Arab American leaders are listening as Kamala Harris moves to shore up her key hard-liner base.
DEARBORN, MI: Osama Shiblani's phone won't stop ringing.
Days after President Joe Biden withdrew from his reelection bid and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee, senior officials from both major political parties asked the Dearborn-based publisher of Arab American News whether Harris could win back the support of the largest Muslim population in the U.S., located in the Detroit metropolitan area.
His response was, “We're in listening mode.”
Harris, who is moving to win the Democratic nomination after Biden's resignation, appears to be quickly focusing on the task of convincing Arab American voters in Michigan, a state Democrats cannot afford to lose in November, that she is a leader they can unite around.
Community leaders have expressed a willingness to listen, and some have had early conversations with Harris’s team. Many have grown increasingly bitter about Biden after months of public relations that have not yielded much results.
“The door is open since Biden left office,” said Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud. “There is an opportunity for the Democratic nominee to rally the coalition that led to Biden’s presidency four years ago. But the onus is now on the vice president.”
Arab American leaders like Hammoud and Shiblani are watching for signs that Harris will be more aggressive in pushing for a ceasefire. They are excited about her candidacy, but they want to see her as a peace advocate, not a clear pro-Israel advocate.
But Harris will have to walk a delicate line to avoid publicly contradicting Biden’s position on the Gaza war. His administration officials have been working diligently, mostly behind closed doors, to push for a ceasefire.
The divisions within Harris’s own party were evident in Washington last week when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited to address Congress. Some Democrats supported the visit, while others protested and refused to attend. Outside the Capitol, Palestinian supporters were met with pepper spray and arrests.
Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib, the only Palestinian-American in Congress whose district includes Dearborn, held a placard reading “War Criminal” during Netanyahu’s speech.
Harris did not attend.
Some Arab American leaders interpret her absence as a gesture of goodwill toward them. She attended a campaign event in Indianapolis instead. But they acknowledge that she must continue to assume responsibilities as vice president, including meeting with Netanyahu on Thursday.
Her first test within the community will come when Harris chooses her running mate. One of the names on her shortlist, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, has been a public critic of Palestinian protesters and is Jewish. Some Arab American leaders in Michigan say his nomination will heighten concerns about the level of support they can expect from a Harris administration.
“Josh Shapiro was one of the first people to criticize students on campus. So if she picks him, Harris is not that different. It just means I’m going to continue the same policies as Biden,” said Rima Meroueh, executive director of the National Network for Arab American Communities.
Arab Americans are betting that their votes in key swing states like Michigan will have enough electoral weight to make officials listen to them. Michigan is home to the largest Arab American population in the U.S., and the state’s Muslim-majority cities overwhelmingly supported Biden in 2020. He won Dearborn, for example, by about 3 to 1 over former President Donald Trump.
In February, more than 100,000 Michigan Democratic primary voters chose “undecided,” securing two delegates in protest of the Biden administration’s apparent support for Israel’s response to Hamas’ October 7 attack. Nationally, “undecided” secured a total of 36 delegates in primaries earlier this year.
Groups leading the effort have called for at least an embargo on all arms shipments to Israel and a permanent ceasefire.
“If Harris is demanding an arms embargo, I will work day and night until the election to get her elected,” said Abbas Allawi, the movement’s “no-pledge” Michigan representative and national leader. “There is a real opportunity now to unify the coalition. She has to deliver, but we are cautiously optimistic.”
That divide was on full display Wednesday night when the Michigan Democratic Party gathered more than 100 delegates to try to convince them to back Harris. During the meeting, Allawi, one of three state delegates who had not committed to Harris, was speaking when another delegate unmuted him, told him to “shut up” and used a profanity, Allawi said.
The call could be a preview of tensions that are expected to surface again in August, when Democratic leaders, lawmakers and delegates gather in Chicago for the party’s national convention. Mass protests are planned, and the “Uncommitted” movement is looking to make its voice heard at the United Center, where the convention is being held.
Trump and his campaign are keenly aware of the dislocation within the Democratic base and are actively seeking support from Arab American voters, an effort complicated by Trump’s history of anti-immigrant rhetoric and policies during his one term as president.
Last week, a meeting was held in Dearborn between more than a dozen Arab American leaders from around the country and several Trump surrogates. Among the surrogates was Massad Boulos, a Lebanese businessman whose son married the former president's younger daughter, Tiffany Trump, two years ago. Boulos is using his connections to rally support for Trump.
Part of the pitch made in Dearborn by Boulos and Bishara Bahbah, president of Arab Americans for Trump, was that Trump was open to a two-state solution. He posted a letter from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on social media and pledged to work toward peace in the Middle East.
“The three main things that came out of the meeting were that Trump needs to be clearer that he wants an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, that he supports a two-state solution, and that there will be no Muslim ban,” Baba said. “That’s what the community wants to hear clearly.”
Before the rally in Michigan on July 20, Trump met with Baba and pressed him on the two-state solution. According to Baba, Trump responded positively, saying, “100 percent.”
But Trump's apparent political opportunities are likely to be limited as many Arab Americans criticize the former president for his ban on immigration from several Muslim-majority countries and for his derogatory remarks.
“I have never heard anyone say they are running for Donald Trump right now,” said Hamud, Dearborn’s Democratic mayor. “I have never heard that in any conversation I have had. They all know what Donald Trump stands for.”
Sivlani, who organized Wednesday’s meeting with Trump representatives, has been a mediator for months between his community and officials from all political parties and foreign dignitaries. He says privately, almost all of them express the need for a permanent ceasefire.
“Everyone wants our votes, but no one wants to be seen as publicly aligning with us,” Sibley said.
