In the key US swing state of Michigan, Democratic voters of Arab and Middle Eastern heritage say Kamala Harris is going to have to win them back after they were alienated by US President Joe Biden’s handling of the war in Gaza.
The town of Dearborn, home to 110,000 people and a cultural hub for Arab Americans, could play a decisive role in deciding the fate of the battleground state in November’s US presidential election.
Members of the community interviewed by AFP said they were willing to hear what the vice president had to say and weigh their options — a marked change from the outright hostility toward Biden.
“We are in listening mode right now,” said Osama Siblani, publisher of The Arab American News.
The Anti-Defamation League last Sunday condemned Harris campaign chief Julie Chavez Rodriguez for meeting with Siblani, who has expressed support for Hamas and Hezbollah.
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Accepting the Democratic presidential nomination at the party’s convention on Thursday, Harris pledged to get a Gaza ceasefire “done” and ensure Palestinians realize their right to “dignity, security, freedom and self-determination.” She also vowed to “always stand up for Israel’s right to defend itself.”
Osama Siblani, publisher of the Arab American News is photographed in his office in Dearborn, Michigan, April 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
But there was outrage among pro-Palestinian delegates that their request for a speaker spot at the convention was rejected. The group Muslim Women for Harris-Walz said the decision sent a “terrible message” and announced it was disbanding and withdrawing its support from the campaign.
Harris, who has vowed “not to be silent” about the suffering of Palestinians, recently met with members of the national “Uncommitted” movement that led the charge against Biden during the Democratic primary process.
Although she made no firm promises, leaders said she impressed them with a show of empathy.
At the forefront of concerns are Israel’s 10 months of military operations in Gaza, which have devastated the Palestinian enclave since the war began in response to Hamas’s shock assault on October 7, when thousands of terrorists stormed southern Israel to kill around 1,200 people and take 251 hostages.
Two boys ride a horse-drawn cart pulling a water cistern past tents sheltering displaced Palestinians in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on June 25, 2024. (Eyad Baba / AFP)
Growing influence
Michigan, home to the “big three” automakers — Ford, General Motors and Chrysler — has long been an essential stop for White House aspirants.
Economic downturns in the 1970s led many to leave the so-called “Rust Belt” state, just as unrest in the Middle East brought new waves of Lebanese, Iraqi, Yemeni and Palestinian immigrants.
“We’re a global city, where nearly 55 percent of our residents are of Arab background,” said Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud in a recent interview. “For many of us, when you talk about what’s happening in Gaza, these are our family and our friends.”
Famous as the birthplace of Henry Ford, Dearborn appears at first glance just like any small US city, with its wide thoroughfares and strip malls.
Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud speaks during an election night gathering, February 27, 2024, in Dearborn, Michigan. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
But it is also home to the Islamic Center of America — the largest mosque in the country — and countless Middle Eastern supermarkets, eateries and coffee shops.
When Siblani first started his newspaper in the mid-1980s, he remembers the then-mayor campaigned on a platform to address the “Arab problem.”
But as the community’s numbers grew, and the children of blue-collar factory workers took up positions as lawyers, doctors and businesspeople, so too did their political influence.
A Dearborn Police Department car sits outside the Islamic Center of America in metro Detroit, Michigan, on October 16 2023, a week after the arrest of a 41-year-old man who asked on social media if anyone wanted to ‘hunt Palestinians’ in Dearborn. (AP Photo/Joey Cappelletti)
‘Lesser of two evils’
Historically socially conservative, Arab and Muslim Americans heavily favored George W. Bush in the 2000 election.
But they swung firmly to the Democratic camp after years of the US “War on Terror,” which saw fighting in the Middle East and Afghanistan, and Muslim American communities put under stricter law-enforcement scrutiny.
In 2018, southeast Michiganders elected Rashida Tlaib to the US House of Representatives, making her the first Palestinian-American woman in Congress — a milestone for the community.
Part of the far-left “Squad” of young progressive lawmakers often critical of Israel, Tlaib was preceded by two Republican congressmen of Palestinian ancestry: Justin Amash, also of Michigan, and John Sununu, who represented New Hampshire in both the House and the Senate.
Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan protests during Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to a joint meeting of the US Congress at the Capitol in Washington, July 24, 2024. (Saul Loeb / AFP)
Three Arab-American mayors have also recently been elected in Detroit suburbs known for historic racism towards non-whites.
Dearborn voters overwhelmingly backed Biden in 2020 — helping secure Michigan for the Democrats by a slim margin — after US President Donald Trump angered the community with his travel ban on Muslim countries and support for Jewish settlements in the West Bank, among other things.
Dearborn residents are tired, however, of being asked to vote for the “lesser of two evils.” They want candidates who will deliver on demands, such as a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and an end to the supply of weapons to Israel.
Harris, however, seems unlikely to make such a drastic pivot, saying during her speech accepting the nomination last week that “I will always ensure Israel has the ability to defend itself,” a line met with thunderous applause.
“I think VP Harris has a window of opportunity,” said Faye Nemer, a community activist and CEO of the MENA American Chamber of Commerce. “She can either continue President Biden’s legacy or set her own agenda.”
Democratic US presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, center left, clasps hands with US President Joe Biden, center right, as they are flanked by their spouses at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois, August 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
Arab Americans in Dearborn have been impressed by Harris’s pick of Minnesota governor Tim Walz as her running mate. Walz has taken a conciliatory approach to opponents of the war, unlike Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, who took a hard line against college protesters, although the two men have adopted largely similar approaches to the ongoing war.
But demands from Muslim voters are hardening.
“We don’t want crumbs anymore,” declared Soujoud Hamade, a business lawyer and long-time Democrat, who vowed to vote for Green Party candidate Jill Stein if Harris did not deliver on the campaign trail.
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