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Last month, Sofian Abdelaziz Zakkout – founder and President of the Miami-based American Muslim Association of North America (AMANA) – once again showed his undying loyalty to Hamas. On his social media, Zakkout posted videos glorifying several of Hamas’s most notorious figures. They include the recently neutralized: Yahya Sinwar, architect of the October 7 massacre; Hamas spokesman Abu Obeida; and longtime Hamas Gaza leader Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed in a precision Israeli strike on a guesthouse in Tehran, Iran, on July 31, 2024.
Zakkout’s tributes were not simply memorials – they were endorsements of terrorists who led and celebrated mass murder. They are the latest example in a long history of posts and statements that openly champion Hamas, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization.
A Long History of Extremism
Zakkout’s record of extremism stretches back decades. As head of AMANA, which he founded in 1992, he has consistently used his platform to malign Jews and Christians and defend terror groups. His social media history includes referring to Jews as “the grandsons of monkeys and pigs” and posting a video onto social media with the message: “Spread the video to beat the fucking Jews.” In one notorious example, he circulated a report claiming that “the Holocaust was faked” and “is the biggest lie ever foisted upon humanity.”
According to the website of the now-defunct Health Resource Center for Palestine (HRCP) – a Hamas-related charity –Zakkout became its Vice President in August 2000. At the time, the Secretary and Treasurer of HRCP was Syed Khawer Ahmad, a then-web developer for Hamas, who had designed and maintained the first website for the Islamic Association, al-Jamia al-Islamiya, the Muslim Brotherhood Gaza-based parent organization of Hamas.
In July 2014, Zakkout organized a pro-Hamas rally outside the Israeli Consulate in downtown Miami. Zakkout is shown, in video footage from the rally, smiling as the crowd repeatedly shouts, “We are Hamas,” “Let’s go Hamas,” and “Hamas kicked your ass.” Above photos from the event, Zakkout wrote in Arabic, on Facebook, “Thank God, every day we conquer the American Jews like our conquests over the Jews of Israel!”
Zakkout’s online activity reads like a hall of fame for violent jihadists. He has posted tributes to Hamas founder Ahmed Yassin, Hamas bomb maker Yahya Ayyash, and even al-Qaeda mastermind Osama bin Laden, memorializing them as heroes. In August 2014, Zakkout declared, “Hamas is in my heart and on my head.”
Mainstream Rejections – but Little Consequence
Some institutions have recognized the danger Zakkout represents. In 2019, both Crime Stoppers and Citizens’ Crime Watch removed him from their boards, after this author supplied the anti-crime groups proof of his extremist activities. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) condemned AMANA for promoting “venomous” anti-Semitic propaganda featuring white supremacist icon David Duke, after this author provided the ADL with the details. And this author stopped Zakkout from becoming a chaplain for the Miami-Dade Police Department.
Despite being exposed as a purveyor of violent hatred aimed at Jews and others, Zakkout’s nonprofit AMANA operates without restraint, and he remains active online. His social media posts glorifying terrorists – including the posts from last month – continue to spread unchecked. The reality is that neither Zakkout nor his organization have paid a meaningful price for decades of promoting terror and antisemitism.
September 2025: Glorifying Hamas Leaders
The posts Zakkout made in September 2025 show just how current and consistent his allegiance remains. By glorifying Yahya Sinwar, he is praising the man who orchestrated the October 7, 2023 massacre, when 1,200 Israelis were slaughtered and hundreds were kidnapped. To celebrate Sinwar is to endorse the murder, torture, rape, and beheading of civilians, including women, children, and elderly Holocaust survivors.
His tribute to Abu Obeida, the masked spokesman for Hamas’s Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, lends legitimacy to Hamas’s ongoing campaign of terror. Obeida is the face of Hamas propaganda – a (former) voice used to rally militants and threaten Israel. By amplifying his message, Zakkout is acting as an online echo chamber for a terrorist organization.
Finally, his admiration for Ismail Haniyeh, following Haniyeh’s death in Tehran, demonstrates that Zakkout views Hamas’s political leadership as worthy of praise. Haniyeh oversaw Hamas’s operations in Gaza and abroad for years, and his legacy is one of extreme bloodshed. For Zakkout, however, Haniyeh is a martyr and role model.
Together, these honors prove that Zakkout’s fanaticism is not merely in the past. It is active, current, and public.
Conclusion
Though some dismiss Zakkout as a fringe voice, his impact is real: His repeated praise of Hamas leaders normalizes their message; his nonprofit AMANA gives him a false appearance of legitimacy; and his ongoing activity shows how extremist propaganda can spread online with little challenge.
Sofian Abdelaziz Zakkout’s September 2025 posts praising Yahya Sinwar, Abu Obeida, and Ismail Haniyeh are not isolated events. They are the latest evidence in a decades-long record of Hamas advocacy, antisemitism, and extremist propaganda. Civic groups have condemned Zakkout. Institutions have distanced themselves from him. Yet he continues to market terrorism with impunity.
If Islamic extremism is to be taken seriously, Zakkout’s case cannot be ignored. His decades-long allegiance to Hamas – reaffirmed last month – is a stark reminder of the threat posed by unchallenged propaganda.
Beila Rabinowitz, Director of Militant Islam Monitor, contributed to this report.