“The agency did not respond when asked how Abudiab could represent the best interests of any Jewish or Israeli lawyer in the Washington State Bar after calling for their deaths and the genocide of their people.”
A Seattle area bar association is apologizing after publishing an article calling for a genocide of Jews in its newsletter.
The King County Bar Association Board of Trustees apologized after printing an article from one of its members and former director, Dua Abudiab, entitled From The River To The Sea, a phrase that calls for the destruction of Israel and the ethnic cleansing of its residents.
https://twitter.com/thehoffather/status/1755094198741831803?s=20
Abudiab’s antisemitic screed was printed on the front page of the King County Bar Bulletin above the fold.
Abudiab equated claims of "white nationalism" occupying North America to justify Palestinian claims to Israel despite Jews being indigenous to the land.
She falsely claims a "genocide in Gaza...uncontestable is that we are reliving a disgrace because our tax dollars are funding it" alleging America is "actively shadow banning, censoring, & SILENCING its citizens" despite allowing pro-Hamas activists being allowed to regularly take over streets, bridges and freeways in Washington.
She also wrote, "A Call for Liberation...From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free," a call for genocide & the destruction of the Jewish state, claiming it is "a call against occupation, a call to reclaim our history, and a call for liberation."
Abudiab slammed the left-leaning Anti-Defamation League (ADL) for correctly calling the phrase “an antisemitic charge denying the Jewish right to self-determination, including through the removal of Jews from their ancestral homeland.”
She also demonized the US, writing, "The settler colony of Israel and the United States are kindred spirits in this way — both believe(ed) that a land was destined to them — by God — and use rampant violence to claim this 'destiny.'"
Additionally, Abudiab falsely claimed "world outrage" is on the side of Hamas, lamented genocidal rhetoric and false blood libels being censored on social media, and claims Palestinians are also being censored on college campuses, despite universities becoming the epicenter of antisemitism.
She attacked Florida’s Board of Governors' Chancellor for asking university presidents to disband chapters of the anti-Israel group Students for Justice in Palestine, which has ties to terror groups because they were violating Florida law, deeming it a felony to "knowingly provide material support ...to a designated foreign terrorist organization."
In revisionist history, Abudiab ignored that in December, pro-Hamas activists seized the administration building at the University of Washington on the first night of Hannukah to target the campus menorah lighting and instead lamented that police were called to end the 9-hour siege, attempting to portray it as a peaceful protest.
https://twitter.com/thehoffather/status/1755094215955198003?s=20
Abudiab even attempted to make pro-Hamas activists who were terminated for antisemitic acts seem like victims for being fired, including former CNN personality and rabid antisemite Marc Lamont Hill, who was fired from the network for spewing calls for genocide against Jews.
https://twitter.com/thehoffather/status/1755094217733582956?s=20
In social media posts, Abudaib, just days after Hamas's Oct 7 murder, rape & torture of 1,200+ Israelis & kidnapping of 250+, including Americans, in the worst pogrom since the Holocaust, appropriated renowned Holocaust author Elie Weisel to support Hamas, even though Israel's offensive in Gaza hadn't yet begun.
After being flooded by complaints from Jewish and non-Jewish attorneys in Washington and across the US, the Board of Trustees of the King County Bar issued an apology that stated, “The February 2024 issue of the KCBA Bar Bulletin contained an opinion piece: From the River to the Sea, by King County Bar Association member Dua Abudiab. The placement of this Article and our failure to clearly identify that it was not the perspective or position of the KCBA, its Board or its staff, was in error.”
https://twitter.com/thehoffather/status/1755472214751953280?s=20
“Our mistake was twofold. First, the article was not identified as ‘opinion.’ Second, the subject matter is beyond the scope of the mission of the King County Bar Association and our Bar Bulletin. The Association is a professional service organization.”
“Our mission calls on us to support a diverse and collegial membership, work with the judiciary to achieve excellence, equity, and accessibility in the administration of justice, and serve the community through public service and engagement in public policy. Ours is not a partisan or political organization and our role is not to weigh in on international affairs or policy. Our diverse membership has strong opinions on partisan and political issues, including all issues of national and international concern. Our members are free to voice their opinions, however, the Bar Bulletin is not a forum for articles on the conflict in Israel and Palestine.”
“Our mistake caused harm to many of our members and the community. For this we apologize, and we are taking steps to see that this kind of error will not happen again.”
“To ensure that there will be no repeat of this mistake we are moving the tasks and responsibilities required to publish a monthly publication under the direct supervision of the Executive Director or their delegate.”
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Abudiab until recently was the executive director of the organization in one of the shortest terms in the organization’s history.
She is now the Deputy Executive Director for the Washington State Bar Association (WSBA), an organization that all lawyers in the state are required to be members of in order to practice law.
In a statement to the Ari Hoffman Show on Talk Radio 570 KVI, Sara Niegowski, WSBA Chief Communications and Outreach Officer, did not apologize for its deputy executive director’s behavior and instead said that “…those words or actions reflect the employee’s personal opinions and not the position of the WSBA. We, like many employers, respect and value our employees’ right to express themselves freely outside the workplace on issues of public concern.”
Though she also acknowledged “…that the impact and harm from words are real, especially in an era of deeply felt politicization and humanitarian urgency” the agency claimed that one of “…our guiding values as an employer and bar association is to support a culture of diversity and inclusion,” claiming it upholds “…a high level of professionalism in the workplace,” but that “does not cause us to back away from defending each of our First Amendment rights.”
The agency did not respond when asked how Abudiab could represent the best interests of any Jewish or Israeli lawyer in the Washington State Bar after calling for their deaths and the genocide of their people or what action the organization would be taking to remedy this situation.
Washington Governor Jay Inslee, Attorney General Bob Ferguson, and King County Executive Dow Constantine, all Democratic lawyers and members of the Washington State Bar, did not return requests for comment.