Voting may not have been the first thing on our parents' and grandparents' minds when they arrived in the United States from countries and counties where democracy was a distant dream. Working (perhaps several jobs), learning the language and establishing a home in the community took precedence over politics, all in service of their highest priority: creating a better future for their children.
This week, that seemingly bygone promise of the American Dream played out in real time inside Michigan polling places. Hundreds of thousands of Arab Americans — many of them second- and third-generation children of Middle Eastern immigrants — used their voices to send a message to President Biden protesting his handling of the war between Israel and Hamas.
Citizens concerned about civilian casualties and the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, and frustrated by what they see as Biden's unconditional support for Israel, joined a grassroots movement to check the “non-conformists” in Tuesday's primary ballet instead of voting for the incumbent.
The goal was to get 10,000 votes. They hit 10 times that number. That means more than 100,000 “uncommitted” votes in a swing state that Biden won by just 154,000 votes in 2020. Maybe he's listening now?
Of course, it remains uncertain whether this impressive act of protest at the ballot box will move the needle in US politics, but simply using the power of voting to send a message rather than dilute a candidate's chances is a dream come true.
Previous generations who immigrated to Michigan from countries such as Lebanon, Syria or Iraq came to the United States for a better life. They came here to escape war, political and religious persecution, lack of opportunity, and corrupt regimes led by tyrannical strongmen or brutal theocrats.
Many of them came from places where “free elections” were largely performative because the outcome was already determined, or where joining one political party versus another meant putting your life at risk.
Some rulers never seem to leave. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who has been in power for a decade, has nothing toward the late Hosni Mubarak, who ruled for 30 years. The Assad family has ruled Syria since 1971. My father came from Iraq, where occupation, American intervention, and authoritarian leadership were the norm of his life.
Political corruption, if not war, has been an ongoing reality from Lebanon to Libya dating back generations. It is no wonder that the promise of America still shines bright, even now in our divided and unstable state.
Biden was defeated in the “uncommitted” vote in both Dearborn and Hamtramck, where Arab Americans make up nearly half of the population. Some are new to the United States, but many have generational roots in Michigan.
Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud said on Wednesday: “Yesterday was a resounding victory.” The 33-year-old is the son of Lebanese immigrants.
He continued: “This is not just an Arab or Islamic issue now.” “This is an American issue now.”
Their actions made headlines, launching a movement that is likely to be replicated in other primaries in swing states, where a segment of voters could make or break a run for the White House. In 2020, Biden won Georgia by less than 12,000 votes. The state is home to more than 57,000 Arab Americans.
Arab and Muslim Americans, the majority of whom have voted for the Democratic ticket since the Iraq War, realize that a Donald Trump victory in November is not in their interest.
In his first year as president, the Republican repeatedly insulted the Muslim parents of a fallen Gold Star soldier; He enacted a ban on Muslims; He upended Palestinian interests when he recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
Arab American voters' frustration with Biden's support for Israel has reached a new level, and they are not alone. A lot of smart, civic-minded people I know from all kinds of ethnic and religious backgrounds have now told me they are considering not participating in the election scheduled for November.
They say that voting for the seditious Trump is unacceptable, but Biden's unconditional support for Israel in its war with Hamas presents a moral dilemma that is difficult to overlook. More than 30,000 Gazans, the majority women and children, have been killed since the Israeli army began its punitive offensive on Gaza in response to Hamas' brutal October 7 attacks on Israel that killed an estimated 1,200 people.
On Thursday alone, at least 115 people were killed and more than 750 others were injured, according to witnesses and the Gaza Ministry of Health, when Israeli forces opened fire on a crowd of people scrambling for aid in Gaza City.
But not participating in the elections is not the solution, regardless of your position on the role America plays in the war between Israel and Hamas – or on anything else, for that matter. It's the only real power we still have as citizens, and if that sounds corny, consider what happened this week in Michigan.
Democracy was on the ground, something that many of our fathers and grandfathers dreamed of in their homelands.
