As one of the few Arab-Americans in Congress, Issa has had a significant but sometimes controversial role in U.S. peace initiatives in the Middle East. He traveled to Lebanon as well as Syria in an effort to negotiate the withdrawal of the Syrian presence in Lebanon. In 2003, he appeared at a Washington rally by Iranian groups protesting against the Islamic government in Iran.
Activist Debbie Schlussel wrote a column calling him "Jihad Darrell", charging that he sympathized with Hezbollah despite its being listed by the U.S. government as a terrorist organization. Issa denied this; he later speculated that Schlussel's column might have inspired an aborted Jewish Defense League plot in 2001 to bomb his district office in San Clemente. JDL leader Irving Rubin was arrested along with Earl Krugel in connection with the plot, which reportedly had focused on other targets before shifting to Issa's office.
Darrell Issa - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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