Amir Makled represented Michigan students who faced criminal charges related to the school’s anti-Israel encampment and introduced El-Sayed at an event featuring Hasan Piker
Dearborn, Mich. attorney Amir Makled, who shared since-deleted social media posts praising late Hezbollah terrorists as “martyr[s]” and urging Iran to “show no laxity” against Israel, won the Michigan Democratic Party’s nomination for the University of Michigan Board of Regents during the party’s convention Sunday.
Makled will appear on the November ballot alongside incumbent regent Paul Brown after defeating another incumbent, Jordan Acker, a supporter of Israel whose home was the target of antisemitic vandalism in 2024. By contrast, Makled is best known in the university community for representing Michigan students who faced criminal charges after participating in the university’s illegal anti-Israel encampment in spring 2024.
His upset victory comes in the wake of the Washington Free Beacon’s revelation that Makled had reposted messages calling slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah a “martyr” and referred to him by the honorific “Sayed,” which translates to “Master.” Makled likewise shared a post saying Nasrallah’s security chief, Abu Ali Khalil, “was martyred in an ‘Israeli’ strike in Tehran,” adding, “May His Ascension rise High.” On the day Israel began its operation against the Islamic Republic last June, he shared a post from @IRIran_Military, a regime fan account, that called for Iran to “show no laxity in sacred war against the enemy.”
Service Employees International Union rescinded its endorsement of Makled after the Free Beacon reported on those posts.
The Michigan Democrats’ convention showcased the party’s adversarial position toward Israel. Left-wing Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, who has made his fervent opposition to the Jewish state a cornerstone of his campaign, delivered a speech that was enthusiastically received by attendees. Pro-Israel U.S. Senate candidate Haley Stevens and a Democratic Party official who nominated Acker were both loudly booed by the crowd.
Makled highlighted the contrast and told the Michigan Daily, “I think this room is a litmus test of what we can expect come November, if the campaigns are staying strong and moving forward.”
Acker called the level of antisemitism in the Michigan Democratic Party “extensive.”
“The question we have to ask as Jews is whether we still belong here,” he told the Detroit News.
Nearly two weeks earlier, Makled introduced El-Sayed at a campaign rally featuring Twitch streamer Hasan Piker, who has claimed “America deserved 9/11” and insisted it “doesn’t matter if … rapes happened on Oct. 7.” The event came shortly after a Free Beacon report on a private campaign call El-Sayed held the day after the death of former Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei. The Senate candidate said he wanted to avoid making a statement on Khamenei’s assassination because many voters in Dearborn were “sad.”
The University of Michigan Board of Regents consists of eight members elected statewide to eight-year terms. Makled and Brown will face their Republican opponents, Lena Epstein and Michael Schostak.
Neither Makled nor Acker responded to requests for comment.