IRVINE, CALIFORNIA (VINnews)-Rotary International is facing criticism for allowing former Irvine Mayor Farrah Khan to serve as president of the Rotary Club of Orange County L.A., despite social media posts in which she allegedly referred to Israeli officials as “pedophiles” and “cannibals.”

Khan assumed the leadership role in May. Jewish organizations including the Jewish Community Action Network, the Jewish Federation of Orange County and the Israeli-American Council have written to Rotary, asserting that the posts violate the service organization’s ethical standards.

“This situation is especially alarming because Rotary’s mission centers on ethics and integrity,” Julie Heiman, director of policy, legal and government affairs for the Jewish Community Action Network, told the New York Post. “Allowing someone who spreads anti-Jewish blood libels to remain in a leadership position sends a dangerous message. Hiding behind criticism of Israel while invoking tropes about Jews goes far beyond legitimate political disagreement and helps create the permission structure that fuels escalating hostility and violence against Jewish people in our communities.”

According to the groups, Khan shared an Al Jazeera article alleging that Israel bombed a girls’ school in Iran and posted claims that “handcuffed babies were found in a mass grave,” attributing the alleged atrocity to Israel. The letter also accused Khan of failing to curb harassment and intimidation of Jewish residents during contentious City Hall meetings related to Israel while she served as mayor.

Khan has said her comments targeted Israeli government officials and the military, not the Israeli public.

Rotary International Director Wyn Spiller said the organization is nonpolitical and nonreligious, and that individual clubs operate independently under their own boards.

“When concerns arise about a member’s political activities outside of Rotary, we, at Rotary International, provide guidance to clubs based on Rotary’s values and governing documents,” Spiller said. “However, decisions regarding club leadership remain the responsibility of each club, in accordance with its bylaws, constitutional documents, and Rotary’s governing documents.”

Sam Yebri, a Los Angeles employment attorney whose Jewish family fled Iran during the Islamic Revolution, criticized the decision. “The Rotary Club of Orange County LA has disgraced itself,” Yebri said. “By elevating someone with a long record of promoting virulent antisemitism, the Rotary Club has betrayed every Jewish Rotarian, normalized the dehumanization of Jews and sent the message that antisemitism is compatible with community leadership.”

Community leader Dory Benami, a small business owner who ran for Congress in 2024, said the controversy has caused him to reconsider joining the organization. “Anybody who calls a group of people cannibals and pedophiles and continues to share stories like that is not somebody I want in any leadership role,” Benami said. “We have to confront that head-on.”

Rotary International, one of the world’s largest service organizations with more than 1.2 million members, follows an ethical code known as the Four-Way Test, which asks whether members’ actions are truthful, fair, promote goodwill and benefit all involved.

The controversy arises amid a sharp rise in antisemitic incidents. The Anti-Defamation League reported 9,354 antisemitic incidents in the United States in 2024, the highest total since the organization began tracking the data nearly 50 years ago and a 344% increase over the past five years. In Los Angeles County, anti-Jewish hate crimes accounted for 80% of all religion-based hate crimes last year.

Rotary International, the Rotary Club of Orange County L.A. and Khan did not immediately respond to requests for comment.