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Ex-Obama advisor harasses, threatens Muslim food vendor

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Agencies
  • 22 Nov 2023 12:53
  • 4 Shares
3 Min Read

Seldowitz was once the acting director for the National Security Council's South Asia Directorate under the Obama administration, and served as a senior political officer in the State Department’s Office of "Israel" and Palestinian Affairs.

  • x
  • Stuart Seldowitz (Image via Screenshot video Kamran Chida/X)
    Stuart Seldowitz, as seen in one of the two videos that went viral on social media (Screengrab)

Former Obama administration advisor, Stuart Seldowitz, was caught on video hurling Islamophobic comments against a Muslim halal food vendor in New York City, as he calls the vendor a "terrorist".

"You support terrorism. You support killing little children. You’re a terrible person,” he says, to which the vendor replies, "You kill children, not me.”

Seldowitz responds: "If we killed 4,000 Palestinian kids, you know what? It wasn’t enough. It wasn’t enough."

Later with the same vendor, Seldowitz threatened the vendor saying "the Mukhabarat wants your picture," referring to Egypt’s intelligence agency, before taking his phone and directing the camera toward him.

Read next: Islamophobia causes 72% rise in help requests in US public schools

 "The Mukhabarat in Egypt will get your parents. Does your father like his fingernails? They’ll take them out one by one." The vendor responds with "Go, go."

“If we killed 4000 Palestinian children it wasn’t enough”

This fool is Former National Security advisor to Obama.
Now you know what they really are & what they actually think.#StuartSeldowitz #FreePalestineFromIsrael #Palestine #Gaza #FreePalestine #Israel #IsraelIsATerrorist pic.twitter.com/Jr5yOOR6S4

— Sheikh Nabeel (@SheikhNabeel786) November 22, 2023

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Seldowitz appears to take a photo of the vendor, telling him to "smile for me."

He then continued to insult the vendor's religion, and Prophet Mohammad.

'Vile, racist and beneath dignity'

The vendor claims to not speak English, but Seldowitz says, "What do you speak? You speak Arabic, the language of the Quran," and then proceeded to insult the Quran.

"That’s why you're selling food in a food cart, because you’re ignorant. But you should learn English. It’ll help you when they deport you back to Egypt and then the Mukhabarat wants to interview you."

He is then interrupted by a bystander who asks him to stop and leave, saying "It's not right, you are harassing."

Seldowitz was once the acting director for the National Security Council South Asia Directorate under the Obama administration, and served as a senior political officer in the State Department’s Office of "Israel" and Palestinian Affairs.

The same day, Gotham Government Relations, a lobbying firm in Washington, D.C, announced that it severed its ties with Seldowitz.

"Gotham Government Relations has ended all affiliation with Stuart Seldowitz, an individual who hasn't contributed to our work in years. The video of his actions is vile, racist, and beneath the dignity of the standards we practice at our firm," the firm stated in a post on X.

Gotham Government Relations has ended all affiliation with Stuart Seldowitz, an individual who hasn't contributed to our work in years.

The video of his actions is vile, racist, and beneath the dignity of the standards we practice at our firm.

— Gotham Government Relations (@GothamGovt) November 21, 2023
  • United States
  • New York
  • Barack Obama
  • Stuart Seldowitz
  • Islamophobia

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