The super PAC of the lobbying arm of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the pro-Hamas advocacy group, is taking credit for helping Abdul El-Sayed win his Michigan Democratic Senate primary race and said the victory shows "we're building a movement in Masjids" (or mosques) across the country.
The Unity & Justice Fund, a super PAC controlled and funded by CAIR's lobbying arm, CAIR Action, said in a fundraising email over the weekend that it helped "mobilize tens of thousands of Muslim and Middle Eastern voters to turn out" for El-Sayed, who defeated pro-Israel Democrat Haley Stevens by one point in the August 4 primary.
"The Unity & Justice Fund helped elect Zohran Mamdani, Dr. Adam Hamawy, and now Abdul El-Sayed. We're doing more than just securing electoral wins across the country; we're building a movement in Masjids and communities across the country," said Unity & Justice Fund, which claimed to have "knock[ed] on more than 30,000 doors of Muslim voters."
As of August 24, the fund appears to have removed the phrase "a movement in Masjids" from the fundraising email and to have changed "Muslim voters" to "Muslim and Middle Eastern voters."
According to campaign disclosures, the Unity & Justice PAC, which is about two years old, contributed $175,000 last month to Fighting for Michigan PAC, the largest outside group supporting El-Sayed. And the Unity & Justice Fund paid $40,267 to a consulting firm owned by the chief of staff to the mayor of Dearborn Heights, Mich., for "canvassing" services in support of El-Sayed, records show.
Unity & Justice Fund is seeking to raise an additional $1.5 million ahead of the November midterms.
The super PAC's support for El-Sayed could further alienate moderate Democrats as well as Jewish Michiganders who are concerned about El-Sayed's links to anti-Israel and pro-Hamas activists, devotion to Sharia law, and intellectual interest in some of the most extreme corners of Islam. It also undercuts El-Sayed's primary campaign attacks on AIPAC, a pro-Israel group that heavily backed Stevens.
"AIPAC has spent a record amount in this race to elect my opponent because she'll be a reliable vote to a foreign government that is aiding, arming, and abetting a genocide," El-Sayed said last month.
CAIR, which was designated an unindicted coconspirator of a Hamas front group in 2008, has sought to distance itself from the Unity & Justice Fund and claims that it neither created nor funded the super PAC.
"CAIR has never donated any funds to any political campaigns, PACS, or SuperPACS, nor has CAIR established any PACS, nor has CAIR ever endorsed any candidates," said CAIR deputy executive director Edward Mitchell. "Doing so would be illegal."
That is true by a narrow legal definition. But CAIR two years ago openly created CAIR Action, which immediately established the Unity & Justice Fund. CAIR and CAIR Action share board members and have shared the same street address in the past.
"CAIR has also created a super PAC … and it's called Unity & Justice Fund," Nihad Awad, CAIR's cofounder and executive director, said on a 2024 podcast. Awad, who has donated $750 to El-Sayed's campaign, came under intense scrutiny in late 2023 for stating he was "happy to see" Hamas attack Israel on October 7.
"My organization, CAIR, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, would like to share the good news, that we are expanding our c4, lobbying, and, and PACs organization in the next few days," Awad said at a rally in Washington, D.C., in January 2024.
CAIR's website also quotes a news article that refers to the Unity & Justice Fund as a "super PAC linked to the Council on American-Islamic Relations."
CAIR Action has contributed $185,000 to the Unity & Justice Fund so far this year. CAIR Action executive director Basim Elkarra—who "has expressed support for a terrorist, promoted incitement and demonized Israel," according to Canary Mission—was listed as the super PAC's first treasurer and signed the fundraising emails that the Unity & Justice Fund sent out this weekend. CAIR Action's three board members all serve on CAIR's national board of directors.
CAIR officials and employees have contributed heavily to the Unity & Justice Fund and directly to El-Sayed's campaign. According to Fox News, current and former CAIR employees have contributed more than $115,000 to El-Sayed's campaign.
El-Sayed's father-in-law, Tayeb Jukaku, donated $100,000 to the Unity & Justice Fund on July 20, campaign records show. Jukaku serves on the board of directors of CAIR's Michigan chapter. Saleem Shah, the programs manager at CAIR California, contributed $1,035 to the Unity & Justice Fund.
