KALAMAZOO — In a strong show of support for Michigan U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, progressive Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) joined the Arab American contender at a large campaign rally in Kalamazoo last Saturday. El-Sayed, who seeks to become the first Muslim member of the U.S. Senate, drew a fired-up crowd alongside the veteran senator, who denounced Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza.

In a speech that electrified the audience, Sanders sharply condemned Israel’s policies of killing and starving Palestinians, accusing U.S. leaders of ignoring the will of voters on the issue.

“Washington is completely out of touch with the American people,” Sanders said, describing Gaza as a “clear moral issue.” He renewed his call for a ban on U.S. arms exports to Israel, pointing to the thousands of civilians killed in Gaza.

“Americans are financing the starvation of children in Gaza,” the Jewish American senator declared.

lamenting that taxpayer money is being diverted to war instead of health care, public schools and free college education — priorities he has long championed.

El-Sayed’s remarks

For his part, Abdul El-Sayed, former director of health for both Wayne County and the city of Detroit, also tied his campaign message to the issue.

“Schools in America are collapsing,” El-Sayed said, noting literacy rates are falling.

“Maybe we should use taxpayer money to build schools for our children, instead of writing blank checks to foreign armies dropping bombs on kids,” he added, in a direct swipe at U.S. military aid to Israel.

While criticizing President Trump’s administration and the Republican-controlled Congress, El-Sayed also aimed his fire at Democratic Party leadership, the very party whose nomination he is seeking.

“I believe party leadership is still hesitant to confront the reality that we are funding a genocide in Gaza,” he said.

El-Sayed added that his campaign is dedicated to removing the influence of big money from politics, advocating instead to “put more money into people’s pockets” and advance a policy of Medicare for All.

A progressive alliance

El-Sayed, who previously ran for Michigan governor in 2018, belongs to the state’s influential progressive wing, which Sanders helped energize in the 2016 presidential primaries when he defeated Hillary Clinton in Michigan, despite ultimately losing the national nomination.

Sanders’ endorsement is expected to give El-Sayed a significant boost among progressive voters in the 2026 Democratic Senate primary, where he faces tough competition from two established Democrats, U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens and State Senator Mallory McMorrow

The filing deadline for the open Senate seat is in early spring 2026, as Sen. Gary Peters has announced he will not seek a third six-year term.

The electoral battlefield

El-Sayed has particular appeal among young voters, Arab Americans and Muslim Americans, constituencies that could be decisive in the August 2026 Democratic primary — especially amid growing public anger over Israel’s nearly two-year-long war on Gaza, a war that neither Stevens nor McMorrow has publicly opposed.

On the Republican side, former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers and U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga are both running for the seat, and both are strong supporters of Israel.