Michigan’s senior Arab and Muslim elected state official said on Friday that the White House and other Democratic officials have not contacted him about concerns raised by the swing state’s sizable Arab minority about Israel’s ongoing shelling of Gaza.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, state Rep. Abraham Aiyash (D) stated that he has received “ZERO correspondence” from the White House, the Democratic National Committee, or the Michigan Democratic Party leadership regarding the community’s concerns about the United States’ involvement in the “ongoing genocide unfolding in Gaza.”
“After 110+ days of US-backed Israeli bombings that have killed Palestinian babies and families, many of whom have ties to Americans right here at home, we will not allow our communities to be used for political purposes,” Aiyash, the state House majority floor leader, wrote.
“I highlight this for various reasons. Michigan has a strong Arab and Muslim population. “Michigan is a critical state this November,” he added in another post. “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).”
Aiyash’s posts underscore the challenges facing President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign in Michigan, which has one of the largest Arabic-speaking populations in the country.
Arab and Muslim community leaders have regularly expressed their displeasure with Biden’s persistent backing for Israel’s continuous attacks on Palestinian people, which are being probed at the international level as probable genocide.
On Friday, community leaders rebuffed the Biden campaign’s efforts to hold a listening session in the battleground state, fueling rising concerns that the president is taking Arab and Muslim votes for granted. When asked about Arab and Muslim community members who have pledged not to vote for him, Biden dismissed the concern, saying that former President Donald Trump treated the group worse.
Abdullah Hammoud, mayor of Detroit suburb Dearborn, which has one of the greatest Arab American populations in the United States, was among the community leaders invited to the conference. He explained why he passed on X.
“The lives of Palestinians are not measured in poll results. “Their humanity requires action, not lip service,” Hammoud wrote. “When elected officials view the atrocities in Gaza only as an electoral problem, they reduce our indescribable pain into a political calculation.”
“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,” he went on to say in a second article. “I will not entertain conversations about elections while we watch a live-streamed genocide backed by our government.”