Dearborn, Michigan – When Fox Information referred to 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 celebration in Dearborn, Michigan.
“Genocide is unhealthy politics,” mentioned 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 group’s requires reconsidering the unconditional US assist for Israel. The vp additionally continued to claim what she calls “Israel’s proper to defend itself” regardless of the brutal atrocities in Gaza and Lebanon.
Activist Adam Abusalah mentioned a part of the rationale why Harris misplaced was her determination 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 can not vilify our group,” Abusalah mentioned.
“We’ve been warning the Democrats for over a yr now, and the Democrats proceed to downplay what’s happening.”
He added that Harris’s most important message to the Arab group was to warn of the risks 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 lots 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 the 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 effectively within the metropolis, rising the Inexperienced Occasion’s assist from 207 votes in 2020 to greater than 7,600 this yr.
Hussein Dabajeh, a Lebanese American political guide 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 group mentioned we’re anti-genocide. We supported the candidates that supported the group and we stood towards the candidates that stood towards the group,” Dabajeh instructed Al Jazeera.
It’s unclear what a Trump presidency would imply for Arab and Muslim People and the nation at giant.
“I hope it’s one thing good. I hope the nation comes collectively. I hope the Democrats are delivered to their senses,” Dabajeh mentioned.
Whereas the previous president has an extended historical past of anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant statements and insurance policies, he has promised to convey “peace” to the area.
Trump additionally softened his antagonistic tone in 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 referred to as them “nice individuals”.
Trump additionally visited Dearborn and listened first-hand to calls for to finish the battle — one thing that Harris did not do.
‘It doesn’t cease right here’
Ali Alfarjalla, a 32-year-old Iraqi American actual property agent in Dearborn, mentioned 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 confused that the election just isn’t the tip of political engagement, saying that the group will press Trump to ship on his promise of bringing peace to the area.
“It doesn’t cease right here,” Alfarjalla instructed Al Jazeera.
“We’ve to work extra to ensure our points are heard — to cease the genocide in Gaza, cease the invasion of South Lebanon, and let Palestine have its personal state. We’re hopeful about that. That’s our primary precedence for this group.”
He additionally mentioned that Harris supporters’ “lesser of two evils” pitch to the group 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 group in Michigan and past, Arab American advocates have instructed 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 through the Democratic Main course of to strain Biden over his unconditional assist for Israel.
Not like 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 “Warfare 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 or he’s overtly campaigning with them and speaking about how nice they’re,” Dearborn councilman Mustapha Hammoud instructed al Jazeera on Tuesday night time because the outcomes trickled in.
“You realize what? I don’t assume persons are prepared to vote for George W Bush, so that you weren’t going to see individuals vote for Harris, both.”
‘I smile and snort at it’
Talking below the Harris marketing campaign signal final week, former President Invoice Clinton claimed that Hamas “forces” Israel to kill Palestinian civilians and recommended 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 group.
“Vice President Harris has proven over and over that she truly doesn’t need our vote,” Uncommitted Motion chief Layla Elabed instructed Al Jazeera final week.
Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud additionally famous that the Harris marketing campaign was hesitant to have interaction Arab People straight.
“They don’t need the heckling to happen. They don’t need to knock on the doorways the place they assume the conversations are going to pull, and the votes won’t be there,” the mayor instructed Al Jazeera earlier than the elections.
On the coverage entrance, Harris has not made any concrete guarantees to the group — even inside 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 international coverage strikes sought by the group — lots of which went unfulfilled.
Backside line, many Arab People say they already survived 4 years of Trump whereas lots of their kin 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 mentioned many individuals locally have survived battle and adversity, so they don’t seem to be involved with what others say.
“I smile and snort at it,” he mentioned.
