Michigan Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate Abdul El-Sayed said he rejects the idea that criticizing Israel’s actions in Gaza is anti-semitic or the same as rejecting someone for their faith. “My commitment to Jewish safety is the same as my commitment to my own daughter’s safety,” El-Sayed said in an interview with MS NOW host Katy Tur. “I know what it’s like to be discriminated against for how I pray. But I do reject the idea that somehow criticizing Israel and Israel’s actions and a genocide that was perpetrated by our tax dollars is the same as the idea of rejecting anybody for their faith or their identity. We have to be able to separate the two.” <\/p>\n
KATY TUR, MS NOW ANCHOR: It’s also emotional for a lot of people and there’s fear tied up in it. And for some Jewish voters, Democratic voters in Michigan, they’re worried that you don’t fully represent them or don’t fully see them. You’re going to talk to on Sunday, the Jewish Democratic Caucus in Michigan for their summer Simcha event. This is what the caucus chair, Decky Alexander, said she wanted to hear from you. She said there’s a lot of profound and still is anti-Israel and anti-Jewish rhetoric coming out of that campaign. It has to be addressed more directly. It has to be addressed otherwise people will continue to write more letters. What are you going to say to them? ABDUL EL-SAYED, MICHIGAN DEMOCRATIC NOMINEE FOR U.S. SENATE: To be anti-Israel is not the same as to be anti-Jewish. And to oppose what Israel has done is not an indictment on Jewish people. I think we have a responsibility to stand up and remind folks that Judaism and the Jewish people are a light unto the world. That my commitment to Jewish safety is the same as my commitment to my own daughter’s safety. I know what it’s like to be discriminated against for how I pray. But I do reject the idea that somehow criticizing Israel and Israel’s actions and a genocide that was perpetrated by our tax dollars is the same as the idea of rejecting anybody for their faith or their identity. We have to be able to separate the two. I’m looking forward to the event. This is going to be the second time in this campaign that I’ve gone and spoken with my Jewish neighbors, sisters and brothers. But let’s also be clear because all of us right now have a responsibility to ask what does Donald Trump’s continued power through the Senate mean and what is our responsibility to hold him accountable. This is a guy who has fomented the worst kind of hatred. Hatred against Jewish people, hatred against Muslim people, hatred against black folk, hatred against the ideals of this government itself, the ideals of our country itself. And Mike Rogers is going to do nothing but represent that. I just want to be one more thing here. When Jake Lang, a convicted January 6th terrorist, came to Michigan just a couple of weeks ago, alongside him was somebody who was a leader in the Rogers campaign. The day after, they began to circulate Nazi and KKK flyers. That’s something we all have to take on. Now, if we want to allow disagreements about public policy relevant to a country 6,000 miles away to stop us from coming together to address the challenges in our own country, I want us to just focus in on what our responsibility is collectively as Democrats in Michigan.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n