Abdulrahman Al-Sayed: Equal rights for Palestinians and Israelis are love, not hate

Michigan senator-elect Abdulrahman Al-Sayed said in his victory speech that Palestinian children have the right to grow up in the land of their ancestors without being killed with U.S. taxpayer money, adding that believing in equal rights "is not hate, but love."

In his victory speech in Detroit, Democrat Abdulrahman Al-Sayed, the first Muslim elected to the U.S. Senate, said his opponents had tried to brand his supporters as hateful. He added: "They tried to tell you that you were hateful if you believed Palestinian children should grow up in the land of their ancestors without being killed with our tax dollars. If you believe in equal rights to peace, dignity and self-determination, that is not hate, but love."

Al-Sayed addressed the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), saying: "To AIPAC, which spent $42 million against us, thank you for giving me the opportunity to defeat you twice," The Intercept reported.

Before the election, Al-Sayed said in an interview with CBS's "60 Minutes" that he believed in "equal rights to peace, dignity and self-determination for Palestinians and Israeli Jews alike." He explained that he would support a two-state solution if both peoples chose it on an equal basis, or any other single-state arrangement they agreed on.

عبد الرحمن السيد خلال لقاء انتخابي في ميشيغان (أرشيف)

Since his victory, Al-Sayed has endorsed President Donald Trump's plan to end military aid to Israel and called for an end to arms sales to the country. His position on Israel was one of the key issues in his campaign against Republican candidate Mike Rogers.