We Are Serious!

I can't in good faith support my party's stance on Israel.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Julie Chávez Rodríguez, Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI), Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden are being shunned by the Michigan Arab American voters due to their stance on Israel.

Former Republican lawmaker and heir to the Meijer stores, Peter Meijer is a serious threat to the Democrats. He is likely the Republican frontrunner in a hypothetical match in this play for the U.S. Senate. Former president Donald J. Trump won Michigan in 2016 and is seriously seeking another victory after he lost the state by 1.4 points in 2020. 

Michigan has declared Trump is eligible to be on the ballot despite his meddling and the fake electors.

Michigan, Wisconsin and even Minnesota could play pivotal come election day. These states have a large Arab American population. Muslim voters are very important to the Democratic Party. Islamophobia and slandering critics of Israel as anti-semitic is definitely a turn off. 

Three lawmakers are practicing Muslims. 

Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Rep. Andre Carson (D-IN) are people of color and practicing Muslims. Tlaib is a fourth generation Palestinian who is an American from the Detroit area. Omar is an American lawmaker who came to the United States from Somolia at a young age and rose to fame after replacing Keith Ellison, the first Muslim lawmaker to successfully become Minnesota's state attorney general.  Omar was then a rising state lawmaker before she became a House member. 

Omar and Tlaib were elected in 2018 and are part of the Squad. This group consist of 12 members who are considered more progressive and socialist. They endorsed Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) in 2020. They both withheld their support for Biden because of the Tara Reade allegations and his stances on Israel.

Tlaib and Omar are often vilified by the Republicans and even some Democrats. Even the so called allies are trashing them. I am saddened by Malcolm Nance and others trying to use these ridiculous troupes to slander women of color.

Well here we are again. As we are entering the 6th month of this lopsided and pretty much genocidal war Israel launched against Hamas [I meant Gaza, The West Bank, Syria, Iran, Lebanon and Egypt], many Arab Americans and Muslim voters are uncommitted to the Democratic Party.

Biden must win 270 to be president. If he can't win crucial swing states, the Republican nominee becomes president-elect.

Leading the way is Tlaib who is withholding her endorsement of Biden. She is not supporting Dean Phillips, Cornel West, Donald J. Trump, Nikki Haley or Robert F, Kennedy, Jr.

NEW ENDORSEMENT: “If you want us to be louder, come here and vote uncommitted.” -@RashidaTlaib pic.twitter.com/8pxuUjq5QG

— #ListenToMichigan (@Listen2michigan) February 17, 2024

MSNBC’s Yasmin Vossoughian spoke to four Michigan voters in a Thursday segment for the network, two of whom are co-founders of the Abandon Biden organization. The talk also follows Tlaib calling for Democrats to vote “uncommitted” in the Michigan primary as a protest of Biden’s support of Israel’s strikes on Gaza.

Biden won Michigan in 2020 by a slim margin, and Trump won it in 2016 by an even slimmer margin. The state’s large Muslim and Arab American population amid the Israel-Hamas war has led many to question how the president will fare with Democratic voters in the state.

“Is there a pathway forward for you with Biden?” Vossoughian asked her panel.

“Oh, absolutely not,” Farah Khan, an Abandon Biden co-founder, said. “You cannot keep killing people with our money and just keep thinking, oh, we are stupid enough to elect you again because we’ll fall in line, we’ll forget. How can — this is an insult to me as a voter.”

Khalid Turaani, another Abandon Biden co-founder, said he was willing to “punish” Biden over his stance in the Israel-Hamas war.

“It’s like a vaccine. I’m willing to take short-term pain for a long-term gain. I’m willing to let go of Joe Biden and oppose Joe Biden, make him a one-term president, punish Joe Biden by making him a one-term president,” he said, referring to the Gaza war as “genocide,” a term Tlaib also used previously when criticizing the president.

Mikal Goodman, a Michigan councilman, said the only “path forward” for him voting for Biden would be a call for a “permanent and immediate ceasefire” in Gaza, accusing Israel of “war crimes.” Nearly 30,000 Palestinians, many of them women and children, are estimated to have been killed in Israel’s strikes, which followed Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack in which more than 1,000 were killed in Israel and hundreds more were taken hostage. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed that he will not stop until Hamas is completely eliminated.

Annie Wisner, a University of Michigan graduate student, told Vossoughian that American democracy shouldn’t be viewed as more valuable than the civilians that have died in the war.

“Why is our democracy more important than thousands of men, women, and children being killed?” she asked.