Islamic Heart of America in Dearborn, North America’s largest mosque
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Till November, Faye Nemer by no means voted for a Republican for president.
“I think it was surprising for me to vote for a candidate other than a Democrat,” she recalled.
Nemer is founder and CEO of the MENA American Chamber of Commerce in Dearborn, Mich., which represents round 3,500 enterprise leaders from Center Japanese and North African backgrounds. She says many felt deserted by the Biden-Harris administration’s help for Israel within the battle with Hamas in Gaza, and determined to vote for Trump as an alternative, hoping that he may convey peace to the area.
Arab and Muslim voters helped ship the important thing swing state of Michigan to President Trump final yr. However now, some are expressing concern about his rhetoric concerning the Center East.
Nemer helps a two-state resolution for the Israeli-Palestinian battle, and he or she believes Trump may make his mark by pushing the United States to acknowledge a Palestinian state.
“That’s the only pathway to the long, lasting peace that President Trump wants to accomplish,” she mentioned. “And that could be a defining moment for his presidency to finally achieve peace in the Middle East.”
The U.S. and a few key European allies have taken the place {that a} Palestinian state ought to be the product of a negotiated resolution that features Israel.
Ibrahim Duhaini, a medical physicist from Dearborn, additionally voted Republican for the primary time final yr hoping that Trump would convey peace to the area, and past.
“So if you could do that, you could be the chosen person from God, I would say,” Duhaini mentioned. “But we hope that [he] could accomplish this, at least in the Middle East, and…other parts of the world, especially Ukraine and Russia.”
Trump additionally made important features in close by Hamtramck, which has an all-Muslim metropolis council and mayor, Amer Ghalib. Ghalib, who endorsed Trump, thinks many Arabs and Muslims have more and more felt alienated from the Democratic Celebration — on each international coverage and home cultural points.
Hamtramck Mayor Amer Ghalib endorsed Trump in 2024 and have become a excessive profile voice advocating for him in Michigan.
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“We used to utilize our force, our votes, our resources, to support the Democratic Party,” Ghalib mentioned. “And despite all of that, the attack came from them.”
That assault, he defined, occurred in 2023, when Hamtramck’s metropolis council voted unanimously throughout June, Pleasure month, to ban most flags — together with Pleasure flags — on public property.
The vote prompted criticism from some Michigan Democrats.
Ghalib mentioned that served to distance some native Muslims from the Democratic Celebration. In the meantime, Republicans reached out, with Trump campaigning in Hamtramck and Dearborn earlier than the election.
“Our community is conservative. They care about raising their kids the way they want, not letting others implement some values that conflict with our values,” Ghalib defined. “We hear good stuff from his side about this – protecting the next generation and the family values.”
Since taking workplace, although, a number of of Trump’s statements concerning the Center East have raised considerations amongst Arab and Muslim Individuals; like his repeated suggestion that the U.S. ought to take over Gaza and oversee its redevelopment as a seaside resort. That concept has been roundly rejected by Arab leaders.
And, based on the most recent NPR ballot, greater than two-thirds of Individuals oppose it.
Final week, Trump posted an apparently AI-generated video of a so-called “Trump Gaza” improvement, which featured a picture of Trump sunbathing with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Reached by telephone after seeing the video, Ibrahim Duhaini mentioned it made him remorse supporting Trump, and he wouldn’t have executed so if he’d recognized Trump would submit such a message.
“He didn’t say anything like that before,” Duhaini mentioned. “When he came to Dearborn, to the community, he said that he would strive for peace and justice for the whole region.”
Faye Nemer, MENA American Chamber of Commerce CEO and Founder, voted for Trump in 2024, saying she hoped he would have the ability to convey peace to the Center East.
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Faye Nemer, with the MENA American Chamber, calls the video “unbecoming” to the president and “destabilizing” to peace talks within the area. She mentioned it is also counterproductive to Michigan Republicans’ efforts to construct on Trump’s success within the final election.
“Midterm elections are coming up. There’s various windows of opportunity in swing states that will have contentious elections,” she mentioned. “And the Republicans were hoping through outreach efforts to be able to continue to garner support of the Arab American voting bloc as well as the Muslim American voting bloc.”
“Those prospects are most certainly being harmed by this rhetoric,” she added.
Nemer referred to as on Trump to take down the video in a press release to NPR and urged him to difficulty a press release aimed toward reconciling with the Arab and Muslim American group.
However to this point, the White Home has doubled down. In a press release, a spokeswoman referred to as Trump a “visionary” and mentioned his plan would “resettle” Palestinians, with out specifying the place they’d be relocated.
