Khanna, considered a 2028 presidential hopeful, said ‘speaking at ArabCon is important’
Rep. Ro Khanna, the Silicon Valley Democrat eyeing a presidential run in 2028, told the Washington Free Beacon last week he planned to reject Hamas at a controversial Arab-American political convention in Michigan this weekend. He didn’t, railing instead against Israel, AIPAC, and “right-wing” media in front of an audience that also heard from supporters of the terrorist group.
Khanna faced scrutiny last week ahead of an appearance at ArabCon, which featured multiple speakers who have praised Hamas and Hezbollah or made anti-Semitic remarks. Responding to those concerns, Khanna said he has “never been to a conference where I agree with every speaker,” but that “speaking at ArabCon is important.”
“I will discuss my efforts to recognize a Palestinian state without Hamas as part of a two state solution,” Khanna told the Free Beacon. “Recognition of Palestinian statehood—alongside continued efforts to secure Israel’s safety and guarantee its future as a democratic homeland for the Jewish people—is essential to achieving peace.”
But Khanna did not live up to that pledge at ArabCon, held in Dearborn, a predominantly Muslim and Arab suburb of Detroit that has been dubbed “America’s jihad capital.” Khanna did not mention Hamas or the terrorist group’s attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Nor did he call on Hamas to release dozens of hostages it took during the attack.
“Every other week I get AIPAC attacking me. Someone hasn’t cued them in that every time they attack me my popularity goes up,” said Khanna.
He said that Democratic leaders “are making us on the side of the pariah in world opinion.”
“If this party does not have the moral clarity on issues of Gaza, on issues of Palestinian national aspirations and statehood, on issues of not having military weapons killing women and children and starving people in Gaza then we will not have the moral vision to win back the trust of the American people.”
Khanna made a single reference to Israel’s security, mentioning a letter he released last week that “recognizes Israel’s security” as part of a two-state solution. Khanna has criticized Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack before, but he did not share those sentiments with the ArabCon audience.
It is unclear why Khanna stayed silent about Hamas at ArabCon. But such criticism would have likely alienated the Dearborn audience, which Khanna sees as key to winning swing-state Michigan.
“Maybe our Democratic candidates should show up in Dearborn. How are you going to win Michigan, a swing state, and say ‘I don’t want to show up in Dearborn,'” said Khanna, whose visit to first-in-the-nation primary state South Carolina has stoked speculation that he plans to run for president.
While Hamas was spared from Khanna’s criticism, he took several shots at “right-wing” media outlets for criticizing his attendance at ArabCon. “I love being here at ArabCon. I saw a headline this morning saying ‘Democratic hopeful to share the stage with pro-terror radicals at ArabCon,'” said Khanna.
“Where are the pro-terror radicals? Raise your hand if you’re a pro-terror radical.”
Khanna may have had a positive response if he had surveyed his fellow ArabCon speakers. Zahra Billoo, who spoke on a panel right after Khanna, touted the five co-founders of the Holy Land Foundation, who were convicted of funding Hamas, as “incredible, generous, kind, beautiful men.”
Lara Sheehi, who spoke on a panel Saturday moments after Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, praised the “Al-Aqsa Flood”—Hamas’s name for the Oct. 7 terrorist operation—as a “force that disrupts” what she said was Israel’s “oppressive system” and “psychological warfare” against Palestinians.
“One of the things that Al-Aqsa Flood did was create a disruption,” said Sheehi, who also referred to Walid Daqqa and Georges Abdallah as “political prisoners.” Both were convicted of murdering Israelis as members of the terrorist group Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
Other ArabCon speakers at the three-day conference defended Hamas.
Amer Zahr, a Dearborn school board member who has said he “stand[s] with” Hamas and Hezbollah, led a panel discussion with Rabab Abdulhadi, a San Francisco State University professor who once said that Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7 were “merely defending themselves.”
“Do you condemn October 7th?” Zahr, a former surrogate for Bernie Sanders, asked Abdulhadi amid audience laughter.
“I condemn Israel and the United States and all oppressions and imperial wars,” she said. “I never ever condemn Palestinian resistance and anyone’s resistance around the world.”
Khanna’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
