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MICHIGAN CAMPAIGN TO PROTEST BIDEN’S GAZA POLICY GAINS STEAM  
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Jacob Kornbluh
February 21, 2024
The Forward
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_ In a new poll, less than a third of Michigan voters said they
supported a continuation in the fighting to eliminate Hamas _

Rashida Tlaib is urging Michigan voters to vote 'Uncommitted' in
Democratic primary,

 

A new survey shows significant support for a ceasefire in Gaza among
Michigan voters — a heartening result for a campaign to get them to
protest President Joe Biden’s handling of the war with their ballots
on Tuesday. 

The poll of 600 likely voters
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the swing state showed 53% of respondents favor a unilateral ceasefire
in Gaza to negotiate the release of more than 100 hostages and provide
humanitarian aid to Palestinians there. Nearly three quarters of
Democrats surveyed, 74%, and 64% of independents said they supported a
ceasefire.

Supporters of a movement to encourage voters in Michigan, which has
the largest Arab American population in the U.S., to write
“uncommitted” in next week’s presidential primary, said the poll
shows mounting pressure for Biden to intercede with Israel over the
war in Gaza.

James Zogby, a Arab American pollster and activist who was not
involved in Wednesday’s survey, wrote in a text that it reflected
what he’s seen in his own polling
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that “a substantial majority of Democrats want a ceasefire and an
end to the slaughter in Gaza.” Arab American voters, he added,
“not only do not want to be ignored or taken for granted, they want
to show that their views are in the mainstream and their votes
matter.”

A similar initiative for a “ceasefire” write-in vote in last
month’s New Hampshire primary, however, garnered only 1,500 votes
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The Democratic Party’s progressive flank has been trying to get
Biden to call for a ceasefire for months. And sympathy for
Palestinians
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risen — particularly among younger Democrats and people of color —
as the death toll rises in Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, a
response to Hamas’ Oct. 7 terrorist attacks. 

RELATED How the ‘Vote Ceasefire’ campaign fared in the New
Hampshire primary
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The survey, released Wednesday and conducted via phone by the EPIC-MRA
polling firm from Feb. 13-18, also asked voters if they support a
continuation of the fighting until Hamas is eliminated — a stated
aim of the Israeli government. Less than a third, 27%, did. 

The survey, which has a margin of error of plus or minus four
percentage points, did not ask about the ceasefire proposal currently
being negotiated by the U.S.
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involves a “humanitarian ceasefire” lasting several weeks or
months to facilitate the release of hostages. Biden has urged Israel
to agree to the terms of the proposal and expressed opposition to a
ground operation in Rafah, the last remaining Hamas stronghold,
without a credible plan to evacuate the more than a million displaced
civilians sheltering there.

High stakes

Organizers of the “Listen to Michigan
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better than the New Hampshire effort to pressure Biden at the polls.
In addition to Michigan’s large Arab American population, the
“uncommitted” option appears on the ballot — which was not the
case in New Hampshire — and has been widely publicized
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It has also been endorsed by Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib
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the only Palestinian American member of Congress, and State Rep.
Abraham Aiyash, the second-ranking Democrat in the Michigan House and
the legislature’s majority leader. A group of progressive Jews
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led by former Michigan Rep. Andy Levin, is also promoting the
campaign. Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota, who is challenging Biden
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the Democratic presidential nomination, has also endorsed a ceasefire
but hasn’t gained traction in the race.

Waleed Shahid, a progressive strategist and former spokesperson for
Justice Democrats, said Biden “has fractured the Democratic Party by
opposing the majority of voters who want a ceasefire and an end to
funding Israel’s war in Gaza.”

RELATED Meet the Michigan Jews backing a campaign to pressure Biden
on Israel by voting ‘Uncommitted’ in the primary
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The stakes in Michigan are exceedingly high — it could determine the
outcome of the presidential election. Former President Donald Trump
won Michigan in 2016 by 10,000 votes and is currently leading in
recent polls by an average of four points
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“What’s also clear is that Biden is in a close race in Michigan in
which he can’t afford to lose any potential supporters,” wrote
Zogby.

There is also good news for Biden in Wednesday’s poll. Voters who
favor an immediate ceasefire still support Biden over Trump by 57% to
27%. Trump leads Biden 74% to 18% among those who want to see Israel
continue the military campaign in Gaza until Hamas is defeated, and
51% to 19% among undecideds.  

But CNN host Chris Wallace said on Monday that top Democrats are
“worried” about a vote of no confidence in Biden in Michigan.  

Rep. Ro Khanna of California, one of 66 congressional Democrats who
have called for a ceasefire, but campaigned for Biden in New
Hampshire
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where he argued that a protest vote would weaken the president,
will visit Michigan on Thursday
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meet with Muslim and Arab American leaders. 

Arab, Muslim and Jewish voters

Detroit and Dearborn, Michigan, together are home to an estimated
200,000 Arab Americans
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according to 2020 Arab American Institute data
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Their votes matter to Biden. He beat Trump by 154,000 votes
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the state, and received about 70% of the Muslim vote. Abdullah H.
Hammoud, mayor of Dearborn, said in a _New York Times_ op-ed
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he will vote against Biden in the primary.

There are about 105,000 Jewish voters in the state, 61% of
whom identify as Democrats
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Mark Mellman, head of the Democratic Majority for Israel, said that
higher turnout of Jewish voters in the state who are supportive of
Biden’s approach to the war could make up lost Arab American votes.
He added that Muslim voters “are going to have a hard time at the
end of the day voting for the Islamophobe-in-chief Donald Trump, who
instituted a Muslim ban and wants to deport Palestinians
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Levin, who lost his reelection bid in a Democratic primary in 2020,
said the protest vote is aimed at changing Biden’s policy on Israel
so he can win the trust of these voters and take Michigan in
November. 

“The poll results demonstrate that Biden must correct course by
uniting the party around a dramatic shift in policy,” said Shaid.

Jacob Kornbluh is the Forward’s senior political reporter. Follow
him on Twitter @jacobkornbluh [[link removed]] or
email [email protected]
[[link removed]].

The _Forward_ delivers incisive coverage of the issues, ideas and
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* Joe Biden
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* Gaza
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* Michigan
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* elections
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* Andy Levin
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* James Zogby
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* Arab Americans
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