Jewish students join 'Nonnegotiable' campaign against El-Sayed over antisemitism, safety concerns

The students stated that they feel disappointed by their options in the Michigan Senate race.

University of Michigan students have joined the Nonnegotiable Michigan campaign, expanding the grassroots effort onto college campuses as young voters express growing anxiety over Democratic US Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed's past rhetoric and refusal to address community concerns.

The students, who identify as Democrats and are connected to the initiative through the Jewish Caucus of the College Democrats of America, stated that they feel disappointed by their options in the Michigan Senate race.

Lacking a candidate who addresses their baseline needs as liberal and progressive Jewish Americans, these student leaders have signed onto the Nonnegotiable petition to help build a political home within the Democratic Party while organizing their peers on campus.

The inclusion of campus leaders marks a broader generational expansion for a campaign that was initially launched with Michigan rabbis, cantors, and synagogue lay leaders representing approximately 40,000 Jewish Michiganders.

Previous waves of endorsement have drawn prominent figures, including a University of Michigan Regent, a sitting state representative, former state lawmakers and mayors, and nine executive board members of the Michigan Democratic Jewish Caucus.

The campaign's momentum builds on mounting community frustration that previously led faith leaders to write to former Vice President Kamala Harris ahead of her Michigan visit, noting that El-Sayed had declined to address their basic needs.

That correspondence pointed to past remarks from El-Sayed characterizing Israelis as bloodthirsty and American support for Israel as stemming from purchased loyalty, alongside his continued reticence to affirm Jewish sovereignty.

Urge for El-Sayed to affirm five core commitments

The student leaders are publicly and privately urging El-Sayed to affirm five core commitments: that Jewish safety, including the safety of Zionist Jews, must be guaranteed; that the right of Jews to define their own identities must be respected; that Jewish sovereignty in Israel must be recognized; that the full participation of Jews, including Zionist Jews, in American political life must be upheld; and that an affirmative vision for a better future for the Middle East must be offered.

While framing the initiative as an open invitation rather than an ultimatum or an endorsement of either Senate candidate, Nonnegotiable campaign leaders argue that El-Sayed's refusal to respond is deepening anxieties as Election Day approaches.

Nonnegotiable said that according to their compiled data there are 8,057 first-time Jewish voters in Michigan this year.

With new polling showing that the race is within the margin of error, and with high stakes for the future of the Democratic Party, organizers said that El-Sayed's affirmation of the bare minimum needs of Jewish Democrats would go a long way for a voting bloc that has overwhelmingly supported the party for generations.