In the key US swing state of Michigan, Democratic voters of Arab and Middle Eastern descent say Kamala Harris must win them back after they were alienated by President Joe Biden’s handling of Israel’s military offensive in Gaza.
The city of Dearborn, a city of 110,000 and a cultural hub for Arab Americans, could play a decisive role in deciding the fate of this battleground state in November’s presidential election.
Community members interviewed by AFP said they were ready to listen to the vice president and consider their options – a marked change from their apparent hostility to Joe Biden.
“We’re in listening mode right now,” said Osama Siblani, publisher of Arab American News.
Accepting the Democratic presidential nomination at the party’s convention on Thursday, Harris pledged to bring about a ceasefire in Gaza and ensure that Palestinians realise their right to “dignity, security, freedom and self-determination.”
But pro-Palestinian delegates were outraged that their request to attend the conference as a speaker was rejected. The group Muslim Women for Harris-Walz said the decision sent a “terrible message” and announced they were disbanding the campaign and withdrawing their support.
Harris, who has vowed to “not be silent” about the suffering of Palestinians, recently met with members of the national “Uncommitted” movement, which led the charge against Biden during the Democratic primary process.
Though he did not make any concrete promises, leaders said he impressed them by his sympathy.
At the forefront of concerns is Israel’s 10-month military operation in Gaza, which has devastated the Palestinian enclave since the war began on October 7, 2023 in response to a Hamas attack on Israel.
Growing influence
Michigan, home to the “Big Three” automakers — Ford, General Motors and Chrysler — has long been a key stop for White House candidates.
An economic recession in the 1970s caused many people to leave the so-called “Rust Belt” states, just as unrest in the Middle East brought new waves of Lebanese, Iraqi, Yemeni and Palestinian immigrants.
“We are a global city where about 55 percent of our residents are of Arab background,” Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud said 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 like any other small American city, with wide streets and strip malls.
But it’s also home to the Islamic Center of America – the country’s largest mosque – and countless Middle Eastern supermarkets, eateries and coffee shops.
When Siblani started his newspaper in the mid-1980s, he remembers the then-mayor campaigned on a platform of solving the “Arab problem.”
But as the community grew in numbers, and the children of factory workers worked as lawyers, doctors and businessmen, so did their political influence.
‘The lesser of two evils’
Historically socially conservative, Arab and Muslim Americans overwhelmingly supported George W. Bush in the 2000 election.
Years of America’s “war on terror” — which led to wars in the Middle East and Afghanistan, and placed Muslim American communities under strict law enforcement scrutiny — tilted them firmly toward the Democratic camp.
In 2018, southeast Michiganders elected Rashida Tlaib as the first Palestinian-American to Congress — a milestone for the community.
Three Arab-American mayors have also recently been elected in suburbs known for historical racism toward non-whites.
Angered by former President Donald Trump’s travel ban on Muslim countries, support for Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and other causes, Dearborn voters overwhelmingly backed Biden in 2020, helping secure Michigan for Democrats by a slim margin.
However, residents are tired of being told to vote for the “lesser of two evils” and instead want candidates who will meet their demands, such as a permanent ceasefire and a halt to arms supplies to Israel.
“I think Vice President Harris has a window of opportunity,” said Faye Nemer, a community activist and CEO of the MENA American Chamber of Commerce. “She can either carry on President Biden’s legacy or set her own agenda.”
Arab Americans in Dearborn are impressed by Harris’s choice of Tim Walz as her running mate. Walz has taken a conciliatory approach to opponents of the war, while Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro took a tough stance against college protesters.
But the demands are getting stricter.
“We don’t need anything more,” said Soujoud Hamade, a business lawyer and longtime Democrat who pledged to vote for Green Party candidate Jill Stein if Harris doesn’t succeed in her campaign.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
