Pro-Hezbollah Lebanese Diplomat Kicked Out of US Attended Multiple Campaign Events for Bernie-Backed Radical Who Expressed His Allegiance to Lebanon

Ibrahim Charara can be seen in chummy photos of a campaign event for Abbas Alawieh, a political up-and-comer just elected to the Michigan State Senate

The Lebanese diplomat expelled from the United States over his praise for Hezbollah’s 1983 suicide bombing of the Marine barracks attended multiple campaign events for Abbas Alawieh, a Bernie Sanders-endorsed Michigan state senator-elect who co-founded the controversial, anti-Israel “Uncommitted” movement and who stated his allegiance to Lebanon after he won his election.

Ibrahim Charara, the former Lebanese consul general to Detroit, attended Alawieh campaign events on June 10 and Oct. 19, according to photos, which show the chummy duo posing arm-in-arm.

The State Department expelled Charara last week over social media posts unearthed by the Washington Free Beacon in which Charara called the 1983 suicide bombing, in which 241 Marines were killed, an act of “heroic resistance to the American military occupation.” American troops were in Beirut from 1982 to 1984 at the invitation of the Lebanese government in hopes of bringing an end to the Arab nation’s bloody civil war.

The State Department declared Charara persona non grata, the diplomatic term for “unwanted person,” and ordered him to leave the country on Sunday.

But Charara was anything but unwelcome in greater Detroit, which has the country’s largest Arab population and boasts “Little Beirut” in the majority Arab suburb of Dearborn. His attendance at the campaign events, which has not been previously reported, raises questions for Alawieh, a far-left political up-and-comer who landed endorsements from Sanders, Rep. Ro Khanna (D., Calif.), and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D.). Alawieh, who won his race with 71 percent of the vote, expressed his allegiance to his homeland, Lebanon, in an interview after his victory. Alawieh, speaking in Arabic, called himself a “son of the South,” a reference to southern Lebanon, a hotbed of Hezbollah activity.

Alawieh, who served as chief of staff to former Rep. Cori Bush—an alumna of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (D., N.Y.) far-left “Squad”—and worked for Squad member Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D., Mich.), solidified support from anti-Israel activists by co-founding the “Uncommitted” movement, which urged Democratic voters to sit out of the 2024 presidential primaries to protest against the Biden administration’s support for Israel in the war against Hamas. Arab discontent with the Biden administration’s Israel policy is believed to have contributed to Kamala Harris losing Michigan, a blue-leaning state, in the 2024 general election.

Charara’s attendance at the Alawieh events has also spooked the Lebanese embassy, which expressed alarm at both Charara’s posts and his close ties to politicians in the Dearborn area. Lebanese sources told the Free Beacon the Lebanese government is concerned about the appearance of meddling in American political affairs. That concern was heightened after Nabih Berri, the speaker of Lebanon’s parliament and head of the Hezbollah-aligned Amal Movement, told Sen. James Lankford (R., Okla.) that his party has an “extension” in Michigan. Berri previously lived in Dearborn, and recently hosted Mo Baydoun, the mayor of neighboring Dearborn Heights, in Lebanon.

Charara, who held a diplomatic post in Egypt before coming to Detroit, attended a banquet for the Arab American Political Action Committee earlier this month, which featured Democratic candidates Abdul El-Sayed and Gov.-elect Jocelyn Benson. The now-deported diplomat was photographed sitting next to El-Sayed at the banquet. They both also attended a June 6 grand opening event for the Islamic Institute of America, a pro-Hezbollah mosque in Dearborn Heights.

Charara forged close ties to other elected officials in the Dearborn area during his 13-month deployment. Dearborn mayor Abdullah Hammoud attended Charara’s welcoming reception last year, and offered the diplomat “the support of all of us in this room.”

“We may not have any blood ties, but certainly we are family who break bread between one another,” said Hammoud. The mayor, also a close ally of El-Sayed, hosted Charara at his city offices and has appeared with him at other events over the past year.

Dearborn community leaders and Hezbollah-aligned news outlets in Lebanon have lashed out at the Free Beacon over Charara’s expulsion.

Al-Akhbar, known in Lebanon as a mouthpiece for Hezbollah, accused the Free Beacon in a story defending Charara of having “a long history of attacking Arab and Muslim Americans.”

Osama Siblani, an influential Dearborn activist who openly calls Hezbollah “freedom fighters,” called the Free Beacon “liars” over the Charara story. Siblani accompanied Charara to the airport for his flight home on Sunday, and has appeared by Charara’s side at numerous community events over the past year. Siblani refused to condemn Charara’s social media posts during an interview on Lebanese television, and dodged when asked whether he supported the Hezbollah bombing of the Marine barracks, which was the most deadly terror attack on Americans until 9/11.

“What were the American Marines doing in Lebanon? Were they there as tourists?” Siblani asked.

Nasser Beydoun, a prominent Arab Dearborn businessman who ran for U.S. Senate in 2024, called the Free Beacon article part of a “witch hunt and retribution” against Dearborn’s Lebanese community. “Trump’s State Department deems popular Lebanese Counsul [sic] General Ibrahim Charara persona non grata,” wrote Beydoun.

Beydoun was seen with Charara and Young Turks host Cenk Uygur at the Arab Civil Rights League’s annual gala in Dearborn last month.

Alawieh and Hammoud, the Dearborn mayor, did not respond to requests for comment.