Jewish Michigan attorney general boycotts party convention over antisemitism concerns
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, who is Jewish, will skip the state Democratic convention citing security concerns after anti-Israel activists disrupted a previous event, deepening a party divide over U.S. support for Israel.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, who is Jewish, will not attend the state Democratic Party's nominating convention this weekend, citing security concerns and fears of harassment from anti-Israel activists within her own party. The decision exposes a deepening fault line among Michigan Democrats over U.S. support for Israel, just months before a critical Senate race in the battleground state.
Nessel announced her boycott after anti-Israel party activists shouted down pro-Israel speakers, including Rep. Haley Stevens, at a prior convention in April. The attorney general said during a roundtable discussion last month that she does not feel safe attending the gathering in Lansing, the state capital.
«I don't feel safe going. I feel like my presence isn't going to be welcome. 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, irrespective of what I'm saying,» Nessel said. «I believe that if I go, that is what will happen because it's been happening to me.»
The Michigan Democratic Party responded with a statement saying it is «committed to ensuring party-hosted events are safe and secure environments for all attendees.» State party spokesperson Derrick Honeyman added, «We reject antisemitism, Islamophobia, and all forms of hateful conduct. We are working diligently with stakeholders, elected officials, and party membership to prepare for our August convention and look forward to welcoming Michigan Democrats to the Lansing Center on August 29.»
The convention comes weeks after Abdul El-Sayed, a vocal critic of Israel who has described its military actions in Gaza as «genocide,» narrowly defeated Stevens to win the Democratic Senate nomination. El-Sayed, a former Wayne County Health Department director, is running against Republican former Rep. Mike Rogers to succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Gary Peters. The race is one of a dozen that will determine which party controls the Senate after the midterm elections.
Jewish Democrats in Michigan are divided over how to respond. Joan Lowenstein, endorsement chair of the Michigan Democratic Jewish Caucus, said she has not «talked to anybody who thinks they will be unsafe at this convention,» but acknowledged that «some people think it will be unpleasant and why should they bother.» Others are more alarmed.
«People are traumatized from the previous convention. Many people I talked to, many super progressive people, are really traumatized by the way they were treated, and the way Haley Stevens was booed, and the way other candidates were treated,» Rabbi Asher Lopatin said. Lopatin, who recently appeared at a campaign event with Rogers, said Nessel's decision «just shows how terrible these extremists are that they're intimidating even the attorney general of our state.» He added, «We got to be strong. We got to be proud. We got to be courageous. The Jewish community cannot cower.»
Stacy Gittleman, a lifelong Democrat who supports Israel and attended the April convention, described the scene as deeply unsettling. «I saw more Palestinian flags than American flags on the floor,» she said, pointing to what she called a «lack of decorum and disrespect» as signs of «how far left our party is drifting.»
Some Jewish leaders in Michigan are now circulating an open letter urging Jewish Democrats and independents to support Rogers in the general election. A person involved with the letter, who asked to remain anonymous, called it «a do-or-die moment,» adding, «There are many lifelong Democrats who are feeling homeless. It's not just a leftward drift but has turned into an anti-Jewish drift as well.»
Lowenstein, who does not support the petition, said those behind it «feel it's an existential issue, and I think that represents a lot of people. And, so, they have to do what they have to do.» She described the Jewish Democratic community as split roughly in half, with some saying they could never vote for El-Sayed over his statements on Israel, while others insist that maintaining a Democratic Senate majority is more important.
Rogers said he has heard directly from Jewish voters in Michigan who feel threatened. «I've talked to two young women who were at University of Michigan who were afraid to walk to class. They couldn't display their Star of David. To say that they're afraid is probably an understatement,» he said, adding that «the violent rhetoric is going to make a difference» in the general election.
