I Watched a Perilous Fight for Republicans Unfold in Front of Me in Wisconsin. It’s Only Getting Deeper.
On the grounds of the Republican National Convention last month, I chatted up Enes Kanter Freedom, the 6-foot-10 former NBA player from Turkey who famously changed his surname when he became a U.S. citizen. His sometimes confused human-rights activism has found him an unlikely audience on the right; he once told Tucker Carlson on Fox News that America’s domestic critics “should just keep their mouth shut and stop criticizing the greatest nation in the world.” When we met, I asked Freedom—who is Muslim and outspoken about China’s treatment of the Uyghurs, among other abuses—what he thought of the GOP rhetoric on Israel’s assault on Palestinians in Gaza.
“You know, people are dying on both sides. That’s what I care about as an activist. Kids are innocent. I don’t care if they are Palestinian kids, Israeli kids, whoever is getting bombed,” he said. “People like you keep asking me which side I’m on. I’m on the side of humanity. Seeing kids dying on both sides—it kills me.”
Just then, I locked eyes with a man who stood nearby listening. He approached me with a determined look. He put his hands on my press credentials, thumbing between the three lanyards around my neck. Then he asked, “Are you a Muslim?”
“I am,” I replied.
The man—who turned out to be Alan Spitz, a Republican delegate from Illinois—smiled, and, unprompted, began telling me about his recent trip to Israel, where he had volunteered with the Israel Defense Forces. I returned Spitz’s smile, masking my discomfort, and shared that I’d like to visit one day, but I am afraid I’d suffer the same fate as my older sister, who was detained for several days and then deported when she tried to participate in a trip to Israel organized by her law school professor.
“That’s common sense,” Spitz said. “I understand why Israel would want to keep out Muslims. Would I be safe in Gaza? I’d be dead! Or a hostage!”
Soon two Muslim Republican delegates from New York, Oz Sultan and Seson Adams, joined us. Both voted for Donald Trump. They had both agreed to meet me earlier; Spitz was a surprise guest.
Spitz laughed at the scene, introducing himself as Jewish. Sultan tried to keep the discussion amicable. “What everyone wants is for America to get out of foreign wars. Trump is a big pacifist,” he said.
“He told Israel to finish the job already. He wants victory,” Spitz replied. “I was just in Israel; 90 percent of Israelis oppose a two-state solution.” What else is supposed to happen, we asked. “Separation. Send them someplace else,” Spitz said. “Ethnic cleansing?” I asked. “Ethnic cleansing. Absolutely,” Spitz said.
“I don’t believe in killing any children,” Adams said, jumping in. Spitz replied, “It’s on Hamas, who build military equipment under civilian houses. It’s a natural byproduct of war.”
“But as a human being, would you support stopping children on both sides from being killed?” Adams asked. “Yes. Have Hamas surrender, release the Israeli hostages, and the killing will stop. Until then, it won’t stop,” Spitz said.
The discussion went back and forth like this until they finally did find a point of agreement: “My biggest issue is the border,” Spitz said. “Me too,” Sultan agreed. With that, they exchanged some praise for Trump, and then Spitz walked away.
If you listen only to the GOP party line, you might think there is no dissent in the party on Israel and Gaza. But as Republicans look to expand their coalition to include more Arabs and Muslims—who, prior to 9/11, tended to vote red—more scenes like this one are unfolding. Republicans are still more supportive of Israel than Democrats, but that support is showing some signs of fraying, especially among younger Republicans. Despite the dark rhetoric that bubbles up quickly among hard-core Republicans when you bring up the war, newer GOP voters still think they’re making the right choice.
“I mean, I’m Muslim, and they treat me really good,” Freedom told me at one point. “We are here to fix our community,” Sultan said. “These aren’t our issues. Our issues are the fact that Black kids are being killed by gangs, are starving to death, don’t have appropriate food programs, and don’t have proper education. Our kids are hungry. They have created a caste system in America where they’re telling anyone who is poor that they have to support the Democratic Party. But what have the Democrats actually solved in Appalachia and urban America?”
I pressed, asking if these men saw someone like Spitz as a partner in achieving their political goals. “You have to. It’s the only way it works,” Sultan said. “Now, it’s about extending the tent to the soft Democrats, the independents, and other like-minded people across America. Let’s see that the biggest problem we have is at home.”
Adams was more straightforward. “It’s the same on the other side. Whether I say I’m Democrat or Republican, it’s the same outcome. So now what do you do? Do you go all the way radical?”
Later, I ran into Spitz on the floor of the Fiserv Forum while the RNC was in full swing. I saw him amid several pro-Israel rally speeches. “There are more Israeli flags than U.S. flags here. I say that as a point for you guys,” Spitz said. He reached into his bag to show me a large sticker that read “From the River to the Sea, Israeli Sovereignty.”
Rola Makki, an outreach vice chair for the local Michigan Republican Party, tends to stand out at events like this, as she is usually the only hijab-wearing guest at them. She’s quick to blame the media for not highlighting the diversity within the Republican Party. “The Republican Party is changing. I’ve never had any issues with the party. They’ve always welcomed me. My friends are all here. It’s the media that doesn’t like to portray us as the diverse party it is. Look around you. There are a lot of Blacks, Asians, Hispanics. Anytime they have a chance to make the party look bad, they jump on it,” she said.
She said she did have some moments when she felt unwelcome. “There have been a few people who have come up to me and asked, ‘Hey, where are you from?’ ” she said. Just then, her friend, Malinda Pego, a Republican official from Michigan, shouted from over her shoulder, “We need more Muslims! And I’m a far-right Christian!”
When I broached the topic of Israel, Makki immediately tensed up. Just behind her, several women holding Israeli flags and signs with Trump’s name in Hebrew scowled at her. Makki, with her back turned, couldn’t see them, but seemed to sense their hostility. She described them as having been rude to her already, and asked if we could step away from them to speak more freely. “I don’t want to create trouble with them. I’m not here to start trouble,” she said.
“Obviously that issue matters to me,” Makki said, away from the women. “Israel is not only bombing Gaza. They’re bombing south Lebanon. That’s where I’m from. So, when it comes to that issue, we’re just never going to agree with anybody,” she said. “We have to be realistic. We have these two options. You do have to weigh them out. Biden is nicknamed Genocide Joe. And then you have Trump, who now has this vice president talking about bombing Iran. So, what do you do?” (Kamala Harris has since taken over the Democratic ticket.)
The following day, I spotted those same women holding Israeli flags. Michelle Terris and Karyn Basle, both Florida delegates, are who I had seen glaring at Makki during our interview. They were part of JEXIT, a Republican advocacy group aiming to sway Jewish voters away from the Democratic Party. After some initial grumbling about journalists being unfair to Trump, they agreed to answer a few questions.
“People are whispering in my ear, ‘God bless you. We’re praying for you. We love you. We love Israel,’ ” Terris said. “If we walked into the Democratic Party with these signs, I mean, just look at what Democrats do on college campuses,” Basle added, criticizing Democrats for not doing enough to stop the student protests or free the hostages held in Gaza.
Asked about building coalitions with people who are not explicitly pro-Israel, Terris said, “I don’t know how I could.”
