Gabbard’s trip to Syria tied to pro-Assad group

One of the organizers of a recent trip that U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard took to Syria conceded Monday that he and his brother had been members of a group called the Syrian Social Nationalist Party — which, according to news reports, has backed the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and has links to terrorist activities — but said they were no longer a part of the organization.

The comments to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser from Bassam Khawam, who sponsored and accompanied Gabbard on the trip, along with his brother Elie, come after a series of news reports raising concerns about who orchestrated Gabbard’s trip, during which she met with Assad. The Syrian president has been accused of war crimes and human rights violations during a civil war that has left hundreds of thousands dead and displaced about half of the country’s residents.

The admission could be politically awkward for Gabbard, who has advocated for Assad to remain in power and the U.S. to withdraw support for rebel groups, arguing that the aid was only getting into the hands of terrorist groups opposing the regime. Gabbard’s commentary after her return from Syria raised speculation from some that she had been unduly influenced by pro-Assad forces during a trip that she described as a chance to hear from all sides of the conflict.

On Sunday the Washington Post ran an opinion column by Josh Rogin headlined, “How Tulsi Gabbard became Assad’s mouthpiece in Washington.”

In a news release last week upon her return from the Middle East, Gabbard described the Khawam brothers only as “longtime peace advocates.”

It’s not clear whether Gabbard was aware of the Khawams’ connections with the Syrian Social Nationalist Party.

Erika Tsuji, a spokeswoman for the congresswoman, said by email that Gabbard had “no prior knowledge or relationship with Elie and Bassam Khawam.” She said Gabbard had been invited by former Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich, who also went on the trip.

Stories published last week in The Guardian and The Daily Beast reported that the Khawam brothers belonged to the Syrian Social Nationalist Party, which has been providing support to the Assad regime.

The Daily Beast reported that, according to the SSNP’s website, Elie and Bassam are still active in the organization and are “two of the key U.S.-based point men for the party — and, by extension, the Syrian dictatorship.”

The news site described the party as an “anti-Semitic political party accused of using female suicide bombers; of beating up Western and Arab journalists; helping U.S.-designated terrorist organization Hezbollah and the U.S.-sanctioned Syrian regime wage war in the Levant.”

Khawam later told The Hill in a story published Saturday the reports were “total garbage,” and denied any association with the Syrian Social Nationalist Party.

“They’re going to be hearing from our lawyers about all of this,” he told The Hill.

But on Monday he admitted in a statement — forwarded to the Star- Advertiser by Kucinich — that he and his brother had indeed been part of the group.

“While my brother Elie and I were formerly members of SSNP, we are no longer active and do not hold any official positions with SSNP. The SSNP played no role whatsoever with this trip or any previous trips in any shape or form,” Khawam said in the statement. “My brother and I received no money whatsoever from any outside source or any contribution to this trip.”

Khawam said the trip was organized by his nonprofit, AACCESS-Ohio, which isn’t “associated with any political party that subscribes or is inspired by racist ideology.”

Khawam, who didn’t return a phone call left at his office earlier in the day, did not say in his statement when he and his brother broke ties with the group.

Kucinich defended the Khawam brothers, saying that he had known the two Ohio residents for decades.

“In the time that I’ve know them they have worked tirelessly for peace and understanding among the nations of the Middle East,” Kucinich said by email. “Each of these brothers is well respected in their communities, and in the many conversations I’ve had with them, they have never expressed any sentiments of prejudice towards any group. These are individuals who stand for and work for peace. The recent reports to paint them as fascists or racists bear no resemblance to these two good men. The smears on them are calculated as attempts to divert attention from the underlying truth that covert intervention in Syria has been an unmitigated disaster for the United States.”

Gabbard said the whole debate was just distracting from the more important issues surrounding the Syrian conflict and her bill called the Stop Arming Terrorists Act, which aims to cut off U.S. aid to Syrian rebel groups.

“Unfortunately, rather than debating whether or not the United States should be funding and arming militant groups who are allied with and working under the command of al- Qaida, my critics, including Mr. Rogin, resorted to tactics of name-calling, guilt by association, and slander,” she said in emailed comments.