Can Arab-Americans sway the 2024 US election?
Published date: 12 September 2024 16:13 BST
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Last update: 2 months 1 week ago
Can the Pro-Palestine movement sway the 2024 election?
That could be down to a handful of key swing states, including Michigan, home to 150,000 Arab-American voters.
This is a community that has never had a political voice in Washington, that is, until now. A group of activists, community organisers and political insiders have come together to galvanise the anger around Gaza and force the Democrats to pay attention.
That birthed the Uncommitted National Movement.
This week on The Big Picture Podcast, my name is Mohamed Hassan and today I’m joined by the founder of the Uncommitted Movement, Abbas Alawieh.
In 2021, Alawieh became chief of staff for Missouri Congresswoman Cori Bush. After 7 October, he helped start a movement to withhold a vote for Joe Biden at the Democratic Primary in Michigan over his stance on Gaza, resulting in over 100,000 people voting ‘Uncommitted’ on their ballot papers.
Michigan has historically been a battleground for Republicans and Democrats. In 2016, Trump became president after beating Hillary Clinton in the state by a margin of just 10,000 votes. Four years later, Biden swung Michigan back by 154,000 votes.
That means for both candidates, securing the Arab-American vote could be crucial. But that relies on this community to vote as a bloc, and recognise the influence they can wield. So can they do it? Or will they continue to be ignored?
Subscribe and listen on all podcast platforms: https://thebigpicture.buzzsprout.com/
That could be down to a handful of key swing states, including Michigan, home to 150,000 Arab-American voters.
This is a community that has never had a political voice in Washington, that is, until now. A group of activists, community organisers and political insiders have come together to galvanise the anger around Gaza and force the Democrats to pay attention.
That birthed the Uncommitted National Movement.
This week on The Big Picture Podcast, my name is Mohamed Hassan and today I’m joined by the founder of the Uncommitted Movement, Abbas Alawieh.
In 2021, Alawieh became chief of staff for Missouri Congresswoman Cori Bush. After 7 October, he helped start a movement to withhold a vote for Joe Biden at the Democratic Primary in Michigan over his stance on Gaza, resulting in over 100,000 people voting ‘Uncommitted’ on their ballot papers.
Michigan has historically been a battleground for Republicans and Democrats. In 2016, Trump became president after beating Hillary Clinton in the state by a margin of just 10,000 votes. Four years later, Biden swung Michigan back by 154,000 votes.
That means for both candidates, securing the Arab-American vote could be crucial. But that relies on this community to vote as a bloc, and recognise the influence they can wield. So can they do it? Or will they continue to be ignored?
Subscribe and listen on all podcast platforms: https://thebigpicture.buzzsprout.com/
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