Michigan is a key swing state and home to a large Arab-American community, which could impact the US election results [Getty/file photo]
Haunted by the daily violence ravaging the Middle East, Soujoud Hamade, a registered Democrat, felt compelled to back Green Party candidate Jill Stein in the US presidential election.
“It is very emotional,” the 32-year-old real estate lawyer told AFP after casting her ballot on Tuesday at a school in Dearborn, the nation’s largest Arab-majority city, where voters could prove decisive in the key battleground of Michigan.
“Every time I watch the news or get on social media, I see my people being decimated, I see my home country being destroyed,” added the Lebanese-American, disillusioned by the Biden-Harris administration’s unwavering support for Israel.
Hamade says she’s clear-eyed about the two-way nature of the race between Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican former President Donald Trump.
Still, she insists her vote is far more than just a protest.
36-year-old Miriam, and her mother Imtiaz, Lebanese-Americans from Dearborn, also cast their ballots for Stein, who has made major gains among the Arab-American community, including an official endorsement from the Arab American PAC.
“I couldn’t get myself to vote for either party right now. They just proved not to be American enough. It’s all about foreign affairs rather than American policies,” they told The New Arab.
“Our community is mostly made up of immigrants that came from Palestine and Lebanon. The Democrats lost our vote, we’ll see if they can earn it back.”
Another Dearborn resident, Rose Aljalham, said her vote will also be going for Stein, who has previously called for an end to US arms sales to Israel and has long-supported the Palestinian cause.
“We have two parties that are genocidal,” Aljalham said, who is Muslim but not Arab, though she is married to an Arab-American.
Aljalham told The New Arab that she is hoping that Stein can get at least 5 percent of the vote, so that in the future “it is easier for a third party candidate, because the two-party system needs to be abolished”.
Stein, a Jewish physician and the Green Party’s perennial left-wing candidate is predicted to do well among Muslims, as well as progressives and youth voters nationwide – potentially acting as a spoiler for Harris.
“She’s the only one who’s anti-genocide,” said Muhammad Hijazi, a 28-year-old engineer who described himself as a “single-issue voter” who had previously voted Democrat but has now “lost faith.”
The Democrats, he argued, don’t have a plan to bring peace to the Middle East, and he doesn’t trust Trump to do any better.
The US Campaign for Palestinian Rights Action told The New Arab that the Biden-Harris administration is “70 percent responsible” for the ongoing onslaught in Gaza, given Washington’s billion-dollar military aid sent to Israel.
“Either way, we will have an opponent in the White House, executive director Ahmad Abuznaid said.
Trump makes gains, too
Some residents of Michigan, however, said they will be giving their vote Trump and after taking into account the Democrats’ extensive military support for Israel during the Gaza war, as well as economic factors.
Mohsen Harb, 22, said he isn’t a fan of either candidate, but as a business owner, he will be turning to the Republican candidate.
He told The New Arab: “If it was my choice, I wouldn’t vote for either one of them. They both suck. But the person I think can help me as someone who has a business, that’s Trump.”
Harb, who voted for Trump in 2020, doesn’t believe “either candidate will be good for Palestine or Lebanon”, but thinks the Republican nominee will at least be better for the US economy.
“I want things to be get better here, for people to have some money to be able to live, eat. [Biden and Harris] gave more money to Israel to f***ing blow up kids instead of giving to people that had their homes destroyed in the hurricanes,” he added.
“If Trump wins or Kamala, at this point, things don’t look any better for Arabs But I honestly think Trump would help with things overseas a lot more than she would.”
The New Arab’s reporter in Michigan, said earlier that “every Arab-American voter under 30” that he spoke to so far had voted for Trump.Â
A 22-year-old female voter of Yemeni-American heritage said: “He said he’s going to end the war in Palestine and I believe him. “He’s a business man, he’s not gonna send them money, he’s not gonna fund the war.”
Such signs suggest Trump may fare better among Arabs and Muslims than in past election cycles. Unlike Harris, he visited Dearborn, addressing a modest-sized audience last week.
His outreach to Michigan’s Muslim community secured endorsements from the Muslim mayors of Hamtramck and Dearborn Heights, while his newfound connection to the community – through Lebanese-American son-in-law Michael Boulos, husband of Tiffany Trump – has further endeared him.
Dearborn, a Detroit suburb famous as the birthplace of Henry Ford and the home of Ford Motor Company’s headquarters, has a population of around 110,000, with 55 percent of residents claiming Middle Eastern or North African heritage.
The city overwhelmingly backed President Joe Biden in 2020, helping him narrowly flip Michigan blue.
But recent polling shows a shift away from the Democratic Party among Muslim and Arab-Americans.
That trend was evident in conversations with voters around the city on Election Day.
Harris’ decision to campaign with former Republican lawmaker Liz Cheney, a staunch supporter of the Iraq War, was the final straw for Dearborn Heights Mayor Bill Bazzi, he told Trump supporters at the former president’s final Michigan rally.
Charles Fawaz, a 29-year-old first-grade teacher of Lebanese descent who voted for Trump, told AFP he was impressed that the former president “showed up.”
“When Trump was president, everything was fine with our foreign policy because other leaders respected our country,” Fawaz said.
Even if Trump doesn’t deliver on Middle Eastern peace, he hopes Republicans will manage the economy better.
Agencies contributed to this report.
