20 | JULY 16 • 2020 continued from page 18 For a while, it seemed like philanthropists in the Metro Detroit Jewish community might champion a challenger to Tlaib this year. At a Jewish Federation roundtable in August 2019, Lisa Lis, a frequent Democratic donor, was quoted as saying, “We in this communi- ty will go against Rashida Tlaib. ” But the Lises have since decided not to get involved in this race, in part because they don’ t live in the district. “ At this point, I think it is not our place — my place — to get involved in that cam- paign, ” Hannan Lis, Lisa’ s husband, told the Jewish News. Hannan Lis grew up in Israel and has repeatedly voiced his disproval of Tlaib’ s stance on the state. In September, he told the Detroit Free Press that her comments in support of BDS were “an affront and very offensive to Jews. ” Despite their differences on Israel, though, Hannan Lis said he thinks Tlaib is a “hard-working, smart” legislator. “She really worked hard to get it, so she definitely deserved to win at the time, ” he said. While he wishes Tlaib would change her stance on Israel — or at least do more to understand where Jewish people are coming from on the issue — he recog- nizes that it’ s not the biggest problem facing the 13th district. The district’ s residents deserve a devoted advocate for their own challenges, he said. “She’ s not there to represent the Palestinian people or to advocate for Israel, ” he said. “She’ s there to represent the people she’ s rep- resenting. ” The Michigan Democratic Jewish Caucus has also decided not to get involved in the 13th district’ s Democratic primary. “While MDJC has endorsed and sup- ported five of Michigan’ s seven incumbent Democratic members of Congress for the 2020 cycle, no plans exist for an endorse- ment in the 13th District, ” a statement from MDJC Chair Noah Arbit reads. From the right, the Michigan Jewish Action Council is not getting involved in this election, either. In a statement sent to the JN, the conservative advocacy group said they have concerns with both candidates — Tlaib because of her views on Israel and Jones because of her ties to Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, who has a history of anti-Semitism. “While we at MJAC think that Rashida Tlaib is a poor choice for Jews and for our country, Brenda Jones needs to clarify some of her positions, ” reads the statement, signed by MJAC member Harry Onickel. Jones welcomed Farrakhan to Detroit this year for the group’ s annual “Saviour’ s Day” convention in February. At the convention, Jones’ chief of staff Steven Grady told the crowd that she had sponsored a resolution to honor the 40th anniversary of the NOI’ s newspaper, The Final Call, for its “truth- ful articles” and “courageous journalists” (the paper has a long history of publishing anti-Semitic content). Jones had previously shared a stage with Farrakhan in 2018. Jones’ campaign has not returned multiple requests for comment for this article. THE JEWS IN RASHIDA’ S CORNER On the other hand, IfNotNow Detroit, the local branch of an American Jewish organi- zation that advocates for the end of Israel’ s occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, has used this primary to make their first-ever endorsement. They’ ve backed Tlaib. “We’ re a group of young progressive Detroit Jews who we believe represents the majority of the Jewish generation we’ re part of, and we’ re committed to strong progres- sive values, grounded in our Jewish tradition and our Jewish faith. It’ s a beautiful irony that our strongest supporter of those values happens to be a Palestinian congresswoman, ” said Jesse Einhorn, a lead organizer with INN Detroit. Einhorn lives in Southwest Detroit, though he’ s just outside the bounds of the 13th dis- trict. But many INN Detroit members are represented by Tlaib, he said, and the group will be phone banking and canvassing for Tlaib in the lead up to the Aug. 4 primary. “We will be out in the community, and in the Jewish community especially, talking to our friends and our neighbors and our parents and telling them why Rashida is the choice if you are a progressive Jew, ” he said. Other progressive Jews living in the city support Tlaib as well. Rabbi Alana Alpert, who leads Congregation T’ chiyah and is a community organizer with Detroit Jews for Justice, has been an outspoken defender of Tlaib. Tlaib worked with DJJ on the organization’ s focus issues for years before running for Congress, Alpert wrote in an email to JN. “I haven’ t met a single resident of Rashida’ s (my!) district who doesn’ t appreciate her leadership. There’ s been a deliberate attempt to manufacture division between a Palestinian member of Congress and her Jewish constituents, and some folks outside the district have fallen prey to that, ” Alpert wrote. “But the truth is that the things Jewish voters tend to care about are exactly the kinds of things Rashida has championed. ” Whether or not they support her as a candidate — and regardless of whether they live in her district — many Jewish commu- nity members will be watching the primary closely. There are Republican candidates running for the seat, but the district has been a Democratic stronghold for decades, so it’ s likely that whoever wins the Democratic primary will go on to represent the area in Congress. Hannan Lis said he ultimately hopes to see strong leadership in the 13th district, regard- less of who it comes from. “Personally, I’ d rather see the area rep- resented by an effective legislator who will work hard to really improve the lives of the people there, ” he said. “Is it something that a challenger [to Tlaib] could do if there was an effective challenger? I hope so. Do I see one that would be able to do this right now and also win an election? I’ m not convinced. ” Lisa Lis Hannan Lis Rabbi Alana Alpert “The things Jewish voters tend to care about are exactly the kinds of things Rashida has championed.” — RABBI ALANA ALPERT Cover Story