Emgage Foundation

Voter Mobilization Activities

While the Emgage Foundation was founded in 2008, it became more active during the Trump administration, especially after the administration restricted immigration from certain Muslim-majority countries in 2017. In the 2018 mid-term elections, Emgage was involved in voter education and mobilization efforts such as candidate forums, registration drives, and distributing the results of candidates’ surveys in states such as Michigan, Florida, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, where there are sizeable Muslim communities. The group also supported the campaigns of now-U.S. Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) and Ilhan Omar (D-MN), the first female Muslims elected to Congress, as well as non-Muslim left-wing candidates such as then-Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum (D), who lost a race for Florida governor that year. ³

After the 2018 elections, Emgage released the results of voter analysis claiming that it had contacted more than 130,000 Muslim voters in the states of Florida, Michigan, Ohio, and Virginia. Its analysis showed that turnout among Muslim voters in those states jumped 25 percent from 2014, as compared to a 14 percent increase in voter turnout generally. The CEO of Emgage, Wa’el Alzayat, claimed that “Had Muslims voted in 2016 at the rate that they voted in 2018, most likely [Michigan] would not have gone to Trump” in the 2016 Presidential election. ⁴

Emgage stated its intention to increase its Muslim voter mobilization efforts in several states in the 2020 election cycle, along with direct candidate support of both Muslim and non-Muslim candidates through Emgage PAC, which recruited Muslim candidates for state and federal office. ⁵ The group had state directors in Florida, Michigan, Texas, Pennsylvania, and Virginia to direct voter mobilization efforts in 2020. ⁶

The group is part of Field Team 6, a coalition of lobbying and state election advocacy organizations working towards registering more Democrat voters within key swing states and counties before the 2022 Midterm Elections. ⁷

Other Political Activities

In the run-up to the 2018 mid-term elections, the Emgage Foundation was involved in efforts to enact changes to the laws governing the redrawing of Congressional district lines in Michigan. ⁸ Ultimately, Emgage and other advocacy groups were successful in passing Proposal 2, a ballot measure transferring control of the redistricting process from the Michigan state legislature to “independent citizens’ commissions.” ⁹

Emgage opposed the 2018 nomination of CIA director and former Kansas Congressman Michael Pompeo to be U.S. Secretary of State. Alzayat told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that Pompeo “has a disturbingly high level of ease in vilifying Muslims.” ¹⁰

In 2019, Emgage called on the U.S. Olympic Committee to boycott the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing over the Chinese government’s mass detention of Uighur Muslims in western China, calling the detention program a “campaign of ethnic genocide.” ¹¹

In 2020, Emgage criticized then-President Donald Trump for re-tweeting a doctored photograph of then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY). The manipulated photograph purported to show the two in traditional Arab dress, standing in front the of Iranian flag and criticized Democratic leaders for opposing the targeted killing of Iranian Quds Force leader Qasem Soleimani. ¹²

According to visitor logs reported by the Washington Examiner, representatives or staff from Emgage have visited the White House roughly sixty times between 2021 and 2024. In particular, the group’s CEO Wa’el Alzayat, a former Obama State Department official, has visited roughly 24 times during that period of time: this includes an October 26, 2023 meeting with President Joe Biden and five others in the Roosevelt Room as well as a one-on-one meeting on February 2, 2024 with Middle East National Security Council coordinator Brett McGurk. In addition to Alzayat, the group’s deputy director and national legislative director Iman Awad has visited the Biden White House at least eleven times while Emgage senior advisor and former Biden 2020 presidential campaign staffer Salima Suswell has visited at least six times (she met with Biden and five others in the White House’s East Wing). Other Emgage staff that have visited the Biden White House include policy analyst Hanna Dasoo, organizing director Mohamed Gula, Florida state organizer Zakir Shareef, Texas state policy associate Niloufar Hafizi, and senior adviser Debbie Almontaser. ¹³

2020 Election

During the 2020 presidential election campaign, Emgage Foundation’s advocacy arm, Emgage Action, hosted the “Million Muslim Votes Summit,” an online event that featured then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden addressing the group, “pledging Muslim representation in his administration and efforts to combat ‘an unconscionable rise in Islamophobia.’” ¹⁴

Emgage Action initially endorsed U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) in the 2020 Democratic primaries and later endorsed Biden once he became the presumptive Democratic nominee. Emgage also organized a pro-Biden letter that was signed on to by several notable Muslim-American leaders including U.S. Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Andre Carson (D-IN), and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison (D). ¹⁴

Emgage CEO Wa’el Alzayat told the Associated Press that “a lot is at stake” in the 2020 elections, further stating that “The importance of Muslim American voter participation this upcoming election cycle is greater than it has ever been…Biden’s presence serves not only to galvanize Muslim Americans to cast their ballot,” but also “to usher in an era of engaging with Muslim American communities” post-Trump administration. ¹⁴

Criticism from the Far-Left

Emgage has received criticism from far-left, anti-Israel Muslim activists, who criticized the organization for working with American Jewish and pro-Israel organizations. A 2020 open letter called on “Muslim leaders to drop Emgage.” The letter signed by several activists stated that the group “has repeatedly disregarded the legitimate interests of Muslim communities” through its work groups that have expressed support for Israel and Jewish communities and were branded by the activists as “Zionist” organizations. ¹⁵

The group previously called for Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign to fire Emgage board member Farooq Mitha, who worked as the campaign’s Muslim engagement advisor. ¹⁵

Israel-Hamas War

Following the 2023 attacks on Israel by the Hamas terrorist group, Emgage participated in a variety of activities and meeting with the Biden administration to urge the administration to “counter islamophobia” in the United States. The group released a statement in in November 2023 stating that “The war on Palestinians has unleashed a new round of anti-Arab and anti-Muslim bigotry here at home that led to the tragic murder of six-year-old Wadea Al-Fayoume in Illinois.” ¹⁶

Following the initial attacks by Hamas in October 2023, the group failed to directly condemn the terrorist group, instead stating that “Our common goal is peace and safety for all. To achieve this, we must address the issue at its root and end the occupation that has oppressed millions of Palestinians for decades. Palestinians in Gaza have endured Israel’s brutal siege for over 15 years. Israel’s repeated large-scale military attacks on Gaza have taken thousands of Palestinian civilian lives, including hundreds of children.” ¹⁷

Emgage CEO Wa’el Alzayat was among a group of Muslim leaders who met with President Biden at the White House. The group told Biden that “his embrace of Israel after the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks was seen by many as permission for Israel’s bombing in Gaza.” And that “the president’s statement casting doubt on the death toll among Palestinians was insulting.” The main purpose of the meeting was to get President Biden to pledge to support a ceasefire, which they failed to secure. ¹⁸

Alzayat stated that President Biden was empathetic towards the group, stating that “He listened, he did show empathy and he promised to do better, particularly on humanizing Palestinians.” ¹⁸

People

Wa’el Alzayat is the chief executive officer of the Emgage Foundation. He served for ten years as a policy advisor in the U.S. Department of State, including as senior policy advisor to Obama administration U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power and Syria Outreach Coordinator. He also also served as a Provincial Affairs Officer for Anbar, Iraq at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad from 2007 to 2008. Alzayat is an adjunct professor at the Georgetown School of Foreign Service. ¹⁹