House Dem To Speak at Anti-Israel Conference With Holocaust Denier and Ex-Hamas Member

Rep. André Carson to speak at Islamic Society of North America convention that features Hitler apologist

Rep. André Carson (D., Ind.) will speak at the annual convention of an Islamic group linked to Hamas, along with one imam convicted in Israel of serving in terrorist groups and another who has denied the Holocaust, praised Adolf Hitler, and more recently said he doesn’t care about the October 7 attack.

Carson, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, is slated to speak at the Islamic Society of North America’s convention in Dallas on a Sept. 1 panel with Mehdi Hasan, a journalist formerly with MSNBC and the Qatar-funded network Al Jazeera.

Many of Carson’s fellow speakers at the events have preached anti-Israel rhetoric for years. Yasir Qadhi, who will appear on a panel with Hasan and socialist presidential candidate Cornel West, once claimed that “Hitler never intended to mass-destroy the Jews” and has called the Holocaust a “hoax.” He expressed ambivalence about the October 7 attack at a campus rally last month, telling students, “I don’t care about that one particular day.”

Mohammad Qatanani, who will speak on the panel “Standing in Solidarity with the Victims in Gaza & Palestine,” reportedly faced deportation proceedings in the United States for failing to disclose that an Israeli court convicted him for providing material support to Hamas, “as well as his membership in the terror organization,” according to Canary Mission.

The imams’ appearance at the conference is perhaps no surprise given the Islamic Society of North America’s longstanding ties to Hamas. Federal prosecutors in a 2007 terrorism finance investigation labeled the organization an “unindicted co-conspirator” of Hamas.

Carson’s appearance at the event comes as some House Democrats have faced blowback for affiliations with anti-Israel extremists. Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D., N.Y.), a member of the far-left “Squad,” lost his primary this week amid scrutiny for downplaying Hamas’s attack and for his intense hostility to Israel.

Rep. Summer Lee (D., Pa.), another “Squad” member, in March pulled out of an event for the Philadelphia chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) after several speakers were found to have made anti-Semitic and homophobic remarks.

Carson spoke at a January rally in Washington, D.C., alongside CAIR director Nihad Awad, who has said he was “happy to see” Hamas attack Israel on October 7. Carson’s office did not respond to a request for comment.