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The political action<\/span> arm of a Jewish anti-Zionist group best known for staging sit-ins to protest genocide in the halls of power is endorsing its first-ever candidate for U.S. Senate: Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan.<\/p>\n Jewish Voice for Peace Action is building off of the momentum from a string of victories<\/a> for the insurgent left<\/a> in Democratic primaries, where voters have repeatedly chosen outspoken pro-Palestine candidates to represent their party in the November midterms. The nominations signal a sea change in the Democratic Party and its electorate \u2014 adding a new class of members to Congress willing to question the United States\u2019 unconditional support for Israel and putting heat on an entrenched political establishment.<\/p>\n \u201cAbdul has been a stalwart and unapologetic defender of Palestinian rights and freedom, and his campaign has demonstrated a moral consistency that centers justice and equality for all people,\u201d said Beth Miller, JVP Action\u2019s political director. \u201cThis campaign is a historic opportunity to bring a leader into office who will fight for our communities here at home, and to reimagine a US foreign policy that supports freedom and justice, not genocide and apartheid.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Ahead of the August 4 primary, El-Sayed is locked in a contentious three-way race<\/a> with Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., a centrist lawmaker with the backing of the Democratic establishment and the pro-Israel lobby, including its flagship warhawk lobby group, American Israel Public Affairs Committee; and State Sen. Mallory McMorrow, a self-styled progressive who has drawn endorsements from figures like Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and the liberal pro-Israel group, J Street<\/a>.<\/p>\n El-Sayed, who has the endorsements of Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., as well as progressive Squad members in Congress like Democratic Reps. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Summer Lee of Pennsylvania, has positioned himself to the left of both his opponents and has been a vocal critic of Israel\u2019s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza since long before he launched his campaign. While many voters cite affordability and economic pressure as their top electoral concerns \u2014\u00a0especially amid rising prices spurred by the U.S. and Israel\u2019s unpopular war on Iran \u2014 Israel\u2019s genocide and apartheid conditions for Palestinian people have continued to animate political organizing across several congressional races this cycle.\u00a0<\/p>\n <\/p>\n That\u2019s at least in part thanks to Jewish Voice for Peace, which has been instrumental in drawing public attention to the genocide in Gaza by organzing a wave of anti-genocide demonstrations across the U.S. \u2013 from college campuses<\/a> to Wall Street<\/a> and the Capitol<\/a>. Its political advocacy and lobbying arm is a main backer of the Block the Bombs<\/a> bill in the House, which has become a litmus test for progressive candidates in congressional races.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThere is a marked shift in the way that movements, organizations and voters are showing up to send a very clear message: that Palestine cannot be removed from a broader progressive agenda,\u201d Miller said.<\/p>\n It\u2019s considered harder to elevate a more radical candidate to the Senate, where a politician has to win statewide election, than it might be in a deep-blue congressional district with a progressive electorate. But Miller said El-Sayed was a standout \u2014 in the seven years since its 2019 establishment, Jewish Voice for Peace Action had never seen a Senate candidate that seemed worth its endorsement. JVP Action also backed\u00a0candidates in the recent House races where the left won in New York,<\/a> Pennsylvania<\/a>, and New Jersey<\/a>, though its preferred candidate lost in San Francisco<\/a>. In Colorado\u2019s primary election on Tuesday, JVP Action is also supporting Melat Kiros<\/a>, an anti-war House candidate who was fired from her job as an attorney for refusing to take down her post<\/a> on the genocide in Palestine.<\/p>\n The bulk of El-Sayed\u2019s platform focuses on affordability, championing Medicare for All, a tax on billionaires, and labor protections against the AI industry replacing jobs. Yet his position on Israel has drawn perhaps the most scrutiny from his opponents.\u00a0<\/p>\n Moderate Democrats condemned El-Sayed\u2019s decision to invite influential streamer and political commentator Hasan Piker to a pair of campaign rallies at Michigan universities in the spring, claiming that appearing with the vocal anti-Zionist streamer was insensitive to the Jewish community in the wake of a horrific shooting at a Michigan synagogue. McMorrow, whose husband and daughter are Jewish, compared Piker to the far-right, neo-Nazi podcaster Nick Fuentes in an interview with Jewish Insider<\/a>, and she repeated<\/a> that it was insensitive for El-Sayed to stump with Piker after the synagogue attack on CNN last week.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI believe in freedom of speech,\u201d she told CNN, \u201cbut we have a very diverse population here in Michigan \u2013 we have the largest Arab American population in the country, alongside a very significant Jewish population. We need to keep everyone together, not just to win, but to govern and represent this state appropriately.\u201d<\/p>\n