(JEWISH GROUP) 'Not the Jewish party': Candidate to lead Michigan Dems under fire for antisemitic comments

[Behind the Aegis]

A candidate to head Michigan’s Democratic Party is facing backlash for suggesting his party is “not the Jewish party.” Al Williams, a Democratic activist and organizer from Detroit also said that voices beyond American Jews should be heard in discussions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The war in Gaza was a point of contention during last year’s presidential primary in the key battleground state, with more than 100,000 voting in protest of the Biden-Harris administration’s handling of the conflict.

“This is not the Jewish party. This is the Democratic Party,” Williams said last week in remarks at a virtual candidate forum co-hosted by the Arab American Democratic Caucus. “There are more voices than just Zionists in this party. There are more voices than just Jewish Americans within this party.” Williams was responding to a question about his stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and what policy changes he believes the party should consider following Vice President Kamala Harris’ defeat in the presidential election. The remarks were first reported by the Detroit News on Tuesday.

Williams is one of three Democrats vying for the chairperson position at the party’s state convention on Feb. 22 in Detroit, and the only Black candidate in the race.

Rep. Haley Stevens, a moderate Democrat who is affiliated with the more traditional pro-Israel camp of the party, called the comments “deeply offensive” and “disqualifying.” Stevens said it played into antisemitic tropes that Jews are powerful and failed to “recognize the broad spectrum of Jewish belief and political engagement.”

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Williams doubled down on the antisemitic trope about Jews controlling the Democratic establishment when contacted by a Detroit News reporter on Tuesday. “They cannot control the entire party,” Williams said of Jewish Americans. “They are one of many voices.”

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[JohnSJ]

1. He needs to step down for that bullshit comment.

[Behind the Aegis]

2. Unlikely, as unlikely as it will be for people to demand it.

[JohnSJ]

3. Unfortunately.

[Cirsium]

4. Disturbing

It is hard to fathom how a person who has been so involved in Democratic party politics for so long could make such an ignorant and bigoted remark unless it reflects deep seated antisemitism.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

5. Trump-backing Muslim voters finally realize they 'made a big mistake': expert

Muslim voters should have never voted for TFG. TFG was always going to side with Bibi and never gave a darn about Gaza or Muslims. Now these voters are realizing their mistake
https://bsky.app/profile/realtuckfrumper.bsky.social/post/3lhherjzxb32h

Trump-backing Muslim voters finally realize they 'made a big mistake': expert: James Zogby, the president of the Arab American Institute, told CNN's Brianna Keilar on Wednesday that many Muslim voters are regretting the decisions they made in the 2024 presidential election.

Link to tweet

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-muslim-voters/

James Zogby, the president of the Arab American Institute, told CNN's Brianna Keilar on Wednesday that many Muslim voters are regretting the decisions they made in the 2024 presidential election.

As Keilar noted while interviewing Zogby, Trump received a major boost from Muslim voters in 2024 due to anger against the Biden administration for its role in helping the Israeli government's war in Gaza that has killed more than 50,000 Palestinians and that Zogby described to CNN as a "genocide.".....

When asked by Keilar if he'd spoken with any of these voters since the election, he replied that he had and they were firmly against Trump's recently stated desire to ethnically cleanse Gaza by removing all Palestinians from their land.

"Many of [the voters] stayed home, and some of them voted for Donald Trump," he said. "But they are now feeling very clearly that they made a big mistake. And, you know, sort of like the kid who gets in trouble and his parents send him to his room and he goes out there and starts throwing stuff around... in a pique of anger. All he's got is a mess and that's what we've got here.

"People didn't vote for Kamala Harris. They voted for Donald Trump. They had their tantrum. And now look what we got. We got a crazy man in the White House who's doing and projecting things that are really, really problematic."