Michigan Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist on Saturday at an Arab American conference in Dearborn said Americans should not be sending tax dollars toward the war in Gaza, and vowed against taking money from a pro-Israel lobby.
“The Netanyahu government is committing a genocide on the Palestinian people. This is not a matter of opinion. This is a matter of fact,” Gilchrist said on Saturday at Arab Con, a national conference that included notable Arab American and Muslim speakers. “This has been established by the global leaders who study genocide. This is not something that we should support. American taxpayer dollars should not fund offensive weapons of war while children are starving, while medical resources are being blocked to civilians and while lineages of families are being erased.”
Gilchrist said candidates should not accept money from people who support the genocide.
“That is why as a candidate for the governor of the state of Michigan, I will not accept money from AIPAC,” Gilchrist said.
Gilchrist is breaking with the rest of the gubernatorial field on the polarizing issue that has divided Southeast Michigan Democrats since the attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
Metro Detroit is home to the largest Arab American community in the U.S., and is also the home to a large Jewish population.
Since Hamas attacked Israel killing more than 1,200 people two years ago, the death toll in Gaza has topped 66,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet with U.S. President Donald Trump this week for talks on halting Israel’s attacks on Gaza City.
Some in Dearborn’s Arab American community say they were surprised to hear Gilchrist criticize Israel, while others say his views on the issue have been long established.
When Gilchrist was selected as Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s running mate, conservative critics pointed out that he once questioned Israel’s influence on American politics, and considered Hamas as a legitimately elected political party.
“I’m (sick) of politicians and Evangelicals kissing Israel’s ass regardless of what they do in the name of ‘defense’,” Gilchrist posted on Twitter in January 2009. “Hamas is a legitimately elected party that only rose to power b/c of Israeli aggression & Western complicity/enablement.”
Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, who is one of three Democratic gubernatorial candidates along with Gilchrist and Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson, has made appeals to both sides of the issue.
“The Israel-Hamas war has been devastating to see the loss of life and the way communities are grieving all across our state,” she said when asked about her views on the war last February. “My hope is that we can get to a peaceful resolution where we’ll see return of the hostages and a ceasefire on both sides.”
Pundits and pro-Palestine advocates have pointed to Vice President Kamala Harris’ inability to distance herself from former President Joe Biden’s staunch pro-Israel policy as one of the reasons she lost the state of Michigan after state voters elected Biden in 2020.
Another speaker at Arab Con over the weekend, U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna, D-California, a progressive Democrat who’s considering a run for president in 2028, said he has tried to push Democratic leadership to call for an end to the war in Gaza.
Gilchrist’s statements could win him support from Muslims in Michigan, who largely abandoned the Democratic Party — some even voting for Trump — due to hostility from Democratic party leadership toward those sympathetic to the Palestinian cause.
He’s also breaking with Black Democratic leaders in Michigan, who have mostly supported candidates who support Israel.
Last weekend, Michigan Party Democratic Chair Keith Williams, former House Speaker Joe Tate, Reps. Tyrone Carter of Detroit and Amos O’Neal of Saginaw came out in support of Haley Stevens, who has taken more than $5 million from the pro-Israel lobby, AIPAC.
It’s unclear where Republican candidates stand on the issue.
Independent gubernatorial candidate Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan and his wife, Dr. Sonia Hassan, who is Muslim, were present inside the Islamic Center of Detroit during Ramadan in March. Speakers, including former state Rep. Abe Aiyash, urged those in power to commit themselves to justice in Detroit and the Middle East.
Duggan reportedly spoke about the war in Gaza with Arab American doctors in Genesee County earlier this year, but it’s not known what exactly was said.
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