NYC Council Members Sponsor Event Featuring Speaker Married to Hamas Official's Daughter
NYC Council Members sponsor a March 26 policy event featuring Georgetown postdoc married to daughter of senior Hamas official
New York City will host a public policy discussion on March 26, 2026, titled "Islamophobia in New York City: A Policy Perspective," co-sponsored by City Council Members Shahana Hanif and Shekar Krishnan. Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Jim Walden for the Eastern District of New York pointed attention to the event in an X post, highlighting a concerning speaker lineup.
Among the featured speakers is Badar Khan Suri, a postdoctoral fellow at Georgetown University who is married to Saleh Ahmed Yousef, daughter of Ahmed Yousef, a senior Hamas official in Gaza and longtime adviser to former Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.
The event will also feature pro-Palestine activist Mahmoud Khalil. The event is organized by Emgage, Muslim Community Network, Muslims for Progressive Values, Equitas Forum USA, and Hindus for Human Rights, with Heba Khalil, New York State Director of Emgage, listed as a featured speaker.
Badar Khan Suri: Georgetown Scholar and Family Ties to Hamas Official
Badar Khan Suri’s position at Georgetown University’s Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding has drawn scrutiny due to his family connections. According to research by the Middle East Forum think tank, Suri is married to Saleh Ahmed Yousef, whose father Ahmed Yousef served as a senior Hamas official in Gaza and longtime adviser to Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.
Ahmed Yousef founded the United Association for Studies and Research (UASR), a Washington-based entity that operated from 1989 to 2004. Watchdog groups and analysts have described UASR as a Hamas-affiliated entity or as a front for Hamas-linked activity in the United States.
Suri’s Social Media Record on Hamas and October 7
While holding a position at a prestigious American university, Suri has maintained a pattern of social media posts defending Hamas and spreading antisemitic content. In a post denying the documented atrocities of October 7, 2023, Suri stated on Facebook: “Three lies by Israeli occupation, no proof whatsoever of babies beheaded, rapes or mass killings at carnival.”
Suri posted further content legitimizing Hamas’s armed operations, stating that Palestine’s elected government “must sustain its resistance”—language critics have described as a euphemism for terrorism. In another post, he shared a video of Hamas terrorists holding Israeli child hostages on October 7 and captioned it, “This is how Hamas men dealt with kids on Oct. 7,” in a post critics say appeared to sanitize Hamas’s hostage-taking rather than condemn it.
Additionally, Suri posted content expressing support for Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, saying, “This is what Hamas argues. Sheikh Yaseen giving the reasons why his group is fighting for their land which was stolen,” again functioning to normalize and legitimize the terrorist organization’s foundational ideology.
The Middle East Forum documented these social media posts as part of a broader pattern of Suri actively spreading Hamas propaganda and promoting what researchers characterized as “virulent antisemitism“ on social platforms. These allegations preceded Suri’s detention by federal immigration authorities in March 2025. He was later released, but his immigration case remained ongoing.
Emgage’s Alleged Muslim Brotherhood Links
Emgage, a primary event organizer, describes itself as a civil society organization focused on Muslim American civic engagement and policy advocacy. The organization has faced scrutiny for alleged ties to individuals and entities linked to the Muslim Brotherhood network.
The International Institute for Strategic Studies (ISGAP), a watchdog group, documented in its report The Muslim Brotherhood’s Strategic Entryism Into the United States: A Systemic Analysis that Emgage maintains known ties to individuals previously linked to Brotherhood-aligned entities and included organizations named as unindicted co-conspirators in the 2007 Holy Land Foundation trial—a significant federal case that prosecuted Hamas financing networks in the United States.
Event Details and Official Documentation
According to Walden, an invitation email sent March 25, 2026, by Husein Yatabarry, Executive Director of Muslim Community Network, confirmed the event logistics and speaker lineup. The email, sent to New York City Council members and staff, announced the policy briefing scheduled for Thursday, March 26, from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM at 250 Broadway, 8th Floor. The invitation specifically listed featured speakers as “Rana Abdelhamid and other amazing guest speakers: Asad Dandia, Mahmoud Khalil, Badar Khan Suri, and Baher Azmy.” The email further thanked City Council Members Hanif and Krishnan for sponsoring the event.
Event Sponsorship and Political Context
The March 26 event’s sponsorship by New York City Council Members Hanif and Krishnan places municipal government actors behind a platform that will feature an academic (Suri) employed by an institution now subject to accountability discussions regarding his family ties to a former Hamas official and his documented social media advocacy for the organization.