Far-left Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed headlined a fundraiser Wednesday at an Arab cultural center alongside a prominent Arab-American activist who urged that Jews be sent "back to Poland" from Israel, called Hamas "freedom fighters," and praised Hezbollah's leader as a "hero."
The under-the-radar fundraiser—which did not include press—came a day after El-Sayed appeared alongside Kamala Harris at a campaign event targeted at black women voters, where Harris defended DEI and a participant mentioned "black women and black birthing people."
But by Wednesday, El-Sayed was back with his core constituency in majority-Arab Dearborn, where Harris is widely despised due to the Biden administration's support for Israel. The fundraiser, which was attended by 200 community leaders and organizers, came as El-Sayed faced withering scrutiny for campaigning with Hasan Piker, a socialist influencer who has stated that "America deserved 9/11" and that Israel is "much worse" than Hamas. But many of the speakers and attendees at Wednesday night's fundraiser have embraced even more extremist rhetoric, in addition to calling Harris a "genocidal warmonger."
Osama Siblani, the head of the Arab American Political Action Committee, spoke prior to El-Sayed at the fundraiser, held at Dearborn's Bint Jebail Cultural Center, according to Dearborn.org. Siblani has referred to Hezbollah and Hamas as "freedom fighters." At a rally in 2022, Siblani urged the "fedayeen"—Islamic militants—to "fight within [their] means" against Israel, whether it be with "stones," "guns," or "their hands."
At a rally in 2024, Siblani called slain Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah a "hero" and said that Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli Jews should be sent "back to Poland." Poland was the site of all six of the Nazis' death camps, where Jews were transported from across Europe to be murdered.
Also present at the fundraiser was Imam Mohammad Ali Elahi, an Iran-born cleric who eulogized Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei, and bemoaned that he was killed by "the most wretched hands on earth." Spotted in the crowd was Amer Zahr, a Dearborn school board member and longtime El-Sayed pal who has stated he "stands with" Hamas and Hezbollah against Israel, the Washington Free Beacon reported. Last year, Zahr stood in front of a banner of Nasrallah and proclaimed the late Hezbollah leader a "martyr" and "hero."
The Dearborn fundraiser is in contrast with El-Sayed's much-anticipated campaign event on Tuesday with Harris, who had not been active on the campaign. The event was meant to shore up El-Sayed's weak support with black voters. He joined Harris at a roundtable event in Detroit on black maternity, and both politicians dismissed concerns of a rift over El-Sayed's support in early 2024 for the "Uncommitted" movement, in which anti-Israel activists vowed to boycott the Biden-Harris ticket in the presidential primaries over their support for Israel in its war against Hamas.
Many of El-Sayed's fundraiser friends were vocal leaders of Uncommitted, and still harbor deep hostility toward Harris, who lost Michigan in 2024 despite efforts by Biden officials to apologize to Dearborn's Arab community.
Zahr, who headlined a series of luxury yacht fundraisers with El-Sayed for a Muslim Brotherhood-linked group in 2019, called Harris a "genocidal warmonger" in August 2024, and vowed not to support her for president.
Siblani, who also serves as publisher of the Arab American News, declined to endorse Harris and criticized her in September 2024 over a statement she issued referring to Hezbollah's Nasrallah as a terrorist.
"And, she wants our vote. In your dream [sic] Kamala!!!" Siblani wrote.
El-Sayed, who spoke at a rally alongside Zahr and Siblani in May 2021 in protest of Joe Biden, has taken great pains to maintain support in Dearborn, considered the hub of his political support. Earlier this year, El-Sayed told campaign staffers in a private strategy call that he did not want to comment publicly on the death of Ayatollah Khamenei because "a lot of people in Dearborn are sad" over his death.
He reiterated that stance at a campaign event Wednesday night at the University of Michigan. El-Sayed repeatedly dodged a student's request that he denounce the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Iranian regime over their bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protesters. El-Sayed, who has called for the arrest of Netanyahu for "war crimes," declined to weigh in on Iran's human rights abuses, saying he opposes U.S. support for "regime change."
According to Dearborn.org, El-Sayed's fundraiser "successfully met its goal" and serves as a prelude to a get-out-the-vote rally planned next month.
Unity & Justice Fund, a super PAC supporting El-Sayed, recently paid $400,000 for "canvassing" work to Chase & Porter, a Dearborn-based consulting firm owned by Mallak Beydoun, the chief of staff to Dearborn Heights mayor Mo Baydoun. Baydoun also spoke at the fundraiser, though it is unclear whether he discussed the get-out-the-vote initiative.
El-Sayed's campaign did not respond to requests for comment and for video footage of the fundraiser.
