Detroit Evening Report: Muslim leaders rally against Biden in Detroit

Muslim leaders rallied in front of the federal courthouse in Detroit on Thursday, calling on Arab American voters in Michigan to abandon President Joe Biden’s bid for reelection in 2024.

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Dearborn community activist Mona Mawari said she helped mobilize Arab American and Muslim voters to vote for Biden in 2020. But now she says those voters have a different message.

“You have betrayed the trust we’ve put in you. Now that you’ve shown your complete disregard for human life,” Mawari said at the event. “Mr. President we will rally every voter in our community, our friends and allies to make sure you don’t win Michigan in 2024.”

Michigan was a critical component of the so-called blue wall of states that includes Wisconsin and Pennsylvania that Biden returned to the Democratic column, helping him win the White House in 2020. Since then, Democrats have felt more confident about their standing in Michigan, particularly after Gov. Gretchen Whitmer notched a commanding 10-point reelection victory last year.

However, the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel that killed more than 1,400 civilians and Israel’s responding incursion into Gaza have created a political tightrope for Biden, who has supported Israeli sovereignty since the attack but also pressured Israel’s government to try to limit civilian casualties and allow humanitarian aid into Gaza. More than 10,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s offensive, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in the Gaza Strip.

Amid the soaring civilian casualties in Gaza, Muslim leaders in Michigan say they are morally obliged not to vote for Biden.

The Associated Press and WDET Reporter Nargis Rahman contributed to this report.

Other headlines for Thursday, Nov. 9, 2023:

• The City of Detroit Office of Eviction is holding a meeting on Monday, Nov. 13 to review the first year of implementing the city’s Right to Council Law.
• The Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History is launching Second Sundays at the Wright this weekend, with free admission to all exhibits and special programs every second Sunday of the month.
• The Carr Center will present “Singing Justice,” a part of the center’s “Hearing Black Voices” series at 3 p.m. this Sunday, Nov. 12.

Do you have a community story we should tell? Let us know in an email at detroiteveningreport@wdet.org.