A political action committee supporting New York City mayoral frontrunner Zohran Mamdani has ties to a New Jersey-based Palestinian organization connected to a terror group involved in the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
The PAC, We the People, America For All, has spent over $36,000 on video billboard ads promoting Mamdani’s proposal to make city bus fares free, city campaign finance records show.
The PAC lists its top donor as The Truth Project, led by New Jersey attorney Abed Awad. Awad is a longtime leader and funder of the Palestinian-American Community Center in Clifton and serves as treasurer for the PAC.
The Palestinian-American Community Center came under scrutiny after its annual conference in April featured a livestream by Wisam Rafeedie, a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a Syria-based left-wing terrorist group.
The PFLP was involved in the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel and has a history of airplane hijackings and attacks on civilians, including the 1972 slaughter of Puerto Rican Christians at an Israeli airport.
The center has also promoted Rafeedie’s book and hosted figures from Samidoun, identified by the U.S., Canada, Germany, and Israel as a PFLP front, as the New York Post reported.
Network Contagion Research Center analysts warned that PAC ads emphasizing Mamdani’s free-bus proposal may reflect an entryist strategy, allowing fringe groups to gain legitimacy by adopting popular, non-controversial issues.
Alex Goldenberg, senior advisor at NCRI, said the ads attempt to infiltrate mainstream politics without reflecting the organizations’ true mission.
The PAC also has ties to the “Uncommitted” movement that split the Democratic Party in 2024. Awad worked with the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee on the campaign, discouraging Arab-Americans from backing Joe Biden and Kamala Harris over their Israel stance.
Awad’s son, Ahmad, was an Uncommitted delegate at the Democratic National Convention and among The Truth Project’s founding trustees.
The Truth Project’s co-founder, D.C. consultant Mohammed “Mo” Maraqa, led digital strategy for the Anti-Discrimination Committee during the 2024 election cycle.
Democrats have blamed the Uncommitted campaign for contributing to Harris losing states like Michigan to President Trump.
The PAC has not disclosed the source of its pro-Mamdani ad funds beyond flow through The Truth Project and Maraqa’s Molitico Consulting. Officials say the amounts spent have not yet triggered mandatory disclosure.
Maraqa denied any personal links to the PFLP or its affiliates, stating he has never been associated with terrorist groups involved in the October 7th attacks or any other civilian-targeted attacks.
Awad insisted the PAC follows all city and state regulations and maintains that The Truth Project, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, and the Palestinian-American Community Center have no financial or governance role in We the People, America for All.
The PAC continues to push Mamdani’s mayoral messaging amid scrutiny over its ties, raising questions about the influence of organizations with connections to terror-linked groups in local politics.
