Gilchrist calls Gaza crisis a genocide at Arab convention

BY BEN SOLIS, MICHIGAN ADVANCE

MICHIGAN—Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist is staking out new territory for establishment Michigan Democrats in his campaign for governor, offering his support for Palestinians facing hunger and strife in the Israel-Hamas war and plainly calling the situation in Gaza a genocide.

Gilchrist first made his stance on Gaza clear over the weekend as a speaker at the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee’s national convention in Dearborn, also known as ArabCon. The city has the nation’s largest cohort of Arab Americans and would be a key pick up in the Democratic primary next August.

The lieutenant governor, in a clip that was shared on his Instagram account, said that the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was committing a genocide of the Palestinian people, to which the crowd erupted in cheers.

“This is not a matter of opinion. It is a matter of fact,” Gilchrist said. “This has been established by the global leaders who study genocide. This is not something we should support. American taxpayer dollars should not fund offensive weapons of war while children are starving, while medical resources are being blocked to civilians, and while lineages of families are being erased.”

Gilchrist also said that candidates for office should not be accepting money from those who support the genocide, noting that he would not accept money from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, the largest pro-Israel lobby in the US. That line similarly drew cheers and applause.

His commentary on Gaza and Palestine continued in campaign fundraiser alerts issued Monday—in both an email and in a text message.

“What’s happening in Gaza is a genocide. Families are starving. Children are being bombed. And our federal government is writing the checks that fund it,” Gilchrist’s campaign wrote. “I stand for human rights, dignity, and safety. That is why I am standing with the Palestinian people and their family, friends, and allies in Michigan – even knowing that AIPAC and its billionaire allies will flood Michigan with attack ads to try to shut me up.”

The text message sent by his campaign also addresses the controversial nature of his decision to come out in support of the Palestinian people, and positions Gilchrist as taking a bold stance in the face of what could be scorn for pro-Israel groups on both sides of the political aisle.

“Consultants told me not to send this text,” Gilchrist’s campaign wrote in the fundraising message, framed to be frank communication from the lieutenant governor. “They said it was ‘too controversial.’ They said it would cost us big donors. But if we’re afraid to tell the truth, what’s the point of running at all?”

Gilchrist is not alone in his position. Both Amnesty International and the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry have called the destruction of Gaza, the associated strife and the displacement of the Palestinian people a genocide.

Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson, who is also seeking election to the governor’s office on the Democratic side, earlier this month called for peace between Israelis and Palestinians, a lasting ceasefire and said humanitarian aid should flow freely to those in need. Swanson said the situation “hurts his soul, and I know I’m not alone.”

Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, also in the race, has called for a peaceful solution to the conflict. However, neither has gone as far to call Israeli actions a genocide.

READ MORE: Garlin Gilchrist announces Democratic bid to become Michigan’s first Black governor

This coverage was republished from Michigan Advance pursuant to a Creative Commons license.