The Jewish prosecutor who did not attend the Democratic convention because of Israel: "I don't want to be harassed"
Dana Nessel boycotted the party's nominating convention: "I don't want to be harassed and yelled at." She accuses the party leadership of inaction against antisemitism. About 200 rabbis and Jewish public figures demanded increased protection for Jews. "I was a Jew before I was a member of the Democratic Party."
A sharp rift in the Democratic Party in Michigan: the state's Jewish Attorney General, Dana Nessel, was absent on Saturday from her party's nominating convention in Lansing after announcing that she feared harassment and verbal attacks from anti-Israel activists.
"I don't feel safe attending," Nessel said last month during a meeting with leaders and members of the Jewish community. "I feel that my presence will not be welcomed. I don't want to be chased, I don't want to be harassed, I don't want to be yelled and screamed at. I don't want to be booed off the stage, regardless of what I say. I believe that if I attend, that is what will happen — because it is already happening to me." On Saturday, Nessel carried out her decision and did not participate in the gathering, despite the increased security measures put in place by the party.
Nessel, who has served since 2019 and was the first Jewish person elected as Attorney General in Michigan, cannot run for another term due to term limits. Despite this, the absence of one of the party's senior figures has become a symbol of the crisis between Jews and pro-Israel activists and the progressive, anti-Israel wing of the local Democratic Party branch.
The concerns intensified following the Democratic convention held in April. Anti-Israel activists interrupted the speeches of pro-Israel House member Haley Stevens and Jordan Acker, a Jewish member of the University of Michigan Board of Regents, with boos.
According to a local report, Stevens struggled to finish her remarks. Stacey Gittleman, a veteran Democrat who was present in the hall, told Fox News that she saw "more Palestinian flags than US flags."
This month, Nessel accused the party leadership that it is "definitely not" doing enough to deal with antisemitism. According to her, five party members were accused of acts of vandalism, harassment, and antisemitic threats, including harming the Jewish Federation of Detroit, but were still allowed to participate in its events.
The federal indictments in the case describe a pattern of threats, vandalism of homes and businesses, and targeting with symbols identified with Hamas, following demands to sever the university's ties with Israel. The defendants deny the allegations against them.
Ahead of the Saturday gathering, the party deployed police, security checks at the entrances, and guards throughout the complex. In a message sent to delegates, it was clarified that anyone who violates the code of conduct will face "zero tolerance and immediate removal." "The rules will be enforced without exception," the party leaders promised. About 200 rabbis and Jewish public figures even demanded that the Democratic leaders clarify that anyone who pursues, yells at, or harasses Jews will be arrested and prosecuted.
At the same time, Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic candidate for the Senate and a sharp critic of Israel, tried to diffuse the tension. During the convention, he apologized to the Jewish lobby in the party for his remarks after the terror attack at the Temple Israel synagogue in March. El-Sayed said then that "hurt people hurt people," a statement that was perceived as justifying the terrorist. "I tried to provide context, but that was not the time for it," he said on Saturday. "To anyone who felt that my words hurt them — I am truly sorry."
Nessel clarified that despite the criticism, she does not intend to support Rogers, but sent a warning to her party: "It is a fundamental mistake to think that you can just push Jewish Democrats out and replace them with another population. I was a Jew before I was a member of the Democratic Party — and if I have to, I will be a Jew after it as well."
