Arab Americans in Dearborn, Michigan, are again making US policy toward Israel and Palestine a central test for candidates as the 2026 election season begins. Activist Samraa Luqman said she will vote for Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed and Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib in Michigan’s Democratic primary on Tuesday and in the general election in November.
The community’s position follows its break with the Democratic Party in the 2024 presidential election, when many voters refused to support Kamala Harris over the Biden administration’s backing for Israel during the war in Gaza. Some voted for Donald Trump, while others chose a third-party candidate, left the presidential line blank or did not vote.
Why Arab voters rejected Harris in 2024
The immediate issue was the Democratic administration’s response to Gaza. President Joe Biden rejected calls to compel a ceasefire and continued sending Israel weapons and military assistance, while Harris declined to consider an arms embargo. For many Arab Americans, those policies made support for Harris impossible.
Trump’s campaign used that anger to build relationships with Arab and Muslim community advocates. At a Michigan rally before the election, he invited local Muslim imams onto the stage and praised the community. He also visited Dearborn, a Detroit suburb with a large Arab and Muslim population, and won Michigan.
An Al Jazeera analysis of election results in heavily Arab precincts in east Dearborn found that about 45 percent of votes went to Trump, 29 percent to Green Party candidate Jill Stein and 16 percent to Harris. Political strategist Hussein Dabajeh said the traditional argument for choosing the “lesser of two evils” no longer persuaded Arab voters.
Trump lost support after taking office
Arab American activists say the 2024 decision was not an endorsement of Trump. Since returning to office, he has allowed Israel’s attacks on Gaza and Lebanon to continue and launched a war against Iran that has pushed petrol prices higher. His administration has also intensified efforts to deport noncitizen student activists who criticize Israel.
Trump’s policies have affected the Michigan community directly. In February, he ended immigration protections for Yemeni nationals, creating fear and uncertainty among Yemeni Americans, including community leaders who had supported him in 2024. Trump’s earlier record also remains central: soon after beginning his first term in 2017, he imposed a travel ban on several Muslim-majority countries.
Dabajeh said Arab and Muslim voters who backed Trump are now deeply dissatisfied. Activist Amer Zahr, a Dearborn Board of Education trustee, said the Gaza war changed the community’s willingness to accept candidates who offered only a limited choice. The result is a political stance that can reject both parties when neither addresses Palestine.
El-Sayed offers Democrats a route back
Luqman’s support for El-Sayed and Tlaib shows how criticism of Israel is shaping the current Democratic contest. El-Sayed previously endorsed Harris, but now has the backing of activists who want the party to regain credibility with Arab voters through candidates outspoken against Israel.
For Luqman, support for progressive candidates could help bring Arab voters back toward the Democrats after the community moved sharply to the right in 2024. She said positions defending Palestinian rights and opposing the influence of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, matter more than party affiliation.
Economic concerns have not disappeared. Arab voters also care about affordability, infrastructure and other domestic issues, Dabajeh said, but those priorities cannot override US policy toward Israel while relatives and communities in the region remain under threat. The unresolved question for Michigan’s parties is whether any candidate can address those concerns without crossing the community’s Palestine-related red line.
Republicans also face a separate problem after attempting to court Arab and Muslim voters in 2024. Trump endorsed Florida politician Randy Fine, who had a history of anti-Muslim statements and later called for the “destruction” of all Muslims. Republican governors in Florida and Texas designated the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, a “terrorist” group, while Michigan Congressman John James, who is running for governor, pledged to blacklist it. Luqman said those moves cost Republicans an opportunity to consolidate support in Dearborn.
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