New Jersey-based Palestinian American Community Center to Host PFLP Terrorist and Rep. Rashida Tlaib
Members of Students for Justice in Palestine and the Palestinian Youth Movement will also participate in the PACC conference, scheduled for April 3-6. The event will feature the PFLP's Wisam Rafeedie
The New Jersey-based Palestinian American Community Center (PACC), a tax-exempt nonprofit with 501(c)(3) status, is set to hold its 7th annual conference from April 3-6, 2025, under the title “Grounded in Action: Exploring the Power of The Palestinian Diaspora.” The first three days will take place on site in New Jersey, while the fourth day will be held virtually. Among the featured speakers on day four is Wisam Rafeedie, a member of the U.S.-designated terror group the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).
Furthermore, Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib is scheduled to speak at one of the conference’s "Youth Day" events, to introduce young children to “resistance through storytelling.” Members of National Students for Justice in Palestine (NSJP) and the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM) are also set to speak at the conference.
Jewish Onliner contacted PACC for comment ahead of this article’s publication, specifically regarding the involvement of the PFLP’s Wisam Rafeedie. The organization did not respond to the request. However, following the inquiry, PACC appears to have taken steps to obscure Rafeedie’s involvement in the event.
The current conference page on PACC’s website no longer lists speaker names or images, aside from Rep. Rashida Tlaib and her son, whereas the full lineup was visible just days ago. Despite this change, publicly available posts on PACC’s Facebook page still displays Rafeedie’s image and lists him as a featured speaker.
Speaking to Jewish Onliner, Tom Fitton, President of the watchdog group Judicial Watch, remarked that “Federal law enforcement should be interested in this event.”
The PFLP’s Wisam Rafeedie
On the fourth day of the conference, PFLP member Wisam Rafeedie, is scheduled to speak virtually on the topic of “Centering Palestinian Political Prisoners.” In May, 2024, Rafeedie spoke virtually at the “People’s Conference for Palestine” where he defended Hamas’ Oct. 7th massacre and downplayed the well-documented atrocities committed by Hamas and other invaders.
Rafeedie also made statements such as, “Zionists lie like they breathe” and “There is no longer a place for the two-state solution for any Palestinian. The only solution is one democratic Palestinian state on all Palestinian land, which will end the Zionist project in Palestine.”
Rafeedie’s continued affiliation with the PFLP is also a matter of public record. In 2021, he participated in a Zoom event as part of the “Ghassan Kanafani Symposium”, in reference to the former PFLP leader. The event featured other senior PFLP officials, such as, Nidal Abdel Aal, who was the head of the groups’ Lebanon branch and was eliminated by the IDF for his role in planning multiple terror attacks. The event also featured Maher Harb, a PFLP leader from Nablus. A photo of Rafeedie from 2016 shows him proudly displaying a poster of convicted PFLP terrorist, Georges Ibrahim Abdallah.
Haidar Eid
Another virtual speaker, Haidar Eid, is a member of the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI). In response to Hamas’ October 7 massacre, Eid published a Facebook post stating: “Our dreams are not over yet, the story is not complete yet.” He also reshared an article that referred to October 7 as, “Our Warsaw Uprising Moment.”
In 2015, Eid participated in events organized by the PFLP that focused on strengthening the boycott of Israel. In 2019, Eid presented a paper on resistance to normalization with Israel at the second Al-Hakim conference hosted by the PFLP in honor of its founder, George Habash.
PACC Justifies the October 7 Massacre
On October 7, 2023, PACC posted a photo of Palestinian terrorists infiltrating into Israel and published a statement justifying the attack.
