Muslim Brotherhood-Linked Group Launches Campaign Targeting AIPAC Leaders
DAWN's "Faces of AIPAC" puts AIPAC leadership info on cards styled like the U.S. military's Iraq "most wanted" deck, displaying names, photos, and personal details of key organizational figures.
Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN) launched an initiative last week to “expose” the leadership of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), one of the most prominent pro-Israel lobbying organizations in the United States. The campaign, titled “Faces of AIPAC,” profiles 50 individuals who govern the organization.
The campaign published the names, photographs, and personal information of AIPAC's leadership on playing cards formatted to resemble the deck used by U.S. military forces in Iraq to identify "most wanted" targets. The initiative has drawn attention not only to AIPAC but also to questions about DAWN's own transparency regarding its leadership's alleged ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.
Organizational Background and Founder
DAWN was founded in February 2018 by Jamal Khashoggi, the Saudi journalist who was murdered in October of that year. According to Tablet Magazine reporting by Lee Smith, Khashoggi was handled by Maggie Mitchell Salem, a former U.S. foreign service officer and executive at the Qatar Foundation International. The reporting indicated Salem proposed story ideas to Khashoggi, drafted articles, and reviewed them before publication, with the Qatar Foundation paying for a translator due to Khashoggi’s limited English abilities. These arrangements were not disclosed in the published articles.
Khashoggi acknowledged in interviews that he joined the Muslim Brotherhood as a university student. A Brookings Institution analysis from 2018 noted his ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, while arguing these connections do not seem to have involved any links to extremism.
Board Member Affiliations
Several DAWN board members have apparent ties to alleged Muslim Brotherhood-linked groups. Esam Omeish, DAWN’s co-founder and a board member, previously served as national president of the Muslim American Society (MAS). A legal brief from federal prosecutors stated that MAS “was founded as the overt arm of the Muslim Brotherhood in America.”
Omeish resigned from the Virginia Commission on Immigration in 2006 after a video emerged of him stating at a 2000 rally that “…the jihad way is the way to liberate your land.” He also serves as chairman of the Washington Trust Foundation, which according to Influence Watch, is allegedly connected to the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).
Board member Nihad Awad co-founded CAIR and serves as its executive director. According to DAWN's Form 990, Awad serves as Chair of DAWN's board, though the organization's website lists him only as a board member without specifying this leadership position. According to the Anti-Defamation League, some of CAIR’s current leadership had early connections to organizations allegedly affiliated with Hamas. The Investigative Project on Terrorism reported that Awad participated in a 1993 summit of U.S.-based Hamas members and supporters. In a 1994 statement, Awad said: “I am in support of the Hamas movement.”
Board member Mongi Dhaouadi, former executive director of CAIR Connecticut, posted on Facebook in 2016 that he was a “proud” member of Tunisia’s Ennahda Party, an offshoot of the international Muslim Brotherhood. A 2017 Facebook post from Ennahda Party Abroad identified Dhaouadi as “Representative of the U.S Regional Office.”
Adam Shapiro, DAWN’s director of advocacy for Israel-Palestine, co-founded the International Solidarity Movement (ISM). While ISM describes itself as committed to “nonviolent” resistance, NGO Monitor notes that its mission statement acknowledges “the Palestinian right to resist Israeli violence and occupation via legitimate armed struggle.”
Policy Coordination and Activities
According to emails obtained by the Washington Free Beacon, DAWN has coordinated with senior Biden administration officials on Israel policy. In February 2022, Shapiro emailed Pentagon officials regarding U.S. interactions with Israeli settlers. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Dana Stroul forwarded the message to State Department official Hady Amr, who confirmed they had addressed the issue.
DAWN has also focused extensively on Jordan, where it has aligned with positions held by the Islamic Action Front (IAF), the Muslim Brotherhood’s political arm in that country. According to the Middle East Forum, DAWN’s senior advisor for Jordan, Jamal Al-Tahat, has been identified by Jordanian state media as having close ties to the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan and has been photographed meeting with senior IAF figures.
This association is particularly significant given Jordan's recent actions against the Muslim Brotherhood. In April 2025, Jordan banned the Muslim Brotherhood organization, declaring it illegal and prohibiting its activities, though the IAF—which maintains it is a separate legal entity—continues to operate as a political party.
Furthermore, in November 2025, President Trump signed an executive order initiating a process to designate certain Muslim Brotherhood chapters as Foreign Terrorist Organizations. The order directs the Departments of State and Treasury to evaluate Muslim Brotherhood chapters in Lebanon, Egypt, and Jordan for potential designation as FTOs and Specially Designated Global Terrorists. Analysts widely expect this evaluation to include the IAF, given its historical and organizational ties to the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan
In October 2024, following an attack by two Jordanian citizens that wounded Israeli soldiers, DAWN published a statement that included a full translation of IAF’s description of the incident as a “heroic operation.” The attackers were identified by Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood spokesman Moath al-Khawaldeh as members of the group.
DAWN has also called for ending the U.S. military presence in Jordan, echoing IAF positions opposing the 2021 Defense Cooperation Agreement between Washington and Amman.
Funding and Transparency
DAWN’s website states that “many of DAWN’s donors remain anonymous in light of security risks associated with the work of DAWN, and the recent murder of our founder, Jamal Khashoggi.” In 2024, DAWN reported total revenue of over $1.9 million. Publicly disclosed funding includes $725,000 from the Open Society Foundations (2020-2024), $1 million from the Ford Foundation (2022-2025), and $50,000 from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund (2022-2023). Additional funding comes through donor-advised funds, whose ultimate sources are not publicly disclosed.
According to NGO Monitor, the identified funding sources account for approximately 44 percent of DAWN’s income, with the remainder from undisclosed donors.
DAWN operates as a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization, which permits greater donor privacy than 501(c)(3) organizations while allowing more extensive lobbying activities. The organization’s leadership information appears on its “Who We Are” page with professional biographies, though these do not prominently feature the organizational affiliations detailed in public records and IRS filings.