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US Congresswoman Haley Stevens [Screengrab/X]

In further signs of Israel becoming politically toxic, the deep divisions between the Democratic base and Democratic leaders were on powerful display yesterday, as party delegates in Michigan jeered, heckled and shouted down pro-Israel candidates at their own state convention.

Abdul El-Sayed receives a standing ovation and applause from Democrats at the Michigan Democratic Party convention.

El-Sayed is seeking the Democratic nomination for US Senate in Michigan.

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AIPAC funded US Congresswoman Haley Stevens and University of Michigan regent Jordan Acker, who opposed student protesters demanding divestment from Israel, were both booed from the stage yesterday at the Michigan Democratic Party Convention.

Stevens, a four-term congresswoman from suburban Detroit, has cast herself as a pragmatic centrist and voted consistently with AIPAC’s position on Israel, including its war on Gaza. Her two Democratic primary rivals — state Senator Mallory McMorrow and former Michigan public health director Abdul El-Sayed, who is of Egyptian descent — have both pledged to refuse AIPAC money, mirroring a national trend of Democratic candidates trying to insulate themselves from a base that now views the Isael lobby’s endorsement as politically radioactive.

Read: New pro-Palestine encampments erected at University of North Carolina, Arizona State University

The jeers for Stevens were not the only signal. Delegates also booed Acker, the incumbent University of Michigan regent and a prominent Jewish Democrat who became a lightning rod for pro-Palestine activists in 2024.

Acker publicly opposed student protesters demanding the university divest from Israel over its war on Gaza, pushed for a hard line against the Ann Arbor encampment, and dismissed divestment as unworkable. For activists, he became the face of a university administration that called in police against its own students.

On Sunday, Acker lost his re-nomination to Amir Makled, a civil rights attorney who represented many of the roughly 40 students arrested during the Ann Arbor encampment. Makled secured the nomination even after SEIU Michigan rescinded its endorsement following reports of past social media posts critics labelled anti-Semitic — a charge increasingly wielded against advocates of Palestinian rights.

“Acker was one of the reasons the encampment was persecuted the way it did,” Alex Rodriguez, a 20-year-old co-chair of the Ann Arbor-based Workers Against Oppression coalition, told the Michigan Chronicle. “What happened to Haley, what happened to Acker, was the consequence of ignoring the people who’ve been fighting against the genocide we’re complicit in abroad.”

Read: Nearly 2,500 people arrested at pro-Palestinian rallies at colleges and universities across US

The convention floor descended into further chaos when pro-Palestine delegates tried to force a point of order over the leadership’s year-long refusal to allow an amendment to a resolution on Palestine. “They have been blocking for a year resolutions on Palestine our members want to have a vote on,” longtime activist Liano Sharon told the Chronicle.

The Michigan revolt reflects a deepening national trend. A new Pew Research Center shows American support for Israel plummeting, with the collapse sharpest among Democrats, younger voters and independents. Gallup has similarly found Americans now sympathise more with Palestinians.

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Tag: divisions between the Democratic base and Democratic leaders

Boos erupt against pro-Israel candidates at Michigan Democratic convention