Dearborn, Michigan – When Fox Information known as Pennsylvania for Donald Trump within the early hours of Wednesday, all however confirming that he would be the subsequent president of america, there have been a handful of Arab activists left at a watch social gathering in Dearborn, Michigan.
“Genocide is bad politics,” stated one attendee on the occasion, which had Palestinian and Lebanese flags hanging exterior its doorways.
And because the actuality of one other Trump presidency set off anger and sorrow from many Democratic commentators, on the Arab American gathering, there was a way of indifference, if not vindication.
Democratic candidate Kamala Harris had ignored the neighborhood’s requires reconsidering the unconditional US assist for Israel. The vp additionally continued to say what she calls “Israel’s right to defend itself” regardless of the brutal atrocities in Gaza and Lebanon.
Activist Adam Abusalah stated a part of the rationale why Harris misplaced was her choice to facet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the expense of alienating the Democratic base — Arab and Muslim People in addition to younger individuals and progressives.
“It’s not our fault. They cannot vilify our community,” Abusalah stated.
“We’ve been warning the Democrats for over a year now, and the Democrats continue to downplay what’s going on.”
He added that Harris’s important message to the Arab neighborhood was to warn of the hazards of a Trump presidency — a tactic that didn’t work as voters within the space have been laser-focused on the continued battle within the Center East that affected a lot of them personally.
Dearborn shift
Within the Arab-majority suburb of Dearborn, anger over Israel’s US-backed assault on Gaza and Lebanon was tangible on the poll field.
Harris misplaced town to Trump by greater than 2,600 votes. President Joe Biden beat Trump by greater than 17,400 votes — that’s greater than a 20,000-vote swing that helped the Republican former president reclaim Michigan.
Candidate Jill Stein, who centred opposition to the battle in her platform, additionally carried out comparatively properly within the metropolis, rising the Inexperienced Get together’s assist from 207 votes in 2020 to greater than 7,600 this 12 months.
Hussein Dabajeh, a Lebanese American political marketing consultant within the Detroit space, famous that Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, a Democrat, considerably outperformed Harris in Dearborn, receiving greater than 9,600 votes than the vp.
“The Arab community said we’re anti-genocide. We supported the candidates that supported the community and we stood against the candidates that stood against the community,” Dabajeh informed Al Jazeera.
It’s unclear what a Trump presidency would imply for Arab and Muslim People and the nation at massive.
“I hope it’s something good. I hope the country comes together. I hope the Democrats are brought to their senses,” Dabajeh stated.
Whereas the previous president has an extended historical past of anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant statements and insurance policies, he has promised to carry “peace” to the area.
Trump additionally softened his antagonistic tone in the direction of Arabs and Muslims as he courted their communities in Michigan.
He introduced Arab and Muslim officers and imams to the stage throughout his rallies and known as them “great people”.
Trump additionally visited Dearborn and listened first-hand to calls for to finish the battle — one thing that Harris didn’t do.
‘It doesn’t cease right here’
Ali Alfarjalla, a 32-year-old Iraqi American actual property agent in Dearborn, stated that for all his flaws, Trump represents a change from the Biden-Harris administration that has been unflinchingly supporting the Israeli assault on Gaza and Lebanon.
He pressured that the election isn’t the top of political engagement, saying that the neighborhood will press Trump to ship on his promise of bringing peace to the area.
“It doesn’t stop here,” Alfarjalla informed Al Jazeera.
“We have to work more to make sure our issues are heard — to stop the genocide in Gaza, stop the invasion of South Lebanon, and let Palestine have its own state. We’re hopeful about that. That’s our number one priority for this community.”
He additionally stated that Harris supporters’ “lesser of two evils” pitch to the neighborhood backfired as a result of many citizens couldn’t see a worse evil than the administration offering the bombs killing their households and destroying their hometowns.
Whereas each main candidates again Israel, the Harris marketing campaign dedicated a sequence of unforced errors that additional alienated the neighborhood in Michigan and past, Arab American advocates have informed Al Jazeera.
On the Democratic Nationwide Conference in Chicago in August, the Harris marketing campaign rejected calls for to permit a speech by a Palestinian speaker.
The Democratic candidate additionally turned down a request for a gathering by the Uncommitted Motion that was based in the course of the Democratic Main course of to stress Biden over his unconditional assist for Israel.
In contrast to Trump, Harris has not visited Dearborn, the de-facto seat of Arab American political and monetary energy, throughout this marketing campaign.
As a substitute, Harris met with handpicked Arab and Muslim “leaders” in Flint, about an hour north of Detroit, final month.
Furthermore, Harris has campaigned with Liz Cheney in Michigan and welcomed the endorsement of her father, former President Dick Cheney — an architect of the so-called “War on Terror” that devastated the Center East.
Quite a few Arab American activists invoked Harris’s embrace of the Cheneys when underscoring her obvious disregard to their communities.
“We had Harris endorsed by neoconservatives like Liz Cheney and Dick Cheney, and she’s openly campaigning with them and talking about how great they are,” Dearborn councilman Mustapha Hammoud informed al Jazeera on Tuesday evening because the outcomes trickled in.
“You know what? I don’t think people are willing to vote for George W Bush, so you weren’t going to see people vote for Harris, either.”
‘I smile and laugh at it’
Talking underneath the Harris marketing campaign signal final week, former President Invoice Clinton claimed that Hamas “forces” Israel to kill Palestinian civilians and urged that Zionism pre-dates Islam.
The marketing campaign’s behaviour led some advocates to query whether or not the Democratic candidate has given up on the Arab neighborhood.
“Vice President Harris has shown over and over again that she actually doesn’t want our vote,” Uncommitted Motion chief Layla Elabed informed Al Jazeera final week.
Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud additionally famous that the Harris marketing campaign was hesitant to have interaction Arab People instantly.
“They don’t want the heckling to occur. They don’t want to knock on the doors where they think the conversations are going to drag, and the votes might not be there,” the mayor informed Al Jazeera earlier than the elections.
On the coverage entrance, Harris has not made any concrete guarantees to the neighborhood — even throughout the acceptable realm of mainstream politics — like reopening the Palestinian diplomatic mission in Washington, DC, or resuming funding for the UN company for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA).
In distinction, Biden launched platforms for Arab and Muslim People in 2020, promising home and overseas coverage strikes sought by the neighborhood — a lot of which went unfulfilled.
Backside line, many Arab People say they already survived 4 years of Trump whereas a lot of their family in Palestine and Lebanon didn’t survive the Biden-Harris presidency.
They are saying they may proceed to push for change, irrespective of who’s in energy.
Requested about some liberal social media customers attacking Arab People and blaming them for Harris’s defeat, Alfarjalla stated many individuals locally have survived battle and adversity, so they don’t seem to be involved with what others say.
“I smile and laugh at it,” he stated.
