Ibraheem Samirah

Ibraheem S. Samirah (born August 20, 1991) is an American politician. He served as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from the 86th district from 2019 to 2022. First elected in a special election, he was defeated for re-election in the Democratic primary by Irene Shin in June 2021.

In 2023, he unsuccessfully ran for the Democratic nomination for State Senate for Virginia's 32nd State Senate District.

Early life and education
Samirah was born in Chicago on August 20, 1991 to Jordanian-Palestinian parents. Samirah's grandparents were Palestinian. He has described his father as a community activist in the Muslim community. In 2003 when Samirah was 11, his father was denied re-entry into the United States as a national security risk. This resulted in the family moving to Amman, Jordan. Samirah's father was eventually readmitted to the United States in 2014 and he returned to the United States to study at American University. In 2013, Samirah graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in government and political science. In university, he was active in supporting Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions with Students for Justice in Palestine and founded the first-ever college chapter for Jewish Voice for Peace at American University. He was an observant Muslim throughout college.

He earned his Doctor of Dental Medicine (DMD) from the Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine at Boston University in 2017. While he attended dental school, Samirah was a member of Black Lives Matter, Students for Justice in Palestine, and Jewish Voice for Peace.

Antisemitism
In 2014, Samirah made a series of anti-Israel posts on his Facebook account. One post stated that "funding Israel is like supporting the Ku Klux Klan". On another post, Samirah wrote in response to the death of Ariel Sharon that the former prime minister of Israel should "burn a million times for every innocent soul you killed" along with "our beloved Arab 'leaders' (butchers I should say)" adding that “hell is excited to have you”. In 2019, these posts were resurfaced by Big League Politics, and Samirah was criticized by political opponents and accused of racism and antisemitism.

Though Samirah apologized for the posts, he later characterized attacks on him as "a smear campaign" and accused Democrats of having "succumbed to the extreme-right propaganda machine" in objecting to his comments.

House of Delegates
After Delegate Jennifer Boysko was elected to the Senate of Virginia, Samirah ran for her vacant seat in the Virginia House of Delegates, winning a special election in February 2019. In July 2019, he heckled a speech by Donald Trump. He ran for reelection unopposed that November.

He drew a challenger in the Democratic primary in 2021 and was defeated by non-profit organizer Irene Shin who went on to win the general election.

Following his defeat in October 2021, Samirah spread antisemitic conspiracy theories accusing Mossad of creating "fossil fuel wars" with "malicious intent". The posts caused alarm among local Jewish leaders and helped contribute to Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin capturing an unexpectedly large portion of the Jewish vote in the subsequent general election.

Unsuccessful State Senate campaign
In 2023, Samirah ran for the Virginia State Senate in the Democratic primary for Virginia's 32nd State Senate District. He was overwhelmingly defeated in the Democratic primary by Del. Suhas Subramanyam who went on to win the general election.

February 2019 special election
After Jennifer Boysko was elected to the Senate of Virginia, Samirah ran in the special election to complete the remainder of her term in February 2019.

2019 general election
Following his win in the 2019 special election, Samirah was unopposed for reelection in the November general election.

2021 general election primary
Samirah filed for reelection in 2021. However, he was defeated in the Democratic primary by Irene Shin.

2023 general election
Samirah unsuccessfully ran for State Senate in 2023 and was defeated in the primary by Suhas Subramanyam.

Personal life
Samirah lives in Sterling, Virginia.