Arab-American politicians listen as Kamala Harris tries to secure support in key swing states
DEARBORN, Michigan: Osama Siblani’s phone never stops ringing.
Just days after President Joe Biden withdrew his candidacy for re-election and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for the Democratic presidential nomination, senior officials from both major political parties asked the editor of Dearborn-based Arab American News whether Harris could win back the support of the country's largest Muslim population in the Detroit area.
His answer: “We are in listening mode.”
Harris is seeking the Democratic nomination following Biden's resignation and now appears to be quickly turning to the task of convincing Arab-American voters in Michigan that she is a leader they can unite behind – a state that Democrats cannot afford to lose in November.
Community leaders have expressed a willingness to listen, and some have had initial conversations with Harris' team. Many were angry with Biden after feeling that months of efforts had not produced many results.
“Since Biden resigned, the door has been ajar,” said Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud. “The Democratic nominee has a chance to unite the coalition that ushered in Biden's presidency four years ago. But that responsibility now lies with the vice president.”
Arab-American politicians like Hammoud and Siblani are watching closely for any signs that Harris will become more vocal in her support for a ceasefire. They are excited about her candidacy but want to make sure she is committed to peace and not just supporting Israel.
But Harris must walk a fine line to avoid publicly breaking with Biden's stance on the Gaza war, where officials in his administration are working hard – largely behind the scenes – to achieve a ceasefire.
The division within Harris' own party was evident in Washington last week when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed Congress. Some Democrats supported the visit, while others protested and refused to attend. Outside the Capitol, pro-Palestinian protesters were met with pepper spray and arrests.
Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib, the only Palestinian American in Congress, whose district includes Dearborn, held up a sign reading “war criminal” during Netanyahu’s speech.
Harris was not present.
Some Arab-American politicians interpret her absence – she attended a campaign rally in Indianapolis instead – as a sign of goodwill toward them, but recognize her ongoing duties as vice president, which include a meeting with Netanyahu on Thursday.
Harris' first test within the community will be choosing a running mate. One of the names on her shortlist, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, has been publicly critical of pro-Palestinian protesters and is Jewish. Some Arab-American leaders in Michigan say his nomination would deepen their unease about the support they might expect from a Harris administration.
“Josh Shapiro was one of the first to criticize students on campus, so it doesn't make much difference to Harris if she picks him. It just means I will continue the same policies as Biden,” said Rima Meroueh, director of the National Network for Arab American Communities.
Arab Americans are counting on their voices to carry enough weight in key swing states like Michigan to ensure that politicians listen to them. Michigan has the largest concentration of Arab Americans in the country, and the state's majority-Muslim cities overwhelmingly supported Biden in 2020. In Dearborn, for example, he won by about a 3-to-1 margin over former President Donald Trump.
In February, over 100,000 Democratic voters in Michigan voted uncommitted in the primary election, securing two delegates to protest the Biden administration's unconditional support for Israel's response to the October 7 Hamas attacks. At the national level, uncommitted won a total of 36 delegates in the primary election earlier this year.
The leading groups in these efforts called for at least an embargo on all arms deliveries to Israel and a permanent ceasefire.
“If Harris called for an arms embargo, I would work around the clock every day until the election to put her in office,” said Abbas Alawieh, an “undecided” delegate from Michigan and national leader of the movement. “There is a real opportunity now to unite the coalition. It's up to her to make this happen, but we are cautiously optimistic.”
Those disagreements were on full display Wednesday night, when the Michigan Democratic Party brought together more than 100 delegates to rally them to support Harris. During the meeting, Alawieh, one of three state delegates who did not rally behind Harris, was speaking when another delegate interrupted him by turning on the audio and telling him to “shut up,” using a profanity, according to Alawieh.
The call could be a foretaste of the tensions that will resurface in August when Democratic leaders, lawmakers and delegates gather in Chicago for the convention. Mass protests are planned, and the “undecided” movement wants to make sure its voices are heard at the United Center, where the convention will be held.
Trump and his campaign are well aware of the unrest within the Democratic base and are actively courting the support of Arab Americans. But these efforts are complicated by Trump's history of anti-immigrant rhetoric and policies during his only term as president.
Last week, a meeting was held in Dearborn between more than a dozen Arab-American politicians from across the country and several Trump surrogates. Among the surrogates was Massad Boulos, a Lebanese-born businessman whose son married Tiffany Trump, the former president's younger daughter, two years ago. Boulos is using his connections to mobilize support for Trump.
Boulos and Bishara Bahbah, chairman of Arab Americans for Trump, said in Dearborn that Trump was open to a two-state solution. On social media, he published a letter from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and promised to work for peace in the Middle East.
“The three main points that were raised at the meeting were that Trump needs to be clearer that he wants an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, that he supports the two-state solution and that there is no such thing as a travel ban for Muslims,” Bahbah said. “This is what the community wants to hear loud and clear.”
Before a July 20 rally in Michigan, Trump also met with Bahbah, who asked him about a two-state solution. According to Bahbah, Trump responded “100 percent.”
But Trump's political chances could be limited by criticism from many Arab Americans of the former president's immigration ban on several Muslim-majority countries and comments they found offensive.
“I haven't heard anyone say I'm running for Donald Trump now,” said Hammoud, the Democratic mayor of Dearborn. “I haven't heard that in any of my conversations. They all know what Donald Trump stands for.”
Siblani, who organized Wednesday's meeting with Trump's surrogates, has been acting as a mediator between his community and representatives of all political parties and foreign dignitaries for months. In private, he says, almost all of them express the need for a permanent ceasefire.
“Everyone wants our votes, but no one wants to be seen publicly as being on our side,” Siblani said.
