Swing-state Michigan Rep. says Biden admin. never reached out on Gaza
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Arab and Muslim representatives in the US have boycotted a meeting with Biden's election campaign rejecting his support for "Israel" and silence on Gaza.
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Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer greets state Rep. Abraham Aiyash, D-Hamtramck, before delivering her State of the State address to a joint session of the House and Senate, Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2024, at the state Capitol in Lansing, Mich. (AP)
Michigan’s top Arab and Muslim elected state-level official stated on Friday that the White House and fellow Democratic leaders did not reach out to him about concerns expressed by the state’s significant Arab community about the Israeli genocide in Gaza.
Rep. Abraham Aiyash (D), who serves as the state House majority floor leader, stated on X that he received “ZERO correspondence” since October 7 from the White House, the Democratic National Committee, or the Michigan Democratic Party leadership about the community’s rejection of the US support for the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
In his post on X, Abraham Aiyash stated: “After 110+ days of US-backed Israeli bombings that have killed Palestinian babies and families, many who have ties to Americans right here at home, we will not allow our communities to be utilized for political expediency.”
“I highlight this for several reasons: Michigan has a significant Arab and Muslim community. Michigan is a critical state this November,” he continued. “I am the highest ranking Arab and Muslim state elected in Michigan, and the lack of outreach only suggests there isn’t a legitimate concern or respect for our communities here in Michigan (and broadly across the US),” further indicating that Joe Biden's reelection campaign is in a critical position in Michigan as the state has a very large arab community.
I highlight this for several reasons:
— Abraham Aiyash (@AbrahamAiyash) January 26, 2024
Michigan has a significant Arab and Muslim community.
Michigan is a critical state this November.
I am the highest ranking Arab and Muslim state elected in Michigan, and the lack of outreach only suggests there isn’t a legitimate concern…
Arab and Muslim community representatives in the United States have repeatedly expressed their anger with Biden’s continued support for the occupation's ongoing genocide in Gaza.
Arab and Muslim leaders reject a meeting with Biden
The frustrations expressed by Abraham Aiyash and other Arab and Muslim voters and community representatives in Michigan prompted them to reject a listening session with Joe Biden’s campaign set for Friday afternoon after the campaign's organizers attempted to reach out to the representatives, according to the organizers.
The representatives' goal of the meeting was to voice their concern and disapproval regarding the White House’s support for "Israel’s" ongoing genocide in Gaza, as well as the President’s recent comments dismissing vows by Arabs and Muslims to not vote for him.
Assad Turfe, the deputy county executive director for Wayne County — the most populous county in Michigan — told HuffPost that the campaign had reached out to him about the listening session which was supposed to happen between Biden campaign manager, Julie Chávez Rodriguez, and 10-15 Arab American elected officials and representatives from large community organizations. He emphasized that he wanted to take part in the meeting to express how Biden's actions would affect his election campaign due to significant Arab and Muslim voter turnout.
“They really and truly don’t have a grasp and understanding on the situation on the ground and the situation on the ground in the Arab American community,” Turfe said regarding the matter, adding that “the idea of the meeting was to lay the foundation to let them know they are in bigger trouble than the calculations that they have made.” However, when Turfe, alongside Lexi Zeidan, a Palestinian American activist, reached out to Arab and Muslim representatives regarding the meeting, they were met with rejection, amid confirmations that they would not vote for Biden.
A source close to the campaign’s plans told HuffPost that Rodriguez was in the area to speak with several leaders from local elected officials to leaders from Michigan’s Arab and Palestinian American, Hispanic, and Black communities.
Arab and Muslim voters across the country have expressed their disappointment with the White House's actions for the past few months, urging not to vote for Biden that even several organizers from battleground states launched their campaign, #AbandonBiden.
In 2020, Biden won Michigan by 154,000 votes in the general election against then-President Donald Trump, noting that the Muslim community covers over 200,000 registered voters there, and 300,000 have ancestors in the Middle East and North Africa. Back then, voters in largely Arab American counties went for Biden by around 70%. However, according to a poll released in late 2023, two-thirds of Arab and Muslim Democrats in the state said they plan to vote against Biden.
Abdullah Hammoud, the mayor of Dearborn, a suburb of Detroit with one of the highest percentages of Arab Americans in the US, stated on X that he rejected the meeting invitation, saying: “Community engagement is powerful when it is used to shape policies that save lives - these conversations must be had with policy-makers, not campaign staff,” adding, “I will not entertain conversations about elections while we watch a live-streamed genocide backed by our government.”
Community engagement is powerful when it is used to shape policies that save lives - these conversations must be had with policy-makers, not campaign staff. I will not entertain conversations about elections while we watch a live-streamed genocide backed by our government.
— Abdullah H. Hammoud (@AHammoudMI) January 26, 2024
“It was an opportunity and a formal capacity to let the Democratic Party know that what they have feared for their entire life has become a reality, which is that Arab Americans have now become both a knight and a queen in their chess game of politics,” said Zeidan in another statement, hinting that members of Arab and Muslim communities meeting's boycott is a clear message to the White House.
“Biden, you’re losing Michigan whether you like it or not. And it’s because us Arab and Muslim voters have organized and mobilized to ensure that you don’t win this the state come election time in November,” Zeidan added.
