Muslim leaders, organizers and community members of several WE States have launched a nationwide campaign against President Joe Biden’s re-election due to his unwavering support for from Israel military campaign in Gaza, which many researchers have warned could constitute genocide against Palestinians.
At a press conference Saturday in Dearborn, Michigan, Muslim organizers from Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Minnesota, Nevada and Pennsylvania came together to announce a coordinated national effort to ensure that Biden does not won’t get a second term.
“We are not powerless as American Muslims. We are powerful. We not only have the money, but we also have the votes. And we will use this vote to save this nation from itself,” coalition member Jaylani Hussein said at the news conference.
Hussein is also executive director of the Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, but leads the campaign in his personal capacity.
Hassan Abdel Salam, a professor at the University of Minnesota and a member of the National Abandon Biden Coalition, told Middle East Eye that he could not speak with certainty for the entire Muslim community, but among people who the campaign spoke to: The idea of campaigning against Biden has almost unanimous support.
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“I think it reflects the democratic voice of Muslim Americans,” he said.
Abdel Salam said the campaign was initially carried out separately in different states, but they have now decided to coordinate their efforts at the national level.
Follow Middle East Eye’s live coverage for the latest news on the Israeli-Palestinian war
Although it is unclear what impact the campaign will have, organizers are confident they can bring together a significant bloc of Muslim voters, which could influence the election.
According to the most recent data from the Pew Research Center, the American Muslim population is approximately 3.45 million people.
Many swing states – states that have had inconsistent voting patterns in previous elections – contain large pockets of both Muslim-American and Arab-American voting blocs.
For example, in the 2020 election, Biden won the state of Michigan by 150,000 votes. There is an estimate 206,050 registered Muslim voters in the state as of 2020.
“We want to make sure that Muslims vote, that turnout is high, that we organize and mobilize and that we continue our protests around the theme ‘Drop Biden,'” Abdel Salam said.
The “politics of death” cannot be sustained
Biden faces a growing political challenge with regular ceasefire protests across the country and a growing number of progressive lawmakers joining the call for a ceasefire.
Another sign of this pressure is the United Auto Workers, one of the nation’s largest unions, which Biden publicly launched. support behindlast week too joined calls for a ceasefire.
Yet for the recently launched campaign against Biden, even a ceasefire at this point would not change their minds about their votes.
“We are now past the point where we can support him even if he declares a ceasefire today,” Abdel Salam said.
“Why not also protect the country from Trump by having a more balanced policy in Palestine?
– Hassan Abdel Salam, Abandon Biden campaign
“We’re going to stay true to our word and it’s been difficult and I’ll tell you why. The events that have taken place – this mass destruction and the killing of innocent people – this policy of death on the part of the administration will not be able to never be supported.”
The war in Gaza began on October 7 when Palestinian fighters led by Hamas launched a surprise attack on southern Israel, killing 1,200 Israelis, according to the government’s tally. In response, Israel launched an aerial bombing campaign and ground invasion of Gaza that killed more than 15,000 Palestinians and displaced more than a million people in Gaza.
In recent weeks, as more Muslims and Arabs have publicly declared that they will not vote for Biden in the upcoming 2024 election because of his support for Israel’s war on Gaza, they have been accused to help former President Donald Trump beat Biden.
Organizers of the Leave Biden campaign have made clear they won’t support Trump either, but acknowledge their efforts could lead to a Trump victory.
In response to the accusations, Abdel Salam said it was “incredibly insulting” and “Islamophobic”.
“Why are you treating us so unequally and expecting something from us that you don’t even want to do for us? Why not also protect the country from Trump by having a more balanced policy in Palestine? This is not “Don’t ask too much,” he said.
Organizers continue to discuss the possibility of becoming an independent voting bloc, which they say would be a more effective way to influence the policy positions of Democrats and Republicans.
“We need to start looking like independents who can lean one way or the other, so that both parties appeal to us for approval,” Abdel Salam said.