Tensions Rising: Michigan Rabbi Stabbed To Death!

Detroit activist and a local synagogue president Samantha Woll was stabbed to death. 

President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI), Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and the U.S. House members of Michigan will react to the stabbing of a 40 year old woman at a Metro Detroit synagogue.

The most polarizing event in modern history is underway. The conflict in Israel and the Gaza Strip has divided Democrats. The Arab world is angry that the U.S. and European Union are not holding Israel accountable for war crimes. 

Michigan is home to a large number of Palestinian Americans. They are fed up with the dehumanizing rhetoric and the calls to denounce Hamas.

Why are they not asking Jewish leaders or Israeli-Americans to denounce the criminal acts of Israel?

Samantha Woll may have become the latest victim of this polarizing campaign.

Woll was found outside her residence in the 1300 block of Joliet Pl in Detroit around 6:30 a.m.

Woll led the congregation of Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue, which confirmed Woll's death in a statement. “We are shocked and saddened to learn of the unexpected death of Samantha Woll, our Board President," it said.

“May her memory be a blessing,” the statement continued.

On Saturday evening, Detroit Police Chief James E. White  asked the public for patience as resources poured into the investigation. He promised an update Sunday morning.

“I am asking that everyone remain patient while investigators carefully examine every aspect of the available evidence,” he said in a statement. “It is important that no conclusions be drawn until all of the available facts are reviewed.” 

ADL Michigan, the state chapter of the Anti-Defamation League, also asked Michiganders to refrain from speculating on motive.

Authorities said a 911 caller early Saturday reported a person lying on the ground unresponsive at Woll’s home. Police discovered multiple stab wounds on Woll’s body and found a trail of blood leading to her house, where they believe the crime occurred.

Woll had ties to state Democrats. She previously worked for Rep. Elissa Slotkin and served on state Attorney General Dana Nessel’s re-election campaign.

Slotkin praised Woll's dedication to serving Detroit communities.

“She did for our team as Deputy District Director what came so naturally to her: helping others & serving constituents,” Slotkin wrote in a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Separately, in politics & in the Jewish community, she dedicated her short life to building understanding across faiths, bringing light in the face of darkness.”

Nessel expressed shock and horror at her death.

“Sam was as kind a person as I’ve ever known,” she said. 

“She was driven by her sincere love of her community, state and country. Sam truly used her faith and activism to create a better place for everyone.”

Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) is likely to not endorse Biden for 2024 due to his tone deaf response to the war crimes being committed by Israel.

“President Biden, not all of America is with you on this one and you need to wake up and understand that,” Michigan Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib said at a rally calling for a cease-fire Wednesday. “We will remember this.” 

The White House and Biden’s campaign say they are aware of the concerns and working to address them, pointing to Biden’s comments in his Oval Office address on Thursday night pushing for aid to Palestinian civilians, urging Israel “not to be blinded by rage” and directly telling Muslim Americans: “I see you. You belong.”

“The President and this administration have been unequivocal: there is no place for Islamophobia, xenophobia, or any of the vile racism we have seen in recent weeks,” Biden campaign spokesperson Ammar Moussa said. “As MAGA Republicans continue to run on an openly Islamaphobic platform — including renewed support for Donald Trump’s Muslim ban — the stakes of next year’s election could not be more consequential. President Biden continues to work closely and proudly with leaders in the Muslim and Palestinian communities in America, to listen to them, stand up for them, and fight back against hate.”

I will not stay silent to the atrocities caused by Israel.

Immediately after his Oval Office address Thursday night, Biden called the family of Wadea Al-Fayoume, the 6-year-old Palestinian American boy slain in Illinois in what prosecutors say was an anti-Muslim hate crime.

Muslim leaders are warning that Democrats risk losing their support, too, if Biden and the party do not do more to combat Islamophobia and address the pain many are feeling about the war in Gaza. 

“Joe Biden has single-handedly alienated almost every Arab-American and Muslim American voter in Michigan,” said state Rep. Alabas Farhat, a Democrat whose district includes Dearborn, which is home to one of the largest Muslim and Arab American communities in the country. 

Farhat said he has constituents and neighbors who have family members trapped in Gaza — including some who are American citizens — and they feel completely abandoned by the U.S. government for not doing more to help get them out, get aid in and pressure Israel for a cease-fire.

“The Biden administration and Democrats as a whole are going to have to do a lot of work to rebuild some level of trust with my community,” he said. “It’s never too late to do the right thing.”

In rolling conversations in Michigan and beyond over the past two weeks, Muslim elected officials, activists and community leaders have coalesced around a plan to mobilize their constituents to vote next year — but also to encourage them to leave the top of the ticket blank in protest, according to multiple people involved in the discussions. 

“That’s the plan right now,” Farhat said. “I think there’s going to be a lot of people that remember when you won Michigan years ago by a razor-thin margin, when you won Georgia with a razor-thin margin, when you won Arizona by a razor-thin margin — do not be surprised if there are consequences for your actions.”