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My Arab American family’s debate about voting for Kamala Harris

Harry November 2, 2024

Expanding absentee voting in Michigan has created a new tradition for my family; Before every election, we gather after Sunday dinner, roll out various endorsements and voter guides, discuss the races, and each of us cast our vote.

With knots of anxiety in our stomachs, members of my family from three different households sat down at the ballot boxes last weekend to debate the top picks, saving the presidential race for last.

Despite similar political leanings and bellies full of salmon and tabbouli, we knew this would be a contentious debate.

Why are you so indecisive?

Under normal circumstances, choosing a presidential candidate would not be this difficult.

These are far from normal conditions.

For many Arab Americans, the presidential race is filled with torture made increasingly impossible by the U.S.-financed war in Gaza and Lebanon, which has grown in scope and carnage, and continues to play out live on social media feeds. It represents a decision. traumatic detail – and it moves ever closer to the Syrian villages from which my family emigrated in the 1970s.

Our options:

A Republican campaign made bolder by its outspoken rhetoric has exposed bigotry and xenophobia.
A Democratic campaign that turns its nose up at Arab and Muslim voters who are begging for a sign of their anti-war intentions.
A pair of third-party candidates who embrace Arab American voters, often literally, attending community events and telling them everything they want to hear, except that they can actually win.

There is a resentment, a resentment, that has been burning and building in Arab American communities for over a year now. Every time I look at the screens Live reminders come to your palms The horrors of a ridiculously disproportionate war financed by their own tax dollars.

hospitals, universities And residential buildings pulverized, crazy We are looking for survivors under the rubblekids I rummage through garbage dumps looking for food, Refugees were burned alive, decapitated babiesall villages and ancient places Those with historical and religious significance have been wiped off the map.

Cold and contradictory The Biden Administration’s responses continued throughout the year. Civilian deaths increasedand finally came out on the plain just because it has become impossible to count the dead.

There were many hopeful moments; thousands of Americans College students are taking over their campuses as a protest. Top federal officials resign Because of the US support for the war. The president preferred a younger, more compassionate candidate with two immigrant parents.

But students finally silenced. Dissenting voices in powerful places would be quietly replaced. And replacing the president by voting has so far failed to chart a path forward that looks different from the destructive status quo.

The resulting fatigue, sadness, and anger leave many Arab Americans unable to safely fill out their friends and neighbors in the presidential ballot.

lawsuit for trump

No one at the Sunday dinner table defended former President Donald Trump.

But some prominent Arab Americans, most notably the mayors of Hamtramck and Dearborn Heights, took this extraordinary step.

Both said Trump would bring peace.

They must have forgotten that nine days into Trump’s presidency, he authorized a failed counterterrorism raid in Yemen killed 25 civilians. At least 86 Yemeni civilians will be killed in airstrikes and raids during Trump’s presidency, according to independent monitoring groups.

It’s hard to imagine mayors forgetting this in 2017 Trump banned immigrants From Yemen, Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Libya, Iraq and Iran.

Or him He used the word “Palestinian” as an insult during the debate scene. Or that he called Biden. Let Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “finish the job” in Gaza. Or somehow promised Deport student protesters calling for a free Palestine.

They certainly cannot have forgotten Trump’s policy. separating children from their parents at the southern borderor the ultimate disgrace – his claim in the moot stage Immigrants in Ohio were eating their neighbors’ pets.

When he became mayor of Dearborn Heights He joined Trump on stage in Novi last monthAn image showing the campaign being circulated appeared on the big screens; It showed a group of Pakistani men dressed in traditional clothing burning an American flag with the text: “If Kamala wins, meet your new neighbors.”

I know many Arab Americans will vote for Trump, but not without earning the ire of friends and relatives who value reason and self-respect.

Still, Trump seems to view these supporters as assets rather than liabilities, which is how it feels at times For Arab American Democrats who want to get behind Harris.

Harris’ situation

“Too many innocent lives have been lost, desperate, hungry people flee for safety again and again. The extent of the pain is heartbreaking. “President Biden and I are working to end this war so that Israel is safe, the hostages are released, the suffering in Gaza ends, and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, security, freedom, and self-determination.”

This is Harris in Gaza at this summer’s Democratic National Convention.

The specific acknowledgment of Palestinian suffering and the promise of self-determination could be a turning point; It may be a sign of recognition that the Arabs under attack in the Middle East, our relatives, our friends, and others in whom we see ourselves are worthy of human rights. and equal treatment.

Then word spread that party leaders had rejected a Palestinian American speaker at the convention, despite tireless efforts. Michigan delegates will promise an uncontroversial speech.

And to many Arab Americans, this appeared to be the end of any meaningful effort to bridge the gap between the campaign and Palestine advocates.

The campaign also appears to have turned to other potential voting blocs; most importantly Longtime conservatives who oppose Trump and might be impressed by Dick and Liz Cheney.

Meanwhile, The war in Gaza spread to LebanonWhere thousands of Michiganders have close family ties, vacation homes and business interests.

More Michiganders were losing family members. More turned on Trump with pure anger and a desire to punish the Democratic Party, rational or not.

Yet, as my sister argued at that dinner table, Harris has never been the exact opposite of Trump. accused of rape; never fought repeal abortion rights; never happened other countries were referred to as “shitholes”;” he never called arrest of journalists or deportation of protesters; it is unknown habitual deception And came to the defense After Detroit Trump openly insulted the city during his visit last month.

Protest vote case

Green Party candidate Jill Stein and independent Cornel West warm, repeated and well informed offers To Arab Americans in Michigan.

Rather than insisting on their support as a matter of national security, they worked personally and thoroughly to win the votes of Arab Americans.

Still, they can’t win and are unlikely to even achieve the independent candidate’s true goal. Winning 5% of the votes nationwide, This will make federal election funds available to that party in the next election cycle.

Even Ralph Nader, an Arab American icon, never received more than 3% of the vote as a third-party presidential candidate in Michigan in 1996, 2000, 2004 and 2008.

I am coming

For most of this year, my family had no intention of voting in this election. They were very angry. He is exhausted and exhausted from the pain and fear brought on by a year of uncontrolled violence in the Middle East and the relentless onslaught of presidential campaign news, ads and robocalls.

At my insistence, they asked for a ballot paper.

Arab American organizers worked so hard for so long to get voter turnout in Michigan so that our family could stand up for this.

This is what I expected from them; avoiding the presidential race as a silent protest.

Instead, with his 11-year-old grandson playing in the background, my father changed course, persuaded by my sister’s impassioned plea to vote for the preservation of democracy and women’s bodily autonomy.

He said no major candidate appears willing to use the power of the White House to broker peace in the Middle East. But for Americans, he predicted, one candidate is clearly a responsible choice over the other. And it filled the circle next to Kamala Harris’ name.

My mother, who normally doesn’t line up behind anyone, did the same thing, determinedly, if not enthusiastically.

I was surprised.

I’ve been telling people for months that my family was forced to make an impossible choice between self-respect, with a third-party vote, and wisdom, with Harris’ vote.

My parents found a way to make this choice with dignity and conviction, and I was extremely proud.

I haven’t filled out the presidential section of my ballot yet.

I’m not as pragmatic and open-minded as my parents. But I’m working on it.

Khalil AlHajal is deputy editorial page editor for the Detroit Free Press. Contact: [email protected]. Send a letter to the editor at: freep.com/letters and we can publish it online and in print.