Texas Congressman Colin Allred ignored questions on Capitol Hill regarding his endorsement of an anti-Israel Texas imam with ties to Hamas-linked groups, according to a video shared with The Dallas Express.
Rep. Allred (D-TX) was asked in the halls of Congress if he still supports Imam Omar Suleiman after a report from The Dallas Express detailed Suleiman’s history of statements such as calling Israel a “terrorist regime,” comparing the Jewish State to Nazis, and warning “the beginning of the end of Zionism is here.”
The congressman posted a picture with Suleiman on social media in 2019 and said the imam’s “message of peace, unity, and support for our fellow Americans is needed now, more than ever.” Allred’s post came after Suleiman said the opening prayer at the House per an invitation from then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).
“Congressman Allred, do you still support pro-Hamas Imam Omar Suleiman?” a man can be heard asking the Texas representative in the video. “Anything to say about his reported ties to terrorist leaders and groups linked to Hamas? Do you continue to stand by him, congressman?”
Allred, who is running for Senate against U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), can be seen in the video walking to an elevator and ignoring the questions.
Allred’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
Suleiman has a history with Hamas-linked organizations, as reported by The Dallas Express.
Suleiman, a Council of American Islamic Relations (CAIR) member, gave the keynote speech at the group’s California banquet. The Department of Justice (DOJ) found that CAIR leaders were connected to Hamas, a U.S.-designated terrorist group, in a 2007 case where CAIR was listed as a co-conspirator in an investigation of the Holy Land Foundation (HLF). HLF had its assets frozen by the U.S. Treasury after it was determined it funneled money to Hamas.
Suleiman spoke at an American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) conference in 2018 — a group whose board member as late as 2019 was determined by the DOJ to have fundraised for HLF.
The imam tweeted a link to a fundraising campaign from the Coalition for Civil Freedoms (CCF) last year. One of CCF’s co-founders pleaded guilty to conspiring to provide services to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), a U.S.-designated terrorist organization, and was deported by the DOJ as a result.
“We ask Allah to humiliate this Israel, the way that Allah humiliated Beni Israel,” Suleiman said in a 2012 discourse. “We ask Allah to humiliate those who occupy the ‘land of [Palestine].’”
Suleiman traveled last year to Malaysia, where he met and publicly praised two exiled imams: Naik Zakir, who once said, “every Muslim should be a terrorist,” and Zoubir Bouchikhi, who once reportedly said that non-Muslims are the “worst of Allah’s creations, even lower than animals.”
This history has not stopped Suleiman from establishing an influential career. He holds an ethics board job at Southern Methodist University. He has appeared at events with politicians such as Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and Democrat Texas gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rouke, as reported by The Dallas Express.