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Pro-Iranian Finnish MP Under Fire for Comparing Israel to Islamic State Terrorist Group

A newly elected member of Finland’s parliament and outspoken supporter of the theocratic regime in Iran has been slammed for comparing the State of Israel to the terrorist organization Islamic State and for his hateful rants against the Jewish community.

Screenshots reveal that Hussein al-Taee of the Social Democratic Party of Finland (SDP) wrote about Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg in 2012: “Jew doing what a Jew does best. F***s up everybody to gain everything.”

In other posts, the MP compared Israel to the Islamic State terrorist group and denigrated Jews, Sunni Muslims, and homosexuals. The MP, who is of the Shiite faith, immigrated with his family from Iraq to Finland in 1993. His father was the former governor of Najaf Province in Iraq.

He also wrote, “Iran: Defending Palestine in the name of Islam. Supplying Iraq in the name of Shia sect. Negotiating a nuclear deal in the name of the Persian people. When will the Arabs learn to use their hats [sic] like that?”

Finnish-Kurdish blogger and civil rights activist Anter Yasa, who first exposed the MP’s hateful Facebook comments, told Benjamin Weinthal of the Jerusalem Post that al-Taee should resign from parliament. Speaking from Helsinki, Yasa said: “I am pretty sure all of the posts are real and al-Taee has confirmed his antisemitic statements.”

Writing on his blog on Monday, al-Taee said he felt “shame” about his attacks on minority groups. He also told the Finnish News Agency STT, “I want to apologize for comparing Israel to ISIS, because the comment was simply stupid and it does not in any way represent my opinions or values.”

Dr. Efraim Zuroff, the head of the Jerusalem office of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, dismissed the MP’s apology and described it as “facile.” Zuroff told the Post that if al-Taee is sincere about his apology, he “should take responsibility and resign.”

The Finnish elections took place on April 14 with the SDP winning the most seats.

[Photo: Rauhan Taee / YouTube]