Arab Americans helped vote President Joe Biden into office in 2020 in key swing states like Michigan. Four years later, Arab Americans are agonizing over who to vote for in the Nov. 5 presidential election.
Many Arab Americans see Vice President Kamala Harris as complicit in the Biden administration’s support of Israel in the Israel-Hamas war that has killed more than 41,000 Palestianians in Gaza, a number that is likely underestimated.
Polling shows Harris tied with Republican candidate and former President Donald Trump among the Arab American voting bloc. With such thin margins, this demographic could determine the next president of the United States.
“Based on my reporting, when it comes to voting for the next president, many American Muslims feel that neither the Democratic nor Republican party understands their viewpoints, especially in the war on Gaza,” said Nargis Rahman, a reporter for Detroit Public Radio. “While several polls show that Muslim voters care about Gaza, there is not a consensus on how to vote. Similarly, in Michigan, which is home to one of the largest Arab American communities with a significant Lebanese American community, voters are feeling sidelined. Many are considering voting third party, some are voting between the two candidates and others are not voting at all.”
Transcript:
0:05: Welcome to Chronicle Chronversations.
0:08: I’m your guest host, Sebastian Isett.
0:15: When President Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential race and Kamala Harris became the Democratic Party nominee, there was an uptick in excitement among Democrats. Younger and seemingly more progressive, Harris appeared closer to the values of the party base and young voters generally. Days before the election, one demographic remains skeptically on the sidelines: Arab Americans.
0:39: This voting bloc has long been associated with the Democratic Party, especially in the swing state of Michigan.
0:45: But data from the Arab American Institute shows Harris and Donald Trump neck and neck among Arab Americans.
0:52: Many are upset with President Biden’s unwavering support of Israel’s attack on Gaza.
0:57: Although Harris has voiced concern for the deaths of Palestinian civilians, many Arab Americans view her as complicit in Biden’s support.
1:05: Ameer Hasan, a 25-year-old Palestinian American who works as a pharmacist in Bridgeview’s Little Palestine, a neighborhood in Chicago, is disappointed with both Democrats and Republicans.
1:17: I asked Hasan if they are more optimistic about Harris than Biden.
1:22: At first yeah, until I seen the real side of her.
1:24: You know, lately I’ve been seeing Kamala’s, you know, propaganda stuff just really go into full effect.
1:31: Since the attack by Hamas militants on October 7th, 2023, the Arab American Institute finds that Arab American support for the Democratic Party has dropped 17% from 59% in 2020.
1:43: Mohommad Ahmad, a Jordanian-born business owner in Bridgeview, is upset that the U.S. is still sending weapons to Israel and supporting its operations in Gaza.
1:52: One of the main concern is the United States are supporting Israel unconditionally and Joe Biden keep providing them with sophisticated weapons.
2:05: America’s Arab population is small nationally, roughly 3.5 million people according to government census data.
2:12: However, they are concentrated in key electoral states like Michigan. In 2020 Biden won Michigan by roughly 154,000 votes. According to Engage, a polling and activist organization that promotes voter registration among Muslim Americans, 200,000 registered Michigan voters identify as Muslim.
2:34: According to census data, 300,000 claim Middle Eastern or North African descent.
2:40: Given the Democratic Party’s thin margin going into this fall’s election, Michigan’s Arab American voting bloc could swing the election in either party’s favor.
2:47: The people I spoke to are confused, frustrated and angered by their options this election.
2:51: As far as, you know, Palestinians, not the Democrats or the Republicans are really like, I guess, talking about us as much as they should. Actions speak louder than words to me and a lot of actions from Democratic and the Republican Party, they’re not saying anything.
3:08: That was Hasan, the pharmacist from Bridgeview.
3:11: Samo, a Jordanian immigrant who works at a tobacco store in the same Chicago neighborhood, reflected a similar level of disillusionment.
3:18: I’m confused, honestly, who I’m going to vote for.
3:22: I don’t know who deserve my vote or like your vote or who to be a president.
3:27: To be honest with you.
3:29: One thing is clear, many Arab Americans are calling for an end to the conflict in Gaza and an end to U.S. support of Israel’s military operations.
3:38: Zahir Khan, an Afghan immigrant who owns a restaurant called Afghan Bamyan Kabob on the city’s North Side, said his main concern this election was ending the war.
3:47: To stop war, you know?
3:49: Now in the United States, they spend all the money in war, you know.
3:52: We spent 20 years in war in Afghanistan, now it’s in Ukraine, in Gaza, in Israel.
4:00: Likewise, Hasan was angry that his taxes are used to fund the killing of his fellow Palestinians.
4:06: Yeah, it does.
4:06: I just don’t like to see my money, my hard-earned money, you know, going towards, you know, war and killing my own people essentially.
4:14: I just, I’m tired of seeing genocide happening.
4:17: You know, I’m tired of seeing, you know, our people not being supported properly.
4:22: I’m tired of seeing bodies and bodies.
4:25: For the majority of those I interviewed, American foreign policy remained at the forefront in their choice of a candidate. Despite a growing sense of pessimism among this community, Ahmed remains hopeful for America’s future.
4:37: Yeah, people are frustrated.
4:39: That’s why they show they’re, they’re not optimistic because they’re frustrated with policy abroad.
4:47: But if we compare it to other countries, which is an issue by itself, we are in a better shape.
4:55: I’m Sebastian Isett and this has been Chronversations.
Copy Edited by Trinity Balboa
