Palestinian-American activist accuses Israel and US of shared legacy of ethnic cleansing

The activist points to the label "American Indian" as discriminatory, claiming it indicates America's tradition of racism.

By HANNAH BROAD
Updated: MAY 30, 2016 17:32
Israel US flags (photo credit: REUTERS)
Israel US flags
(photo credit: REUTERS)
A Palestinian-American activist asserted earlier this month that the United States and Israel share a common legacy of ethnic cleansing as the foundational basis of the two nations in a video posted to the online news outlet The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).
In the clip Osama Abu Irshaid, the National Director of American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), claims that the "Zionists" have co-opted the "racist" narrative of the founding of America to mirror that of the establishment of the State of Israel in order to convince Americans that the two peoples have a similar history.
"We came to two undeveloped countries, and managed to establish two successful states," Irshaid quoted in his perception of the imagined dialogue between Zionists "infiltrating American consciousness" and the American public.
He discredits this narrative by emphasizing the analogous relationship between the American ethnic cleansing of the Native Americans and the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians by Israel.
Irshaid continued to attribute American sympathies with Israel to the purported Jewish control of American media and Hollywood.
Irshaid previously came under fire when his organization AMP placed ads on Washington DC-area buses in March and April 2014 that read: "Stop US aid to Israel's occupation!"