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Dearborn, Michigan, has the largest Arab American population in the U.S., and the community turned out in droves for Donald Trump in the presidential election in anger over U.S. military support for Israel and the deaths of tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza. Now, Trump's comments about the future of Gaza and the Palestinian people are reverberating in the community. Zena Issa of Michigan Public has more in this report.
ZENA ISSA, BYLINE: Dearborn, Michigan, is usually a Democratic stronghold, but it saw a seismic shift in voting patterns in the last presidential election. It was driven by one issue - Gaza. Arab Americans here who had long supported Democratic candidates strongly opposed U.S. military support for Israel and wanted an end to the war. They wanted an immediate ceasefire. That wave of anger handed Trump victory in Dearborn, but the president's comments on Tuesday about Gaza are causing concern.
HUDHAYFAH AHMAD: When it comes to Trump's rhetoric, we will call it out and say that it's abhorrent, grotesque rhetoric.
ISSA: Hudhayfah Ahmad was a spokesperson for the Abandon Harris campaign.
AHMAD: However, however, we're not going to sit here and conflate that rhetoric with the actions of the previous administration.
ISSA: Ahmad says, while Trump's statement is alarming, he still believes electing Kamala Harris would have been worse.
AHMAD: To this day, if Harris-Walz ticket had won the election - the fact that they lost the election led to a ceasefire. It surprised us. It took us by surprise, but we understand that this was Trump acting in his own self-interest, not necessarily from a humanitarian side.
ISSA: Local Palestinian artist Jenin Yaseen shares that perspective and says what's even more disturbing was what happened to Palestinians under the watch of the Biden-Harris administration and after Kamala Harris became the Democratic nominee.
JENIN YASEEN: She did not really give us the assurance that we needed that such - you know, that, you know, she wouldn't allow the Zionists to act with impunity and enact the genocide.
ISSA: Other Arab American voters in Dearborn say their tax dollars have funded a war in the Middle East they strongly oppose. They call Trump's remarks devastating. Josiah Walker, a University of Michigan student, was among 11 charged for their involvement in the pro-Palestinian encampments on campus. He says Trump voiced support for a two-state solution during his first term.
JOSIAH WALKER: I'm not surprised by his change of heart at all. I think it's, like, right in line with what, like, everyone was expecting.
ISSA: And Walker says he thinks the U.S. needs to take stronger action against Israel.
WALKER: You know, the best-case scenario is not only achieving a ceasefire and not only, like, fully, like, opening aid routes, but, like, also applying measures against the Israeli government so that they quite literally can't carry out, like, even more atrocities.
ISSA: Walker did not vote for Trump. However, in the aftermath of the president's remarks, the group that once played a key role in Trump's voter outreach to the Arab American community decided to change its name. The group formerly known as Arab Americans for Trump now calls itself Arab Americans for Peace. For NPR News, I'm Zena Issa in Dearborn.
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