Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, who faces growing opposition from Jewish Democrats, quietly attended a banquet Wednesday night for an Arab-American lobbying group led by Osama Siblani, a notorious Dearborn-based activist who said that Arabs should send Israeli Jews "back to Poland," that Israel's actions in Gaza are "worse than the Holocaust," and that Hamas and Hezbollah are "freedom fighters."
The Arab American Political Action Committee, which aims to "lobby on behalf of the Arab American political causes," held the event, dubbed "Saving Our Democracy," in Dearborn Wednesday evening for El-Sayed, gubernatorial candidate Jocelyn Benson, and attorney general candidate Eli Slavit.
Photos from the banquet show El-Sayed huddled with Siblani and posing with community leaders and other attendees. Benson and Slavit posted photos from the soirée, though El-Sayed has yet to do so.
El-Sayed attended the function even as he faces intense scrutiny over his cozy relationship with Siblani, the publisher of the Arab American News, and growing criticism from Jewish Democrats upset at the candidate's demonization of Israel.
Republican Mike Rogers hammered El-Sayed after the Washington Free Beacon reported the far-left Democrat attended a roundtable discussion at Siblani's office last week. During the discussion, Siblani asked El-Sayed to "soothe" over voters in Dearborn, some of whom are upset over what they believe is El-Sayed's softening position towards Israel. El-Sayed has campaigned with former vice president Kamala Harris, whom many on the far left accuse of enabling Israel's "genocide" in Gaza.
El-Sayed took shots at AIPAC during the interview, saying he was "unwilling to take orders" from the pro-Israel advocacy group. That prompted Siblani to clarify that El-Sayed was not referring to AAPAC, his Arab-American lobbying organization.
"Let's make sure that's AIPAC with an 'I,' not AAPAC," said Siblani.
"Yes, not the Arab American [PAC]," said El-Sayed.
Siblani lashed out at Rogers and the Free Beacon—which he dubbed the "Trash Beacon"—over the report, which detailed his lengthy history of support for terrorist groups and demonization of Israel and Jews.
Siblani, who headlined a fundraiser for El-Sayed in Dearborn last month, is an unapologetic defender of Hamas and Hezbollah, referring repeatedly to the groups as "freedom fighters" against Israel. In a 2006 video, Siblani insisted they were not terrorist groups. He also said that Israel's so-called genocide in Gaza was "worse than the Holocaust," in which Nazis systematically murdered 6 million Jews.
Siblani, who has held multiple fundraisers for El-Sayed during the campaign, said in an interview on Lebanese television last year that "the most important thing" he has done in his life was praise Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah as a "hero" during a rally in Dearborn in September 2024, days before Israel assassinated him in Lebanon.
At that same rally, Siblani said that Arabs would emerge victorious over Israel and send Israelis "back to Poland."
The Nazis operated all of their death camps in German-occupied Poland and transported millions of Jews there to be murdered during the Holocaust.
Siblani's inflammatory remarks have drawn rebuke from Jewish groups, a minority of Dearborn residents, and from Rep. Haley Stevens, who narrowly lost to El-Sayed in the Democratic primary in August. Stevens condemned Siblani last year over his remarks at the Dearborn rally and said she would "not condone or associate" with the newspaper publisher. Jewish leaders blasted the Biden-Harris administration in 2024 for visiting Siblani at his Dearborn offices in order to improve support among Muslims and Arabs.
Last year, Dearborn resident Ted Barham, a local pastor, voiced opposition at a city hall meeting over a plan to rename a Dearborn street after Siblani, citing his support for terrorist groups. Mayor Abdullah Hammoud, a close ally of El-Sayed and Siblani, shouted down Barham as a "racist" and said he was "not welcome" to live in the city.
Barham excoriated El-Sayed for appearing alongside Siblani.
"The fact that Abdul El-Sayed has been holding so many events in Dearborn and with Mr. Siblani shows how representative El-Sayed is of the Dearborn, Hezbollah, and Siblani mentality," he told the Free Beacon.
Siblani has bragged that in 2021, he refused to denounce Hamas during a conference call with the Biden administration officials. At a rally in 2022, he urged Arabs in Michigan and elsewhere to "fight within [their] means" against Israel, whether it be with "stones," "guns," or "their hands." He sang the praises of the "fedayeen"—Islamic militants—for "striking [Israel] with knives and with their bare hands."
El-Sayed's courtship of Siblani comes as more Jewish Democrats have come out against the candidate over his remarks about Israel and his alliances with Israel-haters. El-Sayed recently equated Israel with Iran and declined to acknowledge that Israel is an ally of the United States. Stevens's fiancé, a Jewish Democrat, said Wednesday that he will vote for Rogers over El-Sayed because El-Sayed has "escalated" his anti-Israel rhetoric and made Jews "less safe."
This week, El-Sayed ally Cenk Uygur, the uncle of El-Sayed's friend Hasan Piker, released a campaign ad that blamed high banana prices on U.S. support for Israel, stoking allegations of antisemitism from many Democrats, including El-Sayed allies. El-Sayed, who has voiced a similar argument blaming Israel for high grocery prices, has not denounced the ad.
El-Sayed's campaign declined to comment.
Siblani declined to speak with the Free Beacon.
"I won't respond to your stupid and racist questions," he said. "So, I suggest you go ahead and continue spewing venom for as long as you want."
"No further discussion with racists and agitators," he went on.
