El-Sayed campaign backed by over $100,000 from dozens of members of group with alleged terror ties

The "Taqiyya Grin"

The political fundraising rule used to be simple. Candidates would promise to keep special interests out of politics, then quietly cash checks from the usual suspects. Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed appears determined to modernize the tradition by proving that "special interests" is apparently just another term that depends on who's writing the check. [H/T Fox News Digital.]

According to a Fox News Digital review, El-Sayed's campaign has collected more than $115,000 from at least 41 individuals who either work for, formerly worked for, or held leadership positions with the Council on American-Islamic Relations, better known as CAIR. That's one way to build a coalition. Another is to skip the middleman and rent a conference room at headquarters.

The irony is particularly rich because El-Sayed has made getting "money out of politics" one of the signature themes of his campaign. Apparently, the money was willing to leave politics, but politics kept inviting it back for coffee and a little bit o' jihad.

Among the contributors were some of CAIR's biggest names, including national Board Chair Manal Fakhoury, national Board Treasurer Eyas Abdeen, national Vice Chair Emad Sabbah, and CAIR-Michigan board member Jukaku Tayeb, who also happens to be El-Sayed's father-in-law. Family gatherings must feature unusually productive finance committee meetings.

Tayeb has reportedly been one of the largest financial backers of the super PAC supporting El-Sayed's campaign. He is also part of the founding committee of the Islamic Society of North America, a group that has been linked to Hamas and Muslim Brotherhood funding, according to previous reporting by the Washington Free Beacon.

Another donor attracting attention is CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad, [aka Nihad Adickwad] listed in Federal Election Commission records under the name Nehad Hammad. The dickwad sparked widespread criticism after saying he was "happy" to see Hamas break out of Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023, while arguing Israel "does not have the right to self-defense" as an occupying power. In Washington, that apparently qualifies as a controversial statement. On some college campuses, it qualifies as tenure material.

The support for El-Sayed stretched far beyond Michigan. Fox News Digital identified contributions from CAIR officials representing chapters in California, Arizona, Texas, Georgia, Washington, Illinois, Minnesota, Ohio, and several other states, suggesting that El-Sayed's fundraising operation has become something of a national reunion tour.

Other contributors include CAIR-California Governance Board Treasurer Rubina Alvi, Governance Board Chair Asaad Traina, CAIR-Michigan board member Muzammil Ahmed, who contributed $11,600, Governance Board members Atef Ibrahim and Dina Ezzeddine, along with former National Board Chair Roula Allouch.

"Taqiyya Grin"

El-Sayed's relationship with CAIR extends beyond campaign donations. In 2022, he appeared at a CAIR event and was paid for a speaking engagement, where he criticized Oklahoma's ban on Sharia law and compared it to the Trail of Tears, according to the Washington Free Beacon. Nothing says "local Senate campaign" quite like re-litigating Oklahoma's legal code through historical analogies.

CAIR has faced scrutiny for years over allegations regarding ties to Hamas. In 2007, federal prosecutors identified the organization as an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation terrorism financing case, the largest terrorism financing prosecution in American history.

CAIR was never charged with a crime and has consistently denied the allegations, challenging its designation in the case. Still, the organization has been formally designated or labeled a terrorist organization by Florida and Texas, while the United Arab Emirates designated CAIR a terrorist organization in 2014, a move widely understood to reflect the UAE's assessment that CAIR has ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.

Responding to Fox News Digital, CAIR rejected allegations that it has ties to terrorism. The organization pointed to its "Dispelling Rumors About CAIR" webpage, memoranda stating it has "repeatedly condemned anti-Semitism throughout our 30 years of existence," and statements saying it has condemned attacks by Hamas and other designated terrorist organizations "for decades."

CAIR also highlighted a 2009 declaration stating, "We unequivocally condemn all acts of terrorism, whether carried out by al-Qa’ida, the Real IRA, FARC, Hamas, ETA, or any other group designated by the U.S. Department of State as a ‘Foreign Terrorist Organization."

The organization further cited a National Board statement condemning antisemitism and the Oct. 7 attacks, along with a 2023 editorial in which National Executive Director Nihad Awad said he agreed with CAIR's condemnation of attacks on civilians.

Meanwhile, El-Sayed has continued to draw criticism from Republicans and pro-Israel advocates over various Middle East-related controversies, including campaigning alongside far-left streamer Hasan Piker, his response to an attack targeting a Detroit synagogue, and declining to comment on the death of Iran's supreme leader because, he said, some constituents in Dearborn were mourning. Piker is the nephew of Cenk Uygur, the guy who yells garbage about Israel and founded Young Turks.

Despite the controversy, El-Sayed defeated Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens in Tuesday's Senate primary, surprising many political observers with a much stronger showing than expected. He now heads into a November showdown against Republican Mike Rogers.

Michigan voters will ultimately decide whether this fundraising strategy represents principled coalition building or merely another case of campaign ethics discovering that campaign slogans come with plenty of fine print.

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The UK rightly bans Cenk Uygur and Hasan Piker from entering the country

Young Turks [the 'k' is pronounced as a 'd'] founder Cenk Uygur and his nephew, the left-wing streamer Hasan Piker, both virulent anti-Semites, have discovered that the politics of open borders and unrestricted movement occasionally collide with the realities of national sovereignty.

Both men announced Monday that they had been barred from entering the United Kingdom ahead of their planned appearances at the upcoming South by Southwest festival in London. The British government reportedly revoked their visas over concerns related to their public rhetoric on Israel, a remarkable development given the contemporary West's usual reluctance to police incendiary political speech.

According to Uygur, the British Home Office designated him a "serious risk to the public order" after he claimed that "Israel controls the American government through donations to 94% of Congress." Whether one views such remarks as criticism, conspiracy theory, or something in between, British authorities evidently concluded that importing them was not in the public interest as riots and destruction tend to occur when anti-Zionist/anti-Semitism are brought forth in the public arena.

The response from the loudmouth Uygur was immediate and characteristically dramatic.

"Are we free anymore?" he asked in a post on X. "This is oppression of Western citizens by our own governments on behalf of a different country!"

In a subsequent thread, Uygur portrayed the visa ban as a badge of honor.

 
"It is an honor to have made Israel's enemies list. I'm very proud to have fought against their genocide."

"The mighty United Kingdom is afraid of speech that shows you who's responsible for those war crimes. But no amount of censorship will get us to stop telling the truth."

Piker, who generally favors fewer words than his uncle, offered his own interpretation of events. He claimed the United Kingdom had revoked his visa at "the behest of Israel."

"The West is betraying 'liberal values' for a genocidal fascist foreign government," Piker wrote. "Soon we will all become Israel." 

What a piece of human excrement this man is.

The episode highlights one of the more curious contradictions of modern political activism. Many of those who insist that nations have little right to control their borders become deeply indignant when a nation exercises precisely that right against them.

The controversy arrives amid additional scrutiny surrounding the execrable Piker. 

Last week, Fox News reported that the U.S. Treasury Department had subpoenaed Piker and CodePink co-founder Medea Benjamin, a self-loathing Jewish woman, as part of an investigation into whether activists violated U.S. sanctions during a trip to Cuba. 

According to the report, investigators are examining the activities of roughly 40 American citizens who allegedly coordinated with foreign nationals, including Brazilian activist Thiago Avila, who recently gained attention after being detained by Israel following his participation in a Gaza-bound flotilla. He had been accused of inappropriate sexual activity, which he denied. and claimed he had been tortured by Israel, which is not at all likely. 

Further subpoenas are reportedly expected.

Fox also reported that those under investigation include Isra Hirsi, the daughter of Representative Ilhan Omar. Sources told the network that investigators are examining whether Omar herself may have helped finance her daughter's travel.

For years, anti-Israel activists have portrayed themselves as dissidents bravely speaking truth to power. What appears to have unsettured Uygur and Piker is the realization that governments, including Western governments, sometimes retain the authority to decide who may cross their borders and under what conditions. Whether that authority has been exercised wisely in this case is a matter for debate. That the authority exists should not come as a surprise.

Thank you for following Brain Flushings. Please take time to simply check out the sponsors on this page--it's one way to support my work and you don't need to purchase anything to do so. Of course, you can Buy Me A Coffee if you want to support me directly. And finally, don't be afraid to subscribe if you enjoy the blog--it's free, and worth the cost.

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