Abdul El-Sayed sought to "soothe" anti-Israel voters in Dearborn during a roundtable discussion this week with local activist Osama Siblani, who has called Hamas and Hezbollah "freedom fighters" and called for Israeli Jews to be sent "back to Poland."
The left-wing Democrat sat for an interview with editors and publishers from different small publications at the Dearborn offices of Siblani's newspaper, the Arab American News. In his questions, Siblani urged El-Sayed to "say something right now to soothe" people in Dearborn, an apparent reference to growing frustration among the city's majority Arab population over what they see as El-Sayed's moderation on the Israel issue and his overtures to black voters, who have a history of friction with Arabs.
"Some of them are not very happy, as you know," Siblani said of Dearborn residents to El-Sayed.
"There is no perfect candidate," said El-Sayed, who campaigned with Harris last month in an effort to reach black voters. In his appeal to the unhappy Dearborn residents, El-Sayed pledged to invest taxpayer money in Michigan "rather than send it abroad to kill or maim people who might be related to you in the south of Lebanon or in Gaza or in the West Bank."
El-Sayed made no mention of Hamas's attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, in which the Gaza-based terrorist group killed 1,200 Israelis. Israel has also been fighting Hezbollah, which is based in southern Lebanon, the ancestral homeland of many Dearborn residents.
It's the latest example of El-Sayed catering to residents of Dearborn, which has been dubbed the "Jihad Capital of America" because of the high concentration of pro-Hamas residents and religious leaders in the Detroit suburb.
In February, El-Sayed said in a private campaign strategy call that he did not want to comment on the assassination of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei because "there are a lot of people in Dearborn who are sad," the Washington Free Beacon reported.
In March, Dearborn Heights resident Ayman Ghazali attacked a nearby synagogue in retaliation for an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon that killed his two brothers, both members of Hezbollah, and a niece and nephew. El-Sayed drew heavy scrutiny after the attack for stating that "hurt people hurt people."
Siblani, who has supported El-Sayed for years, is an unapologetic supporter of Hamas and Hezbollah.
Siblani's brother Ghassan was a security chief for Lebanon's Hezbollah-aligned Amal party in the 1980s. Siblani has called the terrorist groups "freedom fighters" in numerous interviews over the years. At a rally in Dearborn last year, Siblani praised Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah as a "hero" and urged that Israeli Jews be sent "back to Poland."
Poland was the site of all six of the Nazi death camps, where Jews were transported from across Europe to be murdered during the Holocaust.
Chants of "death to Israel" broke out at the rally, which was also attended by Dearborn mayor Abdullah Hammoud, another El-Sayed ally.
El-Sayed took shots at AIPAC, the pro-Israel advocacy group that has become a reliable punching bag for left-wing Democrats this election cycle.
"I'm not willing to take orders from AIPAC," said El-Sayed, prompting a joke from Siblani to clarify that El-Sayed was not referring to the Arab American Political Action Committee, a lobbying group that Siblani runs.
"Let's make sure that's AIPAC, with an 'I,' not AAPAC," said Siblani.
"Yes, not the Arab American [PAC]," said El-Sayed, who attended a fundraiser Siblani organized in Dearborn last month that raised $350,000 for the candidate.
El-Sayed also said he has "real concern" that Republicans will "steal" next month's election, and said he hopes voters will deliver an "undeniable" margin of victory.
"You can't steal a 7-point election. You got walloped, so let's go wallop them," he said.
El-Sayed also embraced the role of victim when referring to the criticism he's come under in recent weeks for his connections to and support for the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist group that spawned Hamas in Gaza in the 1980s.
"I want us to remember that when they attack like this, those attacks are the last vestiges of small-mindedness for small-minded people," said El-Sayed, who claimed he is being attacked because of his name and "how I pray."
El-Sayed has faced intense scrutiny over a letter—first revealed by the Free Beacon—that he signed in 2012 in support of the Muslim Brotherhood. And El-Sayed's half-sister has said that their mother was a member of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and that their family has "long been" in the organization, with some members being "jailed," the Free Beacon reported.
That contradicted El-Sayed's emphatic claim on Meet the Press that neither he nor his family have ever been members of the group.
Other El-Sayed allies in Dearborn came out in support of him this week.
Amer Zahr, a close El-Sayed and Siblani ally who serves on the Dearborn school board, said El-Sayed would serve as a "tool" towards adopting a "pro-Palestinian American foreign policy" and making "American policy towards Palestine … a red line issue in the 2028 Democratic presidential primaries."
"That happens much more easily when Abdul wins," said Zahr, who has said he "stands with" Hamas and Hezbollah and has urged Arabs to refrain from denouncing anti-Semitism and terrorism.
El-Sayed's campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
