Tuesday, February 27, 2024
Year : 2, Issue : 9
With both Republicans and Democrats in Michigan set for the state primaries on Tuesday, a significant factor for Joe Biden will be Arab and Muslim Americans and some progressive Democrats who have vowed to vote “uncommitted” to protest his administration’s Gaza policy.
Michigan Representative Rashida Tlaib, the only Palestinian-American serving in Congress, has encouraged voters to use their primary ballot as a form of protest against the Biden administration’s support for Israel and opposition to a cease-fire in Gaza, where Israeli attacks have now killed nearly 30,000 Palestinians.
The video was posted by the Listen to Michigan campaign, which aims to get 10,000 “uncommitted” votes and convey a warning to the Biden campaign ahead of the November election. Ohio Senator Nina Turner has also endorsed the campaign.
“Our community has tried to send many messages to Joe Biden, telling them stop the genocide, stop arming the Israelis dropping the bombs on the Palestinians in Gaza. But this president would not listen,” Khaled Turaani, chairman of the Abandon Biden campaign in Michigan, told Anadolu.
“I did not think that President Joe Biden is a beacon of morality, but I just thought that he was not Donald Trump,” said Salha, a Palestinian-American who hails from a village near the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah.
“But now at this point, the reality is Donald Trump did not commit a genocide. President Joe Biden did.”
“If I were to sign that ballot with Joe Biden’s name, the ink that I would use to sign that ballot would be through her blood and the blood of over 40,000 innocent civilians in Gaza,” he said.
“As Arabs, Muslims, Christians, Jews, all people of conscience, we may not be able to have the power to choose who the next President will be, but we’re going to prove that those who support Palestine have the power to oust a president out of power.”
On the possibility of Trump becoming the next president, Salha said: “I am not the one bringing Trump to power. Biden’s decisions are what is bringing Trump to power.
Biden’s support for Israel
Biden’s first campaign stop this year was in Michigan, where he met with members of the United Auto Workers union and visited a Black-owned restaurant.
However, the Biden administration is still seeking to send $14 billion worth of additional military aid to Israel, while the US has used its veto power thrice to block the UN Security Council from calling for a humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza.
Source: Anadolu Agency
