Traditionally Democratic Arab-American voters in Michigan “cannot stomach the thought of voting for” Vice President Kamala Harris.
Soujoud Hamade told BBC that’s because the Biden-Harris administration is “directly contributing to the death and destruction of our home country and of our relatives overseas.”
Hamade, president of the Michigan Chapter of the Arab American Bar Association, plans to vote for Green Party candidate Jill Stein in the 2024 presidential election, one of many Arab Americans abandoning the Democratic Party.
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Hamade pointed to Harris embracing an endorsement from former Republican Vice President Dick Cheney, who was key to the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, for her motivation.
“It’s baffling to me as an American, to now see the direction that the party is going, it’s disheartening,” she said. “These aren’t the values that we as Democrats stood for. We were not the party of war.”
Maisa Hider-Beidoun, a lifelong Democrat and owner of Dearborn area pharmacies and medical centers, offered a similar take on her “moral dilemma” this election.
“We are good Americans, we are good tax-paying, law-abiding citizens, but our money is being funneled overseas and killing people that are actually physically related to us,” she said.
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“The community is really upset, and they’re hyper-aware that lip service is just lip service, and without any actions they can’t vote for” Harris, added Mona Mawari, a pharmacist and community organizer for the uncommitted campaign.
In February, more than 100,000 Michigan Democrats, many Arabs and Muslims, voted uncommitted in the primary in an effort to pressure the Biden-Harris administration into calling for a permanent ceasefire and halt all military aid to Israel. That effort has since snowballed into about 700,000 voters nationwide.
While Harris has offered empathetic words for Palestinians impacted by Hamas’ war against Israel, she’s repeatedly asserted Israel has a “right to defend itself” and pushed back on protestors suggesting otherwise.
In August, uncommitted voters heckled Harris at a campaign stop in Detroit: “Kamala, Kamala, you can’t hide! We won’t vote for genocide.”
Harris responded that “every voice matters” but chided her critics when they wouldn’t let up, NBC News reports.
“You know what? If you want Donald Trump to win, then say that,” Harris said. “Otherwise, I’m speaking.”
Instead of addressing the issue directly, the VP has relied on others to do her talking.
“.@VP has been clear: she will always ensure Israel is able to defend itself against Iran and Iran-backed terrorist groups,” Phil Gordon, Harris’ national security advisor, posted to X. “She does not support an arms embargo on Israel. She will continue to work to protect civilians in Gaza and to uphold international humanitarian law.”
.@VP has been clear: she will always ensure Israel is able to defend itself against Iran and Iran-backed terrorist groups. She does not support an arms embargo on Israel. She will continue to work to protect civilians in Gaza and to uphold international humanitarian law.
— Phil Gordon (@PhilGordon46) August 8, 2024
In mid-September, an Abandon Biden movement aligned with the uncommitted campaign rebranded its efforts as the Abandon Harris movement “to ensure a defeat happens” in November, co-founder Hassan Abdel Salam said at a press conference cited by WXYZ.
That announcement followed efforts to voice concerns at the Democratic National Convention that were rebuffed by party leaders, a move that seemingly ignited further opposition.
“The media took our message, and the (Harris) campaign said no comment, no speaking,” Salam said.
A recent poll from the Council on American Islamic Relations found 40% of Michigan’s Muslim-American voters plan to back Green Party candidate Jill Stein in the 2024 presidential election, while 18% support Republican former President Donald Trump, 12% plan to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris, and 4% plan to vote for independent candidate Cornel West, Michigan Public Radio Reports.
“Our latest survey reveals that American Muslim voters are highly engaged in the upcoming presidential election, open to supporting a diverse range of candidates and political parties, and deeply dissatisfied with the current state of the nation, particularly U.S. support for the war on Gaza,” Nihad Awad, CAIR’s national executive director, said in a statement.
That was evident on Sunday, when the mayor of the United States’ only Muslim majority city endorsed Trump for president following a 20-minute conversation with the 45th POTUS earlier in the week.
“Trump and I may not agree on everything, but I now he is a man of principles,” Hamtramck Mayor Amer Ghalib posted to Facebook. “Though it’s looking good, he may or may not win the election and be the 47th president of the United States, but I believe he is the right choice for this critical time. I’ll not regret my decision no matter what the outcome would be, and I’m ready to face the consequences.
“For this, and for many other reasons, I announce my support and endorsement for the former, and hopefully, the next president of the United States, Donald Trump,” Ghalib wrote. “Now, let the Caravan begin its journey. This is just the starting point.”
In Hamtramck, home to an entirely Muslim city council and the highest percentage of immigrants among all Michigan municipalities at 42%, “Ghalib’s endorsement appeared to generate positive response from Arab Americans,” the Detroit Free Press reports.
“Today is a good day in America: An Arab American mayor endorses Donald Trump,” Hassan Aoun, a Republican Arab immigrant from Dearborn, told the news site.
“Thank you for changing the perception that all Muslim Americans are default ticket to Democratic Party,” Khalil Othman, of Dearborn, said in response to Ghalib’s endorsement.
Hamtramck police told the Free Press they’re now working with the Trump campaign to arrange logistics for a possible Trump rally in the city, while Trump weighed in on Ghalib’s endorsement in an interview with Breitbart.
“I was very impressed with him and he was a very big fan of the Trump administration because he saw no wars — outside of defeating ISIS, but I inherited that — but there were no wars,” Trump said. “There was no Oct. 7. There was no Russian attack on Ukraine. He sees that and he told me — he saw a world that was at peace. Now, we have a world that’s going to end up in World War 3 and I can stop that. I’m the only one that’s going to stop that.”