WASHINGTON — The
Mayor of Dearborn, Michigan, Abdullah Hammoud has issued a message to US President Joe Biden, stating that if his
administration continues its unwavering support for Israel, it will cost him
the Arab American vote and potentially his re-election later in 2024, Khaberni
reported.
اضافة اعلان
Speaking to Middle East Eye in Dearborn, home to one of
the largest Arab American populations in the US, Hammoud said that, for the
next two weeks, he and several other dissenting voices in Michigan will be
encouraging voters to select ‘uncommitted’ in the state's
Democratic primary,
which is slated for February 27.
Hammoud cited the ongoing US support for Israel's
devastating war on Gaza, highlighting the grassroots 'Vote Uncommitted'
campaign. This campaign aims to mobilize Arab and
Muslim Americans in Michigan,
among whom 146,000 voted for Biden in 2020, to vote ‘uncommitted’ as a form of
protest.
Consequences for Biden due to
Israel's war on Gaza
Last week, 30 other elected officials announced they
would be voting ‘uncommitted’ in the primary in a bid to compel Biden to change
course on the Middle East.
"We did this because no presidential candidate has
earned our vote," Hammoud said, adding, "President Biden's
administration [has] continued to
make destructive policy decisions [on Gaza].
... If he continues this course, he will be remembered for sacrificing American
democracy in 2024."
While Biden has referred to Israel's conduct in Gaza as
‘over the top’, his administration has shown little sign of halting support for
Israel's deadly offensive, which has killed about 28,000 Palestinians, wounded
tens of thousands of others, and leveled entire areas of the Gaza Strip.
Although Biden is unlikely to face a serious challenge
from Congressman Dean Phillips of Minnesota in the primary, there is ample
polling evidence that his support for Israel is deeply unpopular.
As a result, the ‘Vote Uncommitted’ campaign has drawn
criticism from many members of the Democratic Party as well as several media
outlets, which have labeled it as a win for the presidential ambitions of
Donald Trump.
In 2020,
Biden defeated Trump in Michigan by
approximately 154,000 votes. However, in 2016, the former president secured
victory over Hillary Clinton in Michigan by a mere 10,000 votes. Given
Michigan's status as a swing state, the likelihood of Biden's re-election in
November's presidential race without the backing of the Arab American vote may
be close to impossible.
In an interview with CNN on February 2, Hammoud was asked
if he was worried about what a Trump presidency would mean for the lives of
Palestinians in Gaza. Hammoud stated that the framing of the question was
strange and lamented that voters were being blamed for the potential failure of
a candidate, ‘rather than the candidate’ themselves.
"We're a city that's protesting to help prevent the
killing of innocent men, women, and children. And as a community, as a city, we
don't believe there's a qualifier to that sentence or to that value statement.”
Concerns about hatred towards
Muslims and Arabs
Hammoud spent much of this week juggling phone calls and
meeting with Biden administration officials eager to regain the support of
disgruntled voters. He has also been grappling with the aftermath and concerns
of potential attacks after the Wall Street Journal published an opinion column
labeling his city as a ‘jihad capital’ due to its large pro-Palestine
demonstrations.
Immediately after the column's publication, Hammoud
increased police presence in the city amid fears of possible attacks targeting
members of the Arab community. Since
October 7, 2023, there have been a series
of deadly attacks on Palestinian Americans and individuals expressing support
for the Palestinian cause.
Hammoud denounced the opinion piece as a deliberate
attempt to smear a grassroots movement that was organized by Muslims and
non-Muslims alike. Additionally, he pointed out that Dearborn has a history of
facing hate, with attacks and threats against its Muslim community over the
past few decades, including a planned march by Quran-burning pastor Terry Jones
outside the Islamic Center of Dearborn in 2011.
"As a father of two and someone who grew up in the
post-9/11 era, I had hoped that America was better than this. But it appears
that we still have a long way to go to break the cycle of hate."
In May 2021, when Hammoud was a representative for the
state of Michigan, he met Biden at a Ford manufacturing plant in Dearborn,
where he handed the president a letter. The situation was similar: Israel was
bombing Gaza, and Dearborn's community was demanding the US to cease its
support of Israel's military.
The letter to Biden called on him to commit to working
towards delivering real justice to the Palestinian people. At the time, Biden's
team assured Hammoud he would receive a direct response from the president.
Nearly three years later, amid another Israeli war on Gaza, Hammoud stated he
has yet to receive a response.
"I never got a direct response from the president
back in 2021 as it pertained to the issues of Palestine. But what I can tell
you, and I think what this letter demonstrates, is that for us the issue of
Palestine is a 365-days-a-year issue.”
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