Jewish actor and singer Mandy Patinkin urged Jewish voters to elect Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, Democratic nominee for the Senate in Michigan, comparing accusations against the Muslim American to “our own Jewish history.”
“Abdul isn’t the scary person his opponents want you to be afraid of,” wrote Patinkin, who is Jewish and supported New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s campaign.
“People focus on his Muslim name, make accusations about who he’s connected to and warn that he’s going to force Sharia law on everyone.”
El-Sayed’s opponent, former Republican Michigan congressman Mike Rogers, has repeatedly questioned the Democrat’s response to a March attack on Temple Israel in West Bloomfield Township, Mich., and alleged ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.
After a man rammed a truck into the synagogue on March 12, when about 140 people, most of them children, were inside, El-Sayed condemned the attack, but drew criticism for saying “hurt people hurt people” while discussing the attacker’s family losses in an Israeli airstrike in Lebanon. He later apologized for his remarks.
“It’s hard for me to hear Muslims and Arabs talked about this way without thinking about our own Jewish history,” Patinkin said. “We know what it’s like to have people treat your identity as a reason to distrust you, to make you seem threatening just because of who you are.”
Patinkin, known for his roles in “Yentl” (1983) and “The Princess Bride” (1987), argued that protecting Jewish safety requires defending American democracy and the rights of all citizens.
“Who is going to protect the democracy that has helped keep Jews safe in America?” he wrote. “Who is going to stand up for the rights of all of us? Abdul?”
Gad Saad, a pro-Israel professor and author, criticized Patinkin for his endorsement, calling the actor a “degenerate, clueless, self-loathing imbecile.”
