office did him a disservice to allow him to be on a panel with some one who has called a fellow senator and U.S. military veteran colleague, Sen. Mark Kirk, a traitor," said Josh Block, a former official at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) who currently serves as the CEO and president of The Israel Project (TIP). "That's on top of having been a writer for Electronic Intifada, a pro-Hamas website that calls for the destruction of Israel. Given what is happening in Israel today, the timing adds insult to injury."
Scandal engulfed Gharib and his fellow CAP colleagues in 2011 when they came under fire from human rights leaders and anti-Semitism experts for peddling stories that many said crossed the line.
Gharib personally came under fire for claiming that Kirk, a key architect of Iran sanctions legislation, was more beholden to the pro-Israel community than America.
Leading Jewish community organizations and other leaders criticized the CAP writers, including Gharib.
"Think tanks are entitled to their political viewpoints—but they’re not free to slander with impunity," the American Jewish Committee said at the time. "References to Israeli ‘apartheid’ or ‘Israel-firsters’ are so false and hateful they reveal an ugly bias no serious policy center can countenance."
Gharib also has written for the conspiracy website LobeLog, which often writes critically about so-called "neoconservative" influence on foreign policy.
After leaving CAP, Gharib moved to the failed blog Open Zion, which was founded by former New Republic editor Peter Beinart.
Gharib continued to criticize Israel and pick fights with leading pro-Israel groups, such as TIP and others.
Gharib again ignited controversy in late 2013 when he penned a factually challenged article for Foreign Policy magazine that ultimately required a substantial correction.
The article, which focused on a leaked Iran sanctions measure, was seen as an attempt by Obama administration allies to scuttle legislation tightening the economic clamp on Tehran.
One Senate insider described the article as a "desperate last-ditch attempt by a small group of left-wing nut-jobs to try to undermine Democratic support for a bipartisan Iran bill."
Pro-Israel leaders expressed shock that Murphy would sit on a panel with Gharib.
"It's unfortunate that a Democratic lawmaker would agree to sit alongside a blogger who was part of a fringe group that the Obama White House rejected," said one longtime pro-Israel Democrat who agreed to speak on background. "Ali Gharib has picked fights—and lost them—with just about every mainstream Jewish and pro-Israel organization in Washington, D.C."
"He's most recently known for publishing an article in Foreign Policy in which he tried to scuttle congressional efforts to establish a voice in negotiations with Iran," added the source. "The magazine had to issue an embarrassing, multi-layered correction after a range of errors and misreporting was quickly exposed."
Added a senior official with a pro-Israel organization: "It’s unfortunate that a sitting lawmaker, especially one from the Democratic Party, would sit at the same table with a guy who was part of a group of bloggers and activists rejected by the White House for their extremism."