Jared Wickerham
U.S. Rep. Summer Lee, D-12th District, speaks during a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette strike by the union members in front of the UPMC building on Feb. 24, 2023, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
"To prevent the Muslim community from being the target of any more politically-motivated Islamophobia and to ensure my Jewish and LGBTQ+ constituents know their concerns are heard, I will not be attending this event any longer," Lee said in part.
Leaders at CAIR, the largest Muslim civil rights group in the country, say the organization is no stranger to such scrutiny.
"This is not new to us," Ahmet Tekelioglu, executive director of CAIR Philadelphia, tells City Paper. "There is an industry of Islamophobia … that tries to paint us and similar organizations, [and] many Muslim individual speakers, in a negative light."
Imam Yasir Fahmy, CAIR's invited keynote speaker, had previously referred to a "Zionist Israel cult" and made homophobic remarks, as local and national outlets have since extensively covered. Others were incensed by comments from CAIR's national executive director Nihad Awad, who said he was "happy to see people breaking the siege" on Oct. 7. Awad has said these comments were taken "out of context" and "spliced together."
The statements unearthed by Jewish Insider followed pressure around the event from Lee's primary opponent Bhavini Patel, who has come under fire following CP's coverage of a fundraiser featuring donors with Hindu nationalist ties, and Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dave McCormick, who has called on Lee to resign. In the past week, other Pa. Democrats, including Gov. Josh Shapiro and national advocates such as the Anti-Defamation League's CEO, had joined calls for Lee to distance herself from the event.
Tekelioglu says he likewise first became aware of Fahmy's statements on Feb. 26. Planning for the banquet began last August, he says. In the interim, Tekelioglu says CAIR Philadelphia does not oppose Lee and applauds her work across religious and cultural groups.
"We continue to hold Summer in high regard, and our program will continue as scheduled," he tells CP.
Christine Mohamed, executive director of CAIR Pittsburgh, which operates independently from CAIR Philadelphia but sometimes partners with them for statewide events, says she "understand[s] the pressure" on Lee and CAIR Philadelphia.
"I know what it's like to plan a banquet," she tells CP. "It's extremely stressful, and I'm sure their main focus now is keeping the community safe for the banquet."
Mohamed also says she was unaware of speakers' past statements until they were reported in the media — partly, she says, this is because CAIR has been busy fielding what both Tekelioglu and Mohamed say is a 300% spike in Islamophobic incidents in their communities. Mohamed expresses frustration that the scrutiny on Lee and CAIR has overshadowed both the Congresswoman and CAIR's track records of work to build interfaith bridges, and both she and Tekelioglu praise Lee as a "good listener."
"I find it offensive because I do build bridges with the Jewish community," Mohamed says. "I made sure last year to have a Hindu speaker at our interfaith [meeting] because I wanted them to share their experiences and their beautiful traditions and teachings."
While Lee's pullout has made national headlines, Mohamed says other incidents, including a series of since-deleted Islamophobic posts by Eugene Bonaroti, a prominent local neurosurgeon, get ignored. She notes that multiple Muslim physicians have lost jobs for perceived antisemitism. "If it was reversed, you would hear about this everywhere," she says, describing the disproportionate coverage as "cherry-picking."
While disappointed by Lee's decision, Mohamed and Tekelioglu say they remain focused on stopping hate and serving their constituents — their work includes youth leadership programs, nonpartisan voter registration efforts, and interfaith activities. Tekelioglu notes that the organization has previously hosted politicians such as Shapiro, and will continue cultivating ties to Pa. officials regardless of "politically motivated attacks."
"This has been going on for so many years, and … we know and are our confident in our track record," he tells CP. "They don't realize that, you know, they're working against an organization and against a community that is steadfast and has full confidence in where we stand."
