JEWISH SENTINEL

28 JEWISH SENTINEL • JUNE 18 - 24, 2021 Would Aboushi’s decriminalization project apply to the perpetrators of anti-Israel crimes? the ballot, Manhattan’s corruptible DA’s office could eventually be used to further an extremist agenda. Aboushi is running on a pro- gressive platform committed to decriminalizing “crimes of pov- erty, mental illness, sex work and substance use.” To this end, she is perhaps inspired by her father, who was incarcerated for more than a decade following his arrest on charges of “conspiracy to commit robbery, conspiracy to possess sto- len property, theft from interstate shipment and transportation of a stolen vehicle.” Aboushi partners with two of her nine siblings in a Manhat- tan law firm specializing in civil rights. Her sister Diane played an “instrumental role” in electing Keith Ellison to Congress, oper- ating “behind-the-scenes” to raise money for his campaign. Ellison, who now serves as Minnesota’s attorney general, is known to sym- pathize with the Nation of Islam and its rabidly anti-Semitic leader, Louis Farrakhan. Her brother, Los Angeles Char- gers offensive lineman Oday Aboushi, has been featured as a guest speaker at events sponsored by prominent Islamist groups. This includes a conference convened by the radical El Bireh Palestine Society, whose Facebook page was reportedly replete with imag- es of Hitler and memorials for de- ceased Palestinian terrorist leaders. Aboushi referred to the conference as “a classy hangout in a Marriott,” and the family called Oday’s speak- ing role “a great opportunity.” According to The New York Times , she also works for the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund (PCRF), a charity accused of be- ing “a front for Islamic Jihad,” a U.S.-designated terrorist entity. Furthermore, PCRF has proudly listed several “assisting organiza- tions” that have been shuttered by U.S. authorities for providing ma- terial support to terrorists. In 2013, Aboushi gave a legal presentation at the Islamic Circle of North America’s (ICNA) annual convention. Additionally, the Dem- ocratic candidate took part in a food drive organized by ICNA, whose members she referred to as “friends.” While Aboushi’s gesture may appear charitable, the Islamist or- ganization she endorsed has roots in genocide. According to its own publication, ICNA is an offshoot of Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI). India and Bangladesh have banned JeI’s var- ious branches for operating death squads and massacring thousands during the latter country’s 1971 War for Independence. In addition to consorting with South Asian extremists, Aboushi surrounds herself with notorious anti-Semites. On Jan. 16, 2020, the DA candidate unashamedly retweeted an endorsement from community activist Debbie Almon- taser, which reads: “#Tahanie4DA.” Almontaser was forced to resign from her role as a school principal after wearing a shirt captioned, “Intifada NYC.” While intifada lit- erally means uprising, the scope of the term’s usage is effectively lim- ited to two campaigns of sustained Palestinian violence, largely char- acterized by suicide attacks against Israeli civilians. Aboushi has also embraced Linda Sarsour, a Brooklyn, N.Y., activist who stepped down from the board of the National Wom- en’s March amid allegations of anti-Semitism. She referred to Sarsour as a “fearless sister” and thanked her for “giving us a seat at the table.” While Sarsour served as executive director of the Arab American Association of New York, her organization enjoyed pro bono legal representation from Aboushi’s law firm. In addition to Sarsour, Aboushi recently received fundraising as- sistance from Palestinian-Amer- ican activist Suhaib Al-Hanooti, who comes from a family known for supporting foreign Islamist in- terests. His father Muthanna was convicted of violating U.S. sanc- tions against Iraq when he accept- ed rights to 2 million barrels of Iraqi oil in exchange for services rendered to Saddam Hussein’s government. Suhaib’s late grandfa- ther Mohammad was a well-known Muslim Brotherhood leader in the United States; a 2001 FBI memo accused him of raising more than $6 million for Hamas. In 2013, Suhaib worked to drum up sympathy for a pair of Michi- gan-based Muslim Americans lan- guishing in Egyptian prison for al- leged acts of violence on behalf of the Muslim Brotherhood. One of these prisoners, Salah Soltan, was known for his crude anti-Semitism, calling Jews “the enemies of God” and the “cursed ones” in a June 2013 sermon. If elected, Aboushi’s own an- ti-Semitic ties could bear serious consequences to her constituents — an estimated 20.5 percent of whom are Jewish and continue to suffer amid New York City’s ris- ing surge in anti-Semitism. An- ti-Jewish hate crimes plateaued in 2019 the United States, with the most incidents recorded in the last 40 years. Nearly one-third of these crimes occurred in NewYork and New Jersey, centered around Aboushi’s district. M ore recently, Jews have faced attacks from anti-Israel mobs during New York rallies that were staged in response to tensions in Gaza. Would Aboushi’s decrim- inalization project apply to the per- petrators of these crimes? Besides the U.S. attorney gen- eral, Manhattan’s DA, along with the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, is perhaps the most powerful prosecutor in the nation, vested with immense authority to investigate some of the city’s most prominent and wealthy powerbrokers. However, the office is also one of the judiciary’s most partisan, and it remains to be seen how an Islamist attorney so deeply entrenched in the anti-Israel activ- ism would wield such authority. Jordan Cope is a writer for Is- lamism in Politics, a project of the Middle East Forum. Necessary continued from page 6 Not all cases are equal. Victims of crime do not suffer in the aggregate, but one by one. to behave and return to court. That is what public safety is all about – a partnership among po- lice, prosecutors, the defense bar, judges and the community with the goal of restoring safety in the streets, and with the Manhattan District Attorney’s primary juris- diction in financial crimes, in the suites of Wall Street and beyond. Racial disparities in policing, prosecution and sentencing and in the courts are real, a bitter reflec- tion of the racism that continues to infect the general society. We are undergoing a healthy and long over- due reckoning trying to remove that stain from our society at large and in the criminal justice system. But not all cases are equal. Vic- tims of crime do not suffer in the aggregate, but one by one. They depend on the criminal justice sys- tem, especially including police officers whose demonization is not only demoralizing to them but dan- gerous to public safety. In fact, each case is unique, and must be handled with fealty to the facts and law pertaining to that particular case. Tying the hands of those trying to assess how to bal- ance the rights of the defendant and the rights of victims to live in safety is decided every day on the streets and in the courtrooms of our city. That means allowing judg- es to consider the potential for dangerousness when an accused is brought into court after being arrested multiple times for com- parable offenses, whether sexual abuse, domestic violence, rob- bery or hate crimes. Requiring that accused person to appear before a judge may be the only opportunity to get that person the kind of mental health services or substance abuse care that can turn their lives around. Simply put, it is time to reform the bail reform laws to put the pub- lic back in public safety. Crotty is a candidate for Man- hattan District Attorney in the June 22nd primary. Case continued from page 13