Jewish Dems Split From El-Sayed Over Islamic Terrorism Concerns

Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed’s refusal to condemn Islamic terrorism and opposition toward Israel were described by Jewish organizations and Democrats as “outrageous,” “offensive,” and part of a “profoundly worrying trend,” the Jewish Insider reported.

Previously, El-Sayed refused to condemn the death of former Islamic Republic of Iran Ayatollah Ali Khamenei because it could “upset” some of his voters, and instead pointed to the death of American soldiers when pressed on it by CNN.

Regimes like the one of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and its proxy militias such as Hamas and Hezbollah, have decisively made it a priority to carry out the mass execution of Jews across the globe.

Article 7 of the Hamas charter says, “The Day of Judgment will not come about until Muslims fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jews will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Moslems, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him. Only the Gharkad tree (evidently a certain kind of tree) would not do that because it is one of the trees of the Jews.” (related by al-Bukhari and Moslem).”

In 2011, El-Sayed wrote an op-ed pledging support for the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. Earlier this year, he equated a terrorist attack on a Jewish synagogue in Michigan with the killings of Hezbollah terrorists overseas.

El-Sayed did not respond to the Daily Signal’s request for comment.

Dem Leadership Dismisses the Claim

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., told the Daily Signal that these concerns are a political attempt to stop the Democratic Party from holding a senate seat.

“They’re doing that because they don’t want people to realize that he’s talking about the issues that people are talking about on the ground,” the former Senate pro-tempore said.

Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., refused to elaborate on her claim.

Jewish Org’s Warning to Voters

However, despite Murray’s assertion, there appears to be a real concern from Jewish communities behind the rhetoric platformed by El-Sayed.

As noted by the Jewish Insider, Michigan Regional Director of the Anti-Defamation League, Elyssa Schmier, stated that “Jews across Michigan and the country are alarmed by the rhetoric that defined this race and its implications for the future of political norms in our country.”

Schmier criticized comments El-Sayed made on the campaign trail and said that “anyone seeking public office should know better than to normalize antisemitic tropes.”

Anti-Defamation League CEO, Jonathan Greenblatt, echoed the claim.

“Throughout the campaign, ADL has called out nominee Abdul El-Sayed for peddling in antisemitic tropes … or for campaigning with notorious bigot Hasan Piker,” Greenblatt said in a video statement. “Campaign trail rhetoric and actions send clear signals about what a person believes and what a political party thinks is permissible.”

“We are not going to stop, and we will keep calling on political leaders and candidates from both parties to reject antisemitism and to commit to combating it whenever and wherever it occurs,” he added.

The Democratic Majority for Israel also criticized El-Sayed after a Wednesday interview in which he referred to the Israeli government as “bloodthirsty.” The group demanded that El-Sayed retract the remark and apologize, as they described the language as inflammatory.

Similarly, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, known as AIPAC, which backed El-Sayed’s primary opponent, Haley Stevens, indicated it plans to remain engaged in the Michigan Senate race through November.

“Our members remain determined to ensure that voters reject Dr. El-Sayed and his radical anti-Israel agenda in November,” AIPAC spokesman Deryn Sousa said.

In a letter to members of Congress, AIPAC President Bernie Kaminetsky described the candidates nomination as part of a larger problem within the Democratic Party.

“In Abdul El-Sayed, a fiercely anti-Israel candidate has emerged as the Democratic nominee,” the letter reads. “His statements about Israel, AIPAC, and the Jewish community are outrageous and offensive, and his ascent is part of a much larger, profoundly worrying trend we are closely tracking.”

“This narrow loss stings, but [Stevens’] defeat doesn’t change our principled opposition to the dangerous policies El-Sayed wants to bring to the U.S. Senate,” the letter continued.

The American Jewish Committee issued a similar statement, which condemned El-Sayed’s victory as “a deeply troubling reflection of the growing mainstreaming of divisive rhetoric and exclusionary politics in America.”

The group added it feared what it characterized as El-Sayed’s tendency to delegitimize those who share a different point of view.

“We are concerned by El-Sayed’s framing of American politics as a zero-sum game that too often casts those who disagree as the enemy,” the organization said. “[That is] fundamentally at odds with the principles of civility, pluralism, and robust democratic debate that are central to our democracy.”

The American Jewish Committee also criticized El-Sayed’s past comments about Israel and its supporters and urged voters to reject divisive rhetoric from candidates of either party.

In a separate statement, American Jewish Committee CEO Ted Deutch said leaders who view political opponents as personal enemies only harm the communities they represent.

El-Sayed faces Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., in the November general election.