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Michigan senator-elect Abdulrahman al-Sayed backs Trump on halting aid to Israel
Michigan senator-elect Abdulrahman al-Sayed said he supports President Donald Trump’s plan to halt U.S. aid to Israel and is willing to work with him on it. In an interview with “Morning Joe,” the first Muslim elected to the Senate discussed “apartheid” in the West Bank and his concern for his children when he takes them to the mosque.
Democratic senator-elect Abdulrahman al-Sayed said he agrees with U.S. President Donald Trump on halting military aid to Israel, just two days after winning Michigan’s Senate seat and becoming the first Muslim elected to the Senate in United States history.
Al-Sayed, who was born in 1984 to immigrant parents from Egypt, made the remarks in an extended interview with “Morning Joe” on the U.S. network MS NOW on Thursday morning. He discussed U.S. policy toward Israel, the war in Gaza and the West Bank, and relations between Muslims and Jews in the United States.
In this clip, Al-Sayed is asked about Trump’s remarks on cutting aid to Israel. He replies: “I agree with him on that. I don’t think we should continue supporting a foreign military that uses our weapons again to commit horrific acts. I agree with him, and I would be happy to work with him on that.” In the same interview, he added that he does not believe Washington should “continue selling weapons to a country that uses our weapons again in horrific acts.”
Trump: “We will no longer pay”
On Tuesday, in an interview with “Fox & Friends” on Fox News, Trump said he had agreed “months ago” with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the United States would stop its aid to Israel this year. He added: “They agree with that. They have become a very successful country, and they don’t need it, and we will no longer pay,” while stressing that Washington would help Israel if it needed assistance and describing it as a “great ally.”
Israel is one of the largest recipients of U.S. foreign aid, which requires authorization from Congress. Democrats will control both chambers starting next January. Al-Sayed made ending military support for Israel one of the main promises of his campaign in a state home to one of the largest Arab communities in the United States.
“Apartheid” in the West Bank
Al-Sayed criticized what he described as silence about the reality of what is happening in the Palestinian territories and the accusations directed at anyone calling for an end to the support.
In this clip, Al-Sayed says: “We are still talking about a policy of apartheid in the West Bank. We are still talking about genocide, but no one wants to say it.” He adds: “If you stand up and say, maybe we should not send our money to commit the worst things against other people, people say it must be because you hate those committing these acts. And I say, this is madness, real madness.”
Al-Sayed stressed the need to “distinguish between Judaism and the Jewish people on the one hand, and Israel and its actions on the other,” explaining that many people assume his views on Israel reflect a particular position toward Jews, while he responds that the issue concerns foreign policy. He also said that opposing the “killing of innocent Palestinian children” is not hatred of anyone, “but equal love for those Palestinian children.”
These positions were also part of the election campaign debate. His views on Israel and comments he made after the attack on Temple Israel synagogue in Michigan last March raised concerns among some Jewish voters in the state, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) reported, while Al-Sayed repeatedly pledged to combat antisemitism.
Between the mosque and the synagogue
In the interview, Al-Sayed discussed his personal experience as a Muslim father in the United States.
In this clip, he says: “I know what it feels like to take your children to the mosque and wonder whether they will remain safe, and whether you will be able to bring them home safely afterward.” He adds: “I think we are all united in working to ensure that you are safe in this country, whoever you are. I am as committed to the safety of Jewish children as I am to the safety of my own children.” He repeated the same message in an interview with CNN that day, affirming that he is “committed to the safety of the Jewish community.”
During the campaign, Republicans attacked Al-Sayed over his religion and name. In his victory speech and subsequent interviews, he responded by emphasizing that America “has room for everyone.” Al-Sayed, a physician who previously led Detroit’s health department, will succeed retiring Democratic Senator Gary Peters after defeating Republican Mike Rogers by 52% to 46%, with 88% of the vote counted, according to the Associated Press.
Al-Sayed concluded his remarks on the conflict by outlining what he sees as a shared goal for Palestinians and Israelis.
In this clip, he says: “I want us to have a discussion in which a Palestinian child and a Jewish Israeli child growing up in the Holy Land can look to their futures and say: My life will not be cut short because of someone else’s violence. How do we get there?”
Videos: MS NOW via social media. Photos: Conlan Houston / Wikimedia Commons
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