VIDEO: Ex-Obama adviser racially abuses Muslim man, says killing of 4,000 Palestinian children 'wasn’t enough'

A former high-ranking official in the Obama administration has been caught on video allegedly racially abusing a Muslim food vendor in New York.

The video was posted online and quickly ignited a firestorm among Democrats who quickly identified its subject as Stuart Seldowitz, a former member of Barack Obama’s White House national security council (NSC) who also worked on Israel-Palestine policy for the State Department for several years.

In the video, Seldowitz is allegedly seen and heard making racist comments to the vendor, who tries to get him to leave him alone without further abuse.

The incidents appear to occur multiple times, with Seldowitz returning to the food stand on several occasions in multiple outfits seeking to pick a fight with the unidentified man.

“If we killed 4,000 Palestinian kids, you know what, it wasn’t enough. It wasn’t enough,” he told the man in one video, while making a derogatory comment about the Prophet Muhammad ((PBUH) in another.

Confronted by media about the videos, Seldowitz admitted that it was indeed him seen making the remarks.

“The bottom line is, yes it’s me,” he told the media.
The Independent has reached out to Seldowitz and the State Department for further comment.
Seldowitz, one-time political adviser in the Obama administration, was fired from his position at a lobbying firm after being caught on video hurling an Islamophobic rant at a halal cart vendor.

"Gotham Government Relations has ended all affiliation with Stuart Seldowitz, an individual who hasn't contributed to our work in years," the company wrote in a post to X, with the same message also being shared atop the organization's official website.

Anti-Muslim and antisemitic incidents have been on the rise in the US since the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October and the retaliatory bombings on the enclave.

Broad accusations of support for “terrorism” levelled at Muslim Americans are nothing new. Such Islamophobic racism was encouraged by the American right wing (as well as some on the left) for two decades after the 9/11 attacks and has found new purchase with the renewed violence in Israel and the Gaza Strip this year.

President Joe Biden has sought to repudiate Islamophobia in the same breath as condemnations of antisemitism over the past month as his government treads a fine line on the issue of support for Israel amid its conflict in Gaza.


The Independent