Michigan Muslims warn Democrats they'll lose votes over Israel support: 'Going to have a problem' in 2024
Some Muslims in Michigan feel "betrayed" by how Democrats have responded to the Israel-Hamas war, and are warning party leaders they might not back the party in 2024, the Associated Press reported.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and other Democrats in the state angered some Arab Americans for attending a pro-Israel rally days after the coordinated terror attack from Hamas earlier this month, but not attending a pro-Palestinian rally in Dearborn, the following day. Dearborn is one of the largest Muslim and Arab-American communities in the country.
At that rally, Whitmer and party leaders in the state were reportedly called out and booed for not attending.
Some Arab Americans told the AP this gesture, along with President Biden's support of Israel, could cost Democrats in the next election.
"There is going to be an effort to not support the people who have not supported us. The people that we voted for such a long time — people that we’ve helped, we’ve donated to and we’ve worked on their campaigns," 22-year-old Palestinian American Adam Abusalah said.
Democratic state Rep. Alabas Farhat said that in 2024, the party would have to answer for the way they've treated Arab Americans and Palestinians in this conflict.
"In 2024, Democrats are going to have a problem with Arab Americans. For too long, they’ve isolated Arab American voices within the party. They’ve isolated the perspectives of Arab Americans. And on this specific issue, they’ve denied even recognizing the human rights of Palestinians," Farhat, whose district contains most of Dearborn, told the AP.
Rep. Farhat also told NBC News that Biden has "single-handedly alienated almost every Arab-American voter" in Michigan.
In the state legislature, Democrats refused to hold a vote on a bipartisan pro-Israel resolution to condemn the Hamas terrorist attack. Some Michigan House Democrats initially put out statements condemning the attack against Israel, while others criticized what they perceived as decades of oppression by Israel against Palestinians.
House Majority Floor Leader Abraham Aiyash told reporters after the attack that "any conversation around what is happening in Israel and Palestine that makes no acknowledgment of the 70-plus-year occupation and the mistreatment of the Palestinian people is disrespectful to the issue." He said doing otherwise is a "disservice to the complexity and the humanity of the people that live in that region."
Other Arab-American Democrats around the country have vowed not to back Biden in 2024 for supporting Israel and reaffirming the nation's right to defend itself.
Maysoon Zayid, a Palestinian-American comedian who supported Biden's campaign in 2020, told Politico that she couldn't vote for him in 2024.
"I never in my life thought the empathizer-in-chief would sound the way he did. The Palestinians were given no humanity," she told the outlet. "Joe Biden should spend every breath he has condemning Israel’s genocide with the same zeal he condemned Hamas’ massacre of civilians, that same zeal. And we get nothing. 1,000 children are dead, and we get nothing."
Another supporter, Hala Hijazi, said she felt betrayed by the president.
"I have been one of his biggest fans," she said. "I feel betrayed. I feel like my humanity is not equal to anyone else’s humanity."
"My family is going to be dead [in the coming days] and I can’t be silent," she continued.
While addressing the nation last week, Biden said he was "heartbroken by the tragic loss of Palestinian life."
The president has also announced that the United States would provide $100 million in humanitarian aid for the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, to support "over a million displaced and conflict-affected people with clean water, food, hygiene support, medical care, and other essential needs."
He warned if Hamas confiscates the aid "it will end."
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry has claimed that 6,546 Palestinians have been killed and 17,439 have been wounded since Oct. 7.
However, Biden said on Wednesday that he has "no confidence" these numbers are accurate.
For more Culture, Media, Education, Opinion and channel coverage, visit foxnews.com/media.
Fox News' Hanna Panreck and Landon Mion contributed to this report.