Arab and Muslim Americans, along with their allies, are sharply criticizing U.S. President Joe Biden regarding his stance on the war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamic resistance movement (Hamas), demanding he make further efforts to prevent a larger humanitarian crisis in Gaza, or he risks losing their support in the 2024 presidential elections. Academics, activists, community figures, and administration officials have indicated that many Arab Americans are frustrated that Biden has not pressured for any humanitarian ceasefire despite the deaths of Palestinians fleeing from Israeli bombardments and airstrikes in Gaza. This growing frustration could affect Biden's Democratic efforts for re-election. Polls indicate he will run again against leading Republican candidate Donald Trump.
In tightly contested states such as Michigan, Arab American votes contributed about five percent, and in Pennsylvania and Ohio, between 1.7 percent and two percent, according to Jim Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute. Biden won Michigan in the 2020 elections with 50.6 percent of votes compared to Trump's 47.8 percent, and in Pennsylvania, Biden received 50.01 percent while Trump garnered 48.84 percent, a difference of less than 81,000 votes. Some activists say Arab and Muslim Americans are unlikely to vote for Trump, but they may also refrain from voting for Biden.
While Arab Americans condemned Hamas’s attacks on Israel on October 7, which killed 1,400 people, they also stated that Israel's response is entirely disproportionate and that Biden failed to denounce the bombings, leading many to question his commitment to his promise of pursuing a "human rights-centered" foreign policy. U.S. officials joined the United Nations and Canada on Tuesday in calling for a ceasefire to allow for the delivery of food, water, and medicine to Palestinian civilians.
**Calls for Policy Change**
Abdullah Hammoud, the first Arab American mayor of Dearborn, Michigan, criticized Biden for failing to condemn Israel's cutting off of water, electricity, and food to over two million Palestinians in Gaza. He wrote on X (formerly Twitter), "Nothing could prepare us for the shock of the complete erasure of our views and the deafening silence from those we elected to protect and represent us. Our families trapped in Gaza have been ignored, and our calls for a ceasefire have been drowned out amid the drums of war."
The White House has stated that Biden and other U.S. officials have repeatedly pressed for the release of Americans held in the territory, with Biden saying on Tuesday that delivering aid "is not fast enough." Linda Sarsour, a former executive director of the Arab American Association in New York, urged hundreds at an event organized by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) on Saturday that American Muslims should tie any political donations to policy changes. Many are pressing Biden to in turn press Israel to temporarily halt its attacks on Gaza, which have killed thousands of Palestinians.
An Arab American official at the White House indicated that some appointees of Arab American and Muslim backgrounds in Biden's administration fear retaliatory backlash and worry about their family members in the region. The White House has acknowledged and responded to criticism of its policy by meeting with administration officials and community figures, highlighting Biden's efforts both publicly and privately to ensure aid reaches Gaza.
