University of Chicago professor Eman Abdelhadi, the half sister of Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, delivered an “October 7th blessing,” one year after Hamas militants killed approximately 1,200 people in widespread terrorist attacks.
“I want to say, Allahu Akbar,” Abdelhadi said, opening her blessing in a video posted to Instagram Oct. 7, 2024. “That phrase means God is greater, and it’s an important phrase in the Muslim tradition.
“It’s one that I’ve been thinking about a lot over the last year, because it’s a phrase that reminds us that no matter how great the brutality, the oppression, the intensity of what we’re going through, the horizon of justice is just around the corner.”
Throughout her video commemorating the anniversary of terrorist attacks, Abdelhadi makes no mention of the Jews killed by Hamas. She filmed her blessing wearing a keffiyeh, a traditional cloth associated with Palestinian militant movements.
“Abdul loves his sister and also disagrees with her on a number of political positions and the rhetoric she’s chosen to use, including on foreign policy,” a campaign spokeswoman told Fox News Digital when asked about the video.
“But Abdul is the one on the ballot, and his record of public service and his platform is what matters to voters here in Michigan. His campaign has always been about his love for America and Michigan.”
“There is something greater than even the strongest armies, and, for me, that’s God,” Abdelhadi continued in the video. “Reflecting on that reaffirms my commitment to justice, my commitment not to get caught up in the narratives that colonial powers enforce on us. … I hope you know that we have a lot of work ahead of us and that we need each other to do that work. We have an imperative to not just imagine a better future, but to build one together.
“I’ll see you on the streets.”
The video was posted on Instagram Oct. 7, 2024, in a collaborative post by “Rabbis4Ceasefire” and Abdelhadi’s account. Rabbis4Ceasefire described it in a caption on the post as an “October 7th blessing from Eman Abdelhadi, Scholar, Writer & Organizer.”
In a new comment added Friday, Abdelhadi said Rabbis4Ceasefire had organized and named the event as “a moment of grief for lives lost between 10/7/23 and 10/7/2024,” asked her to participate and described the video as her “offering” to the gathering.
The resurfaced video drew sharp criticism on X.
“Jewish Michiganders are proudly putting country over party and rejecting Abdul El-Sayed’s extremism. We must put country over party and elect Mike Rogers,” Democrats for Mike Rogers, El-Sayed’s GOP challenger, posted in response.
“Abdul El-Sayed’s Sister, Eman Abdelhadi, recorded a celebration video in reaction to October 7th,” commentator Eyal Yakoby wrote.
Abdelhadi has previously faced legal trouble over her activism, including an October 2025 arrest after she allegedly spat on an Illinois state trooper during protests outside a suburban Chicago ICE detention center. She was charged with two felony counts of aggravated battery to a government employee and two misdemeanor counts of resisting or obstructing a peace officer.
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Abdelhadi’s half brother has engendered ample controversy over his statements on the Israel-Palestine conflict while on the campaign trail.
El-Sayed, for instance, sent a fundraising email on the second anniversary of the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks in which he criticized the Israeli government’s military operations but said nothing of Hamas’ initial killings. The Michigan Democrat has equated Hamas and the Israeli government, calling both evil.
He has also received criticism for his continued association and campaign appearances with streamer Hasan Piker, who once said that America “deserved 9/11.” Though El-Sayed has called the streamer’s statement “dumb,” he has declined to disavow Piker, accusing critics of engaging in cancel culture.
Abdelhadi did not respond to requests for comment when reached by Fox News Digital on Friday.
