President Joe Biden has signaled he will renominate to the Small Business Administration a member of the board of a Muslim American advocacy group that supports BDS and refers to Israel as an “apartheid state,” after the nomination was blocked last year by Senate Republicans, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Dilawar Syed was a member of the board of Emgage Action as recently as 2021. The organization supports the BDS movement and refers to Israel as an “apartheid state.”
In 2021, Biden nominated Syed to be the deputy administrator at the Small Business Administration, federal disclosure records showed. His nomination was blocked by Republican Senators.
Republicans and pro-Israel advocates highlighted Syed’s ties to Emgage as the reason for blocking his nomination in September 2021, according to the report. Instead, Syed has served since then as a State Department special representative for trade, a position that does not need to be confirmed by the Senate.
While Syed told Senators during his confirmation hearing that he does not support BDS, Emgage claimed that Israel oversees a "racist, undemocratic Israeli apartheid rule that steals [Palestinian] land and destroys their homes to make way for illegal Jewish settlements." It also stated that it "support[s] the right to boycott, divest, and sanction, as well as the Right of Return of Palestinians,” describing the BDS movement as a "constitutionally protected nonviolent response that seeks to end the occupation."