On the eve of elections for the chair of Michigan’s Democratic Party, a range of politicians are condemning one of the candidates for saying the Democrats are “not the Jewish party.”
The comment by Detroit community activist Al “BJ” Williams could be a decisive factor in the race to lead Democrats in this perennial swing state. Voting takes place at the state party convention Saturday.
“We are a big tent party, where all are welcome, and these comments have no place in our politics or the Michigan Democratic Party. Full stop,” Michigan Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin, who is Jewish, told Jewish Insider.
Rabbi Asher Lopatin, community relations director at the Jewish Federation of Greater Ann Arbor, called Williams’s remarks “blatantly antisemitic.”
In the race, Williams has positioned himself as the progressive outsider candidate. To that end, he spoke earlier this month at a forum jointly organized by The People’s Coalition, a new Palestinian-American-led progressive group in the state, and the Arab American Democratic Caucus.
Asked about the Democratic Party’s support for Israel, Williams said he believed the party’s stance needed to change.
“This is not the Jewish party, this is the Democratic Party,” Williams told the group, according to the Detroit News. “There are more voices than just Zionists in this party. There are more voices than just Jewish Americans within this party. There are more voices than just those anti-Arab American voices within this party.”
Williams also said Democrats should advocate against genocide, adding, “That is one of our traditions and values, except for when it comes to certain countries.” The remark appeared to be an allusion to Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza, which many pro-Palestinian activists have labeled a “genocide,” a charge Israel rejects.
The backlash to the remarks is the latest dustup over Israel in Michigan, home to large Jewish and Arab communities. Michigan went for President Donald Trump in 2024 while also electing Slotkin, a Democratic senator, and was the birthplace of the Uncommitted movement that opposed Democrats’ support for Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. The city of Dearborn, which is majority Arab American, also broke for Trump in a shift from previous elections.
But a broad range of activists are now distancing themselves from Williams. Arab- and Palestinian-led coalitions as well as Jewish ones in the state have endorsed his opponent, former state senator Curtis Hertel — including both of the groups that sponsored the event where Williams made the comment.
One of the lead Palestinian organizers of the People’s Coalition, Ann Arbor school board member Rima Mohammad, who moderated the forum, told the News she was shocked and offended by his remarks.
“If that’s what Al thinks we want to hear as Palestinians, he is completely wrong,” she said.
Sen. Gary Peters and Rep. Haley Stevens, neither of whom is Jewish, both called the comments antisemitic.
“Jewish Americans are welcome in the Democratic Party. Full stop,” Stevens, who represents a heavily Jewish Detroit suburb, wrote on X. “Comments like these are antisemitic & based in harmful tropes that fail to recognize the broad spectrum of Jewish belief & political engagement. This is deeply offensive & should be disqualifying to lead our state’s party.”
State attorney general Dana Nessel, who is Jewish, did not respond to a request for comment. Last year, Nessel praised Williams as one of many “amazing black leaders, electeds and activists” at a reception for New York Attorney General Letitia James.
The comments have also drawn some national attention. On Wednesday, Democratic Majority for Israel, a national group, became the latest Jewish organization to condemn the remark.
“Al Williams’ comments are deeply offensive and should be disqualifying. Good Democrats don’t traffic in antisemitic stereotypes about Jewish loyalty or falsely portray Jewish Americans as ‘anti-Arab American,’” said Mark Mellman, DMFI’s president.
Williams did not respond to a Jewish Telegraphic Agency request for comment. He issued a statement last week in which he said his comments were taken out of context and added that he “acknowledges the importance of Jewish American voices but maintains that no single group should dominate the party’s identity.”
And earlier this week on Instagram, his campaign attempted to counter what they called “false claims of being an anti-Semite” by trumpeting an endorsement from a man named Michael Schwartz, who the Williams campaign identified only as an “attorney.” In a video accompanying the post, Schwartz — who never explicitly identifies himself as Jewish — called the antisemitism allegations “baloney.”
Williams has been a Democratic Party activist for 25 years, and touts his past work as an Obama Organizing Fellow. He has received the backing of local party officials, including the chair of the state board of education and some members of Detroit’s city council.
But his opponent Hertel boasts much higher-profile endorsements from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and several other major party figures. Hertel also has the endorsement of the Michigan Jewish Democratic Caucus and Muslim-majority ethnic caucuses, including the Yemeni American Democratic Caucus and the Bangladeshi American Caucus.
A third candidate dropped out of the chair chase last month, narrowing the field to a two-man race.
During his campaign for chair, Hertel has also touched on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, accusing Trump of “threatening to send US troops to forcibly remove Palestinian people from their homes” in Gaza. At the same Arab American forum, Hertel reportedly remarked, “I want the Israeli people and the Palestinian people to have some autonomy and the ability to live their lives as they see fit.”
Decky Alexander, a Jewish Democratic activist in the state, said Jews are backing Hertel “because he understands the ethos of the Democratic Party — that it is and has always been a large, open and inclusive tent.”
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