Michigan senate candidate backed by Bernie Sanders to speak at Islamist convention alongside Hamas sympathizers

The upcoming ICNA-MAS Convention will focus squarely on the Israel-Hamas war, and feature a parade of speakers who claim Israel is waging “genocide” in the region.

By Chuck Ross, The Washington Free Beacon

A Michigan Senate candidate endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D., Calif.) will appear at a major Islamist convention this weekend with anti-Israel speakers who have called for the destruction of Israel, praised Hamas leaders, and expressed “euphoria” over the Oct. 7 Hamas attack.

Abdul El-Sayed, a former CNN commentator running to replace retiring Sen. Gary Peters (D.), will speak at the annual Islamic Circle of North America and Muslim American Society (ICNA-MAS) annual convention in Baltimore, according to a speaker roster for the event.

It’s his first major national appearance since entering the Senate race last month to replace retiring Democratic Sen. Gary Peters.

El-Sayed, a self-described progressive Democrat, is running against moderate state senator Mallory McMorrow and Rep. Haley Stevens, a pro-Israel Democrat.

El-Sayed, a public health physician, has already landed the most high-profile endorsements of the race. Sanders endorsed El-Sayed last month, saying he is needed to “stand up to Trump’s authoritarianism.”

Khanna praised El-Sayed for “standing up for the human rights and self determination of Palestinians.”

The upcoming ICNA-MAS Convention will focus squarely on the Israel-Hamas war, and feature a parade of speakers who claim Israel is waging “genocide” in the region.

El-Sayed will share the convention stage with Sami Hamdi, a British activist who said he felt “euphoria” after Hamas’s Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel.

Tom Facchine, another conference speaker, said after the Hamas attack that, “we are with the Palestinian resistance 100 percent, no ifs, no ands, no buts, no equivocations, no apologies, no condemnations.”

He has also encouraged Columbia University students to “take out” pro-Israel professor Shai Davidai, the New York Post reported.

Muslim American Society director Ayman Hammous, another convention speaker, has praised Muslim Brotherhood leader Yusuf al-Qaradawi, who called for another Holocaust to “punish” Jews and has defended Palestinian suicide bombers. Hammous recently promoted a protest sign that referred to “the Satanic state of Israel.”

And there is Shaun King, a former Black Lives Matter activist who converted to Islam after the Oct. 7 attacks.

King, who has served alongside El-Sayed as a Bernie Sanders campaign surrogate, called Joe Biden a “genocidal monster” after the former president’s cancer diagnosis earlier this week, and said, “I hope his final days are painful.”

King expressed outrage after the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, whom he referred to as his “dear brother.”

While El-Sayed’s affiliation with anti-Israel radicals could hurt him in a general election, it may well provide a boost in Michigan’s Democratic primary.

Michigan has one of the country’s largest Muslim and Arab populations, which lean heavily Democratic.

Those groups have increased their political clout in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war, with many taking part in the “uncommitted” movement last year to abstain from voting for Biden in the Democratic primary because of the U.S. government’s support for Israel. El-Sayed backed the movement as well, citing Biden’s “disaster in Gaza.”

Former Rep. Mike Rogers, who ran unsuccessfully for Senate last year, is the most prominent Republican in the race.

El-Sayed mounted a surprisingly strong run for Michigan governor in 2018, losing in the Democratic primary to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, 52-30.

He received endorsements in the campaign from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) and celebrities like Ben Affleck. El-Sayed raised his national profile as a commentator on CNN, where he opined on both political campaigns and the coronavirus pandemic.

Ocasio-Cortez has not issued an endorsement in the Michigan Senate race so far, though El-Sayed accompanied her and Sanders during their recent “Stop Oligarchy” tour.

El-Sayed’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment.