A Hamas-linked group appeared to name American activist Linda Sarsour, a political ally of the Democratic nominee for New York City mayor, as an expected guest at its upcoming conference in Turkey — but she denies accepting any invitation.
Sarsour is “expected to participate” in the “Palestinian National Forum for Dialogue” in Istanbul, Turkey, in November, hosted by the Popular Conference for Palestinians Abroad (PCPA), the group said in a Sept. 24 statement. Israel named the PCPA as a Hamas terrorist front group in 2021, and when the Daily Caller News Foundation asked Sarsour for comment on the PCPA and its event, she said she did not know how her name ended up in its announcement and was not aware until the DCNF reached out.
“This is misinformation and I will not be attending this conference,” she told the DCNF in an email.
Sarsour supported Democratic New York Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani’s political rise since at least 2020 and has emerged in recent months as a leading figure at events backing his mayoral campaign.
Mamdani and Sarsour have been accused of rhetoric sympathizing with Hamas. One day after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, massacre in Israel, Mamdani seemingly blamed it on Israeli “occupation” and “apartheid” without condemning the terrorist group. On the second anniversary of the attacks, Mamdani called them a “horrific war crime” while still devoting more attention to criticizing Israel’s military campaign in a statement. Sarsour has denied supporting Hamas or any violence against innocent people and spoken out against “hate” within the pro-Palestinian movement.
Mamdani’s campaign did not respond to the DCNF’s request for comment. The self-described democratic socialist beat more moderate Democratic opponents in his party’s June mayoral primary in the Big Apple, and several recent polls have indicated he is the leading candidate for the November election.
The PCPA’s November forum will focus on “escalating waves of Judaization, uprooting, and annexation” in Palestinian territories and “Israel’s genocidal war,” the group’s statement said. The PCPA did not respond to multiple requests for comment from the DCNF.
Israel labeled the PCPA a terrorist group in 2021, saying Hamas established it as a “proxy” to advance its political status globally. Israel’s foreign ministry also released internal Hamas documents in September showing what it called “high-ranking well-known” members of the terrorist group working in the PCPA, as well as a letter from now-deceased Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh praising the PCPA.
“The organization operates under the pretense of civilian cover and is responsible, on behalf of Hamas, for mobilizing actions against Israel, including violent demonstrations, marches against Israel, and demonstration and provocation flotillas,” the Israeli foreign ministry wrote at the time.
Pro-Palestinian and climate activist Greta Thunberg’s recent flotilla trip near Gaza was tied to the PCPA, Israel said.
A Wednesday statement from the PCPA applauded President Donald Trump’s newly brokered ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, which led to the release of Israeli hostages by Monday. The PCPA attributed the peaceful outcome to “the steadfastness of the Palestinian people and their heroic resistance.”
Names of other figures linked to terrorism appeared alongside Sarsour’s in the PCPA announcement. They include PCPA leaders such as Hisham Abu Mahfouz, who posted a Facebook photo of himself in January 2023 alongside Ahmed Abd al-Hadi, Hamas’ representative in Lebanon. He posted another photo the following January of a meeting where posters appeared to show Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad figures.
Another listed forum guest is Munir Shafiq, a former leader of the Jihad Brigades, a now-defunct group that was “responsible for attacks in Israel” after its founding in the 1980s, according to research from the Leibniz Institute of European History.
Former Al Jazeera executive Wadah Khanfar, another named guest, was described in Arabic media in 2011 as a senior Hamas official. He is also the brother of a “Hamas activist” in Jenin, The Guardian reported.
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