Reuters reports:

Arab and Muslim Americans and their allies are criticizing President Joe Biden’s response to the Israel-Hamas war, asking him to do more to prevent a humanitarian crisis in Gaza or risk losing their support in the 2024 election.

Many Arab Americans are upset Biden has not pushed for any humanitarian ceasefire even as Palestinians are killed fleeing Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip, more than a dozen academics, activists, community members and administration officials said.

Their growing frustration could impact Democrat Biden’s reelection bid, which opinion polls show is likely to be a rematch with the Republican frontrunner, former President Donald Trump.

In hotly contested Michigan, Arab Americans account for 5% of the vote. In other battleground states Pennsylvania and Ohio, they are between 1.7% to 2%, said Jim Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute.

Biden won Michigan with 50.6% of the vote in 2020, compared to 47.8% for Trump, and Pennsylvania with 50.01% to Trump’s 48.84%, a difference of less than 81,000 votes.

Arab and Muslim Americans are unlikely to back Trump but could sit out the election and not vote for Biden, some activists said.

“I do think it will cost him Michigan,” said Laila El-Haddad, a Maryland-based author and social activist from Gaza. [Continue reading…]