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abdullah hammoud
'War Criminals Are Not Welcome': Dearborn Mayor Says He Would Arrest Netanyahu
"Our president may not take action, but city leaders can ensure Netanyahu and other war criminals are not welcome to travel freely across these United States," said Major Abdullah Hammoud.
Nov 21, 2024
The Biden administration on Thursday said it "fundamentally" rejected the International Criminal Court's arrest warrant for Israel's prime minister and ex-defense minister—but the Dearborn, Michigan mayor who has been an outspoken critic of U.S. support for Israel in recent months said he would join the majority of countries in recognizing the court's jurisdiction, and would carry out the warrants if given the chance.
"Our president may not take action, but city leaders can ensure [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu and other war criminals are not welcome to travel freely across these United States," said Mayor Abdullah Hammoud on the social media platform X.
Hammoud said Dearborn authorities would arrest Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant if they set foot within city limits, and called on other cities across the United States to do the same.
The ICC said Thursday that it had found "reasonable grounds" to arrest Netanyahu and Gallant for "crimes against humanity and war crimes," more than 13 months after Israel began its bombardment and near-total blockade on Gaza. The court also issued a warrant for Hamas leader Mohammed Deif, who was killed in an airstrike in July. The ICC said it could not confirm Deif's death.
In May, President Joe Biden said ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan's application for arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant was "outrageous."
On Thursday, a White House National Security Council spokesperson said the Biden administration was "deeply concerned by the prosecutor’s rush to seek arrest warrants."
The U.S. is joined by powerful governments including those of China, Russia, Israel, and India in refusing to recognize the ICC's jurisdiction; 124 countries are parties to the Rome Statute, which established the ICC as a court that prosecutes individuals accused of war crimes.
Gaza officials say the death toll in the enclave has passed 44,000 since Israel began its assault, with Gallant saying he had "released all the restraints" on the military. Nearly 70% of deaths verified by the United Nations in Gaza have been among women and children. Israel also faces a case at the International Court of Justice in which South Africa and several other countries have accused it of genocidal acts.
The Irish Foreign Ministry on Thursday called on all governments to respect the ICC's "independence and impartiality, with no attempts made to undermine the court."
Progressive U.S. advocacy group RootsAction urged "people everywhere to perform a citizen's arrest of Netanyahu wherever he can be found, including in Washington D.C."
Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), a U.S.-based human rights group, noted that "Article 25(3)(c) of the Rome Statute outlines clear criminal liability for aiding and abetting war crimes, which applies to individuals in non-member states like the U.S. when their actions enable violations under ICC jurisdiction."
"By continuing to provide military assistance to Israeli officials," said DAWN advocacy director Raed Jarrar, "despite credible accusations of war crimes by the ICC, U.S. leaders—including President Biden, Secretary [Antony] Blinken, and Secretary [Lloyd] Austin—are exposing themselves to personal liability under international law."
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As Schumer Slams Netanyahu, Palestine Defenders Want 'Action From Democrats, Not Words'
"What we want to see is actual change in policy," stressed Dearborn, Michigan Mayor Abdullah Hammoud.
Mar 14, 2024
While welcoming remarks by U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer calling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu an obstacle to peace and hinting at a possible shift in policy if far-right extremists continue to run the Middle Eastern country, Palestine defenders on Thursday stressed the need for Democrats to push for the Biden administration to stop arming Israel's genocide in Gaza.
Speaking on the Senate floor on Thursday, Schumer (D-N.Y.) said he believes Netanyahu—who is facing corruption, bribery, and fraud charges—"has lost his way by allowing his political survival to take precedence over the best interests of Israel."
Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish American elected official, criticized Netanyahu for including far-right extremists such as National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich in his Cabinet, and said that "as a result, he has been too willing to tolerate the civilian toll in Gaza, which is pushing support for Israel worldwide to historic lows."
Sen. Chuck Schumer Calls for ‘New Elections’ in Israel: ‘There Needs To Be a Fresh Debate About the Future of Israel’
"The U.S. Government should demand that Israel conduct itself with a future two-state solution in mind. We should not be forced into a position of unequivocally… pic.twitter.com/Ibwv2D1Ga7
— KanekoaTheGreat (@KanekoaTheGreat) March 14, 2024
"Israel cannot survive if it becomes a pariah," the senator said. "If Prime Minister Netanyahu's current coalition remains in power after the war begins to wind down and continues to pursue dangerous and inflammatory policies that test existing U.S. standards for assistance, then the United States will have no choice but to play a more active role in shaping Israeli policy by using our leverage to change the present course."
Responding to Schumer's speech, former Democratic Ohio state Sen. Nina Turnerattributed Schumer's "narrative shift" to "every organizer and activist working tirelessly for peace and humanity."
Abdullah Hammoud, the Democratic mayor of Dearborn, Michigan—the largest U.S. city with a majority Arab population—said on CNN that "words are not enough, what we want to see is actual change in policy."
"It's extremely important for President [Joe] Biden to utilize the leverage that he currently has in restricting military aid... and call not for a temporary cease-fire, but a permanent and lasting cease-fire... that can make a difference today," added Hammoud, who backed the campaign urging Michiganders to vote "uncommitted" in the key swing state's Democratic presidential primary last month.
NEW: Dearborn, Michigan Mayor @AHammoudMI on Schumer's speech and Biden's shifts: "Words are not enough, what we want to see is actual change in policy."
"While the elections could be called...that doesn't change what's happening on the ground today. This is why it's extremely… pic.twitter.com/xWH1omeVQG
— Waleed Shahid 🪬 (@_waleedshahid) March 14, 2024
Layla Elabed, campaign manager of Listen to Michigan—the group behind the "uncommitted" effort—said that "we are looking for action from Democrats, not words."
"Schumer is beginning to shift but far too slowly and with little substance for what actions Biden can take now to stop the outrageous civilian death toll in Gaza," she continued. "Schumer hints at using U.S. leverage against Israel's dangerous policies, yet Netanyahu already violates American policies and values under Biden's watch. How many children in Gaza will be killed by Israeli bombs before Schumer demands an end to U.S. weapons aid?"
Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, wondered, "What's the strategy here?"
"First, you arm Israel to the teeth, protect it when it commits war crimes, shield it from all international pressure, and NOW you worry it has become a pariah?" he said.
Schumer's remarks are a stark departure from his message in a speech earlier this week at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) Congressional Summit, when the senator—who has taken more than $1.7 million in cumulative campaign contributions from the pro-Israel lobby— called supporting Israel "an obligation I feel deep within my soul."
"We will always have Israel's back," he added.
Following Schumer's Thursday remarks, AIPACsaid on social media that "Israel is an independent democracy that decides for itself when elections are held and chooses its own leaders."
Israeli Ambassador to the United States Michael Herzog also
addressed Schumer's comments, without explicitly mentioning the senator: "Israel is a sovereign democracy. It is unhelpful, all the more so as Israel is at war against the genocidal terror organization Hamas, to comment on the domestic political scene of a democratic ally. It is counterproductive to our common goals."
Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.)—who has
taken nearly $2 million in career campaign contributions from AIPAC and other pro-Israel groups—called Schumer's remarks "grotesque and hypocritical."
However, Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid said the senator's speech "is proof that Netanyahu is losing our best supporters in the U.S."
Schumer's shift comes amid Israel's 160-day assault on Gaza, which has killed or maimed more than 111,000 Palestinians, including thousands of people believed dead and buried beneath rubble. Most of the dead are women and children. Around 90% of the besieged strip's 2.3 million people have been displaced, and disease and deadly starvation are spreading as Israel blocks humanitarian aid from entering Gaza. Palestine advocates say Israel is failing to obey a January order from the International Court of Justice to avoid genocidal acts in Gaza.
"Time is running out for Israelis and Palestinians and also for Biden's chances at reelection."
Groups like Listen to Michigan have warned Biden and congressional Democrats of the electoral risks of failing to use U.S. leverage to push Israeli leaders more forcefully for a Gaza cease-fire. Hundreds of thousands of Democratic primary voters have selected "uncommitted" or similar language on their ballots, including in key swing states narrowly won by Biden in 2020.
"Time is running out for Israelis and Palestinians and also for Biden's chances at reelection," warned Elabed. "Uncommitted voters have been demanding that Democratic Party leaders like Schumer call for a permanent cease-fire and an end to weapons aid to a far-right Israeli government that bombs Palestinian civilians and has already violated decades of U.S. policy and international law by expanding settlements into Palestinian territory."
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Organizers Expand 'Uncommitted' Primary Campaigns to Push Biden on Gaza
"This issue of Gaza is not just a Michigan issue, it is an issue across the United States," said one organizer.
Feb 29, 2024
With more than 100,000 Michigan voters having cast primary ballots letting U.S. President Joe Biden know they are "uncommitted" to supporting him in the general election due to his continued support for Israel's genocidal violence in Gaza, organizers of the effort said Wednesday that the Listen to Michigan campaign is spreading to other states.
Voters in Colorado, Minnesota, and North Carolina are among the Americans whose primary votes will be tallied next week on Super Tuesday, and all three states have "uncommitted" or similar language as an option on their ballots.
The Listen to Michigan campaign started organizing less than a month in advance, gathering support from leaders including Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud, Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), and former congressman Andy Levin in hopes that it could convince at least 10,000 voters to mark "uncommitted" on their primary ballots to warn Biden that he must end military funding for Israel and push the country to agree to a permanent cease-fire.
With more than three-quarters of Democrats in the U.S. backing a cease-fire, the campaign drew more than 10 times the amount of support it expected, with more than 13% of Michigan Democrats who took part in Tuesday's primary voting "uncommitted."
"We are going to be talking to other states that are looking for a unifying vehicle to send the same message to Joe Biden," Layla Elabed, campaign manager for Listen to Michigan, told reporters on Wednesday. "This issue of Gaza is not just a Michigan issue, it is an issue across the United States. So our plan is to work with other coalitions like Listen to Michigan."
According to Hammoud, organizers in other states with upcoming primaries have reached out to Listen to Michigan "to follow their strategy."
As Common Dreams reported last week, campaigners in Washington state are urging voters to write "cease-fire" on their primary ballots ahead of the March 12 election.
In Colorado, concerns about Biden's support for Israel, which has now killed more than 30,000 people in Gaza and decimated civilian infrastructure across the enclave even as it claims to be targeting Hamas fighters, helped push the state Democratic Party's executive committee to vote unanimously in December in favor of including a "noncommitted" line on primary ballots.
Abed Ayoub, national executive director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, said Thursday that Armenian-American campaigners in key states including Wisconsin, Arizona, and Pennsylvania are leading efforts to push people to vote "uncommitted."
More than 206,000 Armenian-Americans in swing states "are perfectly positioned to play a high-impact role," said the Armenian National Committee of America.
"Over 100,000 sent Biden a clear message in Michigan," said Yonah Lieberman, co-founder of the Jewish-led Palestinian rights group IfNotNow. "Now the fight moves on."
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In 'Tense' Meeting, Arab Leaders in Michigan Warn White House to Change Course on Gaza
"If President Biden wants a shot here in Michigan, he's going to need to do something different," said one leader.
Feb 09, 2024
A week after Arab American and Muslim leaders in Michigan refused a meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden's campaign over the White House's continued support for Israel's bombardment of Gaza, several representatives of the community met Thursday with a group of top Biden aides—but came away unconvinced that the administration understands the stakes involved in its failure to listen to demands for a cease-fire.
"If President Biden wants a shot here in Michigan, he's going to need to do something different," Abbas Alawieh, a senior Democratic strategist and spokesperson for Listen to Michigan, a group that is urging cease-fire supporters in the state to vote "uncommitted" on primary ballots on February 27, told HuffPost.
Alawieh's comments came after he, state Rep. Abraham Aiyash (D-4), Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud, Wayne County Deputy Executive Assad Turfe, and others met with administration officials.
Alawieh told the outlet that the meeting was "very tense," with attendees informing U.S. Agency for International Development head Samantha Power and senior presidential adviser Tom Perez, among other officials, of specific demands.
The group reiterated its call for Biden to make a direct demand that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agree to a permanent cease-fire and for the U.S. to immediately reinstate funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
The suspension of UNRWA funds have left the agency risking a "complete collapse" of its humanitarian response in Gaza, where at least 27,947 Palestinians have been killed by the Israel Defense Forces since October 7. More than one million displaced Palestinians have taken shelter in UNRWA shelters, where aid workers are struggling to provide food, medical care, and potable water in the face of Israel's near-total blockade.
Hammoud said on social media after the meeting that the views of Arab Americans and the majority of Democratic voters who support a cease-fire and increased aid for civilians "have not been accurately captured by mainstream media and have failed to reach the highest office in our government" over the past several months.
"This meeting was held to ensure that the White House and those with the ability to change the course of the genocide unfolding in Gaza very clearly hear and understand the demands of our community, directly from us," said Hammoud.
In the meeting, said the mayor, the local and state leaders "remained uncompromising in our values and our demands."
"As citizens of the United States of America and representatives of the city of Dearborn, we have done our duty; now it is incumbent upon the president to do the same," said Hammoud.
But the meeting adjourned without the White House aides giving assurances that Biden would do so, even though a growing number of leaders in the state—both within the Arab American and Muslim communities and outside of it—have signed on to the Listen to Michigan campaign.
By voting "uncommitted" in the primary, supporters are hoping to send an urgent message to Biden that his refusal to meet the demands of the community—and 7 in 10 Democrats in an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll released last week—could be a grave miscalculation and cost him crucial votes in the general election in November.
Shadb Singh, an organizer with Listen to Michigan, reported Wednesday that the campaign appears to be taking off with voters based on the attendance of a mass mobilization call.
Biden won Michigan, a key swing state, by just 154,000 votes in 2020, and the Muslim population in the state includes 200,000 registered voters.
Last month, before Hammoud and other leaders refused to engage with Biden during his campaign stop, the president dismissed a question from a reporter about his cratering support among Arab Americans amid his backing of Israel.
"We understand who cares about the Arab population," he said, comparing himself to former President Donald Trump, who is running for the Republican presidential nomination and has easily won several primary contests so far.
Alawieh said the White House officials were "lucky to be hearing from the expertise of people harmed by the very policies the Biden administration is championing," but the attendees were skeptical that the president's team understood the risk Biden is running by assuming he has the support of Arab Americans.
"This was about ensuring the administration sees the real impact of its policies, not just on foreign soil but right here, affecting our people, our families," Turfe told HuffPost. "We made it clear that any future engagement with the administration is conditional upon real action. The developments in Gaza will serve as the benchmark for evaluating the effectiveness of the administration’s actions. The Biden administration must act swiftly and decisively to end this violence, honoring the principles of justice and human rights."
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Dearborn Mayor Among Wave of Michigan Officials to Join 'Uncommitted' Campaign
"We must hold our president accountable and ensure that we, the American taxpayers, are no longer forced to be accomplices in a genocide that is backed and funded by the United States government," said Mayor Abdullah Hammoud.
Feb 07, 2024
More than 30 state representatives, mayors, city council members, and other elected officials in Michigan on Wednesday announced they had joined a grassroots effort to push voters in the crucial swing state to send a clear warning to U.S. President Joe Biden in the upcoming Democratic primary by voting "uncommitted."
The elected officials, including Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud, are joining the Listen to Michigan movement to signal to Biden that they will not commit to supporting him in the November general election until he uses his vast influence to stop Israel's slaughter of civilians across Gaza by calling for a cease-fire and ending his administration's financial backing of the Israel Defense Forces.
Hammoud, who garnered national attention late last month when he refused to meet with Biden during a campaign stop in Michigan, said he and other officials in the state "demand a better future and we intend to make our voices heard on February 27," encouraging voters to "pledge to vote 'uncommitted' in the upcoming presidential primary election."
"Under the direction of President Joe Biden, our government has failed to act to protect the lives of innocent men, women, and children," said Hammoud. "Worse yet, President Biden and his administration have suggested that there is an exception to this rule when it comes to Palestinian lives."
The Listen to Michigan campaign, led by Palestinian American community organizer and Dearborn resident Layla Elabed, officially launched on Tuesday with advocates noting that the Arab American population—more than 211,000 people—in the key state is a powerful voting bloc whose demands for a cease-fire Biden is ignoring at his own peril.
"We cannot support his financial backing of actions in Gaza that conflict with our core values of peace and humanity," said Elabed. "Voting 'uncommitted' is our way of demanding change and the vehicle to return our political power back to us... Many of us voted for Biden in 2020, including myself. We got out the vote for him and helped him win the state of Michigan. But now we are saying, 'Count us out, Joe.'"
Along with Hammoud, state Reps. Abraham Alyash (D-9), Alabas Farhat (D-3), and Erin Byrnes (D-15) signed a letter dated Tuesday, expressing their intention to vote "uncommitted" on their primary ballots. Wayne County Commissioners Sam Baydoun and Al Haidous, four Dearborn city councilmembers, and more than a dozen school board members from several cities were also among the officials who signed.
"We must hold our president accountable and ensure that we, the American taxpayers, are no longer forced to be accomplices in a genocide that is backed and funded by the United States government," reads the letter. "These are not empty words, they signify our steadfast commitment to justice, dignity, and the sanctity of human life, which is greater than loyalty to any candidate or party."
Listen to Michigan pointed out on its official website that "uncommitted" primary campaigns are not unheard of in the state. In 2008, when then-Democratic primary candidate Barack Obama's name did not appear on ballots after the state moved its voting date up, "his campaign mobilized young and Black voters to vote 'uncommitted' as a symbolic (and real) rejection of Hillary Clinton," garnering 40% of the vote.
The growing support for the effort among dozens of elected officials, said Democratic strategist Waleed Shahid, is "a big deal."
"This is BIG!" added Lansing-based climate and housing organizer William Lawrence. "All Michigan folks—this is real, this has legs. Make sure your friends know to vote uncommitted."
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'Uncommitted': Michigan Group Urges Primary Protest Vote Against Biden Over Gaza
"President Biden has been a successful candidate in the past by representing a broad coalition, but right now he's not representing the vast majority of Democrats who want a cease-fire," said Listen to Michigan.
Feb 06, 2024
As voters in the key swing state of Michigan prepare to cast their ballots in the Democratic primary at the end of February, a grassroots group is urging residents to send a clear warning to U.S. President Joe Biden by letting him know they are "uncommitted" to supporting him in the 2024 election, due to his support for Israel's bombardment of Gaza.
Officially launching on Tuesday, Listen to Michigan is calling on voters in the state—which has a sizable Arab American community—to fill in the bubble marked "uncommitted" on their primary ballots on February 27. Biden, who won the first Democratic primary last week in South Carolina with 96% of the vote, will be on the ballot along with Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) and author Marianne Williamson.
Layla Elabed, an activist and the sister of progressive Palestinian American Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), is leading the group, which is planning to contact at least 80% of the 128,000 voters on its mailing list before the primary.
Elabed told The New York Times Tuesday that voters in Michigan must use their power as a voting bloc in the key state, where Biden only narrowly defeated former Republican President Donald Trump in 2020.
"We have the political power to really shift Biden's election," Elabed told the Times. "We did it in 2020."
The group's plan is hardly the first sign that Biden's continued funding and defense of Israel's relentless attacks on civilians in Gaza has alarmed many Democratic voters, including those in Michigan.
Eighty percent of Democrats told Data for Progress in one poll in October that the U.S. should push for a cease-fire in Gaza, and a survey by The Economist last month showed that 50% of people who voted for Biden in 2020 believe the military operation the president has helped fund—in which Israel has now killed at least 27,585 people—amounts to a genocide.
NBC News released a new poll Sunday that found just 29% of American voters approve of Biden's policy related to Israel, which his administration has supplied with weapons without the approval of Congress at least twice since the war began in October. Forty-five percent of Democrats said they disapproved, compared to 44% who supported Biden's policy.
Despite the mounting evidence that a crucial voting bloc is deeply dissatisfied with Biden in the critical battleground state, when asked what the president's "message" to Arab American voters in Michigan was, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said only the "Israel has a right to defend itself" and that Biden is "heartbroken" over civilian casualties.
"These people are living in a fantasy world," said writer Dan Walden in response to the White House press secretary. "There is no world in which a Democrat wins Michigan without Arab American votes. The numbers simply do not exist."
At a press conference launching Listen to Michigan's effort on Tuesday, one organizer noted that former President Ronald Reagan made "one phone call" to Israeli officials in 1982 to pressure them to withdraw soldiers from Beirut.
"A complete cease-fire was declared," he said. "On the contrary, today President Joe Biden remains uncommitted to a cease-fire... As Democrats we will remember how Joe Biden is turning his back on humanity. He is ignoring our voice, the voice of the people."
Listen to Michigan's push for voters to select "uncommitted" on their ballots "is not an endorsement of Trump or a desire to see him return to power," emphasized the group. "The Democratic primary election is as an opportunity to question whether the incumbent genuinely holds the support of his own party's base. Michigan, a critical state in the general election and a key component of the Democratic coalition, is becoming a battleground where voters are expressing their disappointment and demanding a change in policy."
"We are sending the warning sign to President Biden and the Democratic Party now in February, before it's too late in November," the group said.
Abdullah Hammoud, the mayor of Dearborn, Michigan—where just over 54% of residents are of Middle Eastern or North African descent, according to the 2020 census—was among local Arab American leaders who declined to meet Biden when he visited the state last week, saying his community's "immediate demand is crystal clear: The Biden administration must call for a permanent cease-fire to a genocide it is defending and funding with our tax dollars."
Listen to Michigan said on its website that "Biden must earn" the votes of Michigan residents, hundreds of whom marched in support of Palestinian rights in the Detroit area when Biden made an appearance there last week.
"President Biden has been a successful candidate in the past by representing a broad coalition, but right now he's not representing the vast majority of Democrats who want a cease-fire and an end to our government's unconditional weapons funding of Israel," said the group. "He's not representing the young people who put him in office and turned out in the midterms—and are now out protesting his policies in the streets."
With nine months until the general election, said Listen to Michigan, Biden must immediately begin to work to "earn back our trust after financing war and genocide in Gaza"—a task that will "be difficult."
"There is a long time between now and November for Biden to change his policies and earn support from Democratic voters," said the group. "He must stop funding the Israeli government's atrocities against the Palestinian people."
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Outrage over Bigotry, Islamophobia in Wall Street Journal & New York Times
'These outlets should apologize publicly & diversify their staff & perspectives to meet their ethical and moral obligations as journalists.'
Feb 04, 2024
The nation's leading newspapers were under fire this weekend after publishing opinion pieces seen as "Bigoted," "Islamophobic," "Racist," and "Reckless."
A Wall Street Journal opinion piece published on Friday afternoon read 'Welcome to Dearborn, America's Jihad Capital.'
And on Saturday, The New York Times published a piece by long-time columnist Thomas Friedman titled "Understanding the Middle East Through the Animal Kingdom."
Dearborn, Michigan, a city with the largest Muslim population in the US, has increased its police presence, fearing hate attacks after the Wall Street Journal branded it America's 'jihad capital.'
The Islamaphobic article was written by Steven Stalinsky, who is a commentator on' terrorism' and has served as executive director of the pro-Israel Middle East Media Research Institute based in Washington, DC.
The mayor of Dearborn, Abdullah H. Hammoud, said Saturday that the city's police officers were ramping up their presence across places of worship and major infrastructure points following the publication of Stalinsky's piece that he called "bigoted" and "Islamophobic." The Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee condemned the piece as anti-Arab and racist for suggesting the city's residents, including religious leaders and politicians, supported Palestinian Islamist group Hamas and extremism.
In response to the Wall Street Journal piece, President Joe Biden tweeted Sunday afternoon:
"Americans know that blaming a group of people based on the words of a small few is wrong. That’s exactly what can lead to Islamophobia and anti-Arab hate, and it shouldn’t happen to the residents of Dearborn – or any American town. We must continue to condemn hate in all forms."
Shortly after Biden's tweet went out, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer tweeted:
"Dearborn is a vibrant community full of Michiganders who contribute day in and day out to our state. Islamophobia and all forms of hate have no place in Michigan, or anywhere. Period."
Friedman's piece in the New York Times entitled, "Understanding the Middle East Through the Animal Kingdom," posited Iran as a metaphorical "parasitoid wasp" with proxies in Yemen, Lebanon, Iraq, and Syria as caterpillars. Friedman claimed, "We have no counterstrategy that safely and efficiently kills the wasp without setting fire to the whole jungle," suggesting that the US militarily destroys the entire Middle East to annihilate Iran and its allies. He concluded that he could "contemplate" the Middle East by watching Animal Planet.
Abed A. Ayoub, Executive Director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, tweeted:
"Go ahead and say this about any other people and see the reaction - @tomfriedman would be fired before the ink dries. This election season kickoff is a reminder that anti-Arab racism and Islamophobia are mainstream. That’s why this trash is acceptable to so many, and there will be no accountability."
Erin Overby, former Archive Editor at The New Yorker, tweeted:
"This @nytimes column by Thomas Friedman comparing countries in the Middle East to animals, pests & insects is so virulently racist it could have run in Der Sturmer or on Radio Rwanda pre-‘94 genocide. It’s appallingly offensive & Friedman should be fired."
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Arab, Muslim Leaders in Michigan Refuse to Meet Biden Campaign
"I will not entertain conversations about elections while we watch a livestreamed genocide backed by our government," said Dearborn's mayor.
Jan 26, 2024
U.S. President Joe Biden narrowly won Michigan in 2020, but his reelection campaign's trip to the key swing state on Friday made clear that his support for Israel's war on the Gaza Strip is angering Arab American and Muslim voters.
Assad Turfe, a deputy Wayne County executive, was coordinating a Friday afternoon meeting with Biden's delegation, led by campaign manager Julie Chávez Rodríguez. He reached out to over 10 Arab and Muslim leaders in the Dearborn area.
"As the community got to learn about the meeting, there was definitely a lot of outrage and, ultimately, the decision was made to cancel the meeting," he told The Detroit News, adding that the cancellation was "in the best interest of the community."
Turfe also publicly warned the Democrat's campaign that "unless something drastic happens, you have lost the Arab American and Muslim community."
"At this point, from what I can see, there's no winning them over. That was the idea of the meeting," he said. "Until there's a cease-fire, the overall consensus in the community is they're not welcome here, essentially."
Democratic Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud was among the local leaders who declined an invitation to the scrapped meeting.
"The lives of Palestinians are not measured in poll numbers. Their humanity demands action, not lip service. When elected officials view the atrocities in Gaza only as an electoral problem, they reduce our indescribable pain into a political calculation," Hammoud said on social media Friday, noting that Israel's U.S.-backed war has now killed over 26,000 Palestinians.
"Our immediate demand is crystal clear: The Biden administration must call for a permanent cease-fire to a genocide it is defending and funding with our tax dollars," he continued. "Dearborn residents have tirelessly protested and organized in demand of a cease-fire. As their mayor, I follow their lead."
Hammoud added that "community engagement is powerful when it is used to shape policies that save lives—these conversations must be had with policymakers, not campaign staff. I will not entertain conversations about elections while we watch a livestreamed genocide backed by our government."
The canceled meeting was set to be held on the same day that the International Court of Justice issued its initial ruling in the South African-led case accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza—to which the U.S. government responded by making clear it would not push Israel to end the devastating military assault.
Others who were invited to the meeting include state Reps. Alabas Farhat (D-3) and Abraham Aiyash (D-4), Michigan's House majority floor leader, who said on social media that "we will not allow our communities to be utilized for political expediency."
Farhat said that he agreed with the decision to cancel the meeting.
"This pushback is not just about failed policy—it's about humanity," he explained. "It's unrealistic to expect that political conversations will re-secure our support for the president when only a cease-fire can truly reopen that door."
Citing an unnamed source familiar with Rodríguez's schedule, The Associated Press reported that she still "held multiple meetings across Detroit and Dearborn that have been in the works for weeks, and that included talking with many Michigan leaders, such as local elected officials and leaders from the state's Arab and Palestinian American, Hispanic, and Black communities."
According to the AP:
"People in the community, like community leaders, don't want to meet with Mr. Biden," said Dawud Walid, the executive director of Michigan's chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. "I don't know who he's planning on meeting with, but the major organizations are not interested in meeting with him."
Hundreds gathered Friday for an "Abandon Biden" rally movement at the Islamic Center of Detroit that included prominent civil rights activist Imam Omar Suleiman. The event was timed for when organizers heard Rodríguez would be visiting to urge otherwise sympathetic voters not to support Biden in November.
The frosty reception to the president's team came just two days after the United Auto Workers formally backed his reelection—after which Reuters reported that "a Biden campaign official said this endorsement will mean more in November in Michigan than the anger among Muslim voters in the state over the administration's support for Israel."
Turfe suggested Friday that the Biden administration is misreading voters and clearly does not "understand how big of a problem this is and how upset and angry the community is."
With recent wins in the GOP's Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary, former President Donald Trump is expected to face Biden in November, despite his ongoing legal trouble.
In response to how the president's campaign handled Michigan on Friday, Nina Turner, a senior fellow at the Institute on Race, Power, and Political Economy, warned that "Biden is throwing away electoral support to back a right-wing Israeli government that would prefer Trump wins in 2024."
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