Can Kamala Harris win back Arab American support?

Following Israel’s Oct. attack, Arab Americans remain dissatisfied with President Biden and his administration. If Kamala Harris does not show an ability or willingness to break from her predecessor’s policies in Michigan and Ohio before November, she could find herself outvoted there as well.

Arab Americans have long felt ignored and betrayed, and today feel disillusioned that Biden continues to support Israel’s killing and destruction of Arab states while using tax dollars from them as funding. They feel let down that Biden continues supporting such acts through using taxpayers’ dollars — double disappointment indeed!

American democracy for them today has become little more than an illusion, leaving them powerless against public policies that deliberately undermine their countries of origin by siphoning off natural resources and impoverishing their people.

As part of my efforts to gauge Arab American sentiment ahead of the 2024 elections, I interviewed members of their community in Northern Virginia. On their daily visits to an Middle Eastern coffee shop reminiscent of home, where patrons come for respite and comforting moments from home life, these folks spoke openly with me about how difficult their daily lives have become in a nation where political representation seems scarcer and further from them than ever. They detailed their daily struggles navigating busy lives within an environment they perceive has disenfranchised them from political life altogether.

My conversations spanned an array of subjects; yet several statements stood out: “Democracy turned out not to be real”, observed one participant; another noted, “there is no free speech; it is like back home where criticizing those in power was impossible”.

“I am no longer part of public life,” declared another individual in their thirties.

“No matter our origin,” commented one woman who relocated 15 years ago, “they view us all as one people.” Consequently, these invaders have no problem invading countries with various cultures while disregarding those traditions and killing communities within.

“I fear speaking my opinion out loud in work,” reported another. “If I do so, it could result in expulsion.

“Our children are taught not to talk about what’s going on so as not to get in trouble,” explained a mother of two teenaged children.

Biden made this comment during a time when student protests on university campuses across America were being met by violent crackdown. Instead of opposing it and listening to youth or Arab American voices voicing displeasure about how Biden turned a blind eye and ignored their voice altogether.

“I won’t vote for Trump in November,” declared a young woman from Detroit who moved to D.C. for graduate school studies. “I might vote third party.”

Foreign policy towards their home nations will undoubtedly play a critical role in Arab American voters’ choices this election cycle – more so than in previous election years. It will ultimately dictate their vote decision than ever before.

In February, 100,000 Arab Americans in Michigan cast an uncommitted ballot as a protest vote against Joe Biden’s silence over mass killings of Palestinians. Many of them had also cast votes for Biden in 2020 (Democrats won Michigan by just under 150,000 votes); now Harris needs them back as voters when she makes her bid in 2024 – with high stakes at stake!

Recent polling by the Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee indicated that nearly 18% are still undecided; 6 percent don’t plan to cast ballots at all. With almost one out of every four voters unconvinced or inclined not to cast votes at this election cycle being undecided or inclined not to cast them, “Harris can gain much needed support within his community if appropriate positions are taken,” stated the committee.

Biden chose to disregard Arab Americans who remain undecided voters in Michigan; Harris must now engage them and do it quickly.

Harris may offer greater hope to these people than Biden can; she hails from an immigrant background herself and can more naturally understand its sentiments. Harris’ parents came to America seeking better lives for themselves and her. By growing up within this environment, one gains insight into how U.S. foreign policy reverberates within communities at home.

Harris can gain Arab American votes if she listens and differs from current administration policies on them – in turn avoiding Michigan swing votes that might push Donald Trump over the edge this November.

What voters expect of her is advocating for a ceasefire — something the Biden administration has avoided doing — while at the same time distancing herself from current double standards applied by U.S. foreign policy toward Middle Eastern nations.

Democrats hope Harris’ election can serve as an antidote for another term of Donald Trump, yet Arab American voters want more commitments from Harris as an immigrant-child icon and bring hope back into our communities. Arab Americans especially would welcome commitments that Harris makes towards these areas that were lost since October 7.

Sima Beitinjaneh, an undergraduate student of Johns Hopkins’s School of Advanced International Studies and research coordinator with the Foreign Policy Institute. This op-ed draws upon her recent ethnographic research project wherein she interviewed Arab Americans residing near Washington D.C. about their perspectives regarding the 2024 election process.