A well-known company in the United States has announced it is severing ties with Stuart Seldowitz, a former official in the administration of former President Barack Obama, after he appeared in videos making racist and anti-Islam remarks. Videos of Seldowitz surfaced, in which he harassed a vendor at a food cart in New York while making anti-Islam comments. In one widely circulated clip, Seldowitz is heard saying, "Killing 4,000 Palestinian children was not enough."
Seldowitz was the acting director for South Asia at the National Security Council during Obama's presidency and also worked in the U.S. State Department's Office of Israeli and Palestinian Affairs from 1999 to 2003. Since November 2022, he had served as the head of foreign affairs at Gotham Government Relations. Following the release of these videos, Gotham announced it was ending its relationship with Seldowitz, stating in a release, "Gotham has severed all ties with Stuart Seldowitz, an individual who has not contributed to our work for years."
In a statement posted on its page on X (formerly Twitter), it added that the video showing Seldowitz's actions "is racist and undermines the standards we uphold in our company." A spokesperson for the New York Police Department stated they are aware of the videos and are "monitoring the situation," according to "Vice." The former official has been recorded in several posts on X, where he captures images of the vendor and berates him with anti-Islam remarks. After a brief discussion about the killing of children, Seldowitz told the man, "If we killed 4,000 Palestinian children, do you know what? It wasn't enough."
The vendor, whose identity remains unknown, can be heard in the videos asking Seldowitz to leave and threatening to call the police. According to the "New York Times," the police confirmed that no reports have been filed against Seldowitz, but they emphasized that the commanding officer of the nineteenth precinct is aware of the videos and that personnel are monitoring the situation.
