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Today's Paper | March 16, 2026

Published 27 Feb, 2024 04:25pm

Biden faces protest vote over Gaza in Michigan

President Joe Biden’s support for Israel’s incursion in Gaza will be put to a test in Michigan, home to a large Arab American constituency where Democratic voters have been urged to mark their primary ballots as “uncommitted”, Reuters reports.

Biden, a Democrat, and Republican former President Donald Trump will both want strong showings in their separate nominating contests. Michigan is a battleground state expected to play a decisive role in the head-to-head Nov 5 election.

Many in the large Arab American community are outraged, along with some progressive Democrats, over what they assert is Biden’s unwavering support for Israel’s Gaza offensive in which tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed.

The uncommitted campaign, backed by Arab American leaders, won support, including in Dearborn, a city where nearly 55 per cent of its 110,000 residents are of Middle Eastern or North African ancestry, most of them Arab, says the US Census Bureau.

“It’s important not to lose sight of the fact that any vote that’s not cast for Joe Biden supports a second Trump term, Whitmer told CNN’s “State of the Union.” She reminded people of Trump’s travel ban on people from Muslim countries when he was president.

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