Abrar Omeish, a Virginia school board member, has caused controversy by recommending that terms such as “radical Islamic terror” and “jihadists” be banned from classes about the 9/11 attacks.
In 2021, Omeish suggested that teachers use a “culturally responsive” guide that avoids exploring the definition of terrorism and instead focuses on the impact of the attacks on “communities of color, including Muslim Americans.”
Omeish, who declined to support a commemoration of 9/11 victims, is the youngest Muslim woman in Virginia to hold elected office. She has a history of anti-Israel rhetoric and has accused the district’s admissions policy of having an anti-Asian bias.
Omeish’s father, Esam Omeish, is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Dar Al-Hijrah mosque, where three of the 9/11 hijackers had prayed before carrying out the attacks.
The mosque previously employed a man suspected of working with Al-Qaeda, Anwar al-Awlaki, who was killed by a US government drone strike in 2011.
Omeish’s recent comments about the Battle of Iwo Jima during World War II have also caused controversy. While discussing the Day of Remembrance for the internment of Japanese Americans, she stated that the battle showed what “human evil is capable of.”
She later clarified her comments, stating that the American government’s role in the battle was “not right” and that there was “unnecessary spilling of blood” by the Japanese.
The Virginia school district has faced other controversies, including its decision to delay notifying students they had received National Merit Awards as part of a progressive campaign not to hurt the feelings of students who did not earn a scholarship.
This decision has angered parents and is the subject of an investigation by the state’s Attorney General. In May 2021, anti-Israel social media posts made by Omeish came to light, in which she labeled Israel an “apartheid” state that “kills Palestinians.”
Republican officials have criticized Omeish’s comments about 9/11, stating that they were “vicious” and “anti-American.”
»Abrar Omeish wants history to forget 9/11, says it promotes Islamophobia«
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