As Michigan’s Jewish community counts its blessings following a nearly catastrophic terrorist attack last week on Temple Israel, a cherished synagogue in my hometown, a political takeover is quietly underway in the state. It’s one that doesn’t just tolerate Jew-haters; it elevates them, dressing antisemitism up in political rhetoric and calling it progress.
The Michigan Democratic Party will hold its State Endorsement Convention on April 19. Any registered Democrat who attends the convention in person can help decide who the Michigan Democrats will endorse in the 2026 general election. This includes endorsements for positions like secretary of state, attorney general, state supreme court and university boards.
To outsiders, the convention looks like routine party business. To those watching closely, it’s ground zero for a well-funded, coordinated takeover attempt by far-left activists who have made opposition to Israel’s existence a litmus test for Democratic politics.
One look at Ann Arbor, and it’s clear the operation is already underway.
Rima Mohammad, who was president of the school board during the invasion of southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, immediately pressured the district to remove the word “terrorist” from its statement about the Hamas attacks on civilian communities. She then orchestrated a school district-wide “ceasefire in Gaza” resolution with her fellow Democratic Socialist school board trustee.
Both Mohammad and her school board comrade widely publicized their active role in Michigan’s “Uncommitted Movement,” withholding support from then-President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris over their refusal to abandon Israel, Mohammad going so far to protest outside the 2024 Democratic National Convention. She now serves as membership chair of the Washtenaw County Democratic Party and recently co-founded The People’s Coalition with Arika Lycan, who claims Jewish identity while spreading anti-Israel propaganda.
The People’s Coalition is a well-funded political operation backing Islamo-Socialist candidates statewide. Consider their endorsement of Amir Makled, an attorney in Dearborn, Mich., running for University of Michigan Board of Regents against Jewish incumbent Jordan Acker. Makled was detained last year at Detroit Metro Airport for alleged terrorist ties; his supporters reframe this as an attack on his pro-Palestinian speech.
The coalition is also backing Abdul El-Sayed’s Senate challenge against pro-Israel Democrat Haley Stevens. On the Temple Israel attack, El-Sayed excuses the terrorist’s actions as displaced grief over “innocent” family members killed in an Israeli airstrike—conveniently omitting that those family members were Hezbollah operatives. In case it wasn’t obvious, Hezbollah is an Iranian-backed, long-designated foreign terrorist organization with American blood on its hands.
The Peoples Coalition’s contempt for Jews is brazen. On the first night of Chanukah—the day after massacre of 15 people at a “Chanukah by the Sea” event on Bondi Beach in Australia—they posted an image of a watermelon-shaped chanukiyah with “We Resist” inscribed. (The watermelon imagery is widely used as a symbol of Palestinian “resistance.”) When confronted, Lycan dismissed Jewish outrage as oversensitivity, calling it a “statement of solidarity.”
The People’s Coalition already has a stronghold in Washtenaw County’s Democratic apparatus and is rapidly expanding statewide. Their social-media shows them hobnobbing alongside Squad member Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) at events across Michigan, strategically draped in keffiyehs (another symbol of Palestinian “resistance”). They’re mobilizing aggressively for April 19. I’ve personally received multiple texts from them urging me to “bring 10 friends.” Like the last time the coalition tried this, they are likely to offer free transportation.
This isn’t a fringe movement; they’re emboldened by Zohran Mamdani’s stunning mayoral victory in New York City—an unknown who rode anti-Israel sentiment to power seemingly overnight. They see Michigan as ripe for the same “Mamdani Wave.” And they are gaining ground.
With anti-Jewish rhetoric increasingly normalized across the Democratic Party, even California Gov. Gavin Newsom recently jumped in to spread the “apartheid” libel, Michigan Jews face an existential political moment. The party that has been Jewish Michigander’s political home for generations is one convention away from becoming even more unrecognizable and more hostile to our community than it already is.
The stakes could not be clearer: If Michigan Democrats don’t act now, we’ll lose our political home.
Michigan Jews and allies have the opportunity to prevent this takeover. Sitting out isn’t an option. Either we show up in force on April 19, or we wake up April 20 feeling more politically homeless, forced to abandon the party our families have supported for decades.
This isn’t about partisanship. It’s about survival. The Michigan Democratic Party stands at a crossroads. What path it takes is in our hands.
