A Fairfax County School Board official claimed the famous Battle of Iwo Jima set a “record” for “human evil” in a school board meeting last week, according to a Fox News report.
Abrar Omeish, a practicing Muslim, made the inflammatory comments while discussing the Day of Remembrance, a day dedicated to Japanese-Americans who were placed in internment camps during World War II. The day of observance happens to coincide with the anniversary of the Battle of Iwo Jima, a pivotal victory in the Pacific theater which propelled the U.S. to victory in Japan.
The historic battle is also well-known because of Joe Rosenthal’s famous photograph, “Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima,” which won a Pulitzer Prize. The iconic photo shows six Marines lifting the American flag and planting it into the ground at the peak of Mount Suribachi after taking control of the island.
“Just a few days ago was Japanese Day of Remembrance,” Omeish said at the meeting Thursday. “Something for us to certainly reflect on … the days when, you know, Iwo Jima unfortunately happened and set a record for really what, I hate to say, human evil is capable of.”
Here’s video of the above quoted (mis?)statement from Ms. Omeish. pic.twitter.com/D05eJfuVAH
— Fairfax County Parents Association (@FFXParentsAssoc) February 24, 2023
When asked about her remarks, the school board member declined to clarify them.
“There is no reason to warp what was said, and reading more into it merely reflects biases forced in by the listener,” Omeish said, per a Washington Free Beacon report.
Fox reports that this is not Omeish’s first time sparking controversy.
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Allegedly, the school board member called Israel an apartheid state last year.
“This caused huge outrage among over 250,000 Jewish Americans here in northern Virginia, and it sparked outrage across all political lines and there were calls for her to apologize. She offered no apology. She doubled down on it,” a parent said to Fox last year.
Omeish also told a group of high schoolers that they were entering a world “overwhelmed with need,” and she attributed this partly to capitalism.
“Our world is overwhelmed with need. We struggle with human greed, racism, extreme versions of individualism and capitalism, White supremacy, growing wealth gaps, disease, climate crisis, extreme poverty amid luxury and waste right next door. And the list goes on,” the school official said to students at Justice High School.
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On her website, Omeish boasts about “bringing transformative change to the policies of Fairfax County and the state of Virginia.”
Some of these changes include fighting for “climate justice” and changing the “racist” names of schools named after Confederate generals.