Michigan Muslims aren’t too happy with the state’s top Democrat politicians after many of them, including Governor Gretchen Whitmer, appeared at a pro-Israel rally at a synagogue near Detroit but did not attend a pro-Hamas rally in Dearborn the following day, the Associated Press reported.
Israel’s war against Hamas has increased tensions between Michigan Muslims and Jews, particularly in the Detroit area, which has several predominately Jewish suburbs, and Dearborn, the city bordering Detroit that is home to the largest concentration of Arab and Muslim Americans in the country.
The support for Israel among the state’s prominent Democrat officials has angered many Muslim voters in the state, who make up a significant voting bloc for Democrats.
Nearly half of Dearborn residents claim Arab ancestry and thousands of other Arab Americans live in other parts of Wayne County, including the country’s first majority-Muslim city, Hamtramck which has a city council made up entirely of Muslims.
Wayne County’s large Muslim population helped Joe Biden retake Michigan for the Democrats in the 2020 election by a margin of 154,000 votes. In Dearborn, Biden had a 3-to-1 advantage over Donald Trump and a 5-to-1 advantage in Hamtramck. In total, Biden won the county by over 330,000 votes.
Just ten miles away from Dearborn, in Southfield, Michigan, an area with a thriving Jewish community, about 2,500 people attended the October 9 pro-Israel rally that featured Governor Whitmer, Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, Attorney General Dana Nessel, Senator Gary Peters, and two members of the House.
But these same Democrat officials did not attend the pro-Hamas rally in Dearborn on October 10.
In his remarks at the Dearborn rally, US Senate candidate Nasser Beydoun, whose family is from Lebanon, called out Governor Whitmer and Senator Peters for not attending the event.
NBC News reported last week that Muslims in Michigan are also criticizing President Biden for offering Israel his full support after the October 7 attack, with many Muslim voters feeling betrayed by the president they helped elect in 2020.
Former Biden advisor Ahmad Ramadan, who heads up the state party’s Muslim coalition, told NBC News that after meeting with leaders from the Muslim community, the general feeling is that President Biden lied to them and they will never forget what he has done.
