Earlier this month, Chicago Anti-War Committee organizer Shabir Rizvi was filmed teaching a group of 80 activists in Chicago to chant “Death to Israel” and “Death to America” in Farsi. . Mr. Rivzi has a troubling background in that he has documented and espoused anti-Iranian and anti-Israel views.
free press We first reported the story about Rizvi’s chant, which occurred during a breakout session at an event that brought 300 activists from across the country together to plan a protest to disrupt the Democratic National Convention in August. Hours later, another activist reportedly shared news that the Islamic Republic of Iran had attacked Israel, launching more than 300 bomb-laden Shahid drones and ballistic missiles into its airspace. The crowd broke into applause.
in the video In a Free Press report, Rivji said that “marg bagh” could mean either “death or be defeated,” adding that previously it “depends on who is asking.” ” he said, eliciting laughter.
Before Rizvi’s “Death to America” video went viral on the internet, the self-proclaimed anti-war activist was a regular contributor to Iran’s anti-war movement. press tv And an outlet called Al Mayadeen. David Dowd, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, spoke to Fox News Digital about the relationship between these news organizations and Iran and its proxy, Hezbollah, a designated foreign terrorist organization.
Shabbir Ribzi can be seen teaching activists chants in Farsi: “Death to America” and “Death to Israel.” (freedom of the press)
“Press TV is known as the mouthpiece of Iran,” Daoud said, noting that the company’s U.S. website was seized by the Iranian government in June 2021, along with 32 other sites. US Department of Justice. “They are targeting the United States with disinformation campaigns and negative influence operations,” he said.
Rizvi, writing for Al-Mayadeen on January 19, promotes this anti-Israel, anti-American ideology and argues that Hamas’ deadly October 7 invasion of Israel, Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, axis of resistance Rizvi specifically singled out Hezbollah and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) as groups “acting in concert while preserving their own sovereignty to support our Palestinian allies.” The IRGC is also a US-designated foreign terrorist organization.
Rizvi’s Press TV reporting also shows an alleged pro-terrorism bias. In a December 9 Press TV article, Rizvi said I’m not writing about terrorist attacks. Although the verdict was handed down on innocent people on October 7th, “the seriousness of the humiliation inflicted on the Zionist regime by the Palestinian resistance forces led by Hamas on October 7th” is not clear. The judgment was based on the severity of the humiliation.
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Hezbollah fighters attend the funeral of commander Wissam al-Tawil on Tuesday, January 9, 2024, in the village of Khirbet Serm in southern Lebanon. The war of words in Lebanon is indicative of long-standing divisions in the small country over Hezbollah. Those concerns are now amplified by the role of extremist groups in clashes on the Lebanese-Israeli border and fears that already crisis-hit Lebanon could be drawn into all-out war. (AP Photo/Hussein Mara, File)
The relationship between al-Mayadeen and Hezbollah is “a little more complicated,” Daoud said. Although the Lebanon-based station describes itself as an “independent Arab satellite news channel,” Daoud said it is also “virtually indistinguishable from al-Manar,” the Lebanese station owned by Hezbollah. There is,” he said. Daoud said he considers al-Mayadeen to be a Hezbollah-related news outlet, “both in terms of content and in terms of access to Hezbollah officials,” but that the site’s funding source “has always been a bit of a mystery.” “It’s surrounded by,” he said.
Daoud said both channels have “adopted the ideology of the ‘Axis of Resistance'” and are “spreading it as widely as possible throughout the Arab world.”
While Rizvi may portray these actors as part of the “resistance,” Daoud uses the term “to gain legitimacy” to suggest that these groups seek the annihilation of the Israeli state. He says he’s just there. “Their objective is not defense,” Dowd said. Dowd said, “The removal and destruction of a state is not a defensive act. The idea of resisting Israel’s right to exist itself is not resistance. It is propaganda to ‘make the objective more plausible.’ Stated.
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A large mural of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei and a small mural depicting Ayatollah Khomeini are seen in Tehran, Iran, on March 8, 2020. (Kaveh Kazemi/Getty Images)
When discussing Iran’s April 13 attack on Israel on Press TV, he said: Rizvi said “Iran’s retaliation is within the bounds of international law,” and Iran’s response was “proportional, fair, and comes after great patience in dealing with a rogue regime.” [Israel]He went on to say that “morale in the Islamic world is recovering as Iran serves as a harbinger of stability in the region.”
On the contrary, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights I am making a note of The Israeli attack on the Iranian embassy in Damascus, Syria, on April 1 and the Iranian airstrike on Israel on April 13 both “…may constitute an international crime of aggression.”
Rizvi appears to have erased his social media presence on the internet after a video of his anti-American chant went viral. powerless podcast On April 16, the episode with Rizvi was set to private. During the episode, Rizvi, who discussed so-called Western and Israeli propaganda, suggested that “no politician, businessman or corporation should be allowed to enjoy any peace until there is justice.” .
Rizvi’s “abolishnato” handle on X, formerly known as Twitter, no longer exists. But the internet and some related organizations have a long memory of the hatred he harbored there.
April 14th, Anti-Defamation League In response to Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s tweet, Rizvi shared a tweet that read, “God bless the heroes of Iran and the Revolutionary Guards.”
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Canary Mission, which features groups and individuals in the United States that spread anti-Israel and anti-Semitic hatred, shared some of Rizvi’s archived tweets and press appearances with Fox News Digital. They demonstrate what Rizvi claims is anger against Israel and his supporters.
Chicago, USA – April 15: Chicago police intervene and detain a pro-Palestinian demonstrator during a protest against the Israeli attack on Gaza on April 15, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois, USA . (Photo by Jacek Boczarski/Anadolu, Getty Images) (Photo by Jacek Boczarski/Anadolu, Getty Images)
On October 25, Rizvi told Press TV that Israel was “aggressively flaunting” its plans to create a “greater Israel” that would “expand into Egypt, expand into Syria, expand into Saudi Arabia.” Stated. He also said that if Israel were to carry out a “grand plan, perhaps even including an invasion of Saudi Arabia, Syria or Jordan, it would have the full political and military support of the United States.” Ta. He noted that Israel “actively admits that it has a plan to kill” the people it conquered.
Dowd said the idea that Israel is seeking to expand its territory to create a “greater Israel” is a “conspiracy theory typically supported by the most rabid anti-Semites.” Daoud further argues that Rizvi’s belief that “Israel wants to conquer large parts of the Middle East and massacre its population” goes a step further, and that his worldview has been used to demonize and dehumanize Israelis. He explained that this shows that it is based on
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People during an anti-Israel demonstration in Chicago, May 16, 2021. (Jacek Boczarski/Anadolu Agency, Getty Images)
November 1st, Rizvi Featured on Press TV “The Zionist lobby has tremendous influence over the American political system, sometimes spending millions of dollars per member of Congress to force everyone to follow the Zionist political line,” he said. Rizvi also said in an interview that he “couldn’t believe he could make a phone call.” [the conflict between Hamas and Israel] It’s a war where one side destroys the entire nation. ”
A series of archived tweets revealed by Canary Mission further reveals Rizvi’s enthusiasm for Israel. On November 15, 2023, Rizvi condemned the Guardian’s decision to remove Osama bin Laden’s “Letter to America,” stating that bin Laden “armed Israel and America played a role in the ethnic cleansing of Palestine. He correctly criticized his role.”
On January 6, 2024, Rizvi wrote, “It’s nice to wake up to the news that Hezbollah has put the Zionists in the blender.” A month later, on February 11, he tweeted: The Foundation Fights Anti-Semitism super bowl adWhat he falsely blamed on the state of Israel was evidence that “the entire entertainment industry, from sports to Hollywood, is complicit in genocide.”
Although Rizvi and many of the protesters at Saturday’s activist rally claim that Israel is committing genocide, the International Court of Justice ruled on January 26 that no genocide has taken place in Gaza. handed down a judgment.
Fox News Digital reached out to Rizvi for comment on what he has said and written online and to comment on the background behind his chant on Saturday. Rizvi did not respond.
Saturday’s The Chicago rally was the beginning of a larger effort to protest Israel at the Democratic National Convention in August.
In a tweet from January archived by the Canary Mission, Rizvi wrote: “It’s nice to wake up to the news that Hezbollah has put the Zionists in the blender.” (Canary Mission) (Canary Mission)
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson rejected protesters’ initial request to march near the rally. Fightback News reported A coalition of demonstrators is suing the city to march where President Biden “can hear us and see us,” he said. Calling the president “Massacre Joe Biden,” a spokesperson for the DNC March Coalition told Fight Back News, “Biden can stop wars with a phone call. He refuses to take action.” So we have to protest.”
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According to AxiosOne protester told Axios that the group would “march with or without permission” because of the “genocide that is happening in Gaza.”
While anti-Israel fervor is rising in Chicago, where the mayor gave the deciding vote on a controversial cease-fire resolution in January, Jewish residents in Illinois are facing growing hatred. On April 16, the ADL released a study showing anti-Semitic incidents in Illinois increased by 74% from 2022 to 2023. Of the 211 incidents of vandalism, harassment and assault recorded, 68% occurred after October 7th.
