Seldowitz faced backlash after videos emerged showing him making Islamophobic comments
Seldowitz served as acting director of the National Security Council South Asia Directorate during the Obama administration.
He served as deputy director of the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Israeli and Palestinian Affairs.
this man has been identified: Stuart Seldowitz. He is a career diplomat who has worked at the State Department & served as National Security Advisor under President Obama. I will be providing this information to the authorities. pic.twitter.com/Xj1mD0EV6J
— Layla 🪬 (@itslaylas) November 21, 2023
Stuart Seldowitz, a former adviser to President Barack Obama who works in the National Security Council’s South Asia Directorate, faced backlash after videos emerged showing him making Islamophobic comments and threats towards a food cart worker in New York City. In videos posted on Twitter by a Columbia University student, Seldowitz can be heard asking in front of the camera whether the person he is addressing “whether he raped your daughter like Muhammad” and callously saying that the killing of 4,000 Palestinian children “is not enough.”
this man is continuing to berate and harass the halal cart vendor. He ends the video with “if we killed 4,000 palestinian kids? It wasn’t enough”. pic.twitter.com/yhu4HSvIEZ
— Layla 🪬 (@itslaylas) November 21, 2023
this man is continuing to berate and harass the halal cart vendor. He ends the video with “if we killed 4,000 palestinian kids? It wasn’t enough”. pic.twitter.com/yhu4HSvIEZ
— Layla 🪬 (@itslaylas) November 21, 2023
Seldowitz served as acting director of the National Security Council South Asia Directorate during the Obama administration and was deputy director/senior political official in the U.S. State Department’s Office of Israeli and Palestinian Affairs from 1999 to 2003. He is head of affairs for Gotham Government Relations, a lobbying group, the role was announced in a press release in November 2022.
This man wearing a green jacket was berating and harassing a halal cart vendor off 83rd and 2nd Ave in NYC. Does anyone know who this man is? Planning to report to the authorities. pic.twitter.com/GwklyXpsPH
— Layla 🪬 (@itslaylas) November 21, 2023
Following the release of the videos, Gotham Government Relations severed ties with Seldowitz and made a public announcement on Twitter, saying: “Gotham Government Relations has terminated all relations with Stuart Seldowitz, who has not contributed to our work in years. The video of his actions is disgusting, racist, and does not honor the standards we hold at our firm.” ” Seldowitz’s profile was also removed from the firm’s website.
this man is continuing to berate and harass the halal cart vendor. He ends the video with “if we killed 4,000 palestinian kids? It wasn’t enough”. pic.twitter.com/yhu4HSvIEZ
— Layla 🪬 (@itslaylas) November 21, 2023
One of the videos shows Seldowitz talking to a man inside a food cart, waving his phone and referring to “friends in immigration” and the Mukhabarat, Egypt’s intelligence agency. He threatens the person in the car, implies that he will harm his parents, and makes disturbing comments about cutting his nails.