Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) has tapped as his latest 2020 campaign surrogate an American-Palestinian comedian who has defended notorious anti-Semites, accused President Donald Trump of leading "a KKK rally," and routinely claimed that Israel stole land from the Palestinian people, according to a review of his social media accounts.
The Sanders campaign tapped Amer Zahr, a law professor and stand-up comedian, to serve as an official surrogate for his 2020 presidential bid.
In addition to his repeated attacks on the Jewish state, Zahr, who did not respond to a Washington Free Beacon request for comment on his tweets, accused Trump of leading "a KKK rally" when he held a July event for supporters in North Carolina.
"Yesterday, a crowd of angry white people in North Carolina rallied around a speaker, chanting 'Send her back' about a Black American woman," he wrote at the time. "Make no mistake. Last night, Donald Trump led a KKK rally."
The selection of Zahr is likely to raise eyebrows in the American Jewish community in light of his open support for the BDS movement and a series of tweets accusing Israel of stealing its land from the Palestinians.
Zahr also has expressed support for Palestinian activist Zahra Billoo, who was recently asked to resign from the Women's March board for a series of anti-Semitic tweets, including one condoning Hamas's terror attacks on Israel.
"Zahra is a principled civil rights leader, and she is never shy or ashamed to highlight the suffering of the 'Palestinians and the atrocities of the Israeli state,'" Zahr tweeted in September.
Zahra is a principled civil rights leader, and she is never shy or ashamed to highlight the suffering of the Palestinians and the atrocities of the Israeli state. #IStandWithZahra @zbilloo... from Instagram (https://t.co/Kq0pGNSMH8) pic.twitter.com/3kKbHJfmPa
— Amer Zahr (@AmerZahr) September 19, 2019
Zahr also appeared to support the spread of Islamic law in America, known as Sharia.
MSNBC just showed 60,000 Americans screaming 'Bismillah" three times in Central Park on live TV. The mission is complete.#AllahuAkbar #ShariaLaw #MassConversion @msnbc #GlobalCitizenFestival
— Amer Zahr (@AmerZahr) September 29, 2019
Sanders, who has himself backed far-left anti-Israel groups advocating BDS, has a history of hiring individuals who have accused Jews of having "dual allegiance" to Israel—an age-old anti-Semitic canard—and who have engaged in vulgar screeds against Israel's prime minister.
Zahr has repeatedly accused Israel of stealing land from the Palestinian people.
In a tweet sent earlier this month, Zahr wrote that "the right of return is sacred," a reference to a push by Palestinians to be permitted to stake claim to territory in Israel.
The right of return is sacred.
There is no talking about Palestine and Israel without first acknowledging that they kicked us out and stole our land.
Then we can have a conversation. #Palestine #FreePalestine #AlAwda #RightOfReturn pic.twitter.com/juUtcCNEaw
— Amer Zahr (@AmerZahr) October 5, 2019
Zahr has said that he supports the BDS movement because it directly targets the legitimacy of the Jewish state.
"Does #BDS 'single out' #Israel in the face of other global atrocities? YES!" Zahr tweeted in July. "Because it was started by us Palestinians! I don't know why everyone is so shocked that Palestinians are obsessed [sic] with our oppressor. #FreePalestine #Palestine."
Jewish people living in Israel are referred to as "invaders" in Zahr's Twitter feed.
If we are keeping score, historically, there was only one group of people that came here as invaders, with the express desire of taking this land from others. And they didn’t look like Alexandria, Ayanna, Ilhan, or Rashida. #America @RashidaTlaib @IlhanMN @AyannaPressley @AOC
— Amer Zahr (@AmerZahr) July 14, 2019
In another tweet from June Zahr states that Palestine is more important to him than his friends.
#Palestine is more important to me than you are.
I might love you. I might do anything for you. I might even share my deepest, darkest secrets with you.
But unless you gave me life, or came from those two people that did, I will always choose her over you. #FreePalestine
— Amer Zahr (@AmerZahr) July 14, 2019