Democratic candidate for Senate membership from the state of Michigan, Abdul Rahman Muhammad El-Sayed (Abdul El-Sayed), affirmed that American policy towards Israel and the Palestinians needs to be redefined based on one principle: applying international law to everyone without exception.
Abdul Sayed said that America, which contributed after World War II to building an international system based on rules and laws, has become selective in dealing with it, demanding that others respect it while disregarding it when its rules conflict with its interests.
He places Israel at the heart of this criticism, arguing that its conduct represents the “greatest exception” among nations in terms of the gap between the accountability it should face and the actual support it receives from the United States. He describes Israel’s ongoing occupation of Palestinian territories as apartheid and the war in Gaza as genocide.
Priority for Israel
He emphasizes that Washington has aided and armed the Israeli government while simultaneously declaring its support for a two-state solution, which he sees as a contradiction, since Israeli policy, in his view, is working to close the door to the establishment of a Palestinian state. Therefore, he calls for treating Israel as the United States would treat any other country that commits the same actions, including subjecting it to international law and accountability.
Abdul Sayed raises a domestic priority: he argues that the billions of dollars the United States sends abroad, including to Israel and other countries in the region, raise a question of justice at a time when poor American communities are suffering from a lack of basic resources.
From his position as a politician from Michigan, Mr. emphasizes that his responsibility is to ensure that American money does not make other people's problems worse.
The billions of dollars that America sends abroad, including to Israel and other countries in the region, raise a question of justice at a time when poor American communities are suffering from a lack of basic resources.
Abdul Sayed does not specify a final formula for a settlement between the Israelis and Palestinians. He says that he supports the right of Palestinians and Jewish Israelis to peace, dignity and self-determination, but he leaves it to the two peoples to decide on the political form that achieves this, whether it is a two-state solution, a one-state solution or other arrangements.
However, he argues that the current balance of power makes talk of a final settlement less important than changing the conditions that prevent Palestinians from exercising their right to self-determination. He points out that Israel is an existing state, while there is no Palestinian state, and that this imbalance of power renders the continuation of the status quo incapable, in his view, of producing a stable solution.
Therefore, he says the first step for the United States is to challenge the boundaries of the political debate itself: to raise questions that he believes have remained taboo or too sensitive, including the use of American money, Washington’s role in protecting the policies of the Israeli government, and the extent to which American actions are consistent with the goal of a two-state solution.
AIPAC and the protection of American Jews
On the other hand, he believes that Democrats need to distinguish between protecting American Jews and their right to security and political participation, and criticizing a foreign government and US policy toward it. He argues that, in his view, criticism of Israel should not be conflated with antisemitism, and that protecting the Jewish community should be separate from determining US foreign policy.
Speaking about the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), he points to the organization's $32 million spending to support his rival Haley Stevens in the Michigan primary, arguing that political money helped maintain the consensus on Israel.
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