Swing-State Muslim and Arab American Leaders Warn Biden Over Gaza Policy Ahead of 2024

Last week, a small group of Muslim American leaders was invited to the White House to meet with President Biden. Wa'el Alzayat, CEO of Emgage, the country's largest group focused on turning out Muslim American voters, was among them. Afterward he offered a blunt assessment: those who care about democracy, he said, had done this to themselves through their mismanagement of the Gaza issue.

His warning is one of a growing number coming from Muslim and Arab American leaders in swing states, as Israel's U.S.-backed war against Hamas intensifies and Palestinian civilian deaths mount. They say Biden's handling of the war, along with Islamophobia at home, threatens his path through the Electoral College. Many voters in their communities, they say, plan to stay home next November, back a write-in or third-party candidate, or leave the top of the ballot blank. The warnings come not only from left-wing activists but from Democratic elected officials, nonpartisan community leaders, Muslim get-out-the-vote groups, and some of Biden's own Arab American supporters.

The starting point is a strong base. Neither the Census nor media exit polls ask about religion or Arab ethnicity, so figures are rough, but a post-election poll by the Council on American-Islamic Relations found 69% of Muslim American voters backed Biden in 2020. They would normally be expected to do so again, especially against Donald Trump, who has revived his plans to ban many Muslims from entering the country.

The arithmetic is what makes the warnings pointed. Muslims are a small share of the population, about half the number of American Jews, but in several battleground states the numbers are close to Biden's margins. He won Arizona by about 10,500 votes; the U.S. Religion Census estimates 110,000 Muslim adherents there, a figure that includes children and noncitizens. He won Georgia by about 12,000 votes, where the estimate is 123,000. In Wisconsin he won by about 21,000, with an estimated 69,000 Muslim adherents. In Michigan his margin was about 154,000 against an estimated 242,000. In Minnesota he won by about 233,000, with an estimated 115,000.

The voices are specific. Sumaya Abdul-Quadir of the Arizona Muslim Alliance, which has pressed Congress for a cease-fire, said many, including herself, are considering voting the other way or leaving the ticket blank. In Georgia, state Rep. Ruwa Romman, 30, a Palestinian American Democrat and the first Muslim American woman elected to the state House, said even older, established figures who backed Biden are turning. Every person she has spoken to, she said, told her they could not vote for him if the election were tomorrow, including his fundraisers. Romman canvassed for Biden and now says she feels personally responsible for what is happening in Gaza. She also said people feel bullied to commit now, forced to choose between the man they see as allowing family in Gaza to be bombed and the one they believe endangers them in the U.S.

In Minnesota, Muslim leaders held a Friday press conference and set a noon Tuesday deadline for Biden to call for a full cease-fire or lose their support. He did not; the White House has called for a humanitarian "pause." Hassan Abdel Salam, a University of Minnesota human rights professor, asked how they could vote for a president who allows 2.2 million people to go without food and water. In Dearborn, Michigan, 30 community leaders agreed this month not to support Biden without a major policy turnaround. State Rep. Alabas Farhat said mobilizing voters is settled, but urging support for the top of the ticket remains to be seen.

The White House has tried to respond. It has called for a pause in fighting, more aid to Gaza, and more resources against Islamophobia, while holding listening sessions with chief of staff Jeff Zients and senior adviser Anita Dunn, and reaching out to Muslim and Arab American officials. Dunn holds daily video calls with Arab American and Jewish American administration officials; a White House official said they have not always been pleasant. Campaign spokesman Ammar Moussa said Biden works closely with these communities and pointed to Republicans' support for Trump's Muslim ban. Spokesperson Andrew Bates cited the goal of a two-state solution.

Critics say that isn't enough. Robert McCaw of CAIR said the White House is engaging Muslims but not listening. The leaders' meeting itself caused friction, as participants felt the White House avoided publicly acknowledging it, unlike its meeting with Jewish leaders, and noted only one Palestinian American attended. Wassim Malas of the Wisconsin Muslim Civic Alliance said Biden's Oval Office remarks, including "I see you," helped, but his group has not heard from the White House.

Emgage, which says it helped turn out just over 1 million Muslim voters in 2020, will again urge turnout but would not say whether it will back Biden. Alzayat called early declarations against him reckless, yet said opposing Trump may not be enough. The question to watch is whether Biden moves toward a full cease-fire, and whether groups like Emgage endorse him or stay neutral.