Monday, December 18, 2023

Michigan Democrat says ‘there’s a lot that has to be done’ on Biden winning back Muslim voters

Miranda Nazzaro
THE HILL
Sun, December 17, 2023



Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) on Sunday argued “there’s a lot that has to be done” for President Biden to win back Muslim voters ahead of the 2024 election as some voters raise calls to “abandon Biden” over his handling of the Israel-Hamas war.

Asked on NBC News’s “Meet the Press” if Biden can do anything to win back these voters, Dingell said, “So there’s a lot that has to be done, and this is a very serious issue.”

Dingell said she knows the community of Muslim voters, having lived 40 years in Dearborn, Mich., the city with the largest Arab American population in the U.S.

“They are hurting. All of us in this country need to understand what’s happening in Gaza right now,” she continued. “You can fight about how many thousands of people have been killed, but 6,000 to 8,000 children have been killed, 85 percent of the people in Gaza have had to leave their homes, they’re living in shelters.”

Dingell reiterated a call for a cease-fire and a unified push for a two-state solution after the war between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas ends. Dingell joins a growing chorus of political figures calling for a cease-fire in Gaza amid the rising death toll and exacerbated humanitarian crisis.

Fighting has continued for more than two months since Hamas’s Oct. 7 assault on southern Israel that left about 1,200 people dead, including hundreds of civilians. Israel’s retaliatory campaign against Hamas, which controls Gaza, has left more than 18,700 people dead, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza.

The Biden administration has remained steadfast in its support of Israel’s right to defend itself while also recently upping calls on Israel to actively try to minimize civilian deaths.

The Hill spoke with Muslim voters in various parts of the U.S. last month who said they feel betrayed and disappointed with Biden’s handling of the conflict and continued support for Israel. Earlier this month, leaders from Michigan and other swing states pledged to ditch support for Biden over his refusal to call for a cease-fire in Gaza.

One of the organizers of this push, Minneapolis-based Jaylani Hussein, told The Associated Press that Biden’s actions have widely damaged his relationship with American Muslim voters, with many angry that they chose to vote for Biden in the 2020 election.

The effects may already be showing themselves through polling numbers. A CNN poll released last week showed Trump with a 10-point lead over Biden in Michigan, a significant shift from 2020, when Biden carried the state.

The Biden campaign did not immediately respond to The Hill’s request for comment.

Some young Black voters undecided about Biden over lack of support for Palestinians

Deborah Barfield Berry and Joey Garrison, USA TODAY
Sun, December 17, 2023 

WASHINGTON — Demetrius Briscoe voted for Joe Biden in 2020, but the senior at Bowie State University, a historically Black university in Maryland, is on the fence about whether he will support the president next year.

Briscoe, 25, doesn’t think many of his peers will vote for Biden because he hasn’t demanded a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas War that has left thousands of Palestinian civilians injured or dead.

“He's really putting a stain on his presidency that I don't think will be easily washed away," said Briscoe, adding that Biden and fellow Democrats in Maryland should urge more action. “If the Democrats call for a cease-fire it may save the Democratic Party from, I think, a wave of young people not voting for them.’’

One issue expected to haunt Biden with younger Black voters like Briscoe is whether he has done enough to demand more protections for Palestinians, some young people and political experts said. They argue Biden’s positions, including not calling for an immediate cease-fire, could cost him support from African Americans, traditionally a loyal voting bloc for Democrats.

One place where there are early signs of waning support is among young Black people, experts said.

“There is a moral imperative that Biden is choosing to ignore, and it can very well cost him and down ticket candidates the election," said Jason Williams, associate professor of justice studies at Montclair State University in New Jersey.

Biden has opposed calls for a cease-fire, arguing an outcome with Hamas still in control of Gaza is unacceptable.

Although Biden has stood in solidarity with Israel since it was attacked by Hamas on Oct. 7, his administration has started to shift its tone, becoming more critical about how Israel is carrying out its war amid the rising number of Palestinian civilian casualties.

Some young people said that’s not enough.

Across the country, there have been thousands of pro-Palestinian rallies with nearly 30% of them on college campuses, according to a recent report by a consortium at Harvard University.

At a rally in October at Howard University, a historically Black university in Washington, students slammed Biden for not calling for a cease-fire and complained he hasn’t done enough to help Palestinians. Some said they won't vote for him next year. Some are considering alternatives.

Delaney Leonard, a 19-year-old sophomore at Howard who helped organize the rally, said she has no intention of voting for Biden. She doesn’t think she’s alone.

“It's definitely going to play a factor into people making their voting decisions,” Leonard said.

Maya Waller, a student at Howard University in Washington, D.C., waved a Palestinian flag Oct. 25, 2023 at a rally on campus.

Young people see the impact of 'America's war machine'

One major challenge Biden faces is trying to counter narratives shared on social media about the war, said Keesha Middlemass, an associate professor of political science at Howard University.

“Young people are finally seeing the impact of America’s war machine," said Middlemass, adding that some are concerned about the nation’s support of Israel. “That's what students are so fearful of ‒ is this blind loyalty without consideration of the rights of Palestinians to exist?”

When asked in October about pushback to Biden’s policy in Israel, Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, said the president is “always concerned and wants to hear how different communities feel about the work that he’s doing.”

In recent weeks, the Biden administration has taken a sharper tone with Israel amid the mounting loss of civilians in Gaza.

During a Dec. 2 speech in Dubai, Vice President Kamala Harris said "international humanitarian law must be respected" and that "too many innocent Palestinians have been killed."

The White House last week pressed Israel to find a point to wind down its air and ground campaign in Gaza, but Israeli officials have said it will still take "several months" to defeat Hamas and end the war.

In Biden’s most direct criticism of Israel since the war began, he warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Israel is "starting to lose" international support in its war against Hamas because of its "indiscriminate bombing" in Gaza.

Students at Howard University in Washington, D.C., gathered at a rally on campus Oct. 25, 2023 to support Palestinians.


African Americans have history of solidarity with Palestinians


For some African Americans, there’s a sense of solidarity with Palestinians.

Khadirah Muhammad, a senior at Georgia State University, remembers seeing on social media the Black Lives Matter murals in Gaza and watching Palestinians demonstrating during the 2020 George Floyd protests. For her, it was a symbol of solidarity with Palestinians also in the struggle for freedom.

"I just feel like it’s necessary to speak up when things are wrong," said Muhammad, 22, who joined a pro-Palestinian rally on campus in October. "It’s really heartbreaking."

Williams pointed to other instances where Palestinians supported African Americans during social justice protests, including over the deaths of Michael Brown in Missouri and Trayvon Martin in Florida.

"It’s bringing about a kind solidarity that I don’t think we’ve seen since the George Floyd demonstrations," Williams said.

During the Civil Rights Movement in the United States, Jewish faith leaders, students and activists were key supporters of African Americans. But for decades, some segments of the African American community have expressed strong support for Palestinians.

The turning point was in the 1960s with the Black Power wing of the Black Freedom struggle, said Michael R. Fischbach, professor of history at Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Virginia, and author of "Black Power and Palestine Transnational Countries of Color."

Fischbach said he’s not surprised younger African Americans feel empathy for Palestinians. He said several factors connect them, including a sense of kinship in this “global gated community," a pushback against what they believe is settler colonialism and shared experiences of living in segregated communities.

“A lot of young people, notably of color in this country, can instinctively identify with Palestinians because it resembles, again, the experience that they're seeing at home," Fischbach said.


Thousands participate in the National March on Washington: Free Palestine rally. Organizers of the event are making a push to demand both a cease-fire in the Israel-Gaza war and an end to U.S. aid to Israel.


Young Black voters looking for alternatives


Young people USA TODAY spoke with condemned the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, but said Biden hasn't done enough to call out the toll on Palestinian civilians.

Briscoe said some young people are wary of backing Democrats because they don’t want to support a party that doesn't condemn what they call genocide.

The White House has taken exception to allegations that Israel is carrying out “genocide” against Palestinians. It has argued it is Hamas, not Israel, seeking the genocide of a group of people.

"This word ‘genocide’ is getting thrown around in a pretty inappropriate way by lots of different folks," John Kirby, a White House spokesman on national security matters, said last month. "What Hamas wants, make no mistake about it, is genocide. They want to wipe Israel off the map. They've said so publicly on more than one occasion."

Hannah Saxon, an 18-year-old freshman at North Carolina A&T University, will vote for the first time next year. She’s weighing who she will support. She said Biden’s stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict matters. She’s troubled by the deaths of so many Palestinian civilians, whom she called “the underdogs.”

Saxon said she doesn’t want to vote for Democrats simply because African Americans traditionally support them. "You want to do it because you believe in this person and they'll do the right thing for this country," she said, but adding, "If Trump is running again, Biden is the better choice."


President Joe Biden speaks to reporters in Nantucket, Mass., Sunday, Nov. 26, 2023, about hostages freed by Hamas in a third set of releases under a four-day cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas
. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Pro-Palestinian rallies draw young people

Young people like Muhammad at Georgia State have joined rallies across the country.

There were 2,357 pro-Palestinian protests, rallies, demonstrations, vigils and other actions in the U.S. between Oct. 7 and Dec. 10, according to the Crowds Counting Consortium, an initiative of the Nonviolent Action Lab at Harvard University.

Of those, 652 or nearly 28% were on college campuses.

The consortium recorded 450 pro-Israel actions during the same period.

In a major warning sign for Biden, recent polling shows Biden is underperforming with Black voters.

A poll conducted in November by GenForward, operated by the University of Chicago, found that 63% of Black voters plan to vote for Biden in 2024, compared to 17% who said they will vote for Trump if he is the nominee. Biden carried Black voters by a 92%-8% margin over Trump in 2020. But despite the strong support for Biden, Black voters do not have monolithic political views.

In the same poll, 16% of Black voters said they are more sympathetic of Palestinians than Israelis in the conflict, compared to 13% of Black voters who said they are more sympathetic to Israelis. Thirty-nine percent of Black voters said they are sympathetic to both groups and 32% said they did not know.

Muhammad, who has voted for Democrats in the past, said she doesn’t feel pressed to support Democrats, whom she called "weak willed."

“Not that I want to see a Donald Trump presidency again," she said. “But honestly, a Joe Biden presidency, I can’t see myself voting for him."

Muhammad said she’s looking at alternatives. "I like to vote with integrity," she said.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY


Black American solidarity with Palestinians is rising and testing longstanding ties to Jewish allies

Black Palestinian Solidarity
Cydney Wallace poses for a photo in Chicago, Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023. Cydney Wallace is a Black Jewish woman who recently went on a trip to Israel and the West Bank through a trip called "Black Jerusalem" that was focused on exploring "the sacred geography of Jerusalem through a framework that privileges a Black American and an African lens." (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

NOREEN NASIR and AARON MORRISON
Sat, December 16, 2023 

Cydney Wallace, a Black Jewish community activist, never felt compelled to travel to Israel, though “Next year in Jerusalem” was a constant refrain at her Chicago synagogue.

The 39-year-old said she had plenty to focus on at home, where she frequently gives talks on addressing anti-Black sentiment in the American Jewish community and dismantling white supremacy in the U.S.

“I know what I’m fighting for here,” she said.

That all changed when she visited Israel and the West Bank at the invitation of a Palestinian American community activist, along with two dozen other Black Americans and Muslim, Jewish and Christian faith leaders.

The trip, which began Sept. 26, enhanced Wallace’s understanding of the struggles of Palestinians living in the West Bank under Israeli military occupation. But, horrifyingly, it was cut short by the unprecedented Oct. 7 attacks on Israel by Hamas militants. In Israel’s ensuing bombardment of the Gaza Strip, shocking images of destruction and death seen around the world have mobilized activists in the U.S. and elsewhere.

Wallace, and a growing number of Black Americans, see the Palestinian struggle in the West Bank and Gaza reflected in their own fight for racial equality and civil rights. The recent rise of protest movements against police brutality in the U.S. has connected Black and Palestinian activists under a common cause.

But that kinship sometimes strains the more than century-long alliance between Black and Jewish activists. Some Jewish Americans are concerned that support could escalate the threat of antisemitism and weaken Jewish-Black ties fortified during the Civil Rights Movement.

“We are concerned, as a community, about what we feel is a lack of understanding of what Israel is about and how deeply Oct. 7 has affected us,” said Bob Kaplan, executive director of The Center for Shared Society at the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York.

“Antisemitism is as real to the American Jewish community, and causes as much trauma and fear and upset to the American Jewish community, as racism causes to the Black community. ”

But, he added, many Jews in the U.S. understand that Black Americans can have an affinity for the Palestinian cause that doesn’t conflict with their regard for Israel.

According to a poll earlier this month from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, Black adults were more likely than white and Hispanic adults to say the U.S. is too supportive of Israel — 44% compared to 30% and 28%, respectively. However, Black Americans weren’t any more likely than others to say the U.S. is not supportive enough of the Palestinians.

Still, Black American support for the Palestinian cause dates back to the Civil Rights Movement. More recent rounds of violence in the Middle East have deepened ties between the two movements.

During a week-long truce between Israel and Hamas as part of the recent deal to free dozens of hostages seized by Hamas militants, Israel released hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees.

Some Black Americans who watched the Palestinian prisoner release and learned about Israel’s administrative detention policy, where detainees are held without trial, drew comparisons to racial inequality in the U.S. prison system.

Rami Nashashibi, a Palestinian American community organizer on Chicago’s south side, invited Wallace and the others to take part in the trip called “Black Jerusalem” — an exploration of the sacred city through an African and Black American lens.

“My Palestinian identity was very much shaped and influenced by Black American history,” Nashashibi said.

“I always hoped that a trip like this would open up new pathways that would connect the dots not just in a political and ideological way, but between the liberation and struggles for humanity that are very familiar to us in the U.S.,” he said.

During the trip, Wallace was dismayed by her own ignorance of the reality of Palestinians living under Israeli occupation. In observing the treatment of Palestinians at Israeli checkpoints, she drew comparisons to what segregation historically looked like in the U.S.

“Being there made me wonder if this is what it was like to live in the Jim Crow-era” in America, Wallace said.

Over the last decade, Black Americans and the Palestinians have also found growing solidarity.

In 2020, the murder of George Floyd by a white police officer resonated in the West Bank, where Palestinians drew comparisons to their own experiences of brutality under occupation, and a massive mural of Floyd appeared on Israel’s hulking separation barrier.

In 2016, when BLM activists formed the coalition known as the Movement for Black Lives, they included support for Palestinians in a platform called the “Vision for Black Lives.” A handful of Jewish groups, which had largely been supportive of the BLM movement, denounced the Black activists’ characterization of Israel as a purportedly “apartheid state.”

None of the members of the “Black Jerusalem” trip anticipated it would come to a tragic end with the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks in which some 1,200 people were killed in Israel and about 240 taken hostage. Since then, more than 18,700 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s blistering air and ground campaign in Gaza, now in its third month. Violence in the West Bank has also surged.

Back home in Chicago, Wallace has navigated speaking about her support for Palestinians while maintaining her Jewish identity and standing against antisemitism. She says she doesn’t see those things as mutually exclusive.

“I’m trying not to do anything that alienates anyone,” she said. “But I can’t just not do the right thing because I’m scared.”

___

AP writer Isabel DeBre in Jerusalem contributed.



Cydney Wallace poses for a photo in Chicago, Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023

Cydney Wallace poses for a photo in Chicago, Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023. 

 Palestinians display a huge key, known as "the Key of Return," which was exhibited at the Berlin Biennale in March 2012, in the West Bank refugee camp of Aida near Bethlehem, Aug. 29. The key symbolizes what the Palestinians call their "right of return" to properties lost during the 1948 war surrounding Israel's creation. A growing number of Black Americans see the struggle of Palestinians reflected in their own fights for freedom and civil rights. The rise of protest movements against police brutality in the U.S., where structural racism plagues nearly every facet of life, has connected Black and Palestinian activists under a common cause.
 (AP Photo/Nasser Shiyoukhi, File)

 Demonstrators from a nearby pro-Palestinian rally join a protest in New York on Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2014 against the police shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. A growing number of Black Americans see the struggle of Palestinians reflected in their own fights for freedom and civil rights. In recent years, the rise of protest movements in the U.S. against police brutality in the U.S., where structural racism plagues nearly every facet of life, has connected Black and Palestinian activists under a common cause. But that kinship sometimes strains the alliance between Black and Jewish activists, which extends back several decades.
 (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow, File)


A demonstrator holds a placard with photos of George Floyd, left, a black man who died after being restrained by Minneapolis police officers on May 25, 2020 and an undated photo, right, of an Israeli soldier restraining a Palestinian youth, during a protest near the U.S. consulate in Istanbul, Thursday, June 4, 2020. A growing number of Black Americans see the struggle of Palestinians reflected in their own fights for freedom and civil rights. In recent years, the rise of protest movements in the U.S. against police brutality in the U.S., where structural racism plagues nearly every facet of life, has connected Black and Palestinian activists under a common cause. But that kinship sometimes strains the alliance between Black and Jewish activists, which extends back several decades. 
AP Photo/Emrah Gurel


- A Palestinian man walks past a mural that depicts George Floyd, a black American who died after being restrained by police officers in Minneapolis, at the Israeli separation wall in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Monday, June 8, 2020. A growing number of Black Americans see the struggle of Palestinians reflected in their own fights for freedom and civil rights. In recent years, the rise of protest movements in the U.S. against police brutality in the U.S., where structural racism plagues nearly every facet of life, has connected Black and Palestinian activists under a common cause. But that kinship sometimes strains the alliance between Black and Jewish activists, which extends back several decades. 
(AP Photo/Nasser Nasser, File)


 Palestinians people walk past an artist painting a mural of George Floyd, a black American who died after being restrained by police officers, in Gaza City, Tuesday, June 16, 2020. A growing number of Black Americans see the struggle of Palestinians reflected in their own fights for freedom and civil rights. In recent years, the rise of protest movements in the U.S. against police brutality in the U.S., where structural racism plagues nearly every facet of life, has connected Black and Palestinian activists under a common cause. But that kinship sometimes strains the alliance between Black and Jewish activists, which extends back several decades.
 (AP Photo/Hatem Moussa, File)


In this photo provided by Black Jerusalem, members of the “Black Jerusalem” trip pose for a photograph in the Ein Karem neighborhood of Jerusalem, on Friday, Sept. 29, 2023. The group, comprising of leaders across Abrahamic faiths, traveled to explore “the sacred geography of Jerusalem” through a Black American and African lens. 
(Black Jerusalem via AP)


Cydney Wallace poses for a photo in Chicago, Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023. 

Cydney Wallace poses for a photo in Chicago, Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023. 
ASSOCIATED PRESS

FILE - A mural depicting Eyad Hallaq, an autistic Palestinian man who was killed by Israeli police in Jerusalem's Old City last year, is seen on Israel's controversial separation barrier, in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, Friday, April 9, 2021. A growing number of Black Americans see the struggle of Palestinians reflected in their own fights for freedom and civil rights. In recent years, the rise of protest movements in the U.S. against police brutality in the U.S., where structural racism plagues nearly every facet of life, has connected Black and Palestinian activists under a common cause. But that kinship sometimes strains the alliance between Black and Jewish activists, which extends back several decades. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo, File)

Cydney Wallace poses for a photo in Chicago, Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023. 
 (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)







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