Washington – Said Arikat – 14/5/2026
News Analysis
The name of Abdul Rahman Mohamed El-Sayed (Abdul El-Sayed), a progressive politician of Egyptian descent from Michigan, has emerged as one of the most rising figures within the American Democratic Party, after polls showed him leading in the primary race for Senator Gary Peters' seat in the Senate. According to a poll published on May 11, El-Sayed is ten points ahead of his opponent, Representative Haley Stevens, and also tops the average of "Real Clear Politics" polls. If he wins the election, he will become the first Muslim to be elected as a member of the US Senate, and one of the most prominent Arab-American voices advocating for Palestinian rights within the political establishment in Washington.
El-Sayed, 41, a distinguished physician in Michigan (and also an assistant professor in the Department of Epidemiology at Columbia University), carries a broad progressive platform that includes universal healthcare, criminal justice reform, and a complete ban on sending weapons to Israel. These positions were, until recently, considered highly marginal within traditional American politics. However, his rise comes at a different political moment, where public anger over the Israeli war on Gaza is expanding, and the power of the progressive current within the Democratic Party is increasing, especially among youth, unions, and student movements.
In this context, Zohran Mamdani's victory in the New York City mayoral election in 2025 appeared to be a pivotal moment in contemporary American politics, as it proved that a candidate clearly supportive of Palestinian rights could achieve a significant electoral victory in one of America's most important cities. This victory opened the door for a new wave of progressive candidates who place the Palestinian issue at the heart of their political discourse, after many long years during which criticizing Israel was seen as a political risk that could end the future of any candidate within the Democratic Party.
Observers believe that El-Sayed's rise is not only linked to shifts in public opinion after the war on Gaza, but also to the deep political and social legacy of Detroit and its suburbs, where alliances between Arab Americans, labor movements, and progressive Black movements have formed over decades. Since the 1960s, radical Black organizations adopted positions supportive of Palestinians as part of their anti-global colonialism vision, while Arab-American activists, including Lebanese-American lawyer Abdeen Jabara, contributed to building political and academic institutions that supported the Palestinian cause and linked it to social justice issues within the United States.
It is worth noting that one of the pivotal moments in this history was in 1973, when about two thousand auto workers in Detroit went on strike to protest the American auto workers' union leadership's relations with Israel. The strike was then led by the "Arab Workers' Caucus," which later continued its campaigns to push unions to divest from Israel, a step that preceded by decades the boycott and divestment movement known today as "BDS." Activists believe that this historical background explains why Michigan has today become an advanced center for pro-Palestinian political activism within the Democratic Party.
El-Sayed's rise reveals a profound change within the American political mood, transcending the boundaries of traditional elections. The war on Gaza has prompted an increasing number of young people and progressive voters to reconsider the American-Israeli relationship, after images of destruction and killing began reaching them daily through social media, far from the traditional official narrative. Therefore, talking about Palestinian rights has become less politically sensitive than it was in previous decades, while demands to stop arming Israel have gained increasing legitimacy within progressive, union, and student circles, especially among new generations who view the conflict from the perspective of human rights and international justice, not solely geopolitical calculations.
Michigan's experience reflects a political and social specificity rarely given attention in traditional American media. The Palestinian issue there was not only shaped as an issue of Arab or religious identity, but as a result of decades of joint work between Arab Americans, labor movements, and Black movements. This legacy created a political discourse that links economic justice, anti-racism, and rejection of foreign wars. Therefore, the support El-Sayed enjoys within unions and progressive organizations is not solely linked to his Arab background, but to his ability to represent a broader current that believes American foreign policy must also be subject to standards of justice and human rights.
The growing pro-Palestinian current within the Democratic Party represents a strategic challenge to the traditional political establishment in Washington, which for decades treated support for Israel as an unquestionable constant. However, demographic and cultural shifts within the United States have begun to impose new equations, especially with the rise of a generation more critical of wars and more sensitive to issues of discrimination and occupation. If figures like El-Sayed and Mamdani succeed in achieving additional electoral breakthroughs, Democratic leaders may find themselves forced to reformulate their discourse towards the Middle East, reflecting the changing public mood within the party's electoral base in the coming years, gradually but effectively.
Today, many observers believe that El-Sayed's campaign represents an extension of a historical path led by prominent political and reformist figures, such as the late Reverend Jesse Jackson and current Senator from Vermont, Bernie Sanders, among others. However, it comes at a more sensitive and impactful moment, after Gaza has become a central focus in American political discussion, and after universities, unions, and protest movements have become public pressure platforms on both the Trump administration and Democratic leaders. Furthermore, El-Sayed's recent endorsement by prominent Black and progressive organizations in Detroit indicates the expansion of the alliance supporting him within the state, and that the Palestinian issue is no longer an isolated foreign file, but has become part of the internal American discussion about justice, identity, and the future of American politics itself.
شارك برأيك
Abdul Rahman Al-Sayyed After Zohran Mamdani: How Palestine Became Part of American Political Transformation?