Is the mayor an outsider in endorsing Trump?

Hamtramck Mayor Amer Ghalib

By Charles Sercombe
Now that Hamtramck Mayor Amer Ghalib has endorsed Republican Donald Trump, does that mean his fellow Arab Muslims will stand with him?
It appears that Ghalib and his supporters are an outlier.
How’s that?
In the past, a majority of the Muslim community has voted with Democrats, but a deep rift erupted with the Israeli retaliatory invasion into Gaza, where about 40,000 Palestinians, most of whom are also of the Muslim faith, have been killed.
Last October, Israel went to war in Gaza, after Hamas terrorists from Gaza invaded Israel and killed about 1,200 people and took over 200 more people hostage, a number of whom have since been found dead.
That Israeli invasion turned the Muslim community against President Joe Biden while he was still seeking re-election, because of his continued supplying of military arms to Israel. Biden has since dropped out of the race after a disastrous debate performance, and Vice President Kamala Harris has stepped in as the Democratic presidential candidate.
Harris has called for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, but many in the Arab community don’t think her position on Israel is clear enough or even that far different from Biden’s.
So, according to a number of polls, the Arab-Muslim community is turning to another candidate.
About 40 percent of that community is supporting Green Party nominee Dr. Jill Stein, who has pledged support for Palestine.
Just why Ghalib is seemingly throwing his support to Trump has baffled a number of observers. Trump is a staunch supporter of Israel and its Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Trump further specified, in a speech in Washington D.C., regarding combating anti-Semitism:
“You have to defeat Kamala Harris. More than any other people on Earth, Israel, I believe, has to defeat her.”
The implication here is that Harris is not a supporter of Israel, and that Trump is.
Even more curious, Trump recently said, at a campaign rally in Long Island, New York, that he would “get rid” of people from Asia and the Middle East.
“We’re just destroying the fabric of life in our country. And we’re not going to take it any longer. And you got to get rid of these people. Give me a shot,” Trump said.
You would think Trump threatening to rid the U.S. of people from the Middle East would be a deal-breaker for Ghalib and others.
Also, during Trump’s presidency, he instituted a ban on mostly Muslim countries, including Yemen — where Ghalib is from, as well as many others who live here.
The majority voting bloc in Hamtramck is now those of the Muslim faith.
In the Democratic primary election last February, most of the city’s voters voted “uncommitted.” Biden lost the primary in Hamtramck, but overwhelmingly won the state.
While the uncommitted movement did not support Biden, it also does not support Trump.
In a statement, the organization said that Trump’s “agenda includes plans to accelerate the killing in Gaza, while intensifying the suppression of anti-war organizing.”
Instead of voting for Trump or Harris, the organization is advocating voters to support a third party candidate.
In Michigan, the Arab-American vote could go against both Harris and Trump. There are about 150,000 Arab-American voters in the state, and Biden won Michigan in 2020 by 150,000 votes.
However, a number of younger people and minorities have been energized by the Harris campaign, and that could prove to be a winning factor in Michigan, political observers say.
At this point, with just weeks to go before the presidential election on Nov. 5, the Arab-American vote could be a lost cause for both Harris and Trump.
While there are still a number of Arab-Muslim voters who remain undecided, it appears the Arab-American community, which has always been socially conservative, has shifted to the right, but not necessarily in favor of Trump in this election.
Osama Siblani, the publisher of the Arab American News in Dearborn, is urging Muslims to withhold their vote for both candidates.
In an article that he wrote, he said: “We must wait and not reveal our electoral choice while continuing to demand an immediate and permanent ceasefire, an end to military aid to the occupying Israeli army and urgent humanitarian assistance to more than 2.2 million Palestinians in the devastated Gaza Strip.”
Posted Sept. 27, 2024