Hamas on wheels: What I found in Dearborn reveals a troubling history and a battle over Israel

Call it hell on wheels.

I’ve covered politics for decades, but what I encountered on the streets of Dearborn, Michigan, was something else entirely. I’ve never seen anything like it.

What I witnessed was a massive, customized GMC pickup truck covered in Palestinian flags, anti-Israel slogans and one particularly disturbing word in giant red letters: “HAMAS.”

Yes, Hamas. The U.S.-designated terrorist organization responsible for the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre in Israel.

This wasn’t your everyday political bumper sticker. The truck featured oversized red-and-chrome wheels, a black-and-white keffiyeh-style wrap and Palestinian flags flying above the cab.

On the back, one decal declared “ZIONISM IS NOT JUDAISM.” Another proclaimed “ISRAEL’S WORST NIGHTMARE.”

And mounted directly beneath the front grille was a decorative plate reading “STATE OF PALESTINE – HAMAS.”

You can’t make this stuff up. But then came the political twist.

When we spoke with the man behind this rolling political antisemitic billboard, he told us he supports Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic candidate facing Republican Mike Rogers in Michigan’s high-stakes U.S. Senate race. That tracks. Our video of the encounter generated more than 300,000 views on 𝕏.

Now, one man’s provocative, hate-filled truck doesn’t represent every El-Sayed supporter, and there’s no evidence connecting his Hamas-themed display to El-Sayed’s campaign.

🚨 LOOK WHAT WE FOUND WHEN WE WENT TO DEARBORN, MICHIGAN: THE HAMAS TRUCK! It proudly displays “HAMAS” on its license plate. Palestinian flags flying. Anti-Israel messages plastered everywhere. We spoke to the owner. Guess who he says he supports for U.S. Senate? Yep- you guessed it: ABDUL EL-SAYED. Watch his radical comments about El-Sayed, Jews and Hitler here. A Full Report on the Michigan Senate Race coming Wednesday on The 700 Club. @700club @CBNNews #Hamas #Israel

— David Brody (@DBrodyReports) October 19, 2026

Still, the encounter raises questions about the extreme rhetoric surrounding the Israel debate, especially in a city with a documented history of controversies and federal investigations involving terrorist organizations.

And that history deserves a closer look.

The Hamas-themed truck isn’t the first time Dearborn has attracted national attention involving Middle Eastern terrorist organizations. Let’s remember, for all intents and purposes, it is a Muslim-majority city in America, the largest one, actually.

Federal records document several cases involving Hezbollah, the Iran-backed terrorist organization based in Lebanon. In 2007, the U.S. Treasury Department designated the Dearborn-based Goodwill Charitable Organization as part of Hezbollah’s financial support network. Officials said the organization was operating as a fundraising front for the terrorist group.

That same year, former Dearborn resident Fawzi Assi pleaded guilty to providing material support to Hezbollah after attempting to supply the organization with night-vision equipment and other technology.

In 2017, federal prosecutors charged Dearborn resident Samer El Debek with participating in activities for Hezbollah’s overseas terrorist operations, including alleged surveillance and explosives-related work.

Then came something much more recent and frightening.

On March 12, 2026, an attacker rammed a pickup truck into Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, a heavily Jewish area about 30 minutes away from Dearborn. Children and staff were present. The attacker, Ayman Ghazali, lived in Dearborn Heights.

Following its investigation, the FBI determined the assault was a Hezbollah-inspired terrorist attack deliberately targeting Michigan’s Jewish community.

Investigators found that Ghazali had consumed Hezbollah-related propaganda and prepared for violence. The episode sent shock waves through Michigan’s Jewish community.

And it wasn’t the only recent controversy.

Following the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre, some demonstrations and statements in Dearborn drew accusations of glorifying terrorist organizations.

In April 2024, demonstrators were recorded chanting “Death to America” and “Death to Israel.” Those chants were condemned by Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud and other community leaders.

To be clear, these incidents don’t mean Dearborn’s Arab American or Muslim residents collectively support terrorism. Many have condemned that rhetoric. But the documented history provides context for why a truck openly displaying the Hamas name shows up in Dearborn.

Another message on that vehicle is worth examining. One of the truck’s most prominent slogans declares “ZIONISM IS NOT JUDAISM.”

It’s a phrase frequently heard in anti-Zionist and antisemitic circles. The meaning deserves some explanation.

Their argument goes as follows: it distinguishes Judaism, an ancient religion and peoplehood, from Zionism, the modern movement supporting Jewish national self-determination in their historic homeland.

At its core, the Hamas Truck driver and others who believe as he does see Judaism as a religion and an identity and Zionism as a political movement. Therefore, they are not the same thing.

They point out that historically, Political Zionism emerged in the nineteenth century, while Judaism dates back thousands of years.

But for many evangelical Christians, the Jewish connection to Israel isn’t simply a modern political philosophy. It’s rooted in the Bible.

In short, Zionism means that Israel has a right to exist as a Jewish nation in its biblical and ancestral homeland.

In Genesis 12, God promises to bless Abraham and those who bless him. In Genesis 17, God establishes an everlasting covenant with Abraham and his descendants, including a promise concerning the land of Canaan. For proud Christian Zionists, that’s foundational.

They believe the Jewish people’s relationship with the land began thousands of years before the modern State of Israel was established in 1948.

The New Testament offers another crucial passage. In Romans 11, the Apostle Paul asks whether God has rejected the Jewish people. His answer? “By no means!” Paul also declares that God’s gifts and calling are irrevocable.

Many evangelicals interpret these passages as evidence that God has not abandoned His covenant with Israel or replaced the Jewish people with the Christian Church.

A Pew Research Center survey found that 70% of white evangelical Protestants believed God gave the land that is now Israel to the Jewish people.

For these believers, the issue is theological, not merely political. However, my guess is there’s no convincing that Hamas truck driver in Dearborn of that. At this point, the best thing for him is a lot of prayer and a changed life.