Could Biden’s support of Israel’s Gaza war cost him the 2024 election?
President Joe Biden joins Israel’s Prime Minister for the start of the Israeli war cabinet meeting, in Tel Aviv on Oct. 18, 2023. Photo by Getty Images
This article originally appeared on Haaretz, and was reprinted here with permission. Sign up here to get Haaretz’s free Daily Brief newsletter delivered to your inbox.
President Joe Biden has earned plaudits from across the Jewish-American community for his leadership and rhetoric in the aftermath of the Hamas attack on Israel.
The opposite is true for Arab, Muslim and progressive communities across America, who have described Biden’s steadfast support for Israel’s military response to Hamas’ October 7 massacre as a betrayal, which could see him lose votes in next year’s presidential election.
“Unless there’s a pivot in the White House position that balances concern for Palestinian lives with concern for Israeli lives and provides Palestinians with the assurance that the U.S. will press for their rights, it’ll be very difficult to mobilize the level of support for the president that we were able to do in 2020,” says Arab American Institute founder James Zogby, who is among the most respected pro-Palestinian activists in political circles.
Although only an estimated 3.45 million Muslims live in the United States, accounting for a little over 1 percent of the country’s general population, the communities are clustered in key states on the electoral map, like Virginia, Ohio, Michigan, Georgia and Texas. If those voters stray from Biden – whether leaving their vote blank, choosing a third-party candidate like Cornel West or staying home – they could help decide whether he wins a second term.
Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib, who represents a significant Arab population in her Michigan district, told a anti-Gaza war rally last week that key states could be lost due to Biden’s support for Israel.
“Mr. President, Michigan is an important state for you,” the Palestinian-American congresswoman said. “So is Pennsylvania. So is Georgia. And guess what, Mr. President? We will not forget when we were mourning and crying and begging our country to stop the violence [that] there was silence.”
Tlaib said there was little difference between Biden and Republican front-runner and former U.S. President Donald Trump, who said he would renew his travel ban targeting travelers from seven Muslim-majority countries if reelected because of the Hamas attack.
“Residents call me and say: ‘Rashida, the previous president wanted to ban us and probably put us in concentration camps. This one just wants us to die,’” she said, to chants of “shame” while attendees were shouting the various swing states they came from.
“This is how we have to talk to them. It sickens my heart,” Tlaib continued. “We’ll vote for trade commissioner, a city council person, a state representative … but guess what? We’re gonna remember and maybe we don’t want to vote for the people that either want to ban us or the people that want to be silent while a genocide happens.”
Rep. Ilhan Omar, who has often been critical of U.S. policy, echoed her fellow progressive’s criticism. “Where is your humanity? Where is your outrage? Where is your care for people?” she said of Biden. “How is it that we have a president who is talking about releasing hostages, but could not get himself to say ‘I want to save the hundreds, thousands of Americans stuck in Gaza.’ What is wrong with you?”
The State Department has estimated that as many as 600 Americans are in the Gaza Strip and has accused Hamas of not letting them leave via the Rafah crossing with Egypt.
Islamophobia and racism
Waleed Shahid, a former spokesperson for the progressive group Justice Democrats, warned that Democrats have a blind spot related to the Muslim and Arab community that has failed them before and could fail them again.
Much of the outrage among the Muslim community is not just about Israel’s response in Gaza, but the Islamophobia and racism that has emanated across America since October 7.
This resulted in the fatal stabbing of Wadea Al-Fayoume, a 6-year-old Palestinian-American boy from Illinois killed by his landlord who became obsessed with the Israel-Hamas war, according to authorities.
Biden earned further scorn from the community for taking five days to call the Al-Fayoume family, while he immediately called the two American-Jewish hostages who were released by Hamas last Friday.
Dilawar Syed, the highest-ranking Muslim official in the Biden administration, was notably booed by community members while addressing Al-Fayoume’s memorial. The White House attempted to push back on the viral moment by releasing the applause Syed earned by telling the vigil: “Wadea’s legacy will live on through all of you,” adding that Biden’s work against both Islamophobia and antisemitism “won’t end until everyone can live without fear.”
That fear, however, remains acutely felt within the community, especially after two significant events – the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights’ national conference in Houston and the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ annual banquet outside of D.C. – were canceled or forcibly relocated due to security threats.
Progressives have flagged other events, including a New York City councilperson bringing a firearm to a pro-Palestinian protest, as placing them under threat due to an atmosphere they claim has been charged by Biden’s positions.
Some have said this extends to a stifling of free speech, including on news programming and book-promotion efforts.
American-Jewish writer Nathan Thrall, who has just released “A Day in the Life of Abed Salama,” about a Palestinian man’s life under Israeli occupation in the West Bank, said book promotion events were canceled and ad campaigns neutered due to listener complaints.
“I’m quite sure that a book advocating for Israel would not have had its advertisements pulled. … There’s an atmosphere that is wholly intolerant of any expression of sympathy for Palestinians under occupation,” he tweeted about the matter.
‘GOP will be worse’
While the Arab and Muslim communities have largely focused their anger on Biden, others warn that they are losing sight of how much worse things could be if Trump returns to power.
“I understand the frustration and disappointment of many Muslim and Arab communities with the Biden administration’s support for Israel’s response but voting third party, sitting out or voting Trump ain’t it. A GOP administration will be worse on everything, especially this issue,” tweeted author Wajahat Ali.
This has arguably been demonstrated by Republican presidential candidates like Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, who have called to revoke student visas and deport foreign nationals who are critical of Israel or support Palestinian rights.
Conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation, meanwhile, posted a video stating that the “Palestinian population has no interest in assimilating into American culture and governance or in expressing loyalty to America or our allies. To import a population of Palestinians would be certain suicide for Americans.” It eventually deleted it amid widespread outcry and accusations of incitement.
In Washington, GOP Sen. Josh Hawley (Missouri) attempted to fast-track a resolution condemning college campus protest criticizing Israel as antisemitic, following a high-profile incident at Harvard where students issued a statement blaming Israel for the October 7 Hamas attack. The resolution was scuttled by Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen (Maryland), who framed it as a “smear” against students and failed to “stand up to hateful rhetoric and condemn antisemitism.”
Writer Ali concluded his tweet by noting: “We’re in a fight between democracy versus rising right-wing authoritarianism that attacks POC immigrants, Muslims, women, Jews and LGBTQ. The GOP is now an extremist outfit that adores Trump, [Viktor] Orbán and [Vladimir] Putin. It will be terrible for the majority. So, yes, I will support Democrats.”
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