As negotiators push to secure a temporary cease-fire deal that would halt the Gaza war before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan begins in March, a message from Michiganders signals anger at President Joe Biden’s support of Israel’s campaign that has killed almost 30,000 Palestinians.
Just after the polls closed in Michigan Tuesday night, early results showed about 18% of Democratic primary voters in the critical swing state, home to a large Arab American constituency, had marked their primary ballots as “uncommitted” as part of the Listen to Michigan campaign to pressure the president to back a permanent cease-fire.
On Monday, Biden said he hoped a deal on a temporary cease-fire and the release of Palestinians from Israeli jails in return for Hamas freeing Israeli hostages would be secured by March 4.
In remarks broadcast Monday on NBC’s “Late Night with Seth Meyers,” he indicated that Israel has agreed to halt fighting in Gaza for Ramadan, which is expected to begin on March 10.
A breakthrough is key for Biden to assuage angry Democrats horrified by the Gaza death toll. However, on Tuesday, Israel and Hamas, as well as Qatari mediators, cautioned against Biden’s optimism.
Michigan ‘uncommitted’
Without significant opposition, Biden is certain to win the Democratic primary in Michigan. Still, analysts say he cannot ignore the signal sent by Listen to Michigan, a campaign supported by dozens of the state’s elected officials, including its representative Rashida Tlaib, the only Palestinian American lawmaker in the U.S. Congress.
“President Biden is not hearing us,” Tlaib said in a social media post. “This is the way we can use our democracy to say, ‘Listen. Listen to Michigan.'”
Palestinian American Adam Abusalah voted “uncommitted.” He worked on Biden’s 2020 campaign but told VOA he has since become disillusioned.
“We thought he would be somebody that would lead this country with humanity and compassion,” Abusalah said. “But instead, he’s been leading with hypocrisy.”
Nationally, Arab and Muslim Americans are not a significant voting bloc. But the size of the “uncommitted” vote in Michigan will signal how strongly Americans reject Biden’s Gaza policies, as they represent other groups in the president’s coalition.
“This won’t be just the marginal movement,” said Nura Sediqe, a core faculty member in the Muslim studies program at Michigan State University. The movement, she said, is embraced by more than Arab Americans and includes other minority voters, as well as young and progressive Democrats and anti-war Jewish voters.
Democratic Party leaders assume their constituents will show up to vote for Biden because the other option, former President Donald Trump is “so horrific and fear-inducing,” Sediqe told VOA. “But that also frustrates voters, because they feel like they’ve shown up year after year, and that their perspective isn’t being heard.”
Some American Muslims say even the alternative can’t be worse than Biden. Staunch progressive Samraa Luqman voted for Bernie Sanders in 2020 and is now co-chair of the Abandon Biden campaign in Michigan.
“To have somebody, like me today, sit before you and say, ‘I’m willing to accept a Trump presidency on the opposite side of the spectrum in order to oust Biden from office,’ it’s really a testament to how bad this president has failed,” she told VOA, dismissing comparisons of how Biden and Trump treat American Muslims as “rings hollow.”
“We’re telling the Democratic Party we want to vote for the lesser of two evils,” Luqman said. “There is nothing more evil than the commission of a genocide.”
Perhaps nothing signals deeper frustration than 25-year-old Air Force service member Aaron Bushnell, who live-streamed himself February 25 standing outside the gates of the Israeli Embassy in Washington, lighting himself on fire while shouting, “Free Palestine.”
On Tuesday, the White House called his death a “horrible tragedy.” Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden was made aware of the incident.
‘The president understands’
Jean-Pierre said the administration understands there are strong emotions among Democrats, highlighting recent outreach to Michigan Arab and Muslim Americans by White House officials.
“The president understands that, too,” she said during her briefing. “So, we care very much about that and what the community is going through.”
But Biden’s critics say he’s not listening, despite polls showing that a growing number of Americans support a permanent cease-fire in Gaza.
“They’re listening to donors, and they’re listening to pressure groups,” said James Zogby, founder and president of the Arab American Institute.
“Where is the power center of the party? It’s with the establishment,” Zogby told VOA. “Where’s the majority of the vote in the party? It’s with the progressive wing. It’s with those who feel that justice and peace are not being well served by the current policy.”
How this struggle comes out remains to be seen, Zogby said, adding that without a drastic change in Biden’s support for Israel, it will be difficult to persuade Arab American voters, a key constituent in Michigan. The state, together with Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, are considered “swing states” that could change 2024 election results.
It doesn’t take too many votes to lose Michigan. In 2016, Trump won it by fewer than 11,000 votes.
VOA’s Dora Mekouar and Valdya Baraputri contributed to this report.