The heat is on for Thanedar

Congressman Shri Thanedar (third from right) poses with the mayor and city council at an inauguration ceremony.

By Charles Sercombe
Hamtramck community leaders are continuing their campaign against Congressman Shri Thanedar’s re-election.
On the Facebook page “Hamtramck Square,” former Hamtramck Public School Board member Nasr Hussain, who is a current member of the city’s Planning Commission, is calling for voters to reject Thanedar.
“Make sure you don’t vote for this Zionist,” Hussain said on the Facebook page.
First-term City Councilmember Muhith Mahmood also chimed in on Hussain’s comment, saying:“We all need to work hard to get him out.”
The rift with the all-male, all-Muslim city council, as well as the mayor, started with Thanedar’s support of sending military aid to Israel in the wake of Israel invading Gaza.
That invasion has, so far, led to the deaths of over 36,000 Palestinians, most of whom were civilians.
Israel invaded Gaza after Hamas invaded Israel last October, killing over 1,200 Israelis and taking another roughly 250 more as hostages, according to media reports.
The U.S., historically, has been a staunch ally of Israel for decades, and the political support has come from both Republicans and Democrats, in a rare show of bipartisanship.
Because of that support, local leaders have called for not supporting President Biden in his upcoming re-election bid. However, former President Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, is, as much or more so, a staunch ally of Israel as well.
Thanedar, who is a Democrat, represents Hamtramck as well as part of Detroit, some of the Grosse Pointes and a portion of downriver.
His main challenger now appears to be Detroit City Councilmember Mary Waters.
Likely because of this political snub, Mayor Amer Ghalib says that Thanedar held back two federal infrastructure grants, totaling in the millions of dollars, for Hamtramck.
Mayor Ghalib has shrugged off that move by Thanedar, saying “But that’s OK.”
Ghalib is supporting Waters in the upcoming August primary election. Whichever Democratic candidate wins the primary is guaranteed to win in November.
Thanedar told The Review that the reason the city isn’t getting federal grants is because there were other community projects in his congressional district that are more worthy.
“I serve 20 municipalities, and have received more than 45 proposals for community funding. Unfortunately, I can only submit 15 requests. Hamtramck’s requests did not make it to the top fifteen,” Thanedar said.
The Review asked Thanedar for a list of those 15 projects, but he did not respond.
Posted June 14, 2024