Jewish Michigan representative faces online hate as Israel-Hamas war continues | CPT PPP Coverage

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LANSING, Mich. — One of the only two Jewish members of the Michigan House says she’s been a target of online harassment since Israel was attacked on Oct. 7, and police have begun patrolling the area around her home for her own safety.

Hamas militants broke out of the blockaded Gaza Strip and into nearby Israeli towns ten days ago, murdering hundreds of people and abducting others in an unprecedented surprise early morning attack during a major Jewish holiday.

Rep. Samantha Steckloff, D-Farmington Hills, said she had been in mourning after learning that two of her former University of Michigan students and their two-year-old child, who moved to the Middle East to encourage peace between Palestinians and Israelis, had been killed in the rampage.

As the tragedy continues to unfold, however, Steckloff said she had been supported and loved on by the only other Jewish House member, West Bloomfield Rep. Noah Arbit, and the two Muslim members of her caucus, Majority Floor Leader Abraham Aiyash, D-Hamtramck, and Rep. Alabas Farhat, D-Dearborn.

“We are in communication pretty much daily. Checking in on each other. Finding out how our communities are doing. I mean, that’s a level of love that that I haven’t experienced before,” Steckloff said of Arbit, Aiyash, and Farhat.

Israel has since cut off water and electricity to most of Gaza, with Israeli Energy Minister Israel Katz saying his country will not allow the resources until Hamas releases hostages they kidnapped on Saturday. In under a week, Israel reported it had dropped 6,000 bombs on Gaza, one of the most densely populated areas on earth.

Steckloff was one of the six Democrats joining dozens of Republicans to support a symbolic resolution condemning the attacks and calling for the release of all hostages held by Hamas.

She said signing the resolution to support her Jewish community, but disagreed with its decision to support “Israel’s right to self-defense.” Steckloff noted that she had signed the resolution before she understood how Israel would retaliate from the initial Hamas attack.

Steckoff sharply criticized the way that she said Republicans had stepped ahead of Jewish members of their chambers in introducing a resolution. She also said she felt many of the Republicans who signed onto the resolution, some of whom have ties to the Nazi Party, did not represent her.

“I’m angry. I don’t know if you’ve had a chance to see who has signed onto this resolution, but I can tell you one thing: they do not speak for the Jews,” she said.

Steckloff and her Muslim and Jewish colleagues are considering a resolution focused on ethnic intimidation and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, she said.