By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News
Vice presidential nominee Tim Walz gave an extreme Muslim cleric’s group $100,000 of public funds and has hosted him at official events as governor of Minnesota, The Washington Examiner reported Friday.
Asad Zaman has been a mouthpiece for Hamas for many years, publicizing its propaganda on his social media.
On October 7th, the day the terrorist organization invaded Israel, massacring 1,200 people, including infants, and abducting some 250 to hold as hostages, the imam said that he “stands in solidarity with Palestinians against Israeli attacks.”
When California Congresswoman Katie Porter condemned Hamas the next day, he asked her if she would “reaffirm the right of Palestinians to defend themselves.
Zaman has also called Israel an “apartheid” state, and in 2015 promoted a film about World War II praising Hitler that is a favorite among neo-Nazis.
“Imam Zaman has a troubling history of playing into classic anti-Jewish themes and justifying violence against Israel,” an Anti-Defamation League spokesperson told the Washington paper.
“Given his hurtful remarks post-Oct. 7, and absent any recognition of the pain he has caused the Jewish community, we urge all public officials and leaders to avoid meeting with him in the future,” the spokesperson added.
“Those who have met with Imam Zaman should clarify that they don’t agree with his toxic views about Jews and the Jewish state.”
The Muslim cleric attended several community events over recent years hosted by Walz, and in 2019 he even delivered an invocation before the governor’s State address, the report said.
Zaman heads the Muslim American Society (MAS) of Minnesota, which on the day of the invasion said in a statement that it “reaffirms its unwavering support for the Palestinian people in their struggle against the Israeli occupation.”
It also accused Israel of “unprovoked attacks on Palestinian areas,” and maintaining an “inhumane blockade of Gaza,” called on the U.S. to stop supporting Israel, and for Arab countries who have normalized relations with Israel to “reconsider their stance.”
As part of a 2008 court case of a man accused of wanting to join the Taliban, federal prosecutors said that “MAS was founded as the overt arm of the Muslim Brotherhood in America”, which supports terrorists.
As governor, Walz has supported the group, which is set up as a non-profit organization, to the tune of over $100,000 in recent years, the report said, citing State records.
“Asad Zaman is one of America’s most prominent Islamist voices and has a long history of extreme rhetoric and ideas,” Sam Westrop, director of the Middle East Forum’s Islamist Watch project, told The New York Post Friday.
Saying that the Forum had warned about Zaman’s ideology already in 2019, he questioned, “How could Walz and his staff have failed to conduct the most cursory of checks on the company they keep?”
“Which extremists will he end up funding as vice-president?” Westrop added.
