Dearborn, Michigan – Abdullah Hammoud was pacing throughout his workplace, having an animated telephone dialog about former President Invoice Clinton’s declare that Hamas “forces” Israel to kill Palestinian civilians.
By the point the mayor of the Detroit suburb of Dearborn sat down for an interview, he had shaken off the anger – at the least on the floor.
Hammoud, 34, appeared clear-eyed about the way forward for the town referred to as the capital of Arab America and the best way ahead for its bereaved group amid Israel’s struggle on Gaza and Lebanon.
“There’s a blanket of grief that has simply lined this group, and persons are simply attempting to handle, clearly, amidst the whole thing of the presidential election with the backdrop of a genocide, the struggle in Lebanon, the bombing in Yemen and so forth,” Hammoud instructed Al Jazeera.
Hammoud, one of the crucial outstanding Arab American elected officers in america who served within the State Legislature as a Democrat, has not endorsed any of the candidates, urging residents to “vote their conscience” as a substitute.
In an in depth race, the tens of hundreds of Arab voters in Dearborn – a metropolis of 110,000 folks – and throughout Michigan could show essential for the result of the election within the state and presumably the nation.
That’s not misplaced on the candidates: on Friday, Trump is predicted to go to Dearborn, and Harris has met Hammoud beforehand in the course of the marketing campaign, however not in Dearborn.
Hammoud confused the necessity to come out and vote for the group to make its voice heard.
“On this second in time, what’s extra necessary than anything is standing agency in our values and our ideas and standing agency on the aspect of each other within the metropolis,” he stated.
However for Hammoud, the battle to finish Israel’s killing machine in Gaza and Lebanon – the ancestral dwelling of hundreds of Dearborn residents, together with the mayor himself – doesn’t finish when the polls shut on November 5 and a brand new president is elected.
“Whoever assumes that workplace, we’re ready to carry their toes to the hearth and maintain them to account,” he stated. “Everyone’s promising a ceasefire, however no person’s saying how they’re going to ship it.”
‘Stress can be turned up’
Democratic candidate Kamala Harris has stated she would push for ending the struggle and her Republican rival Donald Trump has promised “peace” within the Center East.
However each the vp and former president are staunch of their help for Israel.
Hammoud famous that the 2 candidates haven’t articulated how they might take care of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has pledged repeatedly to proceed the carnage till “whole victory”.
“However the stress can be turned up from our finish. And we’ll be leaning on the broader antiwar coalition that has been constructed – our union labour leaders, who’ve all stepped ahead and referred to as for not solely a ceasefire, but additionally an arms embargo towards Israel,” the mayor stated.
“Heck, even at this level, I’ll be leaning on younger Republicans who favour an arms embargo.”
For Hammoud, change is feasible whatever the consequence of the election. “The coverage is there. Individuals, by the hundreds of thousands, help this,” he stated.
“And what you’re not going to see is 50 million, 100 million Individuals transfer on their values and ideas. I believe it’s possible for us to consider that hundreds of thousands of Individuals can transfer a single particular person within the White Home on this situation.”
Wearing a blue blazer over a white shirt, Hammoud hit out at each main candidates over their stance on the Center East in addition to their method to the Arab group in Michigan.
In his workplace hung a map of Lebanon over a Yemeni dagger, a firefighter’s helmet, an American soccer with the Detroit Lions emblem, the town’s seal – that includes an previous automobile owing to the town’s manufacturing historical past because the hometown of commercial pioneer Henry Ford – in addition to different gadgets representing Dearborn’s historical past and various communities.
‘Coverage outcomes aren’t dissimilar’
Hammoud enumerated a few of Trump’s anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian insurance policies, together with transferring the US embassy to Jerusalem, reducing off humanitarian support to Palestinians and recognising Israel’s claimed sovereignty over Syria’s occupied Golan Heights.
He additionally invoked Trump’s ban on journey from a number of Muslim-majority nations in addition to latest feedback by the previous president’s surrogate Rudy Giuliani, who proclaimed that Palestinians are “taught to kill us” at two years previous.
“However I believe the problem is you need to counter Trump with one thing that appears to be extra welcoming,” Hammoud stated.
“And so whenever you see the remarks of former President Invoice Clinton, speaking about how Israel is compelled to kill civilians, and the way the Israeli authorities’s declare to the land predates the existence of Islam, it will get extraordinarily irritating.”
Clinton was addressing Arab American voters at an official Harris marketing campaign occasion in Michigan when he made these feedback this week.
Earlier this month, Harris additionally campaigned in Michigan with ex-Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney – the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, one of many architects of the invasion of Iraq and the so-called “struggle on terror”.
“When you could have surrogates like Liz Cheney campaigning throughout the state of Michigan, speaking about how even Dick Cheney – the struggle felony – is supporting Vice President Harris, is that alleged to be a welcoming message to this group?” Hammoud requested.
He additionally famous that the Biden-Harris administration didn’t reverse Trump’s pro-Israel insurance policies.
“Sure, rhetoric could also be completely different,” he stated, referring to the method of Harris and Trump. “Generally coverage outcomes aren’t dissimilar, and I believe that’s been the frustration for a lot of.”
‘Hope exists’
With the race for Michigan heating up, consideration is popping to Dearborn, the nation’s first Arab-majority metropolis.
Marketing campaign billboards might be seen throughout the town. Residents are getting piles of ads of their mailboxes every day, specializing in Arab points and Israel’s struggle on Gaza and Lebanon.
However residents don’t seem to match the keenness of the marketing campaign. The town’s Arab American group, particularly its giant Lebanese American inhabitants, is coping with the anguish of watching the struggle that’s destroying their homeland from afar.
The battle is deeply private to them. Their households are being displaced, dwelling villages decimated and family members killed by principally US-supplied bombs. The group misplaced a revered chief, Kamel Jawad, who was killed in an Israeli bombing in south Lebanon on October 1.
“We’re attending funerals much more continuously than celebratory occasions,” Hammoud stated.
Throughout the town, Lebanese and Palestinian flags and yard indicators for college board candidates far outnumber these for Trump and Harris.
Regardless of voters’ frustration and the rising sense of disenchantment with the political system, Hammoud warned towards disengaging from the political course of, calling it a “nice worry”.
The mayor highlighted the significance of elections, particularly on the native stage. He cited the election of officers like himself and different representatives, together with Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, who’ve amplified the group’s calls for across the battle.
He stated whereas persons are battling the presidential query, “hope exists” on the bottom.
“There are rallies taking place all throughout this world, and the centre of America has moved on Israel-Palestine, and the centre of the world has moved,” he stated.
“I believe we’re one era away from having a era of elected leaders who can be extra reflective of the coverage stances and the values and the ideas of the broader citizens.”
