Michigan’s Arab American News publisher sues Mike Rogers, campaign over alleged defamation

Comments made by Republican former U.S. Senate candidate Mike Rogers and members of his campaign during the 2026 cycle are the focus of a defamation lawsuit filed by Osama Siblani, the editor of the Michigan-based Arab American News.

The lawsuit, filed Thursday in Wayne County Circuit Court, alleges that Rogers and his campaign published and disseminated false statements of fact about Siblani. The lawsuit claimed that Rogers’ campaign had falsely stated that Siblani had called on American Jews to “return to Poland,” that he justified the Hamas terrorist attacks against Israeli citizens on Oct. 7, 2023, and had defended acts of terrorism more broadly. 

Siblani’s attorneys also allege that the Rogers campaign suggested he had a “group” that provided hundreds of thousands of dollars to El-Sayed’s campaign.

Rogers and his campaign were heavily criticized during the general election cycle for using Islamophobic rhetoric in its battle for the U.S. Senate seat against El-Sayed. Rogers also platformed several right-wing influencers and journalists who had produced stories claiming El-Sayed and his family had ties to terrorist networks or sympathizers, including the Muslim Brotherhood.

Three members of Rogers’ campaign team were asked to comment on this story and the lawsuit. None responded at the time of publication. A statement from Rogers’ campaign will be added to this story when it becomes available.

Aside from Rogers and his campaign, the lawsuit also names Together for Michigan, a group created to raise money and operate as “Democrats for Mike Rogers,” and outgoing state Rep. Karen Whitsett of Detroit. Whitsett was a member of the Democratic Party but left due to differences with her caucus. She became one of Rogers’ chief ex-Democrat surrogates on the campaign trail and helped run Together for Michigan and Democrats for Mike Rogers.

Whitsett hung up on a Michigan Advance reporter twice while seeking comment for this story by phone. A text message seeking comment from Whitsett went unanswered by publication. A comment or statement from Whitsett will be added to this story when one becomes available.

Christine Fort, counsel for Together for Michigan, told the Advance that the organization has not yet seen a copy of the complaint. Fort did, however, provide a response to a retraction demand sent by Siblani’s attorney, James Allen, on Nov. 2.

Fort said the response letter “addresses all of Siblani’s baseless claims.”

“TFM declines to issue the requested retractions because the statements made in the advertisement were not defamatory — they were true,” Fort wrote. “‘[S]ubstantial truth is an absolute defense to a defamation claim.’ Alternatively, even if that were not the case, Mr. Siblani cannot come close to establishing that the statements in question were made with actual malice, which — as a public figure — he must prove for any defamation claim to lie.”

Under a standard established by the U.S. Supreme Court, public figures must show that a defamatory statement was published either with knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard for whether it was true.

According to the complaint, the controversy stemmed in part from a Washington Free Beacon article that Rogers shared on social media. The article described Siblani as, among other things, “an unapologetic supporter of Hamas and Hezbollah.”

The Free Beacon was not named as a defendant in the lawsuit but is referenced in the complaint.

Free Beacon Editor-in-Chief Eliana Johnson told the Advance in an email that the publication stands by its reporting.

“Siblani told Jewish Americans they should go back to Poland. Abdul said he was honored to have Siblani’s endorsement,” Rogers wrote in a post on X dated Oct. 27. “Abdul should disavow his endorsement and be held accountable for this hateful rhetoric that he champions. There’s no place for this in Michigan.”

Siblani told Jewish Americans they should go back to Poland. Abdul said he was  honored to have Siblani’s endorsement.

Abdul should disavow his endorsement and be held accountable for this hateful rhetoric that he champions.

There’s no place for this in Michigan. https://t.co/4yBv3cDsjl

— Mike Rogers (@MikeRogersForMI) October 27, 2026

Siblani’s comments about Poland came at a 2024 rally in which he said “And to Netanyahu who wants to bring their people to the north, we are going to take you back to Poland.” It was made following Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s statement concerning the safe return of displaced Israeli residents to northern Israel.  

The phrase ‘Go back to Poland’ has been characterized as antisemitic because it invokes the trope that Jews have no ancestral ties to Israel. CNN’s Jake Tapper made that argument when discussing Siblani’s remarks in October 2024.

Siblani’s lawsuit argues the comment was directed solely at Netanyahu, whose father was born in Poland. 

“Siblani did not demand that Jewish Americans return to Poland. His statement concerned only one individual, accused war criminal and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu specifically,” the lawsuit states.

Some of Together for Michigan’s advertising for Rogers, which included TV spots and social media posts, was also a point of contention for Siblani. 

An Oct. 29 advertisement specifically named Siblani and called him a “notorious antisemite.” The ad also repeats the comments Siblani made at the 2024 rally.

The “big tent” that includes notorious antisemite Osama Siblani, who wants to send Jews back to Poland?

No thanks, Neera. There’s no room in the Democratic tent for virulent antisemites who sound indistinguishable from KKK members.  https://t.co/luy4ODPc8P

— Democrats For Mike Rogers (@DemsForMike) October 29, 2026

James Allen, Siblani’s attorney, wrote in the complaint that the allegations made against his client were “not merely unflattering descriptions, political opinions, or protected expressions of disagreement.”

“They include purported statements of historical fact, attributed quotations, descriptions of specific conduct, and representations concerning objectively verifiable financial transactions that, if true, would violate campaign finance laws,” Allen wrote. “Defendants’ publications transformed these alleged statements and transactions into a narrative portraying Siblani as a defender of terrorists, an individual hostile to Jewish Americans as a group, and a substantial financial patron of El-Sayed — all of these allegations being demonstrably false.”

The complaint states that Siblani acknowledges the First Amendment protects “robust political criticism” even if it is offensive or unfair. But his attorney argued that the U.S. Constitution “does not immunize the knowing publication of false statements of fact merely because they are deployed in a political campaign.”

In her response to Sibani’s request for a retraction, Fort said “his personal distaste for the content of the communication or the manner in which he was portrayed is irrelevant, and does nothing to undermine the truthfulness of its claims.”

“As stated above, the advertisement made no affirmative representations regarding Mr. Siblani’s sentiment toward Jewish Americans; rather, it simply allowed Mr. Siblani’s words to speak for themselves, accompanying them with an on-screen caption,” Fort wrote. “Having now demonstrated that the allegations and arguments you’ve presented herein fail to meet the minimum requirements of a defamation claim, let alone satisfy the actual malice standard that applies here, we will consider this matter closed.”