Democrats brace for Gaza backlash in Michigan vote

Voters in Michigan have been organising for months to send Joe Biden a message during the state's primary on Tuesday: "No ceasefire. No vote."

After President Joe Biden narrowly defeated Donald Trump in Michigan in the last election in 2020, a protest vote tied to events in Gaza is a real concern for the White House.

Mr Biden and Mr Trump are on course for a rematch in November, and in a close presidential election - as is predicted by most polls - experts say Michigan is a must-win state.

With the largest Arab-American population in the US, the state poses a crucial test as to the impact the Biden administration's policy on the Israel-Gaza conflict could have on the Democrats.

The anger it has created among many in that community has been festering for months, and the Democratic primary on Tuesday offers the first chance for the party's voters to register that discontent by withholding their vote from the president.

He is largely unopposed in the Democratic Party's search for their presidential nominee, but that has not stopped those opposed to his Middle East policy from taking action.

In the final hours on the eve of Tuesday's primary election, Khalid Turaani stood outside the Islamic Center of Detroit and distributed pamphlets encouraging people to vote "uncommitted" on their ballot papers.

"We're doing all that we can to ensure that Biden is a one-term president," Mr Turaani, the co-organiser behind Abandon Biden, told the BBC. "In November, we will remember. When you stand against the will of the people, you're going to lose."

Two grassroots organisations, including Mr Turaani's group Abandon Biden and a second, Listen to Michigan, are urging Democrats to choose "uncommitted" in Tuesday's primary.

In the state, each party's candidate list includes an "uncommitted" option, which allows a voter to exercise a party vote without selecting a candidate - in this case, Mr Biden.

The movement has gained endorsements from at least 39 state and local elected officials. These include congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, Michigan state legislator Abraham Aiyash and Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud.

Lexis Zeidan, a co-organiser for Listen to Michigan, said they're hoping to get at least 10,000 people to vote uncommitted.

"We want to wake up the next day on Wednesday, and we want to be able to claim Michigan as a pro-Palestinian state," she said. "And we want to inspire communities across the nation to know that, at the end of the day, America is beholden to its people."

Mr Biden's victory in this primary election is assured, but Democrats will be watching how many vote "uncommitted" to see what electoral harm has been done by the president's support of Israel in its months-long war against Hamas in Gaza.

Recent national opinion polls suggest a majority of Democrats disapprove of the president's handling of the crisis. In places like Dearborn, a suburb of Detroit where a large concentration of the state's Arab American population lives, discontent with Democrats appears to be widespread.

The president has attempted to walk a tightrope between sending aid to Israel, a longstanding US ally with historically strong support from Democrats, and appeasing those in his party who want the devastation in Gaza to end now.

In one attempt to pacify their frustrations, Mr Biden's campaign staff attempted to organise an in-person meeting with Arab-American leaders in January, a request denied by Dearborn's mayor. "This is not the time to talk about elections," Mayor Hammoud said at the time.

Instead, he and other community leaders met senior staff from the White House in February. Mr Aiyash, the state representative, told the New York Times after the meeting: "We emphasised that beyond communication, there needs to be a change in policies."

However, the White House has been reluctant to reel back its support, sending billions of dollars in military aid to Israel and three times blocking a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire.

Samraa Luqman, another member of Abandon Biden who described herself as a far-left Democrat, said: "And yet today I stand before you telling you that I am considering voting for Trump in 2024.

what the fuck

"Irrespective of the price I may pay as a Muslim woman in this country, I'm still willing to draw the red line and say that the commission of genocide is more of a priority to me," she said.

Israel vehemently rejects allegations that it is committing genocide in Gaza.