“New Year New You” is cliché, but Del. Salam Rasoul (D-Roanoke City), who goes by the anglicized nickname “Sam,” has entered 2024 still clinging to his anti-Semitic misinformation from last year.
On Oct. 17, 2023, Rasoul (D-Roanoke City), posted to X (formerly Twitter) a tweet blaming Israel for an attack on a hospital in Gaza.
Within hours his accusation was debunked by none other than his fellow Democrats Sen. Mark Warner and the Biden administration. The Roanoke Star asked Rasoul if he had any statement about his baseless claim or if he was going to retract it once it had been thoroughly discredited.
However, Rasoul did not respond, so on Oct. 21 The Roanoke Star called him out here.
Obama advisor Rahm Emmanuel menacingly said, “never let a crisis go to waste.”
Maybe the Rasoul Corollary is, “never let a good anti-Semitic smear go unused.”
With his dishonest post still standing and no responses given, The Roanoke Star updated the story on Oct. 25 , Nov. 6, and Nov. 24. The 150-some comments on Rasoul’s post were overwhelmingly negative, a new term called “getting ratioed.” A few examples:
“Your lie, which has now been debunked is putting US service members in extreme danger all over the Arab world. Virginia deserves a better delegate.”
“This is the new blood libel. Congrats for spreading it.”
“Sickening that you would leave this up after the President Biden made clear U.S. intel showed Israelis had nothing to do with this attack. A hateful assertion about the Israeli people, absent of facts, is simply hate. You are an embarrassment to the people of Virginia.”
This week marks Month 3 for Rasoul refusing to pull his offensive post or apologize for it.
Evidently, “I will not post lies on social media” didn’t make Rasoul’s New Year’s Resolutions this time around.
Incredibly, incoming House of Delegates Speaker Don Scott (D) named Rasoul chairman of the powerful Education Committee.
Think how not only insulting but also anti-education that move was.
Also, consider that every bill, hearing, and policy relating to education in the House of Delegates will face a gatekeeper who knowingly spreads false information, neglects new evidence, and ignores questions.
Education, at its core, should be about learning, gathering information, weighing sources and evidence, making connections, and being able to winnow true from false. And yes, teachers should ask questions of their students, and vice versa, to have a free flow of information and dialogue.
Therefore, to have the House of Delegates Education Committee Chairman post accusations that have been proven to be false, is totally anti-intellectual and absurd.
Not to mention deeply offensive to the Jewish students and families of the Commonwealth, their friends, and anyone who cares about educational quality and free inquiry.
When Speaker Scott announced he was naming Rasoul to head the Education Committee, The Roanoke Star asked both men what message that was sending to Jewish families and about the quality of a fact-based education. Tellingly, neither responded.
Speaking of teaching: when I taught about World War II, I explained that Hitler did not become Chancellor of Germany in January 1933 and then start sending Jews off to concentration camps by train the next day.
No.
It a gradual process that involved a focused, non-stop, years-long, nation-wide brainwashing campaign. Dissenting voices were silenced. Jews were forbidden to own newspapers or be teachers. The entire German radio network became a 24/7 platform for Nazi propaganda, since it was run by the government. (Here’s looking at you, National Public Radio.)
Plus, the schools, since they were all government-run, became ground zero for spreading anti-Jewish bigotry.
On a visit to the National Holocaust Museum in Washington a few years ago, as a teacher, I was transfixed by the room about Nazi propaganda in the school systems. Knowing German, I was able to read much of it myself without relying on the bits translated into English. One book that exploded like a silent grenade in my mind was a cartoon-illustrated book aimed at children entitled Der Giftpilz, translated as The Poisonous Mushroom. The sickening greenish/yellowish cover sets the tone for this despicable brainwashing. You can see some pages and English translations here, too vile for repetition.
Also, spreading fake news has real-world consequences. On Jan. 13, an anti-Israel mob tried to storm the White House, with some protestors throwing objects at guards and trying to scale the fence. Showing the double-standard toward Jan. 6, no one was charged with “inciting an insurrection” or “trying to overthrow our democracy.”
Aiming to block Israel’s ability to defend itself, Rasoul’s Oct. 17 post closed with CEASEFIRE NOW!
But as pointed out here and here, Roanoke City, which Rasoul is supposed to represent in the General Assembly, keeps having record-breaking murder rates.
Why won’t Rasoul call for a CEASEFIRE NOW in Roanoke?
–Scott Dreyer
Go deeper: Learn more about Nazi brainwashing in German schools in “Propaganda and Children During the Hitler Years.”
