Michigan Attorney General Criticizes El-Sayed Over Comments on Antisemitism

<p>Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has intensified her criticism of the Democratic Party regarding its approach to antisemitism. She expressed concerns that the party has become increasingly hostile to Jewish Americans and noted that U.S. Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed has not retracted comments that she believes rationalized an attempted attack on a Michigan synagogue.</p><p>Nessel, a Jewish Democrat, previously announced her decision to skip the Michigan Democratic Party’s upcoming state convention due to fears of harassment. She shared her concerns during an interview on The Atlantic’s “The David Frum Show.”</p><p>“I began to perceive an enormous amount of antisemitism within the Democratic Party,” Nessel stated, attributing the increase in hostility to the events following the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel. She mentioned that she has received antisemitic death threats since taking office, noting a shift in the nature of hostility after that date.</p><p>“I would say mentally unstable people on the far Right that were threatening me or other Jews, but now it became really a both-sides situation,” she added.</p><p>The remarks come amid divisions within Michigan Democrats over El-Sayed, a left-wing Senate candidate who won the Democratic primary against Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) and is now the party’s nominee for the U.S. Senate seat.</p><p>Nessel specifically referenced El-Sayed’s response to the March 12 attempted attack on Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, a synagogue that was hosting approximately 140 children at the time. El-Sayed initially condemned the attack, stating there was “no room for antisemitism in America.” However, in a video released the following day, he connected the attempted attack to the deaths of the gunman’s relatives in U.S.-Israeli airstrikes.</p><p>“A week earlier, an airstrike killed [the gunman’s] niece and nephew,” El-Sayed said. “Imagine if that had never happened. Imagine there was no war in Iran. Imagine if there were no airstrikes in Lebanon.”</p><p>He further stated that Americans could “and must” condemn both the attack on Temple Israel and U.S. military actions abroad. Nessel argued that this framing was an unacceptable attempt to contextualize or excuse domestic terrorism.</p><p>“I don’t think we should ever be making those kinds of excuses,” Nessel remarked. “And in a way, propping up people who maybe seek to commit those crimes.”</p><p>Nessel indicated that she believes El-Sayed privately regrets his comments after discussions with Jewish elected officials and members of Michigan’s Jewish Democratic caucus. However, she expressed concern that he has not publicly retracted his statements. “He still has not withdrawn those statements and said, ‘I misspoke,’ or, ‘I now recognize the harm that I caused by making those statements,’” Nessel said, adding that this raises concerns about his stance.</p><p>Nessel also noted a perceived misunderstanding of Judaism, Israel, and the relationship between Jews and the Jewish state among some party members. “I think that’s really caused a rise in, again, they would call it anti-Zionism, but I call it antisemitism,” she stated.</p><p>Her concerns have led her to skip the upcoming state convention, which is scheduled for August 29 in Lansing, citing fears of being heckled or booed. “I feel like my presence isn’t going to be welcome,” Nessel explained. “I don’t want to get chased around. I don’t want to get harassed. I don’t want to get yelled and screamed at. I don’t want to get booed off the stage.”</p><p>El-Sayed has associated with prominent anti-Israel activists during his campaign, including leftist streamer Hasan Piker. Former Senate candidate Mallory McMorrow has also acknowledged the presence of antisemitism within the party, recalling an incident where an attendee at the Michigan Democratic Party’s convention directed an antisemitic slur at her Jewish husband.</p><p>El-Sayed has rejected claims that criticism of his Israel policies equates to antisemitism, asserting that both antisemitism and Islamophobia stem from “the scourge of white supremacy.” Nessel’s warning comes just days before Michigan Democrats are set to gather in Lansing, where she will be absent due to concerns about her reception.</p><p>“I still — I leave hope for the fact that Abdul will have heard what many of us have said about why we’re very upset about those remarks,” Nessel said. “And that he will seek to, I don’t want to say clarify, but at least to withdraw those earlier remarks.”</p><p>“He still hasn’t done it,” she added. “But I hope that we’ll hear more from him about this soon.”</p>