Survey shows why neither Kamala Harris nor Donald Trump can take the Arab American vote for granted

Survey shows why neither Kamala Harris nor Donald Trump can take the Arab American vote for granted
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Survey shows why neither Kamala Harris nor Donald Trump can take the Arab American vote for granted
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Pro-Palestinian demonstrators protest as US President Joe Biden attends the NAACP Freedom Fund dinner in Detroit, Michigan on May 19, 2024. (AFP)
Survey shows why neither Kamala Harris nor Donald Trump can take the Arab American vote for granted
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Pro-Palestinian demonstrators protest as US President Joe Biden attends the NAACP Freedom Fund dinner in Detroit, Michigan on May 19, 2024. (AFP)
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Updated 11 August 2024
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Survey shows why neither Kamala Harris nor Donald Trump can take the Arab American vote for granted

Survey shows why neither Kamala Harris nor Donald Trump can take the Arab American vote for granted
  • Americans with Arab ancestry in key battleground states are gravitating toward Green Party candidate Jill Stein
  • Democratic nominee Kamala Harris will need to win back voters after Joe Biden’s Gaza stance cost the party support

LONDON: Jill Stein, the US Green Party’s presidential candidate known for her vocal support of Palestinian rights, has emerged as the top choice among Arab American voters in the lead-up to the US elections on Nov. 5, according to a recently conducted poll.

Stein, running as a third-party candidate, has garnered the support of over 45 percent of Arab Americans surveyed by the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee, the largest Arab-American grassroots civil rights organization.

This places Stein, a physician and environmentalist, ahead of the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, who received 27.5 percent of the vote in the same poll.

The survey was conducted between July 27 and 28 through a partnership between the ADC, Molitico for data insights, and the Community Pulse, which specializes in polling solutions.

According to Abed Ayoub, ADC’s national executive director, the Arab-American voter demographic has increasingly gravitated toward Stein owing to her advocacy for Palestinian human rights and her opposition to the Israeli military’s actions in Gaza since October.

In a post on the social platform X, he said: “Green Party candidate Dr. Jill Stein’s strong polling at 45.3 percent, akin to the previous poll, demonstrates consistent community support, largely because of her vocal stance on Palestinian human rights.”




Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein speaks at a Pro-Palestinian protest in front of the White House on June 8, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Getty Images via AFP)

Stein has been a favorite among Arab voters since ADC’s last opinion poll in May, where she led with 25 percent support. In comparison, President Joe Biden, who withdrew from the presidential race in July, and Republican candidate Donald Trump, polled at 7 percent and 2 percent, respectively.

In 2022, 2.2 million people in the US reported having Arab ancestry in that year’s Arab Community Survey. The majority of Arab Americans are native-born, and 85 percent of Arabs in the US are citizens.

While the community traces its roots to every Arab country, the majority of Arab Americans have ancestral ties to Lebanon, Egypt, Syria, Palestine and Iraq. The top four states by Arab American population size are California, Florida, Minnesota and Michigan.




Activists show people how to vote uncommitted, instead of for US President Joe Biden, outside of Maples Elementary School in Dearborn during the Michigan presidential primary election on Feb. 27, 2024. (AFP/File)

Ayoub noted in his post that Biden’s declining popularity among Arab Americans was “due to the retiring president’s staunch support for Israel’s continued actions in Gaza.”

The Israeli military launched a bombing campaign in Gaza in retaliation for the deadly Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, during which the Palestinian militant group took more than 200 hostages.

The death toll of Palestinians in Gaza has since surpassed 39,500, with at least 15,000 children killed and over 12,000 others injured, according to Gaza’s health authorities




A Democratic voter uncommitted to President Joe Biden hands out fliers to voters outside of a polling location at Maples Elementary School on February 27, 2024 in Dearborn, Michigan. (Getty Images/AFP)

Humanitarian organizations, rights groups, and governments worldwide have repeatedly called for a ceasefire, but Israel has continued its military operations.

Stein has consistently criticized Biden and his administration for their unwavering support for Israel, warning in an Aug. 1 post on X that the Israeli government was dragging the US “into WWIII.”

Following the suspected Mossad elimination of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and a senior Hezbollah figure in Beirut last week, Stein criticized Biden and Harris for their “deafening silence” on “Israel’s massive escalation toward a wider war.




Pro-Palestinian demonstrators protest in Dearborn, Michigan as US President Joe Biden attends the NAACP Freedom Fund dinner in Detroit, Michigan on May 19, 2024. (AFP)

In a July 31 post on X, Stein demanded that “the US immediately cut off aid to Israel, mandate a ceasefire, and arrest war criminal (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu) before he gets us all killed.”

The killing of Haniyeh on July 31 has heightened fears of an all-out, regional conflict. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed revenge, warning Israel that it had “paved the way for your harsh punishment.”

Netanyahu’s government has neither claimed responsibility nor commented on Haniyeh’s death. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US was “not aware of or involved in” the killing.

FAST FACTS

• Arab Americans live in all 50 states, but up to 95% live in metropolitan areas.

• New York, Detroit, Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington D.C., and Minneapolis are the top 6 metropolitan areas.

• Nearly 75% of all Arab Americans live in just 12 states: California, Michigan, New York, Texas, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, Ohio, Minnesota, Virginia, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania, and Virginia.

• Nearly a quarter of Arab Americans are Muslim, while the religious background of the rest are Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant.

However, the day before Haniyeh’s death, Israel claimed responsibility for killing Fuad Shukr, a top Hezbollah commander, in an airstrike on a building in southern Beirut. Hezbollah has promised a “definite” response for Shukr’s killing.

Whether or not the US was involved in these escalations, Biden’s Middle East policy has faced sharp criticism since October, with human rights groups urging the US administration to halt arms transfers to Israel.




Abbas Alawieh, spokesperson for Listen to Michigan, a group who asked voters to vote uncommitted instead of for US President Joe Biden in Michigan's US Presidential primary election, during an election night watch party in Dearborn, Michigan on February 27, 2024. (AFP)

In late April, Amnesty International reported that US weapons supplied to Israel had been “used in serious violations of international humanitarian and human rights law, and in a manner inconsistent with US law and policy.”

In May, the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor, Karim Khan, requested arrest warrants for Netanyahu, his defense minister, and three Hamas leaders, including Haniyeh, for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Chris Habiby, ADC’s national government affairs and advocacy director, says the poll revealed two key insights. “First, President Biden is deeply unpopular among Arab Americans,” he told Arab News.




Chris Habiby, national government affairs and advocacy director of ADC. (Supplied)

“Second, being anti-genocide is a winning position for our communities across the country.”

Habiby added that the poll’s results reflect “what we have been demanding for the 10 months and 300 days this genocide has been ongoing — an immediate, permanent ceasefire and an arms embargo on all weapons being sent to Israel.”

Biden faced a significant defeat in the Michigan Democratic primary in February when a majority of voters in Dearborn, a city with a large Arab and Muslim population, chose to vote “uncommitted” rather than for him.




Pro-Palestinian demonstrators protest in Dearborn, Michigan as US President Joe Biden attends the NAACP Freedom Fund dinner in Detroit, Michigan on May 19, 2024. (AFP)

Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud publicly supported the “uncommitted” vote movement, citing Biden’s policy on the Israel-Gaza conflict, according to USA Today.

In contrast, Stein has actively courted the Arab American vote in Michigan and beyond.

In an interview with Arab News in June, Stein pledged that, if elected, she would halt military support for Israel’s “apartheid government” and push for a genuine peace between Israelis and Palestinians.




Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein speaks at a Pro-Palestinian protest in front of the White House on June 8, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Getty Images via AFP)

“Arabs and Muslims have been taken for granted in America. They are victims of racial profiling, Islamophobia and violence against Arabs in this country,” she said.

“There is an absolute violation of our constitutional rights by the government to shut down our dialogue. People are trying to grapple with this genocide we are seeing live and in real-time on our iPhones and computer screens.”

Stein stressed that it is “against US law to send weapons to Israel, which is violating humanitarian rights and interfering in the delivery of humanitarian aid.”

She added: “The people who are standing up to assert our legal values and our human values are being criminalized and charged with crimes.”




US Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during the 114th NAACP National Convention in Boston, Massachusetts, on July 29, 2023. (AFP/File)

Despite Stein’s growing popularity among Arab-American communities, other presidential candidates still have an opportunity to gain more support from Arab and Muslim voters before November.

ADC’s poll indicates that, in addition to the 27.5 percent of respondents who support Harris, 18 percent are undecided about their vote in November, and 6 percent said they do not plan to vote.

“With nearly 1 in 4 voters either undecided or inclined to sit out the election, there is plenty of room for Harris or any other candidate to earn more support from the community if the right positions are taken,” wrote ADC’s Ayoub on X.
 

 


Spain royals to visit flood epicenter after chaotic trip: media

Spain royals to visit flood epicenter after chaotic trip: media
Updated 19 November 2024
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Spain royals to visit flood epicenter after chaotic trip: media

Spain royals to visit flood epicenter after chaotic trip: media

CHIVA, Spain: Spain’s royals will make a highly anticipated return to the epicenter of catastrophic floods on Tuesday after a chaotic trip where survivors hurled mud and insults at them, local media said.
The European country is reeling from the October 29 disaster that has killed 227 people and sparked widespread fury at the governing class for their perceived mishandling of the crisis.
That outrage boiled over in the ground-zero town of Paiporta in the eastern Valencia region when King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia visited on November 3, in extraordinary scenes that stunned the world.
Furious residents chanting “murderers” pelted them with mud and projectiles as they struggled to wade through the crowds, while Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez was hastily evacuated.
The monarchs have since pledged to return to the Valencia region after another trip to the devastated town of Chiva was canceled that day.
The royal palace told AFP it would give details later Tuesday for the visit.
Felipe and Letizia are returning to keep their promise and console survivors in Chiva where the floods ripped away lives and homes, said Vicente Garrido, professor of constitutional law at the University of Valencia.
Residents will be more welcoming on this occasion because “minds are calmer” despite “the enormous pain,” and royal visits are “an honor” for any town, he told AFP.

Public anger
Whereas Sanchez and the Valencia region’s leader Carlos Mazon left early last time, the mud-spattered royal couple braved the popular anger to speak with victims.
That gesture was “viewed very positively by everyone” and will afford them “a reception befitting who they are” this week, said Garrido.
Their willingness to travel and risk personal harm earlier this month “strengthens the image” of the monarchy, Garrido said.
Popular ire has instead targeted elected politicians, particularly Mazon because the regions manage the response to natural disasters in Spain’s decentralized state.
Local authorities in many cases warned residents of the impending catastrophe too late and stricken towns depended on volunteers for essential supplies for days in the absence of the state.
The conservative Mazon admitted “mistakes” and apologized in the regional parliament on Friday but refused to resign and vowed to lead Valencia’s gigantic reconstruction effort.
Sanchez is due to appear in parliament this month to explain the left-wing central government’s handling of the floods.


UK and India to resume stalled free trade talks

UK and India to resume stalled free trade talks
Updated 19 November 2024
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UK and India to resume stalled free trade talks

UK and India to resume stalled free trade talks
  • The two countries have spent nearly three years negotiating what would be a milestone for Britain as it continues to seek alternative markets

London: Britain and India will resume stalled talks to agree a free-trade deal, the two countries said after their leaders met at the G20 summit in Brazil.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who took power in London in July, hailed his meeting with Indian counterpart Narendra Modi as “very productive” and vowed that a trade pact with Delhi would boost UK growth.
“A new trade deal will support jobs and prosperity in the UK — and represent a step forward in our mission to deliver growth and opportunity across the country,” he posted on X late Monday.
Hours earlier, Starmer’s office confirmed the two countries would relaunch the talks “in the new year” as Britain sought “a new strategic partnership with India.”
That will include “deepening cooperation in areas like security, education, technology, and climate change,” Downing Street said in a statement summarising the meeting of the two leaders.
India’s foreign ministry said both leaders had “underlined the importance of resuming the Free Trade Agreement negotiations at an early date.”
It added they had “expressed confidence in the ability of the negotiating teams, to address the remaining issues to mutual satisfaction, leading to a balanced, mutually beneficial and forward looking Free Trade Agreement.”
The two countries have spent nearly three years negotiating what would be a milestone for Britain as it continues to seek alternative markets after its departure from the European Union.
UK and India to resume stalled free trade talks
The previous Conservative government, ousted by Starmer’s Labour party in July, had hit several roadblocks in its talks with Delhi over the trade pact.
In exchange for lowering tariffs on British imports such as whisky, India has pushed for more UK work and study visas for its citizens.
But Starmer’s Downing Street predecessor, Rishi Sunak, took an increasingly tough stance on immigration during his 20-month tenure as he faced a backlash over record migration levels in the wake of the Covid pandemic.
His government unveiled a raft of measures in late 2023 aimed at curbing the numbers.
Starmer has prioritized kickstarting anaemic UK economic growth but his administration is also under pressure on the contentious issue.
Britain has secured a number of post-Brexit trade deals, including with Australia, New Zealand and Singapore, and is set to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) next month.
But a much sought-after trade deal with the United States remains elusive, and striking a deal Canada also faltered earlier this year.


Germany sees damaging of Baltic Sea cables as act of sabotage, minister says

Germany sees damaging of Baltic Sea cables as act of sabotage, minister says
Updated 19 November 2024
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Germany sees damaging of Baltic Sea cables as act of sabotage, minister says

Germany sees damaging of Baltic Sea cables as act of sabotage, minister says

The damaging of two undersea fiber-optic communications cables in the Baltic Sea must be seen as an act of sabotage, although it is still unclear who is responsible, German Defense minister Boris Pistorius said on Tuesday.
“No one believes that these cables were cut accidentally. I also don’t want to believe in versions that these were anchors that accidentally caused damage over these cables,” Pistorius said before a meeting with EU defense ministers in Brussels.
“Therefore we have to state, without knowing specifically who it came from, that it is a ‘hybrid’ action. And we also have to assume, without knowing it yet, that it is sabotage.”


Kyiv urges ‘decisive action’ after report on banned chemical weapons

Kyiv urges ‘decisive action’ after report on banned chemical weapons
Updated 19 November 2024
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Kyiv urges ‘decisive action’ after report on banned chemical weapons

Kyiv urges ‘decisive action’ after report on banned chemical weapons

Kyiv: Kyiv on Tuesday blamed Russia and urged action after the international chemical weapons watchdog said banned riot control gas had been found in Ukrainian soil samples from the front line.
Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of using chemical weapons in the conflict, with Kyiv’s Western allies claiming Moscow has employed banned weapons.
“We call on our partners to take decisive action to stop the aggressor and bring those responsible for crimes to justice. True peace can only be achieved through strength, not appeasement,” the foreign ministry said.
“Russia’s use of banned chemicals on the battlefield once again demonstrates Russia’s chronic disregard for international law,” a statement added.
Russia is yet to react to the report by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which brought the first confirmation of the use of riot control gas in areas where active fighting is taking place in Ukraine.
The OPCW’s Chemical Weapons Convention strictly bans the use of riot control agents including CS, a type of tear gas, outside riot control situations when it is used as “a method of warfare.”
CS gas is non-lethal but causes sensory irritation including to the lungs, skin and eyes.
The evidence handed over by Ukraine to the OPCW enabled it to “corroborate... the chain of custody of the three samples collected from a trench in Ukraine located along the confrontation lines with the opposing troops, had been maintained,” the organization said.
It stressed however that the report did “not seek to identify the source or origin of the toxic chemical.”
OPCW director-general Fernando Arias “expressed grave concern” over the findings.
“All 193 OPCW Member States, including the Russian Federation and Ukraine, have committed never to develop, produce, acquire, stockpile, transfer or use chemical weapons,” he said in a statement.


India to send 5,000 extra troops to quell Manipur unrest

India to send 5,000 extra troops to quell Manipur unrest
Updated 19 November 2024
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India to send 5,000 extra troops to quell Manipur unrest

India to send 5,000 extra troops to quell Manipur unrest
  • Fresh periodic clashes of troubled state located in country’s northeast have killed 16 people so far
  • Manipur rocked by clashes since 18 months between Hindu majority and Christian Kuki community

NEW DELHI: India will deploy an extra 5,000 paramilitary troops to quell unrest in Manipur, authorities said Tuesday, a week after 16 people were killed in fresh clashes in the troubled state.
Manipur in India’s northeast has been rocked by periodic clashes for more than 18 months between the predominantly Hindu Meitei majority and the mainly Christian Kuki community, dividing the state into ethnic enclaves.
Ten Kuki militants were killed when they attempted to assault police last week, prompting the apparent reprisal killing of six Meitei civilians, whose bodies were found in Jiribam district days later.
New Delhi has “ordered 50 additional companies of paramilitary forces to go to Manipur,” a government source in New Delhi with knowledge of the matter told AFP on condition of anonymity, as they were not authorized to speak with media.
Each company of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF), a paramilitary unit overseen by the home ministry and responsible for internal security, has 100 troops.
The Business Standard newspaper reported that the additional forces would be deployed in the state by the end of the week.
India already has thousands of troops attempting to keep the peace in the conflict that has killed at least 200 people since it began 18 months ago.
Manipur has been subject to periodic Internet shutdowns and curfews since the violence began last year.
Both were reimposed in the state capital Imphal on Saturday after the discovery of the six bodies prompted violent protests by the Meitei community.
The ethnic strife has also displaced tens of thousands of people in the state, which borders war-torn Myanmar. Incensed crowds in the city had attempted to storm the homes of several local politicians.
Local media reports said several homes of lawmakers from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which governs the state, were damaged in arson attacks during the unrest.
Long-standing tensions between the Meitei and Kuki communities revolve around competition for land and jobs. Rights groups have accused local leaders of exacerbating ethnic divisions for political gain.