Khalid al-Alim, a front-runner for the Los Angeles Board of Education and backed by an influential teachers' union, was accused of agreeing to anti-Semitic content, gun glorification and prominent pornographic images. He has come under fire for his reprehensible social media activities.

A post on X (formerly Twitter) that drew particular criticism was a post by the Nation of Islam organization called “The Secret Relationship Between Blacks and Jews: How Jews Gained Control of the Black American Economy.” It was al-Alim's praise for anti-Semitic publications. According to the book's blurb about the Nation, the book accuses Jews of stealing prosperity from blacks, denounces their “40 acres and a mule,” and claims that Jews are “the Ku Klux Klan.” “cooperating with and even funding racial terrorists such as Islamic online store.

Al Alim, who is running for a seat representing much of South and Southwest Los Angeles, said in an October 2022 post that the book should be required reading in Los Angeles schools. We are not playing,” he tweeted.

In a statement Tuesday, Al Alim appeared to acknowledge all or most of the social media posts and likes and expressed regret. He did not say they were from fake accounts or that the accounts had been hacked.

“I have spent my life fighting anti-Semitism, anti-Arab hatred, Islamophobia and all forms of oppression,” Al-Alim said. “I have spent my life fighting for equality for all people. There is a very long history of Jews and Black people supporting each other and working in solidarity for justice. I want to continue doing important work.”

He also appeared to acknowledge the porn and gun-related “likes,” adding, “I also apologize for liking graphic content on social media. It was inappropriate. I will never do that again. ”

Al Alim is one of seven candidates running to replace George McKenna, who is retiring from the school board. District 1 includes historically black Los Angeles and areas with the highest concentration of black students, and all candidates are black. This district also includes significant numbers of white and Jewish voters. The majority of students attending schools in the district are Latino.

The emergence of Al Alim's social media activity comes as a parent and longtime community activist who has received support from the influential United Teachers Los Angeles and the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor. This could derail the campaign.

The teachers' union has spent about $650,000 on an independence movement supporting Mr. Al Alim and organizing frontline workers on his behalf, according to figures reported through Tuesday. Al Alim's own campaign raised $24,302 as of the last reporting period.

The next largest independent funding effort was $280,515 on behalf of Didi Watts by a Sacramento-based political action committee called Kids First. Actual contributors to this campaign are protected from immediate disclosure because they did not directly contribute to the campaign on Watts' behalf.

One of the early promoters of al-Alim's social media activity online was political operative Mike Trujillo, who worked on behalf of the independence movement to elect candidates for Watts and three other executive races. There is.

However, criticism does not only come from those politically motivated to oppose al-Alim in the District 1 election.

United Teachers Los Angeles responded sharply to his actions online on Tuesday.

“Mr Kafried Al Alim's reported social media activity is offensive and unacceptable,” the union said. “They contradict what we have seen about Khalid as an education justice organizer for decades. Elected leaders embody professionalism and set a positive example for those they represent. His reported social media conduct does not meet these fundamental ideals.”

The union left open the possibility of withdrawing its support. “We have contacted Mr. Khalid Al Alim to clarify our position regarding both the content and nature of his posts. We have today called upon him for a public response. UTLA is considering next steps.”

UTLA sent a statement to the Times at 12:32 p.m., and Al Alim's full apology arrived eight minutes later.

In an ad in the Feb. 16 issue of the locally published Jewish Journal, the Israel Democratic Party of Los Angeles named Mr. al-Alim as the candidate it opposes, but the negative review makes him one of the candidates on a long list of candidates. Applied to one candidate. endorsement. Within the teachers' union, the Israel Council of Educators, which goes by the handle @JewTLA, also strongly opposes al-Alim. In this reference Al Alim resigned from the post on Tuesday.

“What we have here is just some anti-Semitic, Jew-hating garbage.” @kahlidA The posts on his personal account are outlandish conspiracy theories that Jews are running the world and destroying it. ”

Apart from a general apology, Al Alim specifically retracted his promotion of the Nation of Islam's book.

“I would like to apologize for the post about Mr. Farrakhan's book,” Al Alim said, referring to the group's leader, Louis Farrakhan. “I was wrong. I connected with educators and community members and have since learned about the issue. I completely retract that post. There is no place for that in our school.”

Mr. Al Alim appears to have made X's personal account private. There are no likes found on his campaign account or on tweets depicting the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel as Palestinians standing up against occupation, apartheid, and ethnic cleansing. Currently on that account.

The original post is from J-Town Action & Solidarity, which describes itself as a “grassroots collective dedicated to revolutionary organizing and community power building in Little Tokyo.” Masu. Images like Al Alim's, which appear to have been recently removed, were captured by multiple critics.

Aside from the one example he cited, al-Alim did not specify other posts that critics had found.

according to internationally accepted definition, expressing support for the Palestinians or expressing criticism of Israel or Zionism (the movement that establishes and maintains a Jewish homeland in Israel) is not necessarily anti-Semitic. But such views can cross the line into anti-Semitism.

Likes of unrelated sexual orientation include at least one sexually explicit image and many suggestive photos. In one, a woman wearing a see-through halter top is holding a machine gun. These images began surfacing over the weekend. The images were provided not only by political opponents, but also by Jewish critics and union members concerned about the union's support for al-Alim.

Al Alim has a long history of community activism, including among its founding members. LA takes back our schools, A coalition of parents, students, educators, workers, and community organizations, we work closely with the Los Angeles Teachers Union.

He was also a longtime member of the district's Task Force on African American Achievement and Advancement and a leader on the Hyde Park Neighborhood Council. Al Alim, currently a janitor in Los Angeles, also served as a medic in the Army for 16 years.

In the recent 1st District election debate, Al-Alim was the candidate who spoke most critically of Saputo's performance. Alberto Carvalho said the district leader's accomplishments to date merit an F grade.