Dearborn: It鈥檚 common to hear residents chatting in Arabic just as often as English in this Detroit suburb鈥檚 stores or mosques, those buildings themselves often sporting bilingual signage out front.
But no matter the language, residents in this Arab American and Muslim stronghold in the Midwestern state of Michigan are convinced President Joe Biden, as he steadfastly stands by Israel in its war in Gaza, is not listening to them.
鈥淰ote for Palestine. No Biden,鈥� political organizer Samra鈥檃 Luqman says in English, passing out fliers outside a mosque after prayers.
鈥淒on鈥檛 vote for Biden,鈥� the activist with Yemeni origins adds in Arabic.
鈥淥f course,鈥� respond many passersby.
As the Gaza Strip death toll climbs, residents here 鈥� once firmly in the Democratic fold 鈥� are turning against the president in a crucial swing state he won by just 150,000 votes in 2020.
Some are hoping to pressure Biden to back off from his Israel support and call for a ceasefire. Others, like Luqman, say they would never vote for him.
鈥淗e鈥檚 committing the genocide. He鈥檚 funding it,鈥� Luqman, a campaign leader with a group called Abandon Biden, tells AFP.
A campaign is underway by Luqman and others urging voters to vote 鈥渦ncommitted,鈥� or write in 鈥淔ree Palestine鈥� on their ballots in the state鈥檚 primary next week 鈥� a symbolic gesture, since Biden faces no serious challengers for the Democratic nomination.
鈥淭his is a campaign about pressuring our current president who can do something about the mass killing of children,鈥� says Abbas Alawieh, a former Democratic chief of staff on Capitol Hill and member of the Listen to Michigan campaign group.
鈥淚n this community there are a lot of people who are directly harmed by war,鈥� the Lebanese-born Alawieh tells AFP.
Biden, he says, 鈥渋s threatening to lose this community. Not just in November, but perhaps for a generation to come.鈥�
The war started when Hamas launched its attack on October 7, resulting in the deaths of about 1,160 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures.
But concern has mounted amid the high civilian toll in Israel鈥檚 retaliatory campaign, now at 29,313 people dead, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.
Listen to Michigan began as a pressure campaign, but some voters say their frustration with the president is permanent.
Voting for Biden was the 鈥渨orst mistake of my life,鈥� says Mohamed Alemara, a 23-year-old medical student of Iraqi descent.
鈥淵ou don鈥檛 kill 30,000 of our people and expect us to vote for you.鈥�
Arab Americans鈥� vows to ditch Biden often baffle liberal political pundits.
What will Muslims and Arabs do, the thinking goes 鈥� vote for Donald Trump, the Republican behind the 鈥淢uslim ban鈥� immigration policy, whose supporters flirt with ideas like 鈥淐hristian nationalism鈥�?
鈥淲e鈥檙e not a stupid community,鈥� says Luqman. 鈥淚鈥檝e survived a Muslim ban, but those kids in Gaza have not survived Joe Biden.鈥�
鈥淢y intention is not to vote in an Islamophobe, another genocidal maniac,鈥� she adds. Yet she tells AFP, 鈥渢he only way I would vote for Biden is if he resurrected鈥� the Gaza dead.
In America鈥檚 two-party system, where voters often hold their nose to pick candidates they don鈥檛 back 100 percent, 27-year-old nurse Fatima Elzaghir says that 鈥渁t this point, the lesser evil is Trump.鈥�
Others, like Alawieh, reject the premise of the question.
鈥淗ow dare you come to me and say, 鈥極h, but later, Trump will be your fault,鈥欌€� he says.
鈥淐all your representative. Tell them you want a ceasefire.... Once we stop the bloodshed, then we can talk about the political consequences.鈥�
Biden will also have to deal with Michigan鈥檚 unions 鈥� where some are defecting from the labor-friendly president鈥檚 camp.
Many union and workingclass voters already support Republicans, drawn in by their conservative social policies.
But for Merwan Beydoun, a steel mill worker and member of the United Autoworkers Union, Gaza was the breaking point.
鈥淔urious鈥� at Biden, whom the UAW endorsed, Beydoun stopped his contributions to the union鈥檚 political arm.
Beydoun says he still believes 鈥渋n a lot of Democratic policies鈥� and would rather not say how he鈥檒l vote in November. But to earn Beydoun鈥檚 vote, the president 鈥渘eeds to wake up鈥� and 鈥渃hange his ways.鈥�
The Biden administration has tried to assuage Arab and Muslim voters鈥� concerns in part by portraying the president as frustrated with Benjamin Netanyahu鈥檚 government.
But US weapons have flowed to Israel since October 7, while Washington鈥檚 efforts to broker a second pause in fighting have failed, and on Tuesday the US blocked a UN Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire.
鈥淢y intention is to punish Biden for what he鈥檚 doing now,鈥� says Luqman. 鈥淔or the betrayal that he鈥檚 done to me and all the community members that have voted for him.鈥�