U.S. Rep. Summer Lee, D-Swissvale, has canceled a speech at an upcoming fundraiser hosted by a national Muslim advocacy group amid mounting criticism over her participation.

Lee, a freshman House member and progressive, was scheduled to speak this weekend at the annual state banquet for the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ Philadelphia chapter.

As of midday Tuesday, Lee was still listed on the banquet website as scheduled to give “special remarks” before the keynote speech.

Lee’s participation in the March 2 dinner event at a country club outside Philadelphia had drawn recent criticism, first from her political opponents and then from Jewish state lawmakers like state Rep. Dan Frankel, D-Squirrel Hill, and Gov. Josh Shapiro.

Critics condemned the council’s executive director, Nihad Awad, for statements surrounding the Israel/Hamas war, as well other the scheduled speakers, including Islamic scholar Yasir Fahmy and his controversial stance on LGBTQ+ issues.

The council’s Philadelphia chapter defended the banquet and said the criticism is mischaracterizing the speakers’ stances.

Lee said through a spokesperson that she learned about Awad’s and Fahmy’s comments from a news report on Monday.

She said that she does not condone or endorse their past statements or any others from the event’s scheduled list of speakers, who include a standup comedian and a former University of Pennsylvania basketball player.

Lee said the goal of attending was to join other elected officials and support Muslims against the rising tide of anti-Muslim sentiment since the war broke out.

“I have and continue to condemn antisemitism, Islamophobia, homophobia, and transphobia everywhere it arises,” Lee said in a statement Tuesday. ‘“To prevent the Muslim community from being the target of any more politically motivated Islamophobia and to ensure my Jewish and LGBTQ+ constituents know their concerns are heard, I will not be attending this event any longer.”

Jewish Insider, a Jewish publication that covers politics, reported Monday about Lee’s inclusion in the event, highlighting statements from other scheduled speakers that have drawn ire.

Several weeks after the deadly attack on Israel by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, Awad said that he was “happy to see people breaking the siege and throwing down the shackles of their own land and walk free into their land that they were not allowed to walk in.”

The White House condemned those comments as antisemitic.

A welcome message online from the banquet’s executive committee chairwoman described the difficulties over the past several months of continuing to “watch our brothers and sisters in Palestine suffer unimaginable violence and trauma inflicted upon them by the Israeli government.”

Gaza’s health ministry has put the death toll from Israel’s assault at more than 29,000.

Hamas has killed more than 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians, and took about 250 of them hostage at the start of the war. Roughly 130 hostages remain in Gaza, but Israel says about a quarter of them are dead.

Fahmy, a well-known Islamic scholar, said in a June 2022 lecture that gay and transgender people have a “destructive” lifestyle.

Lee is one the nation’s most progressive lawmakers and has built strong allies with LGBTQ+ groups, environmental advocates and civil rights organizations.

Since the outbreak of the Israel/Hamas war she has called for sympathy for Palestinians, criticized actions taken by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and boosted her support of local Jewish groups.

Lee was one of the first lawmakers to call for a ceasefire in the Israel/Hamas war. She has also condemned Hamas and called for the group to return Israeli hostages.

Criticism of Lee’s inclusion in the event began with her Democratic opponent in the upcoming primary election, Edgewood Councilwoman Bhavini Patel.

Last week, Patel called on Lee to return campaign donations she had received from Awad.

“Taking money from anti-Semites who celebrate terrorist attacks and encourage their followers to monitor synagogues is abhorrent behavior from the elected official who purports to represent the Tree of Life community in Congress,” Patel said, referring to the Squirrel Hill synagogue where 11 people from three congregations were killed in 2018 in the worst antisemitic attack in U.S. history.

Some local Republicans followed suit Monday.

Congressional candidate James Hayes, who is seeking to unseat Lee, called Lee’s inclusion in the event hypocritical given her progressive politics. U.S. Senate candidate David McCormick called on Lee to resign because of her involvement with the event.

Later Monday, Frankel said he was disappointed to learn that Lee was scheduled to speak and he urged Lee to reconsider her decision to participate. Frankel represents a large Jewish community in Squirrel Hill, and is the co-chairman of the Jewish Legislative Caucus in Harrisburg.

As Co-Chair of the Jewish Legislative Caucus and the rep of a Jewish community, I’m disappointed to hear that Rep. Lee will be speaking Sat. alongside individuals who have made antisemitic comments and praised the October 7th attack. I urge her to reconsider her decision. pic.twitter.com/qUSZJj3maw

— State Rep. Dan Frankel (@RepDanFrankel) February 26, 2024

Manuel Bonder, a spokesman for Shapiro, said Tuesday when asked about the event that the governor believes there is no place in Pennsylvania for religious intolerance, whether antisemitism or Islamophobia.

“This hateful, antisemitic rhetoric cannot be tolerated — and it should be condemned, not elevated by our political leaders,” Bonder said.

In a December statement, Awad said that his comments were being taken out of context, and that he was referring to “Ukrainians, Palestinians, and other occupied people.” He said those people have a right to defend themselves and escape occupation, but targeting civilians is never acceptable.

The national CAIR group responded by reaffirming its history of combating antisemitism.

In a December letter, the group wrote that it opposes “all forms of bigoted hate, including antisemitism, and we oppose all forms of unjust violence against any community, including the Jewish community.”

Ahmet Selim Tekelioglu, CAIR-Philadelphia executive director, said Monday that critics were mischaracterizing the fundraiser and called Patel and others disingenuous.

“Media pieces that take our leaders’ and speakers’ comments out of context are being exploited by ill-intentioned circles,” Tekelioglu said Monday. “These attacks are not new to us, but we speak here to inform those who may fall victim to such hateful campaigns.”

Tekelioglu did not immediately return a call requesting comment on Lee’s cancellation.

Lee has been a consistent target of pro-Israel and conservative groups during her political career.

In 2022, the pro-Israel group American Israel Public Affairs Committee spent millions of dollars in negative attack ads in attempt to defeat Lee. The group is signaling it will do the same this year.

It donates to Democrat and Republican campaigns, but it has come under fire over the years from liberals for its endorsements and donations to lawmakers who supported the Jan. 6 insurrection on the U.S. Capitol.

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