The announcement
Osama Siblani, publisher of The Arab American News in Dearborn, announced on November 12, 2026 that he is taking legal action against former United States Senate candidate Mike Rogers, his campaign, the super PAC Together for Michigan, and others. He made the announcement in a studio video posted by The Arab American News, seated at a desk, speaking directly to camera. His attorney, Jim Allen, appears in the same video to explain the legal theory behind the case. [1][2]
This is not a man with a reputation to build. It is a man with a reputation to defend. For 42 years Siblani has published The Arab American News in Dearborn, founded the Arab American Political Action Committee, and worked for civil rights, for journalism, and for Arab American inclusion in American public life. A campaign that spent millions of dollars in the final days of a Senate race tried to turn that record into a smear. This lawsuit is his answer, and this article lays out the record behind it.
Siblani framed the lawsuit as a response to what he called a deliberate campaign of false claims spread in the final days before the November 3 election, an election Rogers lost to Abdul El-Sayed. In his words:
“Today I’m announcing that I am taking legal action against former US Senate candidate Mike Rogers, his campaign, Together for Michigan and others who participated in what I believe was a deliberate and malicious campaign of lies, deception, and character assassination.” [2]
He added:
“These were not innocent mistakes or legitimate political disagreements. I believe they were calculated, also designed to manipulate voters, influence an election and destroy my reputation in the process.” [2]
And he closed with a line meant to be quoted:
“My reputation is not for sale. My integrity is not for sale and the truth is worth fighting for.” [2]
One fact belongs at the top of this story, before any of the argument that follows. As of November 12, 2026, no court filing, case number, or docket has been found in public reporting. Searches of Detroit Free Press, Detroit News, Bridge Michigan, MIRS, ClickOnDetroit, and Arab American News coverage found no complaint and no mainstream news coverage of the announcement itself. Siblani says he is taking legal action and intends to pursue the case vigorously. Whether a complaint has actually been filed, and in which court, is not yet confirmed. This article reports the announcement as an announcement, and it will be updated when a filing appears or when the defendants respond. Neither Rogers, his campaign, Together for Michigan, nor State Representative Karen Whitsett had responded publicly as of November 12. El-Sayed’s campaign had not commented on the lawsuit either.
Forty two years of leadership
Before the claims, the man. Siblani founded The Arab American News and has published it for more than four decades, a bilingual weekly serving Dearborn’s Arab American community. He cofounded the Arab American Political Action Committee in 1998. He has spent those 42 years doing the work that makes a community visible in American public life: journalism, voter mobilization, fundraising for candidates who speak for the community, and civil rights advocacy. In the announcement video he put it plainly:
“For more than 42 years, as the founder and publisher of The Arab American News, I have devoted my life to journalism, public service, defending civil rights, and fighting discrimination and injustice.” [2]
That record is not a slogan. It is documented in the public life of this city. On September 20, 2026, a fundraiser at Bint Jebail Cultural Center in Dearborn, which Siblani helped organize, raised $350,000 for El-Sayed. At the Arab American PAC’s October 28 banquet, “Saving Our Democracy,” with about 500 attendees, El-Sayed thanked him from the stage: “Osama, I want to thank you for your leadership. I want to thank you for bringing us together over these 42 years.” Siblani told the crowd: “As you know, I have waited a long time for this moment. I am 72 years old, and I have worked nonstop for 42 years, looking forward to a moment when I could feel proud.” [3][22]
In September 2025, Wayne County gave a section of Warren Avenue at Chase Road the honorary name “Osama Siblani.” The decision was Wayne County’s, on a county road. A street naming is a small thing and a large thing at once. It says a community’s institutions recognize a person’s service. Siblani’s service is the reason the sign is there. [17]
His leadership reaches beyond Dearborn. He has spoken for human rights internationally for decades, defending the right of peoples under occupation to resist, defending journalists and civil rights advocates, and insisting that Arab Americans belong in American public life as full participants, not as suspects. His critics cite his praise for Hassan Nasrallah as a “hero” at the September 2024 rally and his refusal to denounce Hamas and Hezbollah. His supporters cite the same record and read it differently: a man who has never hidden his views, who has said openly for decades that resistance to occupation is lawful, and who has paid the price for saying so in public. Both readings draw on the same public record. What the record does not show is a man who hid his positions and was exposed. It shows a man who stated them, year after year, in public, and was then attacked for them in the final days of an election he did not contest.
Three claims, three records
Siblani denies three specific claims. Each one has a record behind it, and the record is different in each case. The lawsuit will turn, if it reaches a courtroom, on the difference between what was actually said, what the campaign ads said was said, and what the law treats as a knowing falsehood rather than hard political argument.
“Back to Poland”
The first denied claim is the one that traveled furthest. Siblani says the campaign falsely claimed he demanded that Jewish Americans return to Poland. In the video he says:
“They falsely claimed that I demanded Jewish Americans, all Jewish Americans to return to Poland. I never said that.” [2]
The words “back to Poland” are on the record. Siblani said them at a Stand with Lebanon rally in Dearborn on September 25, 2024. According to a translation by MEMRI reported by the Washington Free Beacon and United With Israel, Siblani was addressing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about evacuated Israeli civilians in the north of Israel, and said: “To Netanyahu, who wants to bring [evacuated Israeli civilians back] to the north: We are going to take you back to Poland.” [7][18]
The context at that rally matters to the dispute. The crowd chanted “death to Israel.” Siblani called Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah a “hero.” When the crowd chanted, Siblani responded, “Believe me, they will take care of the job,” an apparent reference to Hezbollah. The Free Beacon noted that the Nazis operated their principal death camps in German occupied Poland. [7][18]
The attack ad that ran in the final days of the 2026 campaign shortened the line and moved its target. On screen text in the ad reads “WE ARE GOING TO TAKE YOU JEWS BACK TO POLAND.” The ad’s spoken narration renders the line as “We are going to take you back to Poland,” addressed to Netanyahu, but the on screen text and the framing present it as a threat against Jewish Americans. [9][10]
That shift is the heart of the dispute. Siblani’s denial is that he demanded Jewish Americans return to Poland. The original remark was about Israelis, addressed to Netanyahu, in the context of the war with Hezbollah. Critics say the words are on the record and speak for themselves, and that a man who said “back to Poland” about Israeli Jews cannot complain when the line is quoted back. Defenders say the ad strips the wartime context and retargets a remark about Israelis at American Jews who were never its subject. Neither characterization is settled fact. The original wording and its context are, and this article reports them.
October 7 and terrorism
The second denied claim is that Siblani justified the October 7 attacks and supports terrorism. In the video he says:
“They falsely portrayed me as someone who justified the October 7 attacks and supported terrorism. That is a lie.” [2]
The ad presents this claim in large on screen text: “JUSTIFIED OCTOBER 7TH” and “DEFENDS TERRORISTS,” laid over clips of Siblani, including a Fox 2 clip of Siblani speaking about Arab Americans after September 11. The date and content of that underlying Fox 2 clip have not been verified from the material reviewed for this article.
What Siblani has actually said on the record is extensive, and it is the reason this claim is harder to sort than the first. He has repeatedly and publicly called Hamas and Hezbollah “freedom fighters.” To the Washington Post in the 2006 era, quoted in multiple reports, he said: “Mr. Bush believes Hezbollah, Hamas and other Palestinian factions are terrorists, but we believe they are freedom fighters.” At a 2023 rally at the Ford Community and Performing Arts Center, according to the Algemeiner, he said: “Hamas is not a terrorist organization. The terrorist is Benjamin Netanyahu and his government.” [17][18]
Discussing October 7 on an NBC station interview in 2024, as transcribed by CNN, he said: “What do you expect people to do, stay under occupation? What are they supposed to do? Under international law you have the right to fight your occupier.” To the Daily Mail, defending his remarks, he said: “People have the right to fight occupation and oppression by all necessary means and it is justified and accepted under international law.” [23]
He has not, in the material found for this article, said the words “I justify October 7” as a direct quote. The ad’s “JUSTIFIED OCTOBER 7TH” text is the ad’s own characterization laid over an old clip. Whether Siblani’s broader record makes that characterization fair comment or a knowing falsehood is exactly what a defamation case would argue about. This article does not state as fact either that Siblani “justified Oct 7” or that he “did not justify Oct 7.” It reports what he said and what the ad claims, and attributes each characterization to who makes it.
Hundreds of thousands of dollars
The third denied claim is about money. The ad says: “Siblani’s group has given hundreds of thousands of dollars to Abdul El-Sayed. El-Sayed took the money and was honored to get their endorsement.” Siblani says in the video:
“They falsely claimed that I personally contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to Abdul El-Sayed’s Senate campaign. That is also a lie.” [2]
Note the shift in wording, because it matters. The ad says “Siblani’s group has given.” Siblani denies “I personally contributed.” Both wordings belong in the story.
The public record does not support the ad’s claim as worded. On September 20, 2026, a fundraiser at Bint Jebail Cultural Center in Dearborn, which Siblani helped organize, raised $350,000 for El-Sayed, according to the Detroit Free Press and the Arab American News. That is money raised from attendees at an event, not a donation by Siblani or by the Arab American Political Action Committee, the group Siblani founded. [3]
The Arab American Political Action Committee is a registered federal PAC, FEC ID C00346239. Federal law caps a multicandidate PAC contribution to a candidate at $5,000 per election. No FEC record was found of the PAC giving hundreds of thousands of dollars to El-Sayed’s campaign. El-Sayed’s campaign reported $47,199,665 from individuals and $404,658 from PACs in total through October 14, 2026, according to FundVoter from FEC filings, and no contribution from the Arab American PAC appears among the PAC contributions listed. [19][20]
The hundreds of thousands figure that does appear in FEC records involves other donors, not Siblani or his PAC. Tayeb Jukaku, El-Sayed’s father in law and a CAIR Michigan board member, gave $300,000 to Fighting for Michigan, a super PAC supporting El-Sayed, according to an analysis of FEC filings. One attack video puts the Jukaku figure at $200,000, so the exact total is disputed between sources. CAIR Action’s Unity and Justice Fund gave $175,000 to Fighting for Michigan. [21]
Whether Siblani personally donated to El-Sayed’s campaign, and in what amount, has not been verified. Siblani personally gave $6,000 to Jocelyn Benson’s gubernatorial campaign in 2026, according to Michigan campaign finance records. No record found so far shows him personally giving hundreds of thousands to El-Sayed. [22]
Resistance, terrorism, and international law
The second denied claim, about October 7 and terrorism, cannot be judged without the law that governs it. Siblani’s position, stated openly for decades, is that peoples under occupation have the right to resist, and that this right is written into international law. That position has a textual basis, and it is worth setting out plainly, because the ad treats the word “terrorism” as if it settled the question, and it does not.
The United Nations General Assembly has repeatedly affirmed the right of peoples under colonial and foreign domination to struggle for liberation. Resolution 37/43, adopted on December 3, 1982, states:
“Reaffirms the legitimacy of the struggle of peoples for independence, territorial integrity, national unity and liberation from colonial and foreign domination and foreign occupation by all available means, including armed struggle.” [31]
The resolution goes on to reaffirm the inalienable right of the Palestinian people and all peoples under foreign and colonial domination to self determination, national independence, territorial integrity, national unity and sovereignty without outside interference. [31]
The Geneva Conventions say the same thing in the language of humanitarian law. Additional Protocol I, Article 1, paragraph 4, adopted in 1977, extends the Conventions to “armed conflicts in which peoples are fighting against colonial domination and alien occupation and against racist regimes in the exercise of their right of self determination.” [32]
That is the law Siblani invokes when he says, as he said to the Daily Mail: “People have the right to fight occupation and oppression by all necessary means and it is justified and accepted under international law.” It is also the law behind his statement on an NBC station interview in 2024: “What do you expect people to do, stay under occupation? What are they supposed to do? Under international law you have the right to fight your occupier.” [23]
Resistance, however, is not a blank check, and international law does not give one. The same body of law that protects the right to resist forbids directing attacks against civilians, by any party, state or non state. The Geneva Conventions and their Protocols prohibit attacks on civilians and civilian objects, and they bind states and organized armed groups alike. A people may lawfully resist occupation. No one may lawfully target civilians in the course of it. That distinction is the whole of the law on this question, and any honest account of it has to hold both parts at once.
Terrorism, as a matter of international law, has no single agreed definition. The United Nations has never adopted a comprehensive definition, and the word is applied politically as often as it is applied legally. What international law does define, clearly, are war crimes and crimes against humanity: the deliberate killing of civilians, collective punishment, siege and starvation of a civilian population, and the destruction of civilian life and infrastructure. When a state does these things, the law calls them war crimes, not terrorism, but the substance is the same, and the victims are the same. Dearborn Blog stands against terrorism as defined by international law, including state sponsored terrorism, and that includes the state sponsored terrorism of Israel and the United States. A bomb dropped on a home by a state air force and a bomb planted in a market by a non state group are judged by the same standard: the deliberate taking of civilian life is a crime, whoever does it.
That standard is the one Siblani’s critics refuse to apply evenly. They call his defense of resistance “support for terrorism” while defending or ignoring state violence against civilians on a vastly larger scale. They quote his praise for Nasrallah and his refusal to denounce Hamas and Hezbollah, and they treat those statements as proof of a crime. But they do not apply the same test to the states whose bombs have killed tens of thousands of civilians in Gaza and Lebanon. The double standard is the point. A word that only ever describes the violence of the occupied, and never the violence of the occupier, is not a legal term. It is a political weapon. Siblani’s lawsuit is, at its core, a refusal to accept that weapon as a description of his life’s work.
The ad and who paid for it
The ad at the center of the lawsuit features Taylor Weintraub, identified as a Michigan Jewish Democrat and a mother whose son was at Temple Israel in March 2026 when Ayman Mohamad Ghazali attacked the synagogue. The ad opens with Weintraub saying she hides her Star of David necklace and asking what the future of the Jewish community will look like with El-Sayed as senator. [9][10]
Her words in the ad, from the Facebook transcript, are:
“We are just American Jews living in Michigan. Everywhere I go, am I hiding my Star of David necklace? Am I letting it show?” [9]
“With Abdul El-Sayed, who knows what the future of the Jewish community here will look like?” [9]
“If that’s the company he keeps, then he is not the right person to be in office for us.” [9]
“Abdul El-Sayed should never be our senator.” [9]
The ad was posted on October 29, 2026, five days before the election. AIPAC posted it on its Facebook and Instagram accounts that day, presenting it as “BREAKING: Jewish Democrats in Michigan disavow Abdul El-Sayed in new ad.” It also circulated on X through the Democrats for Mike Rogers account and through reposts by JBN, Marco Rubio HQ, and others. [9][10][29]
Who paid for it matters, and the answer is more specific than the argument online usually allows. The ad’s own closing disclaimer says: “TFM is responsible for the content of this advertising.” TFM is Together for Michigan, the super PAC. AIPAC amplified the ad; it did not pay for it. That distinction is documented in the ad itself and in reporting on the group. [5][9]
The ad leans on a Washington Free Beacon report for its authority. It shows a screenshot of a Free Beacon article about El-Sayed accepting an endorsement from a PAC led by Siblani. Two Free Beacon articles by Chuck Ross sit behind that screenshot. On October 26, Ross reported a roundtable at the Arab American News offices in which Siblani asked El-Sayed to “say something right now to soothe” Dearborn voters upset about El-Sayed campaigning with Kamala Harris. El-Sayed replied, “I’m not willing to take orders from AIPAC.” Siblani clarified, “Let’s make sure that’s AIPAC with an ‘I,’ not AAPAC.” El-Sayed said, “Yes, not the Arab American [PAC].” On October 29, Ross reported El-Sayed attended the Arab American PAC’s October 28 banquet, “Saving Our Democracy,” in Dearborn. The Free Beacon asked El-Sayed’s campaign about the banquet; the campaign declined to comment. Siblani called the outlet’s questions “stupid and racist” and said he would have “no further discussion with racists and agitators.” [7][8]
Weintraub’s own story is part of the ad’s power, and part of the dispute about it. Her son was at Temple Israel during the March 2026 attack. El-Sayed had described the attacker with the phrase “hurt people hurt people,” which Weintraub cites in a separate Together for Michigan television ad: “When Abdul El-Sayed said ‘hurt people hurt people,’ he gave an excuse to someone who wanted to murder children.” El-Sayed later called the video a mistake and apologized. Ghazali’s brother was a Hezbollah commander killed in an Israeli strike in Lebanon. [5][9]
Whitsett and Together for Michigan
Karen Whitsett is the part of this story that needs the most careful handling, because the public record supports two different readings of why she is named.
Whitsett is treasurer of Together for Michigan, according to FEC filings and the Detroit Free Press. That is the apparent reason she is named in the lawsuit: she is the named officer of the PAC that paid for the ad. No separate statement by Whitsett repeating the three denied claims about Siblani was found as of November 12. Whether she made one is not verified. [5]
There is also a discrepancy to report plainly. The Instagram summary of the announcement video says Siblani names Whitsett as a defendant. The Facebook transcript of Siblani’s remarks names Rogers, his campaign, Together for Michigan, and others, and does not include Whitsett by name in the transcribed portion. A direct listen to the video audio also caught a further name in the defendant list that was not clearly audible. The full video may name her in a part not covered by the transcript, or the summary may infer her from her role as treasurer. This article does not resolve that question. It reports it. [1][2]
Together for Michigan began as “Democrats for Mike Rogers,” launched on August 20, 2026 in Detroit at the home of Whitsett’s mother in law, with Whitsett, Chelsea Rebeck, and Rabbi Asher Lopatin as the public faces. The FEC wrote on September 8 demanding a name change because an unaffiliated committee may not use a candidate’s name. The group renamed itself Together for Michigan on September 15, then used the initials TFM. Its FEC committee ID is C00960138. [13]
Whitsett’s endorsement at the August launch was emphatic:
“I’m not standing here as a state representative. I’m not standing here as a Democrat or a Republican, because I’m neither. My bottom line is that I want people to start to understand you need to pick your candidate by your issue.” [5]
“You need to pick your candidate by your issue, period. Common sense prevails that Mike Rogers is the right candidate for you.” [5]
Her stated reason at the launch was concern that El-Sayed’s Medicare for All plan could cost people their existing health insurance. [5]
The money behind the group is large and contested. FEC records cited in reporting show receipts of $5,718,641 and disbursements of $4,743,812.83 through October 14, 2026. The Free Press, citing The Bulwark, reported nearly $5 million spent supporting Rogers or opposing El-Sayed. One later analysis puts total spending at $15,098,405, with $11,043,187 attacking El-Sayed. That figure conflicts with the October 14 FEC totals and likely reflects later filings. This article does not merge the numbers. The largest donors were GLFC Inc., the Great Lakes Conservative Fund, and American Unity PAC, according to the Free Press citing The Bulwark. Critics call the group a Republican funded astroturf operation. Supporters present it as Democrats crossing over. [5]
Whitsett herself is a figure with a long break from her party behind her. She is the Michigan State Representative for Detroit, outgoing, not seeking reelection. She left the Democratic Party in 2026, citing her Christian faith and the party’s stances on abortion and LGBTQ rights. She had sided with Republicans for years, including joining House Republicans in the 2024 lame duck session to deny quorum. [5][14]
On a Fox News panel on November 1, Whitsett, identified on screen as “Karen Whitsett, Michigan voter,” said voters must “learn to have value within yourself” because “your vote matters,” criticized “voting blue no matter who,” said her community does “not even have a seat at the table,” and objected to being told by leaders like Barack Obama to support El-Sayed, mentioning his dual citizenship and family ties to “the brotherhood.” On November 2, she posted on X defending Haley Stevens: “Haley Stevens didn’t have to endorse Mike Rogers. She chose conscience over party. Black Democratic leaders attacked her instead of asking why.” After the election, on November 4, Whitsett told Newsmax that President Donald Trump was a central factor in Rogers’s loss and that she wanted another meeting with Trump to discuss the Republican Party’s next steps. [14][15][16]
The debate and the Muslim Brotherhood charge
The ad was not the only place Rogers tied El-Sayed to extremism. It was the closing argument of a campaign that had made the charge its centerpiece, and the October 8 debate on WOOD TV8 and NewsNation is where the charge was stated most bluntly. [11]
Rogers said in the debate:
“His biggest funders, his biggest funders are from a group that supports the Muslim Brotherhood. He gets money from people who support openly Hamas, Hezbollah, Al Qaeda. His family was even included in those discussions.” [11]
“Anybody that wants to help my campaign stop a guy who can’t condemn terrorism in our own country because he’s so close to the people who are supporting the Muslim Brotherhood?” [11]
On October 7, Rogers said: “Today or yesterday was October 7th. This is why you should get absolutely angry. He could not bring himself to even acknowledge the pain, the terrorism, the rape, the murders.” El-Sayed answered: “So I’ve condemned that.” [11]
MIRS reported Rogers repeatedly sought to associate El-Sayed and members of his family with extremist organizations, escalating until El-Sayed cut him off as Rogers began talking about someone in his family. [6]
The associations Rogers cited have a paper trail and a limit. El-Sayed’s mother, Fatten Elkomy, worked as a nurse practitioner for the Islamic American Relief Agency from 1999 to 2004. The Treasury Department designated the agency in 2004 for supporting terrorism. Elkomy left in 2004, was never indicted, and was not shown to have taken part in financing terrorism. El-Sayed’s half sister Eman Abdelhadi wrote in 2012 tweets that their mother was active in the Muslim Brotherhood in the early 1970s and that “my family has long been MB,” according to attack videos and secondary reporting. The tweets themselves were not independently fetched for this article. [11][12]
Fact checkers who examined the central claims found no evidence for them. Bridge Michigan found no evidence for Rogers’s claim that El-Sayed “pledged support to the Muslim Brotherhood.” The claim rests on a 2011 HuffPost column urging the United States to back Egypt’s protesters and a 2012 group letter about Mohamed Morsi. PolitiFact reported video from an October 17 town hall showing El-Sayed answering “sure, yeah, absolutely” when a voter asked him to disavow the Muslim Brotherhood, and rated Rogers’s claim that El-Sayed “didn’t disavow” the group as False. El-Sayed has denied any personal or family ties to the organization, said he was raised by his father and stepmother, and said on Meet the Press on October 11 that he had no ties, calling the accusations Islamophobic attacks. [12]
The RNC chair, Joe Gruters, said on the MIRS Monday podcast on October 8 that El-Sayed would have cheered the terrorists during the September 11 attacks, along with streamer Hasan Piker. Rogers’s campaign site demanded El-Sayed return roughly $130,000 tied to CAIR and Muslim Brotherhood linked donors, according to a Fox News Digital review that found more than $115,000 from at least 41 individuals who work for or held leadership roles at CAIR. [6][12]
The meeting Rogers asked to keep quiet
The lawsuit announcement landed on top of a story Siblani had already told, one that gives the dispute a personal edge neither side can walk away from.
MIRS reported on October 12, 2026 that Rogers privately met with Siblani and roughly 15 to 20 Arab American community members during his 2024 Senate campaign, before the 2024 Republican primary, at a brunch at La Pita in Dearborn, with two aides. Ali Jawad, who also attended, corroborated the account. Representative Alabas Farhat, Democrat of Dearborn, said he talked with multiple people from the Muslim community who attended, but was not personally in the room. [6]
Siblani told MIRS what Rogers said at the end of that meeting:
“After we finished, he asked me in front of everybody, ‘Osama, please do not bring to the media that we met with you guys because some places in the Republican Party, you know, they will not vote for me if they know that I met with Arabs or Muslims.'” [6]
Siblani said he honored the request when the Detroit Free Press later contacted him, telling the outlet to ask Rogers about it instead. Siblani also said Rogers then tried to get him to help with Rogers’s fundraising operation. MIRS sought comment from Rogers’s campaign on the evening of October 12. The campaign asked until Tuesday morning to respond. No Rogers campaign response to the meeting account was found in the material reviewed for this article. [6]
Rogers lost Dearborn and Dearborn Heights by a combined 1,239 votes in 2024 to Elissa Slotkin, according to MIRS. He lost the 2024 Senate race to Slotkin that November. Siblani disclosed the meeting while responding to Rogers’s attacks on El-Sayed, including a new ad released October 12 seeking to associate El-Sayed and his family with the Muslim Brotherhood. [3][6]
The contrast is the story. In 2024, Rogers sought Siblani’s community and his fundraising help, and asked that the meeting stay secret. In 2026, Rogers’s campaign and its allied super PAC presented Siblani as a terrorist sympathizer whose endorsement disqualified El-Sayed. Rogers has not publicly addressed the meeting account. That silence is part of the record too.
The election ended. The argument did not.
El-Sayed won the United States Senate election on November 3, 2026, defeating Rogers for the seat of retiring Democrat Gary Peters. He was declared the winner early on November 4. As of 11 a.m. on November 4, El-Sayed led 53 percent to 45 percent with 95 percent of the vote tallied statewide, according to Decision Desk HQ through the Free Press. In Dearborn, El-Sayed beat Rogers 82 percent to 17 percent. In Wayne County, 71 percent to 27 percent. In Detroit, 92 percent. He becomes the first Muslim elected to the United States Senate when the new Congress takes office in January. [3][4]
Siblani, quoted in the Free Press election article, said: “It shows that our democracy is alive and kicking.” [3]
The lawsuit arrives nine days after that result, and its timing is part of its meaning. Siblani is not asking a court to change an election. He is asking a court to punish the campaign that he says lied about him to try to change one. His attorney, Jim Allen, put the legal theory this way in the announcement video:
“The First Amendment protects political speech. It protects vigorous debate. It even protects speech that is offensive, outrageous and deeply unpopular.” [2]
“What it does not protect is the knowing, malicious fabrication of facts about another human being.” [2]
“We intend to use every lawful means of discovery to determine who conceived this attack, who financed it, who approved it, and who knowingly participated in disseminating despicable falsehoods.” [2]
“Political campaigns may end on election day. Accountability for the statements that are made during those campaigns does not end.” [2]
That last line is the lawsuit in one sentence. It is also a test. Discovery, if a court orders it, would reach into who conceived the ad, who financed it, and who approved it. Those are the questions Allen says he intends to ask. They are also the questions a public figure bringing a defamation case must answer with proof of actual malice, a standard the Supreme Court set in New York Times v. Sullivan, which requires showing the defendant knew the statement was false or acted with reckless disregard for whether it was false. Siblani is a public figure. That standard will shape everything that follows, and this article does not predict how a court will rule.
What followers said
The argument did not stay in studios and court filings. It played out in the comments under the ad and under the announcement, and the two comment sections look nothing alike.
Under the AIPAC Facebook reel carrying the Weintraub ad, posted October 29, the page showed 2,109 likes and 392 comments when read on November 12. Reactions split across 1,619 likes, 324 laughing reactions, 57 loves, 45 angry, 25 care, 20 wow, and 19 sad. The thread is highly polarized. Supporters of the ad echoed its fear, praised it, urged votes for Rogers, and linked El-Sayed to Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Muslim Brotherhood. Critics called the ad propaganda and Islamophobic, defended El-Sayed’s public health record, and argued the “back to Poland” quote is misrepresented. The thread includes slurs toward both Jews and Muslims and calls for deportation. [9]
Followers on the side of the ad wrote, in comments dated October 30 and November 2: “I am in New York and frightened by Sayed. He can help it be even more dangerous for us than it is now.” “What I can’t understand it’s all out there and people will still vote for him.” “About time.” “Thank you!!!” “Dont forget his close pal Piker either!” [9]
Followers on the other side wrote: “This fake victimhood over nonsense. No one buys it anymore.” “Now we check back in a year and see whether you were cynically fearmongering.” “All that money spent….*poof*” “A little Islamophobia?” “Netanyahu was born in Tel Aviv not Poland.” After the result, the same thread filled with short victory notes: “He won!” “Too little too late.” “Whose laughing now.” “Nice L.” [9]
On Instagram, the AIPAC reel drew 3,868 likes and 332 comments. Marni wrote on November 6: “Telling us to go back to Poland when we weren’t born there is just an unbelievably stupid comment. Oh and in which state in the United States was he born?” Melissa Pomerantz Deutsch wrote: “Then don’t vote for the people who hate Jews.” Abby Joan Feldman wrote on November 8: “He’s a snake! One voice for the public. Another for which is his True Identity! He fooled you.” Adam wrote on November 7: “They voted for him. They want him. I am a Jew and sorry to say u will reap what u sowed.” [10]
On the other side of the same Instagram thread, Jeff Steinmetz wrote on November 6: “AIPAC money is blood money.” An unnamed user wrote on November 11: “Sayed has no problem with Judaism… just disagrees with the war in Gaza.” Another wrote on November 5: “you say antisemitism but then come out with this very Islamophobic ad! Your tactics are ending.” Tatashe wrote: “No body hates the Jews. I am Jewish by faith but everyone hates zionists and zionist behavior.” [10]
The lawsuit announcement itself drew almost no reaction. The Instagram reel showed 12 likes and 1 comment when read on November 12, the single comment two applause emojis from Ali R. Jaber. The Facebook reel showed 0 comments. On X, no verbatim follower posts about the lawsuit were retrieved for this article. The Democrats for Mike Rogers account on X had posted, as quoted in AIPAC’s caption: “Abdul was honored to get the endorsement of and appear on a podcast with someone who said he wants to send Jews back to Poland. This is disqualifying. We call on every elected Democratic leader in this country to disavow this immediately.” [1][2]
The contrast between the two comment sections is itself evidence about this race. The ad ignited a fight. The lawsuit, announced nine days after the election, landed quietly. Whether that quiet means the public has moved on, or that a court filing will reignite the argument, is an open question.
What a court would have to decide
If Siblani files, and if the case proceeds, a court will not decide who is a good person or which side of the Gaza debate is right. It will decide narrower questions, and each one has a record that cuts both ways.
First, were the statements false? On the money claim, the public record favors Siblani: no FEC record shows his PAC giving hundreds of thousands to El-Sayed, and the real figures belong to other donors. On the Poland claim, the words are on the record but the target and the context are disputed, and the ad’s version differs from the original in ways a court would examine word by word. On the terrorism claim, Siblani’s own public record gives the defendants material to argue their characterization was fair comment on a public figure’s stated views, while Siblani will argue the ad attributed to him a specific position he never took.
Second, did the defendants know the statements were false, or act with reckless disregard for the truth? That is the actual malice standard, and it is the hardest part of a public figure defamation case. Discovery is Allen’s stated path to it: who conceived the ad, who financed it, who approved it. The answers to those questions are not yet public.
Third, who is responsible for what? The ad was paid for by Together for Michigan, amplified by AIPAC, and circulated by reposters. Rogers’s campaign and Rogers himself are named, but the ad’s own disclaimer assigns responsibility for its content to TFM. A court would have to sort out which defendant said what, and what each one knew.
None of those questions has an answer yet. No complaint has been found. No defendant has responded. This article reports the announcement, the record behind the claims, and the open questions, and it will be updated as the case develops.
Where Dearborn Blog stands
Dearborn Blog stands unequivocally with resistance as it is legitimate by international law. Peoples under colonial domination, foreign occupation, and racist regimes have the right to struggle for their liberation by all available means, including armed struggle, as the United Nations General Assembly has affirmed and as the Geneva Conventions recognize. That right belongs to the Palestinian people. It belongs to the Lebanese people. It belongs to every people living under occupation. We state this without hedging, because the law states it without hedging.
We stand against terrorism as defined by international law, and that includes state sponsored terrorism. The deliberate killing of civilians is a crime, whoever does it, and a state that bombs homes, besieges a population, or starves civilians is committing terrorism in substance, whatever its lawyers call it. That includes the state sponsored terrorism of Israel and the United States. We reject the double standard that calls resistance terrorism while calling state terror policy.
Dearborn Blog writes openly from Green Party values: peace over war, diplomacy over expulsion, international law over the law of the stronger, opposition to occupation including the Israeli occupation, opposition to one sided American support for Israel, against militarization, for self determination of peoples including the Palestinian people. Our foreign policy position is that we want American foreign policy more nuanced and balanced and fair and aligned with international law.
That position is why we defend Siblani here. A man who spent 42 years building Arab American journalism, defending civil rights, and speaking openly for the right to resist occupation was smeared in the final days of an election as a terrorist sympathizer who demanded American Jews leave the country and who secretly funded a candidate with hundreds of thousands of dollars. The record does not support those claims. The lawsuit is his right, and we stand with him in it.
Two things in this story deserve plain statement. First, no community should have to condemn or disavow something as the price of being heard. That is not their duty. Second, no campaign should have to answer for a quote it did not make, and no voter should be asked to decide an election on a claim the public record does not support. Both principles point in the same direction here: report what people said and did, attribute every characterization to who makes it, and let readers judge.
What this means in Dearborn
Dearborn is where all of this happened, and Dearborn is where its meaning will be felt. The street naming fight showed it a year ago. At the Dearborn City Council meeting on September 9, 2025, Pastor Ted Barham objected to the honorary “Osama Siblani” signage, calling it “quite inappropriate.” Mayor Abdullah Hammoud told Barham, “Although you live here, I want you to know as mayor, you are not welcome here.” Hammoud added that he would launch a parade the day Barham moved out of the city, because Barham did not believe in coexistence. Hammoud also called Barham a “bigot” and an “Islamophobe.” Journalist Margot Cleveland sued the city on September 17, 2026 in federal court, citing the episode among other claims. [17][30]
The same week Siblani announced his lawsuit, Dearborn was still absorbing the result of the election the ads were made to influence. El-Sayed won Dearborn 82 percent to 17 percent. The ads did not stop that. Whether a lawsuit can do what an election did not, hold the people who made the ads to account for what they said, is now the question. Dearborn will be watching, and so will everyone who wonders whether campaign lies have consequences after the votes are counted.
Sources and References
1. “A Message from Osama Siblani to Mike Rogers” video, The Arab American News, Instagram reel, Nov 12, 2026. https://www.instagram.com/reel/DfpbqfPjZKh/
2. Same video, The Arab American News, Facebook reel, Nov 12, 2026. https://www.facebook.com/reel/1465616222328341/
3. “Arab, Muslim voters mobilized for election: ‘The energy is different'”, Detroit Free Press, Nov 4, 2026. https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/elections/2026/11/04/arab-american-and-muslim-voters-mobilized-for-michigan-election/92575160007/
4. “Abdul El-Sayed’s win: How it happened, impact of his historic victory”, Detroit Free Press, Nov 4, 2026. https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/elections/2026/11/04/abdul-el-sayed-michigan-election-result-winner-senate/92609142007/
5. “In U.S. Senate race, who’s behind efforts against Abdul El-Sayed?”, Detroit Free Press (Nancy Kaffer), Oct 21, 2026. https://www.freep.com/story/opinion/columnists/nancy-kaffer/2026/10/21/abdul-el-sayed-senate-race-mike-rogers-republican/92361433007/
6. “Two Attendees Say Rogers Asked To Keep Arab American Meeting Quiet”, MIRS, Oct 12, 2026. https://home.mirs.news/post/two-attendees-say-rogers-asked-to-keep-arab-american-meeting-quiet
7. “El-Sayed Gets Cozy With Hamas Loving Editor Who Wants Jews Sent Back to Poland: Candidate Urged To Soothe His Arab Supporters”, Washington Free Beacon (Chuck Ross), Oct 26, 2026. https://freebeacon.substack.com/p/el-sayed-gets-cozy-with-hamas-loving
8. “Abdul El-Sayed Quietly Attends Banquet for PAC of Hamas Loving Editor Who Said Arabs Should Send Jews Back to Poland”, Washington Free Beacon (Chuck Ross), Oct 29, 2026. https://www.byteseu.com/2483881/
9. AIPAC Facebook reel, Taylor Weintraub ad, Oct 29, 2026. https://www.facebook.com/reel/1377683391106902/
10. AIPAC Instagram reel, Taylor Weintraub ad, Oct 29, 2026. https://www.instagram.com/reel/DfGDZ9hh08N/
11. “Michigan Senate debate, Oct 8, 2026: what each candidate said, analyzed”, Semblen, Oct 8, 2026. https://semblen.com/races/mi-senate/debates/2026-10-08
12. “El-Sayed Muslim Brotherhood Claims”, The Boston Report, Oct 28, 2026. https://thebostonreport.com/2026/10/28/abdul-el-sayed-muslim-brotherhood-claims-fact-check/
13. “‘Democrats for Mike Rogers’ Super PAC Changes Its Name After FEC Demand”, Washington Sun, Oct 14, 2026. https://www.washingtonsun.com/influence/mike-rogers-michigan-super-pac-changes-name
14. “GOP Courts Black Voters in Michigan Senate Race”, Newsmax, Nov 1, 2026. https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/gop-outreach-black/2026/11/01/id/1274730
15. “El-Sayed, Rogers seek Jewish, Black vote in tight Michigan Senate race”, USA Today, Nov 1, 2026. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2026/11/01/michigan-senate-el-sayed-rogers-jewish-black-vote/92399756007/
16. “Mich. State Rep. Whitsett to Newsmax: Trump ‘on the Ballot’ in Rogers’s Loss”, Newsmax, Nov 4, 2026. https://www.newsmax.com/newsmax-tv/karen-whitsett-michigan-midterms/2026/11/04/id/1275120
17. “Michigan Mayor Says Resident ‘Not Welcome’ in City After Objecting to Street Sign Named After Terrorist Supporter”, Algemeiner, Sept 18, 2025. https://www.algemeiner.com/2025/09/18/michigan-mayor-says-resident-not-welcome-city-objecting-street-sign-named-terrorist-supporter/
18. “State Department Stands by Adviser Who Spoke at Pro Hezbollah Rally”, United With Israel, Oct 15, 2024. https://unitedwithisrael.org/state-department-stands-by-adviser-who-spoke-at-pro-hezbollah-rally/?ios_app=true
19. “PAC Profile: Arab American PAC”, OpenSecrets. https://www.opensecrets.org/political-action-committees-pacs/democratic-congressional-campaign-cmte/C00346239/summary/2000
20. “Abdul El-Sayed, Campaign Finance, Donors and Votes”, FundVoter. https://fundvoter.org/politicians/abdul-el-sayed
21. “Two Political Judgments, One Network”, Hadason Politics (Substack), Nov 2026. https://hadasonpolitics.substack.com/p/two-political-judgments-one-network
22. “El-Sayed returns to banquet tied to activist who called Hamas ‘freedom fighters'”, The Daily BS, Oct 30, 2026. https://thedailybs.com/2026/10/30/el-sayed-returns-to-banquet-tied-to-activist-who-called-hamas-freedom-fighters-and-jewish-democrats-are-taking-notice/
23. CNN Oct 18, 2024 transcript (Internet Archive). https://archive.org/details/CNNW_20241018_213000
24. “RNC Chair Says El-Sayed Would Have Cheered 9/11 Terrorists”, MIRS, Oct 13, 2026. https://home.mirs.news/post/rnc-chair-says-el-sayed-would-have-cheered-9-11-terrorists
25. “Detroit Consul Expelled Over a 1983 Post”, Dearborn Blog, Nov 8, 2026. https://dearbornblog.com/2026/11/08/detroit-consul-expelled-1983-marine-barracks-post/
26. “U.S. kicks out Lebanon’s Detroit consul for posts on Marines attack”, Detroit Free Press, Nov 10, 2026. https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2026/11/10/lebanon-lebanese-consulate-detroit-ibrahim-charara/92698670007/
27. “Ten Bucks and a Scapegoat”, Minocqua Brewing Company Times (Substack), Oct 17, 2026. http://minocquabrewingcompanytimes.substack.com/p/ten-bucks-and-a-scapegoat
28. “AIPAC and Its Rivals Make Their Final Midterm Bets”, Inside Political Money, Oct 2026. https://insidepoliticalmoney.com/news/aipac-and-its-rivals-make-their-final-midterm-bets/
29. Marco Rubio HQ Instagram reel, Taylor Weintraub ad repost, Oct 29, 2026. https://www.instagram.com/reel/DfFz7snyJP0/
30. “Journalist Sues Dearborn and Its Mayor for Anti Christian, Anti Jewish Discrimination”, Middle East Forum, Sept 2026. https://www.meforum.org/fwi/fwi-news/journalist-sues-dearborn-and-its-mayor-for-anti-christian-anti-jewish-discrimination
31. UN General Assembly Resolution 37/43, “Importance of the universal realization of the right of peoples to self determination”, Dec 3, 1982. https://jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/UN/unga37_43.html
32. Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts (Protocol I), Article 1, University of Oslo Faculty of Law treaty text. https://www.jus.uio.no/english/services/library/treaties/05/5-01/protection-of-victims.html
Editorial Disclaimer
This article reports on a lawsuit announced on November 12, 2026. As of that date, no court filing, case number, or docket has been found in public reporting, and no defendant named in the announcement has responded publicly. The article will be updated when a filing appears or when the defendants respond. Allegations in a lawsuit announcement are claims, not findings. Quotes from campaign advertisements, social media posts, and interviews are attributed to their speakers and sources. The article presents contested characterizations as the claims of those who make them, not as established fact. Dearborn Blog writes openly from Green Party values, including peace over war, diplomacy over expulsion, and foreign policy aligned with international law. Readers are invited to read the sources listed above and judge the record for themselves.
