DMFI said Al Williams’ comments that the Democratic Party is ‘not the Jewish party’ are ‘indefensible’ and ‘should be definitively rejected’
Democratic Majority for Israel is calling on Al Williams, a candidate for Michigan’s Democratic Party chair who has faced widespread criticism over recent antisemitic comments, to drop out of the race ahead of Saturday’s election.
Williams, a veteran Democratic organizer from Detroit, drew backlash for claimingat a candidate forum co-hosted by the Arab American Democratic Caucus earlier this month that his party is “not the Jewish party,” invoking an antisemitic trope about Jewish control of American politics.
Responding to a question about the Democratic Party’s positions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Williams said that “they need to change,” adding: “This is not the Jewish party, this is the Democratic Party. There are more voices than just Zionists in this party. There are more voices than just Jewish Americans within this party. There are more voices than just those anti-Arab American voices within this party.”
In a statement shared with Jewish Insider on Wednesday, Mark Mellman, DMFI’s president and CEO, called the remarks “deeply offensive” and said they “should be disqualifying,” accusing Williams of trafficking in “antisemitic stereotypes about Jewish loyalty” and “falsely” portraying Jewish Americans as “anti-Arab American.”
“The path to electoral victory is through unity, not the division and exclusion Mr. Williams promotes,” Mellman said. “We urge Mr. Williams to immediately withdraw from the race for chair, apologize for his indefensible remarks, and seek out meaningful conversations with the Jewish community to understand why his comments are so wrong and so harmful.”
Williams’ comments have sparked condemnation from several Democratic lawmakers in Michigan, including Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI), who likewise described his remarks as “disqualifying” and “based in harmful tropes.”
Despite the blowback, Williams defended his comments last week, telling The Detroit News — which first reported on the forum — that he holds no personal animus toward Jewish people. “They cannot control the entire party,” he argued. “They are one of many voices.”
In a brief interview with JI on Wednesday, Williams claimed that he had already apologized twice for his statement — even as he otherwise insisted his views have been misrepresented.
“I might have said it in a way, at that time, that I probably could have said differently,” he told JI. “I’ve apologized. I was at a meeting last night in a packed room full of Jewish Americans, where I apologized for the second time — not the first but the second time. And then I reiterated the fact that my statement was misrepresented. I did not say that anyone does not belong under the big tent. What I did say was, every voice matters.”
He also accused DMFI, a leading pro-Israel group, of misconstruing his comments and said the group is seeking to sow division in the race, where he is one of two candidates vying for the chairmanship. “If my statement was misrepresented, and they’re taking that misrepresentation of my statement and throwing it back in my face and calling me names and trying to drive wedges into a state party that they don’t even live in,” he countered, “then that’s unfortunate.”
“They’re saying these things without knowing who I am,” Williams said of DMFI, “without knowing that I’ve always been there to support the Jewish community, without knowing that I have business partners that are Jewish Americans, without knowing that my mentor, an attorney, is a Jewish American, and we talk about these issues all the time.”
In its statement, DMFI, which has frequently engaged in Michigan politics, indicated that it remains unconvinced by such arguments, saying that “Williams’ effort to deny Jewish Americans a home in our party should be definitively rejected by all Democrats and all Americans.”
Williams added in a separate statement to JI on Wednesday that he believes “there is room for everyone in the Michigan Democratic Party,” adding that, “as an African-American, I know racism and will always stand up and fight for the rights of every human being regardless of color.”
Williams is facing former state Sen. Curtis Hertel, who has won endorsements from the Michigan Democratic Jewish Caucus and the state party’s Black Caucus. Hertel was backed by DMFI’s political arm last cycle, when he ran unsuccessfully for an open House seat in a Lansing-area swing district.
During the forum in early February, Williams also described Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza as a “genocide,” and called for the Democratic Party to embrace restrictions on arms sales to Israel.
In his own remarks at the event, Hertel said the Democratic Party should be able to accommodate differing perspectives on Israel and the Middle East. “I want the Israeli people and the Palestinian people to have some autonomy and the ability to live their lives as they see fit,” he said.