DEARBORN: Two elected American officials on Saturday criticized political silence in the US regarding Israel’s genocide in Gaza despite growing public anger.
California Congressman Ro Khanna and Garlin Gilchrist II, Michigan’s lieutenant governor, addressed the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee convention in Dearborn, which was attended by Arab News.
Khanna said more and more of his fellow Democrats, and even Republicans, have broken with their traditional party stance of supporting Israel.
He asked: “How can you be a Democrat in Congress and not believe that it’s time for the US to recognize Palestinian aspirations” when Israel’s government is “erasing Palestinian identity” and considering annexing the West Bank?
Khanna criticized Republicans and Democrats for turning a blind eye in exchange for millions in pro-Israel campaign donations.
“You have four out of the five permanent (UN) Security Council members, over a 150 countries calling for the recognition of a Palestinian state, and somehow the US isn’t,” he said.
“And they’re saying I don’t have moral clarity. They’re blind. They’re making us on the side of the pariah in world opinion,” he added.
Gilchrist said he is not afraid to call Israel’s brutality in Gaza what it is. “The Netanyahu government is committing a genocide. This isn’t a matter of opinion. It’s a matter of fact. This has been established by the global leaders who study genocide,” he added.
“This isn’t something we should support. American taxpayer dollars shouldn’t fund … weapons of war while children are starving,” Gilchrist said to a standing ovation.
“Our medical resources are being blocked to civilians while many innocent families are being oppressed … Candidates shouldn’t accept money from those who support the genocide. That’s why, as a candidate for governor of Michigan, I won’t accept money from AIPAC (the American Israel Public Affairs Committee).
“I respect all people, their human dignity, everyone’s God-given right to be safe, the right to a future not cut short by violence, hunger or war, the right to a roof over your head, clothes on your back and food in your belly.
“I see a future where these rights are protected and guaranteed in Michigan and around the globe.”
Acknowledging that many relatives of victims in Gaza live in the Greater Detroit region, he noted: “You see, in Michigan, too many people are hurt.”
Gilchrist — who has served as the state’s 64th lieutenant governor since 2019, and is among three candidates in the August 2026 Democratic primary election contest — received a lengthy standing ovation when he declared: “It’s wrong … to vilify Arabs and Muslims. … As governor, I won’t stand for it.”
During a banquet celebrating ADC’s 45th anniversary, awards were presented to several activists and speakers for their courage in defending Arab rights.
Among them were two doctors, Mohammed Mustafa and Mohammed Tahir, who worked to save hundreds of lives in Gaza.
They spoke about the horrors of the injuries they witnessed to the elderly, to women, and to children as young as infants.
Panels included discussions on the impact of social media on swinging US public opinion away from Israel, and how platform owners are trying to censor posts to protect Israel by using computer algorithms and keywords.
Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, former director for the Department of Health, Human and Veterans Services for Wayne County, discussed his candidacy for Michigan’s US Senate race in next year’s Democratic primary contest.
There were also discussions about student protests and campaigns to reverse laws adopted by 36 US states against the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.
