Gotham Government Relations, a D.C.-based lobbying firm, has reportedly cut ties with a former Obama administration adviser after a video surfaced of him making anti-Palestinian remarks towards a Halal cart vendor in New York City.
A series of videos that surfaced online Tuesday showed Stuart Seldowitz harassing the vendor and hurling a slew of anti-Palestine comments and insults at him.
'Did You Rape Your Daughter?'
In one of the videos, Seldowitz can be heard accusing the vendor of being a "terrorist" among other anti-Muslim remarks.
Seldowitz is also heard saying, "Did you rape your daughter like Muhammad did?"
When the man again says he doesn't speak English, Seldowitz calls him "ignorant."
"Muhammad, your prophet... He was a rapist," he says.
Seldowitz then asks the man if he speaks Arabic, "the language of the Quran."
"The holy Quran that some people use as a toilet. What do you think of that, people who used the Quran as a toilet? Does it bother you?" he asks, laughing.
He then berates the man for not speaking English.
"That's why you're selling food in a food cart, because you're ignorant. But you should learn English, it'll help you when they deport you back to Egypt and the Mukhabarat wants to interview you."
'Killing 4,000 Palestinian Kids....Wasn't Enough'
"I'm going to put up big signs here that say 'This guy believes in Hamas,'" Seldowitz says in another clipping of him harassing the same vendor and accusing him of not having a permit or visa.
When the vendor says he's an American citizen, Seldowitz asks how he became a citizen and calls him a "terrorist."
"You support killing little children. You're a terrible person," Seldowitz says.
The vendor responds, "You kill children, not me."
Seldowitz says, "If we killed 4,000 Palestinian kids, you know what, it wasn't enough. It wasn't enough."
Gotham Releases Statement Saying it Has Severed Ties with Seldowitz in the Wake of His Racist Behavior
Seldowitz was acting director for the National Security Council South Asia Directorate under Obama and was deputy director/senior political officer in the U.S. State Department's Office of Israel and Palestinian Affairs from 1999 to 2003. More recently, he served as foreign affairs chair for Gotham Government Relations, which announced his new role in a press release in November 2022.
On Tuesday afternoon, Gotham announced on Twitter that it had cut ties with Seldowitz. "Gotham Government Relations has ended all affiliation with Stuart Seldowitz, an individual who hasn't contributed to our work in years. The video of his actions is vile, racist, and beneath the dignity of the standards we practice at our firm," the statement said. His page has also been removed from the firm's website.
According to Vice, the NYPD is also aware of the video and is "monitoring the situation."
