The Chicago City Council has been seized by a Muslim Brotherhood takeover. In an outrageous betrayal of American sovereignty and national security, aldermen Byron Sigcho-Lopez, Rossana Rodriguez, and Anthony Quezada, longtime allies of Hamas and Muslim Brotherhood front groups, are aggressively fighting to free convicted jihadist and Hamas fundraiser Salah Sarsour from ICE custody.
Detained for lying on his green card application about his terror ties and violent past, Sarsour spent eight months in an Israeli prison for hurling Molotov cocktails at Israeli forces and was identified by the FBI as a key operative in the Holy Land Foundation terror-financing pipeline. This isn’t local politics. This is jihadist infiltration operating in plain sight at the heart of the American government.
RAIR Foundation recently reported on the detainment of the notorious Hamas fundraiser, Salah Sasour, by ICE.
Sarsour isn’t some innocent “Palestinian community leader.” He is a documented Hamas supporter with a rap sheet stretching back to the 1990s – one that U.S. authorities somehow ignored for over 30 years while he built businesses, mosques, and a jihad empire on American soil.
Sarsour’s Hamas connections aren’t speculation: They are laid out in Israeli court records, U.S. FBI memos, and congressional testimony. In 1995, Sarsour was arrested and jailed for eight months in an Israeli prison for supporting the U.S.-designated terrorist group Hamas. While incarcerated, he became “close friends” with Adel Awadallah, the West Bank commander of Hamas’s military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades. According to his own brother Jamil Sarsour (arrested in 1998 for funding Hamas), Salah helped plan attacks against Israel and used his Milwaukee furniture business to send money to Awadallah via checks.
A November 2001 FBI Action Memorandum explicitly listed Salah Sarsour (and brother Imad) as a Hamas fundraiser operating through the Holy Land Foundation (HLF) – the largest terror-financing case in U.S. history. HLF was later convicted in federal court of funneling millions to Hamas. Sarsour had previously worked with the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP), a known Hamas propaganda and recruitment arm that provided “media, communications, and fundraising support” to HLF. Law enforcement documents show he raised money “in the name” of HLF for Hamas.
Today, Sarsour sits on the national board of American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) and has chaired its annual ‘Palestine Convention.’ Multiple investigations and congressional panels have exposed AMP as a rebranded successor to the IAP/HLF terror-financing pipeline. At least nine AMP/AJP leaders have documented Hamas ties. Sarsour also directs AMP’s 501(c)(3) fiscal sponsor, the Americans for Justice in Palestine Educational Foundation, which rakes in millions while pushing antisemitic campus activism and glorifying ‘resistance.’
Sarsour’s furniture stores in the Milwaukee area weren’t just businesses – they were allegedly used to launder money to Hamas operatives. Even after all this, he was granted lawful permanent resident status and allowed to lead major U.S. Muslim organizations. This is not immigration oversight – it is a national security catastrophe.
Alderpersons in the city of Chicago are teaming up with Muslim Brotherhood/Hamas-linked organizations to release Salsour from ICE custody. They held a proceeding on May 7th, 2026, to pass a resolution to call on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to immediately release Salah Sasour.
Leading the charge in the Chicago City Council to pass this resolution is Alderman Byron Sigcho Lopez, a longtime advocate for Muslim Brotherhood-linked organizations. He is being joined by Alderwoman Rossana Rodriguez of the 33rd ward, known for her antisemitic Twitter posts, and Anthony Quezada, the 35th alderman of Chicago.
The written resolution from April 15th, 2026, states that Salah Sarsour is a green card holder and that status cannot be revoked without due process. However, Salah Sarsour is getting due process; the Muslim Legal Fund of America (MFLA) is representing him. Sarsour appeared before a judge on April 28, 2026, at which point his legal team formally denied the charges against him. The next hearing date is in June 2026.
One of the earliest cases the MFLA funded was the Holyland Foundation Trial, America’s largest financial terrorism trial. As reported by RAIR Foundation:
MLFA was co-founded by Khalil Meek, who also helped found the U.S. Council of Muslim Organizations (USCMO), an umbrella group that includes multiple organizations with ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.
MLFA is currently chaired by Hatem Bazian, who co-founded the deeply subversive organizations American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) (also a USCMO member) and Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP).
According to Cornell Law, INA § 212(a)(3)(B) — of 8 U.S. Code § 1182, Terrorist activities make a person inadmissible (ineligible for a visa or entry/adjustment of status). This applies broadly to:
- Having engaged in terrorist activity (past, present, or likely future).
- Inciting terrorist activity.
- Being a representative or member of a terrorist organization (Tier I, II, or III).
- Endorsing/espousing terrorist activity or persuading others to support it.
- Providing material support (funds, safe houses, training, etc.) to a terrorist organization or individual.
- “Terrorist activity” is defined as any unlawful act (under U.S. or local law) involving hijacking, assassination, bombing, assassination threats, use of weapons of mass destruction, assassination of public officials, or similar violent acts endangering life.
So, while alderpersons Sigcho-Lopez, Rodriguez, and Quezada want to paint Salah Sarsour as a family man and upstanding citizen with Muslim Brotherhood-linked organizations surrounding them, Sarsour was detained for lying on his visa application and previously doing a stint in an Israeli jail for throwing Molotov cocktails at the homes of the Israeli Armed Forces.
According to Fox News, Salah Sarsour initially applied for a U.S. visa at the American consulate in Jerusalem but was denied because of his prior convictions. DHS states that he later obtained a green card in 1998, under President Clinton, by providing false information on his visa application.
Chicago City Council Meeting for Resolution R2026-0024891: Immediate Release of Salah Sasour
Wearing his signature keffiyeh, Byron Sigcho-Lopez introduced Resolution R2026-0024891 at Chicago City Hall on May 7, 2026, calling for the immediate release of Salah Sarsour, who is not a Chicago resident.
The meeting was preceded by Rosanna Rodriguez, Sigcho-Lopez’s partner in activist causes. She was visibly annoyed when opposition voiced their opinions and gleamed with joy when her friends from AMP and CAIR came to give public comment.
During the public comment portion of the meeting, Chicago resident George Blakemore said he was unaware the City Council would be considering the resolution. Blakemore questioned the alderwoman about why the meeting was scheduled for that time and focused solely on illegal immigration. He expressed frustration that, in his view, many Black Chicago residents were not present and claimed some were boycotting the meeting because they opposed the resolution. Blakemore also stated that he believed “there is something un-American going on here” and criticized the alderwoman for appearing to ignore him while he was speaking. He claimed that Rodriguez didn’t want the black community there, but he showed up anyway, and that “racism, nepotism, and corruption” are taking place within the city council.
Another Chicago resident, Jessica Jackson, also voiced frustration with the City Council during the public comment portion of the meeting. She criticized Alderwoman Rodriguez, accusing her of being disrespectful, and claimed that several aldermen who do not normally attend committee meetings appeared specifically for this resolution.
Jackson also said that requests for a press conference by a Black and Brown coalition were denied (Organizations affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood were allowed to hold a press conference with aldermen after the meeting, which will be discussed later.) According to Jackson, members of the Black community had previously asked the Hispanic alderpersons to support them during housing-related disputes, but support was not given. Jackson told Rodriguez that “they are taking care of a bunch of illegal people on our [the black community’s] plight.”
American Muslims for Palestine representative Amira Dauod also spoke during the public comment portion. Court documents from the Holy Land Foundation (HLF) trial (the largest terrorism-financing case in U.S. history) show that the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP) — AMP’s direct predecessor — was part of a “Palestine Committee” created by the Muslim Brotherhood to support Hamas politically and financially in the U.S. IAP served as the main propaganda arm.
Amira Dauod stated during her remarks that she was not speaking in an official organizational capacity, but rather as a longtime acquaintance of Salah Sarsour. She said she has known him since childhood and described their relationship as evolving over time from a family-like bond – referring to him as “uncle” – to one of mentorship and professional collaboration, ultimately calling him a role model, mentor, and colleague.
Amira Dauod sought to appeal to the audience’s emotions in her remarks, saying that she felt safe around Salah Sarsour as a child and that, as an adult, she continues to view him as a person of integrity. I wonder if this was before or after he threw Molotov cocktails at Israeli Forces. She ended by saying that Salah Sasour is “the model of goodness, citizenship, responsibility, and humbleness; yet he was abducted by ICE because of his voice. He was targeted because of his power to bring people together.” Nowhere did she mention that he was detained for lying about engaging in terrorism on his visa application.
CAIR Chicago Communications Coordinator Jordan Esparza-Kelley was the final speaker to voice support for the resolution during the public comment session.
The national organization, Council on American-Islamic Relations, was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation terrorism financing case, a designation that linked them to Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood. Nihad Awad, CAIR’s national executive director, was also reported to have appeared on a 1993 FBI wiretap discussing support for Hamas.
During his remarks, Esparza-Kelley described Salah Sarsour as a devoted family man and respected member of the community. He characterized Sarsour’s detention as a “federally sanctioned kidnapping” and argued that Sarsour was being detained for what he called “fictitious reasons.” Esparza-Kelley also emphasized that Sarsour has supporters and community ties extending across multiple states and countries.
Ald. Rosssana Rodriquez introduced her colleague, Bryon Sigcho Lopez, and his guest, Kareem Sarsour, Salah Sarsour’s son.
Byron Sigcho-Lopez began his remarks by saying he was grateful the council was addressing what he described as a broader pattern of people being detained “illegally” and “unconstitutionally” by the federal government across the country. He claimed that more than 70,000 individuals have been detained without due process and argued that when he speaks what he considers the truth, it is treated as illegal or harshly punished, reflecting what he characterized as authoritarian behavior that must be confronted with courage and integrity.
When discussing Salah Sarsour, Byron Sigcho-Lopez repeatedly emphasized that Sarsour has been a lawful permanent resident of the United States for more than 32 years. Yet, he did not address allegations regarding Sarsour’s earlier visa history, including reports that he was initially denied a U.S. visa at the American consulate in Jerusalem due to prior convictions and later obtained permanent residency in 1998 under disputed circumstances. Sigcho-Lopez went on to argue that there was no basis for what he described as “fictitious charges” and “fictitious allegations without proof.”
He then argued that what he described as the “immorality of an Israeli genocidal state” should not determine who is allowed to live or move freely in the United States. This tells us that Byron Sigho-Lopez may know that Salah Sarsour was charged and put in prison for throwing Molotov cocktails at Israeli Forces.
Sigcho-Lopez brought up the case of Mahmoud Khalil and said that he was “freed by the movement of the people.” However, the Board of Immigration Appeals issued the final order of removal back in April, according to Khalil’s lawyers.
Byron Sigcho-Lopez, along with representatives from CAIR and American Muslims for Palestine, portrayed Salah Sarsour as a devoted family man and community leader with what Sigcho-Lopez described as “deep ties” across Chicagoland. Sigcho-Lopez also condemned what he characterized as racial profiling and the detention of individuals he said were “speaking truth to power” and working to strengthen communities across the country.
“Mr. Sarsour should be praised for his efforts. There is no reason to keep him in detention,” said Alderman Sigho-Lopez.
Finally, Byron Sigcho-Lopez framed Salah Sarsour’s case as a constitutional issue centered on freedom of speech. The case actually concerns allegations related to Sarsour’s immigration history and the false information provided during the visa process, rather than his public advocacy for Palestine. Salah Sarsour was found to raise funds for Hamas.
During the course of his interview, [Jamil] Sarsour described his bother Salah Sarsour’s involvement with HAMAS and fundsing activities by the HLFRD, in Richardson, Texas on zalf of HAMAS. Sarsour stated that some of the members of Islamic Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and his brothers lab and Imad are involved in raising money in the name of HLFRD that is actually for HAMAS.
Sigcho-Lopez concluded by calling for the immediate release of Sarsour and others he described as being “illegally” detained.
Kareem Sarsour addressed the Chicago City Council in support of the resolution calling for the release of his father, Salah Sarsour. During his remarks, Kareem said his father chose to come to America to build a home and a future for his family. Like several speakers before him, he described Salah Sarsour primarily as a devoted family man and respected member of the community.
However, he did not address allegations and controversies connected to members of the Sarsour family, including past accusations involving financial support networks tied to Hamas, when mentioning that Salah was a brother. Nor did he mention members of the Islamic Center of Milwaukee funneling money to Hamas, only that it was his father’s second term as president.
Kareem Sarsour described his father’s arrest as an “abduction” that he said turned the family’s life upside down and led to his detention in what the family considers a “hellhole.” Kareem stated that Salah Sarsour had devoted much of his life to serving the community and helping others, describing him as someone who has consistently “been a voice for the voiceless.”
He also argued that his father was targeted because of his outspoken criticism of what he called “Israeli crimes” and the “genocide” in Gaza and Palestine.
“A man like Salah Sarsour, someone who worked this hard for his community, for his family needs to be celebrated,”said Kareem Sasour, son of Salah Sarsour.
Indoctrination runs deep within the families, as you can hear from Kareem’s own testimony about his father. He believes his father should be celebrated, even though the federal court found that Salah was fundraising for a designated terrorist organization.
Next to speak in support of Salah Sarsour was Anthony Quezada of the 35th Ward. Quezada argued that Sarsour had not been convicted of crimes recognized by the United Nations. However, Israel is a recognized member state of the United Nations, and Sarsour’s convictions were issued through the Israeli judicial system.
Quezada went on to characterize the case as a political attack targeting advocates of what he called “Palestinian liberation,” as well as political leaders critical of the Trump administration and what he described as the weaponization of immigration enforcement. He concluded by expressing solidarity with Sarsour’s family and supporters in Milwaukee and calling for Sarsour’s immediate release.
Rossana Rodriguez also spoke in solidarity with Salah Sarsour. During her remarks, Rodriguez said that what she has witnessed in Chicago and across the country has been “horrifying.” She stated that her office continues to receive calls from families who say loved ones are being detained or taken into custody, and expressed concern that she has not seen the same level of public protest as during Operation Midway Blitz.
Rodriguez also claimed to have witnessed ICE agents detaining individuals without asking for names or identification. She warned the council that “we have seen this before, and we know what that means,” adding that “this can never happen again,” language that can be interpreted as drawing comparisons to the Holocaust. Entering a country illegally and being detained to be sent to court for deportation does not even compare to the mass rounding up and murder of citizens based on their ethnicity and religion.
After the remarks concluded, Alderman Raymond Lopez waited to be recognized before calling for a quorum check. Because not enough aldermen were present to meet quorum requirements, the meeting could not proceed and was postponed until May 19, 2026.
City Council Members’ Ties to Muslim Brotherhood Organizations and Antisemitism
Alderman Byron Sigcho Lopez:
Byron Sigcho-Lopez has a long record of appearing at demonstrations and public events alongside organizations with ties to terrorist groups in the Chicagoland area. He is a familiar presence at protests, often speaking at rallies, expressing support for activist causes, or standing in solidarity with participating groups while wearing a keffiyeh.
In June of 2025, he was spotted walking alongside Frank Chapman. Frank Chapman is a Central Committee member of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO), the executive director of the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, and field organizer and education director of the Chicago Alliance.
FRSO has had open communication with the designated terrorist organization, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). Over the years, FRSO and PFLP have exchanged letters.
Sigho-Lopez also has ties to the Party of Liberation and Socialism (PSL). Chicago Alderman Raymond Lopez publicly accused Sigho-Lopez of having ties to this organization, a claim Sigho-Lopez denied during a debate on Fox 32 Chicago. Only to speak at PSL events, and publicly stamp his association with them on flyers.
Another organization that Byron Sigcho-Lopez has frequently appeared alongside is the United States Palestinian Community Network (USPCN). The organization was co-founded by Rasmea Odeh, who was deported from the United States in 2017 after being convicted of immigration fraud for failing to disclose prior convictions and imprisonment on her visa and naturalization applications.
Israeli authorities had convicted Odeh in connection with a 1969 bombing in Jerusalem that killed two civilians, and she later served time in an Israeli prison before being released in a prisoner exchange. Now, Sigho-Lopez is defending Salah Sarsour, a man linked to terrorist organizations who previously served time in an Israeli prison after being convicted of throwing Molotov cocktails at Israeli forces. Is this a coincidence?
In May 2025, USPCN held a national day of protest for the 5th anniversary of George Floyd’s overdose.
Here is Sigho-Lopez speaking at this event. You can see the USPCN signs behind him.
Hatem Abudayyeh, USPCN co-founder, has not only spent time with Byron Sigcho-Lopez, but Sigcho-Lopez has also helped facilitate meetings with Abudayyeh, including connecting him with Gustavo Petro and welcoming the Colombian president during his visit to Chicago. Gustavo is a former member of the guerrilla group M-19.
Hatem Abudayyeh was previously investigated by the FBI for possible links to terrorist organizations like Hamas and PFLP. Abudayyeh was the alleged coordinator of Rasmea Odeh’s defense during her deportation trial.
Alderman Byron Sigho Lopez previously spoke at the Bridgeview Mosque, also known as The Mosque Foundation, in support of freeing Salah Sarsour. He said Salah Sarsour is a “champion for freedom for all.”
Leaders from The Mosque Foundation are tied to The Holyland Foundation Trial.
Jamal Said, one of the current leaders at the mosque, was listed as an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation (HLF) Hamas financing trial in Texas, which ended with sweeping guilty verdicts on 108 counts in late 2008. Past president, secretary, and board member of the Mosque Foundation, Rafeeq Jaber, was the president of the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP) and the founder of the Chicago chapter of the IAP. Internal IAP memos and other pieces of evidence released during the HLF case in Dallas indicated that the IAP served as a Hamas support arm. One of the mosque’s current Imam’s, Kifah Mustapha, was also listed as an unindicted co-conspirator in the HLF trial as a member of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Palestine Committee. A 1991 internal memo to the Palestine Committee members reveals that the members of this committee intended to further the Muslim Brotherhood’s goals ‘on the American front.’
Jamal Said is the principal imam and a director of the Mosque Foundation. He has worked in that role since 1985. He grew up in the West Bank and has said that he was inspired by the Muslim Brotherhood as a child. In 1993, fellow leader Muhammad Salah was arrested in the Gaza Strip on charges of financing Hamas military operations and jailed in Israel for five years. During questioning, Salah said that Said was responsible for recruiting him into the Muslim Brotherhood. In 2004, the Chicago Tribune reported that Said led a fundraiser for Sami Al-Arian, a Palestinian activist accused by the U.S. government of aiding terrorists. The same report noted that the theocratic government of Saudi Arabia paid part of Said’s salary at the mosque.
With all of these associations, is Alderman Bryon Sigcho-Lopez a useful idiot for terrorist organizations, or is he a willing participant in their agenda to overtake the West?
Alderwoman Rossana Rodriguez:
Alderwoman Rosanna Rodriquez came under fire for making a social media post where she posted how she was looking for “an anti-Zionist doctor” for her child.
Her Jewish counterpart, Ald. Debra Silverstein (50th) claimed a Facebook post by Ald. Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez (33rd) tried to “blacklist Jewish doctors for their religious and national identities.”
“Bigots frequently use ‘Zionist’ as an antisemitic dog whistle for Jewish, so in effect, Alderwoman Rodriguez Sanchez is saying she doesn’t want a Jewish doctor. That is antisemitic, hateful, and completely unacceptable behavior for an elected official,” Silverstein said in a statement.
In a public statement, ADL’s Chicago chapter called Rodriguez Sanchez’s use of the phrase “shameful.”
“This is an antisemitic charge denying the Jewish right to self-determination, including through the removal of Jews from their ancestral homeland. Hamas massacres innocent Jews, rapes women, kidnaps children and the elderly, (Rodriguez-Sanchez) says nothing … then this,” the statement read.
Rodriguez spearheaded the Gaza Ceasefire Resolution in the city of Chicago. This led to protests all over the city in support of the resolution, including a student walkout. Chicago students. Only 2 in 5 Chicago students are reading at grade level, even under lowered proficiency standards, according to Illinois Policy. Instead of focusing on making sure Chicagoans are literate, Rodriguez spends her time defending those linked to terrorism.
It comes as no surprise that Ald. Rodriguez would use her position of power to stand next to those who are linked to the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas.
Alderman Anthony Quezada
According to his colleagues, Alderman Anthony Quezada can be seen attached to Ald Rodriguez’s hip. He also visits pro-Hamas events with Alderman Sigcho-Lopez. In May 2024, Quezada and Sigcho-Lopez visited the Hamas encampment at UChicago.
As Cook County Commissioner Quezada even spoke to the students at the UChicago encampment while wrapped in a keffiyeh.
He also signed a Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) letter, while serving as Cook County Commissioner, demanding that President Trump call for a ceasefire in Gaza.
.Anthony Quezada (35th Ward), Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez (33rd Ward), Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th Ward), and other protesters linked arms, sat in the driveway, and physically blocked access to the parking lot entrance. The demonstration was intended to prevent ICE vans from entering the facility and to disrupt agents escorting detained immigrants in handcuffs from the building to waiting vehicles. It led to clashes and pepper spray being deployed.
Muslim Brotherhood-linked Organizations at Chicago City Hall: Press Conference with Alderpersons
Following the Committee on Health and Human Relations helding their city council meeting in Chicago, a press conference was held by American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), the Council of American Islamic Relations- Chicago (CAIR-Chicago), Muslim American Society (MAS), United States Palestinian Community Network (USPCN, Social Justice for Palestine Chicago (SJP-Chicago), and Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM) to support the release of their brother in jihad, Salah Sarsour. They were joined by alderpersons Bryon Sigcho Lopez, Rossana Rodriguez, and Anthony Quezada.
Alderman Bryon Sicgho Lopez took a moment to share his gratitude for his colleague, Rossana Rodriguez’s, courage to put this resolution forward. He took the time to attack Alderman Raymond Lopez for calling a quorum by saying that Raymond Lopez carries the interests of the Israeli lobby and a genocidal state. That he does not carry the interest of Chicagoans. He went on to say that they will deny the attempts of “an occupied land here in our country and to stop people from dictating what they can and cannot discuss in committee.”
Sigcho Lopez seems to be implying that because he believes Raymond Lopez works for the Israeli lobby, Israel itself is dictating what can be said in the Chicago City Hall meeting. That is absurd on its face. If the committee does not have the proper quorum, it cannot continue. Lastly, Sigcho-Lopez compared ICE detention facilities to concentration camps “where 30,000 children are sitting.” Another Holocaust reference was used as a scare tactic to anger the public.
Alderman Anthony Quezada spoke at the press conference, where he expressed his humility at being surrounded by “community and family members” of Salah Sasour. Everyone surrounding him was a part of organizations tied to either the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, or PFLP. He, again, highlighted how he feels this is a politically targeted arrest of a community leader who is speaking out against Israel. Quezada claims that political persecution is being utilized by Immigration enforcement. He claims that this is what authoritarian and fascist regimes do and blames the Trump administration.
William Asfour from CAIR Chicago spoke to the press to issue a statement in support of the release of their organization’s leader, Salah Sarsour. William followed the narrative and painted Sarsour as a family man, lawful resident, and respected community member. He was very insistent that Salah has no criminal record in the United States, not to mention his criminal record outside the U.S.
Tarek Khalil of American Muslims for Palestine spoke next, following the prepared remarks. He described Salah Sarsour as a respected community leader and family man, and said that Sarsour viewed Palestinian liberation as a personal duty.
Khalil also stated that, although he identifies as Palestinian himself, he did not fully understand the depth of the struggle until he met Sarsour, who he said helped shape his perspective on it. HE and Sarsour are involved with American Muslims for Palestine, a Muslim Brotherhood-linked organization.
Like others who spoke, Khalil characterized Sarsour’s detention by ICE as a “kidnapping,” framing it as part of his support for Palestinian-related activism.
Kareem Sarsour, the son of Salah Sarsour, spoke with GrayStak Media about his first reaction to learning his father had been taken into custody. Kareem said he was at work when he received a call from his wife, who had spoken with his mother and was told that his father was “nowhere to be found,” and that he may have been “abducted or kidnapped,” though it was unclear by whom. The family began trying to locate him and contacted the police for answers. Later that day, they learned through attorneys that his father had been taken into custody by ICE. Kareem claims that what happened to his father is unconstitutional.
Ahmed Rehab, the Executive Director of the Council on American Islamic Relations–Chicago, opened his remarks by drawing a comparison between Salah Sarsour’s situation and that of a Ukrainian leader he described as having committed no crime but being detained and removed by ICE. He suggested a hypothetical scenario in which such an action would occur at the alleged direction of Vladimir Putin and the Russian government, based on an unproven accusation from the individual’s youth involving a Molotov cocktail.
At least Ahmed admits Saleh threw a cocktail at Israeli Forces. Israel is not Russia, and they are not controlling the United States government into detaining Salah Sarsour. Salah was convicted in Israeli courts and originally denied a visa by the American consulate in Jerusalem. Lastly, Ahmed turns this into an American issue by claiming everyone has a right to protest and dissent. However, those are not the reasons why Salah was taken into custody.
Amira Daoud of American Muslims for Palestine told the media, as she did in a public comment, that Salah was like her uncle. She also painted him as a family man and community leader. She believes that Salah is a model citizen, who was targeted for using his voice for Palestine, Muslims, and “marginalized communities.
The picture that all the Muslim Brotherhood-linked organizations and their political counterparts are painting is that Salah Sarsour is a respected community leader, a model citizen, a religious leader, and an all-around great guy. That he was targeted unconstitutionally for speaking up for Palestine. They are trying to make the public believe this. These are lies being developed to pull at the heartstrings of those who know nothing about Salah’s case and why he was really arrested.
They are framing this so that the general public will become outraged at a good family man, a person who is the pillar of his community, who was kidnapped and abducted by ICE at the behest of a foreign government, Israel. Or to speak more succinctly, by the Jews.
The reality is, Salah Sarsour is tied to the Muslim Brotherhood via his role at American Muslims for Palestine. In court records, he is caught fundraising for Hamas. He applied for a visa and was denied at the US Consulate in Jerusalem. He applied again and gained a visa because he omitted that he was arrested for terrorism. Salah was caught lying. He was put into custody by ICE. He will go to court and face deportation. This has nothing to do with Palestinian advocacy. This has nothing to do with freedom of speech. This has everything to do with breaking the law.
Chicago Is Running a 1982 Playbook
But breaking the law is not where this story ends. It is where the larger pattern begins.
What happened inside Chicago City Hall was not a one-off political stunt. It was the predictable output of a strategy written 44 years ago in a Swiss chalet, a Muslim Brotherhood master plan known as “The Project.”
The Project is the Brotherhood’s 1982 internal blueprint for the patient, multi-generational capture of the West. It was seized by Swiss police in the home of accused terror financier Youssef Nada after 9/11.
The document lays out 12 “points of departure” — operational instructions for Brotherhood networks worldwide. Read them, then watch the Chicago video. The Brotherhood is not improvising. They are following the script.
Point 4 of The Project tells operatives to “take part in parliament, municipal councils, labor unions and other institutions… in the interest of Islam and of Muslims.”
That is Resolution R2026-0024891. American Muslims for Palestine, CAIR-Chicago, the Muslim American Society, USPCN, SJP-Chicago, and the Palestinian Youth Movement — every one of them traceable to the Brotherhood’s Palestine Committee exposed at the HLF trial — descended on a municipal body to spring a Hamas fundraiser from federal custody. Aldermen Sigcho-Lopez, Rodriguez, and Quezada served as the legislative vehicle. The Project told them to do this in 1982. They did it on May 7, 2026.
Point 7 mandates “temporary cooperation between Islamic movements and nationalist movements… against colonialism, preaching and the Jewish state.”
This is the Red/Green Axis, written explicitly into the Brotherhood’s founding doctrine. Byron Sigcho-Lopez is the human embodiment of it. His ties to the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (which openly corresponds with the U.S.-designated terrorist PFLP), the Party for Socialism and Liberation, the USPCN (co-founded by deported convicted bomber Rasmea Odeh), and FBI-investigated Hatem Abudayyeh are not coincidences. They are the playbook. The socialist left supplies the protest muscle and the “anti-colonial” rhetoric. The Brotherhood supplies the religious authority and the long game. Neither pledges allegiance, exactly as The Project commands: “one must not give them allegiance or take them into confidence.”
Point 11 is the most chilling — and the most blatantly executed in Chicago.
In its own words, Point 11 orders the collection of “funds for the perpetuation of jihad,” the creation of “jihadi cells in Palestine,” and — most damning — instructs operatives “to nourish a sentiment of rancor with respect to the Jews and refuse all coexistence.”
Salah Sarsour is Point 11 made flesh. FBI memos document his Hamas fundraising through HLF. His own brother Jamil’s interview describes Salah planning attacks and wiring money to Hamas military commander Adel Awadallah via the Milwaukee furniture business. AMP — on whose national board Sarsour sits — was created as the rebranded successor to IAP after HLF was shut down. The Brotherhood’s Palestine Committee did not disappear in 2008. It put on a new name and kept moving.
And Alderwoman Rossana Rodriguez’s public hunt for an “anti-Zionist doctor” for her child? That is Point 11’s “rancor with respect to the Jews” expressed in fluent 2020s American.
Point 9 commands the construction of “a permanent force of the Islamic dawa and support movements engaged in jihad across the Muslim world.”
The Muslim Legal Fund of America, now defending Sarsour in immigration court, was co-founded by Khalil Meek of the USCMO Brotherhood umbrella. Its current chair is Hatem Bazian, who also co-founded AMP and SJP. And here is where Chicago connects directly back to the source: Bazian delivered the 2024 Al-Faruqi Memorial Lecture at the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT) in Herndon, Virginia. That is the same IIIT born from the 1977 Lugano meeting that produced The Project itself. The legal arm defending Sarsour, the campus arm radicalizing students, and the doctrinal arm in Virginia are not independent organizations responding to the same news cycle. They are one network. One plan.
Point 10 demands a “single effective” media operation to diffuse Islamic policy through unified messaging.
Listen to the press conference. William Asfour from CAIR. Tarek Khalil and Amira Daoud from AMP. Ahmed Rehab. Kareem Sarsour. Sigcho-Lopez. Rodriguez. Quezada. Every speaker is reading from the same script. Sarsour is a “family man.” His detention is a “kidnapping” or “abduction.” The case is “free speech.” The Holocaust comparisons are deployed on cue. Is that organic outrage? Or is it Point 10’s “unified media operation” running in real time across what only appear to be independent voices?
Point 5 calls for capturing “centers of power both local and worldwide… to the service of Islam.”
A man caught on federal record fundraising for Hamas, detained for lying on his green card about prior terror convictions, now has three elected Chicago officials demanding his release — and one of them publicly accusing his colleague of carrying water for “the Israeli lobby” for the offense of invoking standard quorum rules. That is not a debate over due process. That is Point 5 — the capture of a local center of power — running as a Wednesday afternoon municipal procedure.
The Through-Line: Lugano → Herndon → Texas → Chicago
Sigcho-Lopez did not pick a random venue when he stood up to defend Sarsour in Chicagoland. He went to the Mosque Foundation in Bridgeview — whose principal imam Jamal Said was named an unindicted co-conspirator in the HLF trial as a member of the Brotherhood’s Palestine Committee. The past mosque president, Rafeeq Jaber, ran the Chicago IAP. Imam Kifah Mustapha was also named in HLF. The 1991 Palestine Committee memo, explicit about advancing the Brotherhood “on the American front,” is the operational sibling of The Project itself.
This is the through-line, and it is not a theory. It is a paper trail:
1977 Lugano chalet → IIIT in Herndon, Virginia → Holy Land Foundation in Texas → AMP, CAIR, MLFA → Bridgeview Mosque → Chicago City Hall → the steps of Alderwoman Rodriguez’s press conference.
One network. One document. One plan, executed by some of the same families and institutions for nearly half a century.
So Ask the Question
Is Byron Sigcho-Lopez a useful idiot or a willing soldier? Is Rossana Rodriguez parroting talking points she does not understand, or is she fluent in Point 11? Is Anthony Quezada an oblivious junior partner glued to Rodriguez’s hip, or does he know exactly which network is hosting him at every protest and press conference?
It does not matter.
The Brotherhood does not care whether their political vehicles understand the plan. The Project does not require self-aware operatives. It requires only that municipal councils get used to “in the interest of Islam and Muslims.” It requires only that the Palestinian cause stay the keystone. It requires only that the rancor toward Jews keep being nourished. It requires only that no one in Washington notice that the same names — Bazian, Said, the Palestine Committee, IIIT — keep showing up at every level of every fight.
The Project was written in 1982 to be invisible until it was too late. The Brotherhood did not need to fire a single shot. They wrote it down, hid it for 20 years, and then watched American politicians execute it for them.
On May 7, 2026, three Chicago aldermen tried to use a city resolution to free a documented Hamas fundraiser from federal custody — surrounded by representatives of the very Palestine Committee network the document was written to build.
The Project is not history. It is the agenda. And Chicago just put it on the floor of City Hall.
Call to Action
Salah Sarsour’s next hearing is in June 2026. The Chicago City Council resolution returns on May 19, 2026. The Muslim Brotherhood’s 1982 master plan, codified in “The Project” and operating untouched from its command center at IIIT in Herndon, Virginia, is being executed in real time inside American institutions.
Contact the Chicago City Council and speak out against this resolution. You can email them at Ward50@cityofchicago.org. Let them know we do not want to pass a resolution to free a Muslim Brotherhood-linked operative from ICE custody.
Contact your members of Congress. Demand a full investigation into the International Institute of Islamic Thought, the Muslim Legal Fund of America, American Muslims for Palestine, CAIR, and every Muslim Brotherhood-linked organization operating on U.S. soil. Demand answers about how Salah Sarsour, denied a visa in Jerusalem because of his terrorism record, was permitted to lie his way into the country and spend three decades building a “jihad empire” while elected officials looked the other way.
