Trump will sue Arab American voters in Michigan

On a cool, sunny day in the largest Arab-majority city in the United States, dozens of people gathered outside the Great Commoner cafe to catch a glimpse of Donald Trump.

“What we want is peace,” Trump told a group of Arab-American business leaders at a Dearborn, Michigan restaurant days before the presidential election.

But a crowd of pro- and anti-Trump voters shouting at each other nearby showed just how divided Michigan society is over choosing the best American president to lead the escalating Middle East war.

The Republican’s visit Friday to Dearborn, once a reliably Democratic district, marks the culmination of his must-win efforts to court the more than 200,000 Arab Americans living in Michigan. This could affect the tied race between Trump and Kamala Harris. While Hillary Clinton lost Michigan to Trump by just 10,000 votes in 2016, Biden won it back by 150,000 votes in 2020.

On billboards lining Michigan highways and during visits, Trump’s campaign portrays Harris as pro-Israel while claiming she is “for peace” in the Middle East.

This message worked for some people. While Trump has received two endorsements from the mayors of Dearborn Heights and Hamtramck, a small Muslim-majority city near Detroit, Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud said Friday that he has refused to meet with the former president.

This trend worries Abbas Alawieh, one of the leaders of the Independent movement, a group protesting U.S. support for Israel, who has vowed to support Harris even though his group has refused to support Harris.

Mr Alawieh told the BBC: “I’m hearing more of the feeling that it’s a binary choice and some voters think maybe we should vote for Donald Trump because he says he’s a pro-peace candidate.” Haraz Cafe in Dearborn on Friday.

Harris’ campaign, meanwhile, said the vice president supports and supports the “diverse Muslim community” in the United States.

“The Vice President is committed to working to win every vote, unite our country, and become President for all Americans,” said Nasrina Bargzie, campaign director for Muslim and Arab American Outreach. He added that Harris will ensure the community can: “Live free from the hateful policies of the Trump administration.”

Despite their disappointment with the Biden-Harris administration’s handling of the war, many community leaders told the BBC they did not believe Trump was offering a solution either.

“We are not naive about what he means to our community,” said Rexhinaldo Nazarko, executive director of the American Muslim Engagement and Empowerment Network, a group that advocates for Michigan Muslims. He cited the “Muslim ban,” Trump’s 2017 executive order banning travelers from Muslim-majority countries.

Still, Nazarko and other leaders said sending a message about their anger at the Biden-Harris administration’s pro-Israel policies is more important than who wins the White House.

They encouraged voting for third-party candidates or postponing the elections altogether.

That was the message Hassan Abdel Salam, a former Democrat and leader of the Dump Harris campaign, delivered to a packed room of people gathered for prayer at the American Muslim Center in Dearborn on Friday.

“Our aim is to show that we are punishing a leader, someone to whom we have been protesting, giving ultimatums and warnings for a year.” he said. “Even though we have lived under Trump, who is truly a despicable person, our belief now is that we see there is nothing less bad.”

Muslim leaders and political experts agree that the Harris campaign has decided to focus more on securing moderate voters and increasing turnout in traditionally Democratic areas like Detroit, rather than courting Muslims and Arab Americans.

The campaign is also worried about losing support from pro-Israel Jewish voters and other Democrats who are more likely to vote, said Saeed Khan, a Wayne State University professor.

Mr. Khan said many voters who were considering voting for third-party candidates would likely vote for Harris to keep Trump out of office.

That’s a calculation Wael Alzayat, CEO of the Muslim voter advocacy group Emgage, hopes Michigan voters in general will make.

“A vote for the third party is a vote for Trump, and that will lead to the worst outcome,” he said. “Trump is a brick wall.”

Mohammad Hassan, a member of Hamtramck’s all-Muslim city council, said 80 percent of the 25,000-person Bangladeshi Muslim community voted for Harris, while the rest may vote for Trump.

But he said not all Muslims may agree.

“Yemeni Muslims in the same city could be 50-50 between Trump and Harris,” he said.

Mr Hasan said the Arab-Muslim community’s anger towards Gaza was real, but unlike the Bangladeshi community, they did not vote in large numbers. “So even if their vote doesn’t go to Harris, it’s unlikely it will go to Trump.”

Mr. Khan said many Arab Americans and Muslims want a more “balanced narrative” about the war, including greater empathy for the suffering of Gazans and Lebanese.

“For Harris to talk about the 100 odd (Israeli) hostages and not to mention the 45,000 to 50,000 Gazans killed, not to think of an impact on American citizens, their families, their lives, I think that’s egregious.” in question.

More than 43,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched a campaign to destroy Hamas following its October 2023 offensive, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. Approximately 1,200 people died in the attack and 251 people were taken hostage.

Mr. Alawieh, the undecided leader, said none of this made his decision to support Harris any easier.

He said his campaign made a mistake by not making concessions on Israel, which could have cost him support from young Democratic voters or black voters.

“It seems to me that the Harris campaign in Michigan left too many votes on the table,” Mr. Alawieh said. “I hope they’re doing this as part of a calculation that he’s going to win. “I hope after this election we don’t look back at his campaign and say, ‘Maybe we shouldn’t have left those votes on the table.'”