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-45

Detroit Muslim leader ejected from Kamala Harris rally, deepening rift between Democrats and Arab Americans (www.metrotimes.com)

submitted 2 weeks ago by Silverseren@fedia.io to c/politics@lemmy.world

32 comments fedilink hide all child comments

The Kamala Harris campaign kicked out a prominent Muslim Democrat from the vice president’s rally in Royal Oak on Monday, further driving a wedge between the Democratic Party and Arab and Muslim Americans.

Ahmed Ghanim, a Democrat, says he accepted an invitation to the event and was seated in the Royal Oak Music Theatre when a campaign organizer ordered him to leave.

“She took me to the door, and she closed it, and I found two police officers waiting there, and she said, ‘You have to leave right now,’” Ghanim tells Metro Times. “I asked why she was kicking me out. She wouldn’t answer. I was very calmly asking why I was being kicked out.”

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[–] Myxomatosis@lemmy.world 24 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

This article lavishes praise on Trump with little mention of his stated policy positions towards Muslim Americans and Palestinians.

Meanwhile, Trump visited Hamtrack’s Muslim leaders last week in an effort to win over Arab American voters. Hamtramck Mayor Amer Ghalib, a Muslim immigrant from Yemen who campaigned on banning LGBTQ+ pride flags from city property, endorsed Trump in September. “Trump was in Hamtramck eating with the Muslims with traditional Yemeni food,” Ghalib says. “That’s the difference between the two campaigns in Michigan.”

[–] MediaBiasFactChecker@lemmy.world -2 points 2 weeks ago

Detroit Metro Times - News Source Context (Click to view Full Report)

Information for Detroit Metro Times:

MBFC: Left - Credibility: High - Factual Reporting: High - United States of America
Wikipedia about this source

Search topics on Ground.News

https://www.metrotimes.com/news/detroit-muslim-leader-ejected-from-kamala-harris-rally-deepening-rift-between-democrats-and-arab-americans-37670193

Media Bias Fact Check | bot support

[+] Sundial@lemm.ee -9 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

Not sure why this post is getting downvoted. Harris treatment of potential voters is a pretty important topic given how close election day is.

[–] WoodScientist@lemmy.world 15 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Because it's comically obvious that the attacks against Harris are bad-faith at best. Harris will be infinitely better on Palestine than Trump will be. She won't ban immigration from Muslim countries. She won't endorse Israel annexing the West Bank. She doesn't revile the very existence of brown-skinned people.

I get it, she's not perfect. She's certainly not. But she also is a politician trying to walk a very narrow line. Coming out and saying that Israel should be completely cut off and that we should institute a full trade embargo against them would be quite popular among the left, and it may even be the morally right thing to do, but it would also cost her the election. She's also running with the endorsement of a president that is himself an admitted Zionist, and she can't publicly stray too far from his positions, at least until she is elected. Once she is elected, she'll have some more room to strike her own path, but right now she needs to tow the line.

America does not elect the president by popular vote. Becoming president requires winning majorities in battleground states, many of them quite moderate and filled with religious and more conservative voters. Calling for an embargo of Israel will win her points on the left, but it will also cause her to lose Pennsylvania.

But the reason people downvote these anti-Kamala posts is that they are clearly in bad faith. You only see posts deriding Kamala on Palestine; you never see such posts about Trump. Trump is given a free pass to be overtly racist against Muslims, while Kamala is expected to be an explicit anti-Zionist. It's a clear bad faith double-standard that is obviously meant to help Trump get elected. People aren't stupid, they can see through this bad faith bullshit.

[–] Sundial@lemm.ee 4 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

This article does not seem a bad faith argument though. This person is a registered Democrat, ran for a Democratic seat, canvassed for Democrats, was invited to a Democratic event. He didn't say, do, or even wear anything. Nonetheless he was singled out and threatened to leave with no explanation.

You seem to have a bit of an optimistic view on Harris position on Israel IMO. I won't begrudge you of that, you're free to think that way. But actions like the one this article reported doesn't do this opinion any favors.

[–] MagicShel@lemmy.zip 3 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Where does it say Harris or her campaign was responsible, though? Yeah it was her event. It seems likely that someone from her campaign did it. But who actually made the call? Why was he invited just to be kicked out? Like that's obviously not the whole story because the only possible outcome would be bad PR.

We've heard his side of things, but you know damn well one side of any story isn't the whole truth. The Harris campaign should work to get to the bottom of this and explain what happened and why and what they will do differently in the future, but to blame her unilaterally without hearing their side of things is just presuming guilt.

[–] Sundial@lemm.ee 5 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

These things don't just happen and get decided from anyone in a political party and rhey singled him out so they knew his face. This definitely came from someone with a senior position in the party. There's no doubt about that. On top of that there seems to be a consistent trend of Harris and the Democratic party silencing Arab-Americans from speaking up, I wouldn't just naturally assume this was some kind of accident.

[–] MagicShel@lemmy.zip 4 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Would you agree that inviting a prominent Muslim and then kicking them out has only downsides for the campaign? Like you think they are going to self sabotage because fuck that one guy in particular? That would be the stupidest campaign team ever.

[–] Sundial@lemm.ee 5 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Would you agree that inviting a prominent Muslim and then kicking them out has only downsides for the campaign?

I mean, yes? That's kind of why we're having this conversation.

And Harris and her team did respond this incident. It's in the article. They did acknowledge that it was wrong and he was welcome back. But like I said above, her team has a habit of silencing Arab-Americans, and actions speak louder than words.

[–] MagicShel@lemmy.zip 3 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

It doesn't add up. I know they said he was welcome back but everyone is just spiderman pointing at one another about what actually happened. Why he was removed. Who made that call and why are they still with the campaign after sabotaging it would be my question.

[–] Sundial@lemm.ee 5 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

These are questions only the Democratic party can answer, and the fact that they didn't answer them in their statement is very telling. It's very clear they do not want any Arab party members to speak up and are actively silencing them.

[–] MagicShel@lemmy.zip 1 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (2 children)

I mean... I think it's more nuanced than that, but let's say I'm on board with that. That doesn't explain why they would make an unforced error here. It's not logical. Whoever invited him when they didn't want him there or kicked him out when they did, that person has royally fucked up. Feasibly cost her the election, perhaps.

So why protect them? Until someone can provide a narrative that makes some kind of sense, it looks to me like jumping to conclusions without enough facts to paint a coherent picture. And I'm not going to accept any "clear" conclusions until the pieces add up.

Which isn't to say you're wrong but I don't have facts to support that you're right. It doesn't add up and when it doesn't it always seems fishy to me that folks claim to draw clear narrative in murky water.

But I'll also cop to a certain amount of distrust of any anti-Harris message these days. I don't think she's perfect, but I do think an awful lot of the people making hay over her imperfections are not being honest about their reasons for doing so.

[–] Sundial@lemm.ee 6 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I'd be inclined to agree with you and give her, and the Democrats, the benefit of the doubt if this was an isolated incident. It's not, there's a pattern here, and this was just the most recent one.

[–] MagicShel@lemmy.zip 1 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Okay. I think we've probably taken this discussion as far as we can given what information we have now. I hope you feel I've acknowledged and respected your position. I hope you can respect mine. Have a good night.

[–] Sundial@lemm.ee 3 points 2 weeks ago

Fair. Have a good night as well.

[–] Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago

That doesn’t explain why they would make an unforced error here. It’s not logical.

Yes, Democrats never make unforced errors.

[–] jeffw@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago

This is why I only listen to Tulsi Gabbard! /s

[–] TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world -3 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Lemmy isn't interested in news that doesn't match their bias/ delusional reality they wished was true.

The guy is/ was literally a democratic candidate in that district. Like he canvassed for Royal Oak.

I guess Muslims are not welcome in the Democratic party. Not a good look for Democrats.

[+] Silverseren@fedia.io -10 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Any article posted that is in any way negative on Harris, even if something she legitimately did wrong, gets massively downvoted in this federation. Kind of echo chambery, I guess.

[–] MagicShel@lemmy.zip 5 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

That's how social media works. But also, the whole pro-genocide, anti-Muslim thing is just constructed narrative that the far left eats hook line and sinker. So the massive focus on this one thing when there are lots of other things going on feels inauthentic. Feels like astroturfing.

That doesn't mean every poster or article is part of an influence campaign. No one should be completely ignorant of these issues. It's important to have some of them. But because people are attaching an outsized importance to this thing, they all get lumped together as part of the same disingenuous push to elect Trump over Harris.

[–] Keeponstalin@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

I don't see how pro-genocide is simply a constructed narrative.

The rhetoric coming out of the White House, when it has been focused on peace or restraint, rather than continuous war, has been undercut at every turn by its actions. The constant supply of weapons — $17.9 billion of bullets, bombs, shells, and other military aid in the past year — has allowed Israel to keep waging its war on Gaza, and in recent weeks, expand that war to Lebanon and threaten to escalate its conflict with Iran. Despite documentation of U.S. weapons being used in probable war crimes, and credible allegations that Israel is committing genocide in its war on Gaza, the bombs have continued to flow.

https://theintercept.com/2024/10/09/white-house-oct-7-israel-war-gaza/

Here you can track the rhetoric and actions of the Biden Administration month by month. The US has been supplying the weapons used for Israel's genocide unconditionally for a year. Against international law, against domestic law, against the will of the majority of the population, and all with US taxpayer money. This is pro-genocide.

Harris, instead of breaking from Biden on this issue, has not deviated. She has repeatedly ignored the voices of Palestinian Americans, Arab Americans, and Muslim Americans on this issue. These people are directly affected, they have friends and family in Palestine and Lebanon that have been killed by Israel. She has taken their votes for granted and as we see, it has backfired.

Despite Trump's horrendous track record, he has gained in their support solely because of how Harris has campaigned. It's not logical, but it's hard to be when directly affected by the actions of the current administration and no prospect for change. Advocating them to vote for the 'lesser evil' doesn't work when the 'lesser evil' is directly responsible for the deaths of their loved ones.

Breaking from Biden would be a major gain in voter turnout for Harris. But this close to the election, it may be too late.

Quote

Our first matchup tested a Democrat and a Republican who “both agree with Israel’s current approach to the conflict in Gaza”. In this case, the generic candidates tied 44–44. The second matchup saw the same Republican facing a Democrat supporting “an immediate ceasefire and a halt of military aid and arms sales to Israel”. Interestingly, the Democrat led 49–43, with Independents and 2020 non-voters driving the bulk of this shift.

Split Ticket (July 2024)

Quotes

In Pennsylvania, 34% of respondents said they would be more likely to vote for the Democratic nominee if the nominee vowed to withhold weapons to Israel, compared to 7% who said they would be less likely. The rest said it would make no difference. In Arizona, 35% said they’d be more likely, while 5% would be less likely. And in Georgia, 39% said they’d be more likely, also compared to 5% who would be less likely.

New Poll Suggests Gaza Ceasefire and Arms Embargo Would Help Dems with Swing State Voters (Full YouGov Report) (May 2024)

Quotes

Data For Progress Poll (May 2024)

Quotes

American Attitudes: Shifting Realities After the Unfolding Genocide in Gaza (Nov 2024)

Quotes

Majorities of Democrats (67%) and Independents (55%) believe the US should either end support for Israel’s war effort or make that support conditional on a ceasefire. Only 8% of Democrats but 42% of Republicans think the US must support Israel unconditionally.

Republicans and Independents most often point to immigration as one of Biden’s top foreign policy failures. Democrats most often select the US response to the war in Gaza.

https://instituteforglobalaffairs.org/2024/09/vox-populi-battlegrounds/#full-report (Nov 2024)

[–] draneceusrex@lemmy.world 0 points 2 weeks ago

I wouldn't say that genocide is an issue that can be attached an "outsized importance". What is disingenuous is the "Genocide Joe" crowd screaming both sides are bad. The Democrats holding the Executive would be infinitely better for the Palestinians than Trump getting back into office. Full stop.