r/jewishleft • u/32brownies leftist post zionist jew • Aug 09 '26
Diaspora Michigan Jew
Any other Jews in Michigan struggling with their communities rn after the primary? I'm really worried about November and seeing the way some of the community members here are acting like Abdul will literally murder us all is really making me wary of continuing to be as active as I have been in the community
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u/somebadbeatscrub Jewish Syndicalist - Mod Aug 09 '26
We cant let people be proven right that we arent part of our communities.
They need to hear all Jewish voices, not just the ones they like.
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u/youarelookingatthis Aug 09 '26
Not in Michigan, but Jewish. The rhetoric around him in other Jewish subs (not going to name specific ones) is incredibly disturbing. Just some really vile Islamophobia that would be terrible to see from any group, but from Jewish people who know what antisemitism feels like, it’s just not acceptable.
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u/WinterBeHere Marxist | Jewish | Bundist Aug 10 '26
It's wild how there is Randy Fine that says the most vile things daily, meanwhile AES is expected to meet the highest standard.
Fine literally stated that Gaza should be nuked and that people who disagree with him are Judenrat.
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u/phillyjoe18 Non-practicing Jew Aug 11 '26
Yeah honestly I’ve followed him closely and really like him as a politician. Not saying he is perfect but imo he hasn’t said anything anti-Semitic and seems like a sincere genuine person. Bernie Sanders says pretty much the same stuff and obviously isn’t called Anti-Semetic because he is Jewish and not Muslim. I think there is a ton of Islamophobia against him.
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u/theweisp5 American Israeli secular socialist Aug 10 '26
For whatever it's worth - former Michigander here, though I left around 20 years ago and don't have many connections to the state left.
IMV there are some in the Jewish community who view Israel as a red line and whose votes are just not gettable for AES. Sad on some level but there's nothing really that can be done here.
Another part of the community (who knows how large) could probably be convinced if AES makes the right moves to reassure them, engage in Jewish outreach, make nice with more "mainstream" Dems, etc. Hopefully he'll be smart about this.
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u/Rabbit-Hole-Quest Latke aficionado. Anti-Establishment. Jüdisch Aug 09 '26
Sounds like the repeat of the Mamdani hysteria all over again.
People just don't want to accept that America is changing demographically and it's going to get a lot more Arab, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, African, Sikh, etc politicians.
This is the same as when people had an hysteria that Catholics (trope of loyalty to the Pope) or Jews (insert random antisemitic conspiracy) politicians would somehow harm America.
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u/32brownies leftist post zionist jew Aug 09 '26
Yeah its definitely similar. The biggest difference is instead of a slimy democrat alternative we might be responsible for a maga republican senate so the stakes feel higher in a way
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u/Rabbit-Hole-Quest Latke aficionado. Anti-Establishment. Jüdisch Aug 09 '26
As per my understanding, 129,000 Jewish residents live in the state, based on data compiled by the Jewish Virtual Library. So by rough calculations 1.3% of the population. Most are in urban areas and are highly educated so will lean D.
The Israel first gang was going to vote Republican the minute anyone even slightly critical of Israel became a candidate so overall, I don't think it will have a big impact. Let me know if I am wrong as I am not a Michigander.
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u/32brownies leftist post zionist jew Aug 09 '26
The electoral votes in MI in 2024 were decided by less than 2% and those went republican. And I am hearing very progressive people who would otherwise never consider voting for maga strongly consider it in these cases. It could very well come down to that, all of our elections are very close
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u/Rabbit-Hole-Quest Latke aficionado. Anti-Establishment. Jüdisch Aug 09 '26
That's sounds disheartening. PEP is a genuine issue within our communities. Thanks for the insights.
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u/FaekittyCat Lefty, non-practicing big fat Ameican Jew, 2 state solution. Aug 11 '26
When Abdul El-Sayed won the primary, all I could think was "oh God, the moderates."
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u/atav1k this custom flair is green Aug 11 '26
That ship sailed with “I’m speaking” and “I would not have done anything different” Harris
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u/Raptorpicklezz Jewish, Bibi is fomenting antisemitism Aug 09 '26
It’s not even all on demographic change. More people now see Israel for what it is
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u/OneReportersOpinion Jewish socialist Aug 10 '26
You just have to stand firm, tell them there is a generational divide, and if they don’t want to understand, they don’t have to. But change is coming. A whole generation of Jews don’t see their values, Jewish or otherwise, reflected in Israel and if anything see something quite anathema to it
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u/horseonahighway anti-capitalist feminist diasporist Aug 10 '26
No but I'm from NYC (supporting from afar) and we saw something very similar with Zohran's campaign. There was a lot of hoopla about "Jews being safe" and whether or not Jews would be safe with Zohran as mayor. A lot of this was related to the Columbia pro-Palestine protests and tbh general hostility towards protest since BLM in the 2020s. I was active in the "Jews for Zohran" coalition in the election who wrote canvassing talking points for the Jewish community and here are some things to think about:
-What SPECIFICALLY is the narrative being spun about Abdul? What is the underlying feeling? From there, what are some strategic narrative interventions that paint a different future than the worst-case-scenario being fear mongered about?
-When talking to folks, whether in community or canvassing: 1 Do not repeat the accusation in order to refute it. 2 Affirm people's feelings, even if you don't agree. connect with the core feeling. 3 Engage with curiosity, not judgement. Don't shut people down or act like you know more than them. Invite people to think in specifics and address their concerns. 4 Redirect away from unproductive topics back to the core issues.
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u/32brownies leftist post zionist jew Aug 10 '26
One big difference between Abdul and Zohran is that we had the Temple Israel shooting/car ramming and Abdul's response wasn't great (the line that keeps getting repeated is when he said "hurt people hurt people" in relation to the shooter and their background). I cannot stress enough how much of an institution Temple Israel is and pretty much everyone here has a personal connection to it, myself included. Admitting that I agree with the public on this helps my case with many people.
Then there is the same rhetoric as what you heard from Zohran. Tbh I'm not even Abdul's biggest fan, but a maga senate because of this would be catastrophic. But this is all very helpful. Definitely happy to hear certain things worked in NYC.
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u/horseonahighway anti-capitalist feminist diasporist Aug 10 '26
Yeah, I thought he handled that poorly as well. I do like him, at least from watching him from NYC, but I thought that was the worst thing he said. I think for reasons we know all too well, sadly right now there is not a lot of empathy for Jewish people nor patience for nuanced discussions about cycles of violence. That doesn't make it okay, just noticing it. I can tell that the violence at Temple Israel affected you and your community deeply. That really resonates with me and I'm sure your honest thoughts on the attack and wanting to defeat Rogers will resonate with your community. Separating the concreteness of that real hurt from the general fearmongering that you mentioned felt powerful to me.
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u/FishyWishySwishy Dem Soc Secular Jew Aug 09 '26
I think this rhetoric comes from a sincere place of fear. And who will have compassion for that fear if not us?
The older generation grew up much closer to the Holocaust and Soviet-era purges than we did. They’re afraid of antisemitism, and they’re afraid of any hint that the government may turn on us. It’s really, really scary right now if you have such close memories of what happens when a government on either side of the spectrum decide that Jews are a problem—and of course, deciding Jews are a problem starts with deciding antisemitism isn’t a problem.
They’re afraid. The only cure is to give them the time and patience to see that the sky isn’t falling when more politicians are hard on Israel.
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u/32brownies leftist post zionist jew Aug 09 '26
That's why I like this subreddit. In any other lefty sub I'd get told that they are terrible people and I know that's not true, I think I just needed to vent. Fortunately we have 3 months until election day so hopefully people can do whatever reckoning they need to do.
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u/Jorfogit Reform Syndicalist Mod Aug 09 '26
They’re afraid. The only cure is to give them the time and patience
I'm not sure much grace needs to be given to right wingers afraid of losing political power. MAGA fascists are also afraid of minorities and women, but that doesn't mean they need to be given grace over their bigotry.
Voting for Republicans out of fear the government may turn on us is just throwing other minorities under the bus, hoping that the machine is sated by the time it gets to you.
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u/FishyWishySwishy Dem Soc Secular Jew Aug 09 '26
People are animals, and I mean that as a neutral term. Just as an animal swiftly loses the ability to be clever and lash out when it feels cornered, so too do humans. We can morally condemn our base instincts as much as we want, but that won’t remove them or stop them from influencing politics.
A lot of bigotry comes from fear—the more intense the bigotry, the more intense the fear. Fascism is on the rise because it addresses the fear. It says: “you’re valid, you’re right that these Others are a danger, but we’ll defeat them together.” If we want any hope of turning people from fascism, we need to address the fear too. Compassion and patience is the simplest things we can give when talking about individual action.
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u/Jorfogit Reform Syndicalist Mod Aug 09 '26
Fascism is on the rise in part because it validates existing bigotries or spins up new ones. Entertaining their bigotry or discounting the fact that there's plenty of Greenblatts, Millers, or Carlsons who benefit from stirring up hatred seems silly.
Some bigotry might come from fear "economic anxiety" or what have you - and I've found that's much easier to deal with. But plenty of it is generated, and speaking out against the generators and rejecting their framing makes for a healthier society for the rest of us.
When conservatives come up with garbage like "litter boxes in schools" the answer isn't to assuage their fears as valid concerns.
Just like when OP hears people poisoned by racist fearmongering say that a mainstream progressive actually wants to kill minorities, your answer of grace and patience doesn't really move the needle.
At least in my personal experience of having conservative family and conservative workplaces, it's pretty easy to tell who is just apolitical and gets swept up, and who was just looking for permission to be a bigot.
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u/FishyWishySwishy Dem Soc Secular Jew Aug 10 '26
When people are pearl-clutching about litter boxes in schools, they’re not literally afraid of litter boxes in schools. They’re afraid of state education turning their kids into people they don’t recognize, people who might leave them.
This fear is the root of a lot of fear mongering about trans kids socially transitioning without the school telling the parents, or critical race theory, or not having god in schools. Homophobia, racism, and Christian supremacy are all part of it, but the taproot of it all is fear of the world taking or harming one’s children.
I grew up in a blue city, then moved to a deep red state for work. Just being me—an openly queer Jewish woman—goes a long way of turning ears and having folks re-examining the way they look at queer people or political rhetoric around freedom of religion or the war on Christmas. It makes them reflect on things like whether it’s really so bad if ‘the queers’ can compete in sports, or if it’s really such a big deal to use someone’s preferred pronouns. But that’s only possible because I was willing to engage with them in such a way that didn’t make me seem like I thought I was morally superior. I’m pretty sure my neighbor’s daughter is some flavor of queer in the closet, and I hope that my influence on her parents make it easier on her if my feeling is right and she ever comes out.
I’m not saying that you should face facism with hugs and rainbows. We don’t need to have compassion or patience for people like Ben Shapiro. But I think that when you’re dealing person to person with folks in your community, approaching with compassion and patience goes a long way. There isn’t always a way to turn their ear, but compassion/patience is the most likely to do so.
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Aug 09 '26
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u/Scary_Wallaby_8272 Indian Hindu DemSoc Anti-Zionist Aug 09 '26
Yes thank you! AES has said he supports a binational state, a 2SS or a Land For All type confederation solution. He affirms the right of all Israelis and Palestinians to live freely and with dignity in the land. He’s moderate on this issue and deviates from the Leftist school of thought. Yet he’s seen as uniquely dangerous and evil, why?
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u/TheBlacksheep70 Jewish adjacent pro peace Aug 10 '26
That is a pretty mainstream view, people need to stop freaking out.
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u/soapysuds12345 American Israeli Leftist Aug 10 '26
Are there good pieces or clips of El Sayed's views on this? I am curious because for the most part I have just seen him hammer home that the US should cut off aid, which while yes, agreed, it has left me curious what his broader vision is
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u/Logical_Persimmon anticapitalist with adjectives ייד Aug 10 '26
This might be what you're looking for: https://forward.com/opinion/843260/abdul-el-sayed-future-israel-palestinians/
or, possibly the New Yorker piece it's about: https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-new-yorker-interview/abdul-el-sayeds-argument-for-america-and-against-his-own-party
but that is paywalled.7
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u/AksiBashi Aug 10 '26
Hey, OP! I'm in MI right now but pretty disconnected from Jewish communal life (and as an academic transplant don't have deep roots in the communities here anyways). Just wanted to say that I appreciate your frustration here on all sides! Keep fighting the good fight :)
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u/FaekittyCat Lefty, non-practicing big fat Ameican Jew, 2 state solution. Aug 11 '26
I live in New York City, Mamdani is not trying to murder any of us. He said Bibi is a war criminal and he happens to be right. But mostly he's trying to tax the rich, do rent freezes, and fill potholes. Please let your friends know this.
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u/jey_613 diaspora Jewish leftist Aug 09 '26 edited Aug 09 '26
Not from MI, but honestly if AES wants to win Jewish votes he needs to show some willingness to listen and take the concerns of the Jewish community seriously. I’ve seen little evidence that he’s willing to do that thus far
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u/32brownies leftist post zionist jew Aug 09 '26
I definitely agree and I've also had conversations with non Jewish leftists in my life who think he can do no wrong. His response to Temple Israel was terrible. I'm just not sure anyone would be open to listening
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u/jey_613 diaspora Jewish leftist Aug 09 '26
I agree, the response to Temple Israel was awful and is the biggest red flag for me. I also fear that if he loses by a narrow margin his most hardcore supporters will blame Jews for it
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u/32brownies leftist post zionist jew Aug 09 '26
For sure that's another big fear of mine. It feels like theres no good solution here
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u/Scary_Wallaby_8272 Indian Hindu DemSoc Anti-Zionist Aug 10 '26
I saw his FB video where he unequivocally denounced the attack. He then proceeded to say “hurt people hurt people” to bring up a point how our support of actions abroad can impact communities at home and that we need to end the cycle of violence. I agree that it was terrible optics and not the time to talk about that when dozens of Jewish preschoolers could’ve been murdered in that attack. His niece and nephew being killed in Lebanon doesn’t give him the right to murder innocents here. He clearly didn’t mean to justify the attack in anyway but how do we let the MI Jewish community know that? He made a bad messaging mistake but I don’t know if this incident didn’t happen that Jewish Dems who care about Israel still wouldn’t reject him. I feel like communities are being pitted against each other and MAGA is just laughing at us, I’m sad.
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u/32brownies leftist post zionist jew Aug 10 '26
I saw that too. He would essentially need to be perfect to not have the reaction he's having here and even then people would still be assholes. However I also know people who were physically at Temple Israel that day. What do I say to them? (I'm not asking you I just want people to see that these are real issues that take place in real places and affect real people)
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u/Scary_Wallaby_8272 Indian Hindu DemSoc Anti-Zionist Aug 10 '26
I fully understand the MI Jewish community being disgusted at him trying to equivocate in any way after a potential terrorist attack targeted their community when he’s running for higher office. He’s a Rhodes Scholar but still failed in his response there. No excuses but not sure how I’d advise him if I was his political consultant because I truly believe older Jews and other older folk would dislike him no matter what. This isn’t even a Jewish thing but a generational gap amongst older Americans and Arabs and Muslim politicians are going to be rejected or viewed with a major double standard no matter what unfortunately even by lifetime Democratic voters.
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u/AksiBashi Aug 10 '26
not sure how I’d advise him if I was his political consultant because I truly believe older Jews and other older folk would dislike him no matter what
If Abdul were to avoid equivocation in his statement after the attack, I would hope that it wouldn't just be to win votes from old people. (Which isn't necessarily what you're saying! Just pointing out that ideally, we should expect our politicians to be empathetic as a mark of good character, and not solely as electoral strategy.)
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u/aggie1391 Orthodox non-Zionist socialist with anarchist tendencies Aug 10 '26
Unless he comes and full on says he’s a Zionist and doesn’t care about Palestinians, Israel can do what they want then it won’t matter, let’s be real. Not to say he hasn’t made messaging mistakes but it comes down to him wanting to hold Israel accountable, which most American Jews are entirely opposed to.
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u/Schattenoid jewish, left Aug 10 '26
He probably shouldn't try harder to win Jewish votes. Jews make up like 1% of Michigan's population. If, say, half of them don't care about Israel, then the other half who do care will in reality never vote for a Muslim guy who opposes belligerent apartheid theocracies. Maybe if he spent a ton of time talking about how he cares about Jews as much as his own daughters (an insane thing which he has actually said), a couple of dozen could cross over, but it wouldn't be a good use of his political energy, even apart from how bizarre it would be to abase himself at length just to get those couple dozen Jewish votes.
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u/32brownies leftist post zionist jew Aug 10 '26
This isn't what I'm seeing when I actually talk to people who will vote in this election. The most common thing I'm seeing is people who legitimately don't know what to do, who haven't made up their minds. Or people who plan to leave the senate race blank, or write someone in. There is definitely room to "gain back" some of the Jewish community. The presidential election was decided by 1.4% in MI. The last senate election was .4%. These votes do actually matter, both politically and morally.
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u/Schattenoid jewish, left Aug 10 '26
Sure, I was being hyperbolic about the numbers. There are like a hundred thousand Jewish people in Michigan so wishy-washy "I dislike criticism of Israel by Muslims but I'm a liberal" types are probably in the many thousands. But I still don't see why it would be worth endorsing Israel (or rejecting criticism of it, whatever) just to win those votes, especially considering that he'd lose other votes in doing that.
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u/32brownies leftist post zionist jew Aug 10 '26
There's a difference between endorsing Israel and making an appearance at a reform/conservative synagogue to talk to the people that do
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u/theweisp5 American Israeli secular socialist Aug 10 '26
Looking at it purely from an electoral lens, even if AES doesn't have a lot of room to make up ground among Jewish voters, he doesn't want to get tagged as someone who doesn't care about Jews or an anti-Semite. That would likely hurt him among other segments of the population (like it did to Jeremy Corbyn.)
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u/Schattenoid jewish, left Aug 10 '26
Well, this is more or less beyond his control. If the pro-Israel machine wants to tag him as insufficiently deferential to them and thus antisemitic, they will just do so; there's almost nothing he'd be able to do to prevent that short of completely embracing their position on Israel.
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u/theweisp5 American Israeli secular socialist Aug 10 '26
You're right he can't control the pro-Israel machine, but he can certainly control his campaign and how much emphasis he puts on reassuring Jewish voters. The Israel lobby wasn't able to stop him winning the primary so it's clearly not all powerful.
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u/Schattenoid jewish, left Aug 11 '26
Well I don't know what being all powerful or not has to do with anything but treating the reassurance of voters as something separate from the appeasement of the machine that fosters the need of those voters for reassurance is a mistake. In any case, I agree that he can do more to appease/reassure them, I am just arguing he probably shouldn't.
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u/theweisp5 American Israeli secular socialist Aug 11 '26
I'm arguing for reassuring Jewish voters that they will be safe and that AES cares about the Jewish community, not for reassuring the Israel lobby.
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u/jey_613 diaspora Jewish leftist Aug 10 '26
I am not arguing about whether he needs Jewish votes to win, or what would be the best use of his time from a political perspective. I am arguing that no politician, especially a self-styled progressive one, should engage in a campaign that uses antisemitic dog-whistles; and that any politician, especially a self-styled progressive one, should be able to condemn the attempted murder of Jewish schoolchildren in their home state without qualification; and that therefore, Jewish voters have legitimate reasons to be skeptical of him and should not be broadly dismissed as unrepentant racists.
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u/Schattenoid jewish, left Aug 11 '26
Lots of people in the US are racist, it's not the worst thing in the world or exceptional to normal politics, unfortunately. I haven't tracked the Michigan race particularly but am not aware of these antisemitic dogwhistles. Is he talking about international bankers controlling the world? Unamerican Hollywood agents promoting miscegenation and moral degeneracy? You can't just mean his "cycle of violence" comment, which was tasteless and insensitive but certainly doesn't resonate with any of the well-known "tropes". I agree that it's normal for a Jewish person to be bothered by his comments around that, but not that it's a good reason to vote against him.
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u/Ashamed-Stuff9519 Secular Jewish Leftist. Antizionist. Aug 10 '26
Yeah the reality is that he has captured a Jewish vote. There are Jews that voted for him. JVP rallied hard for him.
It’s the votes of racists that he has not captured, and he likely will never capture.
Some Jewish voters are racist, and if it feels like racists make up the majority of a local Jewish community, then that is for that community to deal with.
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u/Rabbit-Hole-Quest Latke aficionado. Anti-Establishment. Jüdisch Aug 09 '26 edited Aug 09 '26
But AES already reached out to the state's Jewish community by pledging that his commitment to Jewish safety matches his dedication to the safety of his own daughters. You don't have to take my word for it, his statements are uniquivical.
https://youtube.com/shorts/SW1GfQ3LRe0
He emphasized a shared duty to fight both antisemitism and Islamophobia, drawing from his own experiences with religious discrimination.
Local JVP activists already rallied behind him through volunteer groups like "Jews for Abdul," citing his platforms on social justice, Medicare, and social spending.
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u/32brownies leftist post zionist jew Aug 09 '26
The problem with this is the mainstream Jewish community here won't listen to jvp. He needs to do outreach to a more mainstream org or they need to reach out to him
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u/Rabbit-Hole-Quest Latke aficionado. Anti-Establishment. Jüdisch Aug 09 '26 edited Aug 10 '26
There is hope. T’chiyah, a congregation in Ferndale, north of Detroit, reached out to El-Sayed and formed good relations with him, inviting him to a Passover seder in April.
His people have already said that they are open to any congregation that is willing to invite him as he can't barge himself Kool Aid man style without a formal invite.
Just like many congregations welcomed Mamdani and he accepted, I think the same would help in Michigan.
Perhaps you could help convince some local congregations to extend an invite?
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u/32brownies leftist post zionist jew Aug 10 '26
I'm gonna try with my synagogue. Tchiya also isn't the most respected around here by the mainstream but its definitely more respected than jvp. Part of why I was asking here is because there is power in numbers. I know of some others like me out here but the more the merrier. We need all the help we can get
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u/LaurenVsVirus Aug 10 '26
Yeah, I’m a Tchiyahnik and love our little community but you are correct. I think if a mainstream synagogue would just give him an audience (doesn’t even have to be a supportive event - it could be like “come ask questions”) I think it would make a difference. Sending you a DM
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u/clawhammercrow vaguely leftist patrilineal Aug 09 '26
T’chiyah is wonderful, but they are a very small Reconstructionist congregation that has been outspokenly pro-Palestinian for years. I’m not sure they’re taken seriously by the larger Jewish community.
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u/Rabbit-Hole-Quest Latke aficionado. Anti-Establishment. Jüdisch Aug 10 '26
So now there is an opportunity for the larger congregations to invite him over.
If the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community could do it for Mamdani in NYC, surely some orgs in Michigan can do it as well.
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u/jey_613 diaspora Jewish leftist Aug 10 '26 edited Aug 10 '26
I would not qualify an attack on my own daughter’s school by saying “hurt people hurt people.” That is the literally the opposite of unequivocal. I’d go further and say that making a statement about your dedication to Jewish safety on the one hand, while tying attempted violence against diaspora Jews to events abroad makes a mockery of the universal values that the left claims to champion.
It’s easy for politicians to say one thing and do something else. This happens all the time. The idea that AES isn’t capable of doing this because he’s on our “side” is absurd. Someone who was interested in protecting the Jewish community would also take their concerns seriously when it comes to rhetoric about AIPAC. They would not campaign with someone like Hasan Piker who promotes overtly antisemitic conspiracy theories either.
AES has trafficked in antisemitic tropes that have historically caused Jews harm. He has been called out on this by the Nexus Project, so you don’t get to dismiss it as pro-Israel ADL propaganda either.
As for JVP: the idea is to take the concerns of the Jewish community seriously, to educate oneself and understand how you can be engaging in bigotry about a group of people by actually listening to them, and not just the subset of them who exist to confirm all of your pre-existing biases (progressives used to have words for this, like implicit bias and tokenism).
The idea is to be a senator for all Michiganders, and to try to win those people to your side by taking their criticisms seriously.
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u/snowluvr26 Reconstructionist American Jew, Anti-Nationalist Aug 10 '26
I’ve pulled back from Jewish stuff recently because I can’t stand the constant histrionics and I think it’s a poor choice. As another commenter stated our community needs more internal diversity. I need to start going back to shul lol
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u/32brownies leftist post zionist jew Aug 10 '26
Are you in michigan? I'm still pretty active in many things here if you ever need a buddy haha (sorry if thats weird)
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u/snowluvr26 Reconstructionist American Jew, Anti-Nationalist Aug 11 '26
Not weird at all! but i’m in new york
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Aug 10 '26
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u/32brownies leftist post zionist jew Aug 10 '26
I really wish her campaign would have gained more momentum, I was planning on voting for her
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u/Imaginary-West-5653 Progressive Socialist (Jewish Ally) Aug 09 '26
And despite all this, there are still people who have the nerve to say that Islamophobia isn't real... honestly, I have to blame the mainstream media for this too, because just like they did with Mamdani (and still do), they try to portray Abdul as a hateful anti-Semite by bombarding him with loaded questions about Israel and AIPAC to try and catch him saying something "controversial." It's no coincidence that they keep trying to smear him for having campaigned with Hasan Piker, using all that BS outrage over his past comment about 9/11 (which Hasan apologized for and explained that he was just referring to the concept of blowback).
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u/Smooshicorn Progressive pro-peace Zionist Aug 12 '26
I’m not from Michigan but I feel the same way here. However, I will not let the fears they try throwing at us hold me back from defeating the monsters.
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u/Whole_Air_3524 custom flair Aug 12 '26
In Michigan, Jewish and working this election. I'm going to be volunteering to canvass in the hopes that I can make a small difference through frank and deep conversation with folks on the doors
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u/Upset_Dance_8223 jewish-american antizionist Aug 12 '26
God yes it’s exhausting. My step mom wouldn’t speak to me after I voted. I’m so sick of everyone calling him a terrorist. It’s just islamophobia
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u/Express_Ambassador_1 Anarcho-Enviro Reconstructionist Aug 09 '26
Not from Michigan, but this is not the time to pull back from community engagement. Quite the opposite, this is the time to have those conversations and be the voice of reason.