Arraf once served as human shield for Palestinian terrorists and was a key figure in the Gaza flotilla campaign.
By Pesach Benson, United with Israel
Palestinian-American activist Huwaida Arraf’s campaign for a seat on Capitol Hill fizzled out with an embarrassing loss to Democratic rival Carl Marlinga.
Arraf, who is of Palestinian descent, came in distant fourth place in the Democratic primary election to represent Michigan’s 10th Congressional district. With 93 percent of the ballots counted, Judge Carl Marlinga won 48% compared to Arraf’s 13%.
Arraf’s candidacy raised fears of BDS in-roads in Capitol Hill. The 46-year-old lawyer was born in Detroit to an Arab Israeli father and a Palestinian mother, both Christians. Arraf also holds Israeli citizenship.
She was one of the earliest members of the International Solidarity Movement, which spearheaded the Gaza flotilla campaigns, and encouraged foreign nationals to antagonize Israeli soldiers and even serve as human shields for Palestinian fugitive terrorists.
Arraf was a key figure in the Gaza flotilla campaigns that sought to break Israel’s naval blockade of the Gaza Strip, personally participating in flotillas in 2008 and 2010.
In 2002, Arraf and other ISM volunteers acted as human shields for Palestinian terrorists barricaded inside Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity.
Years later, a Fatah official admitted in the so-called church siege was “orchestrated by Yasser Arafat’s Palestinian Authority,” Ynet reported.
“The conspiracy was to make a siege and put all the fighters inside the church so Israel would make the siege. People from the Palestinian Authority collaborated with this conspiracy,” said Eiman Abu Eita, a Fatah representative who was Beit Sahour’s al-Aqsa Brigades chief. Eita was quoted in a book by Mideast reporter Aaron Klein.
Eita allegedly didn’t hide in the church because he “understood the conspiracy.”
When asked by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency in February to explain her use of the word “genocide” in the face of growing Palestinian demographics in Judea, Samaria and Gaza, Arraf insisted that killing people “is not the only form of genocide.”
“It absolutely needs to be looked into whether Israel is committing genocide,” Arraf said.
“It’s not just about getting rid of the numbers of people; it is about erasing people’s identity. There are different forms of genocide. You have social genocide, and you have the traditional meaning of genocide — when we understand that there are mass killings to completely annihilate people. But it is not the only form,” Arraf insisted without further elaboration.
Arraf was also on the legal team for Palestinian terrorist Rasmea Odeh, who planned a 1969 Jerusalem terrorist attack that killed two and injured several others.
She was endorsed by fellow Palestinian-American Rep. Rashida Tlaib, who is also from Detroit and easily won her primary race.
Marlinga will run against Republican challenger John James, a military veteran and businessman. Americans go to the polls nationwide on November 8.