Biden's support for Israel is turning some Democratic primary voters against him
Sheena Goodyear | CBC Radio | Posted: February 26, 2024 11:17 PM | Last Updated: February 28
Michigan Democrats who support a ceasefire in Gaza are voting ‘uncommitted’ in the presidential primary
Terry Ahwal has been a steadfast Democrat for decades. But she says she can't, in good conscience, cast a ballot for Joe Biden.
So on Monday, instead of supporting the U.S. president in Michigan's Democratic presidential primary election, she voted "uncommitted."
"I am discontent with what's happening in the Middle East and our complicity with the genocide that is taking place in Gaza," Ahwal told As It Happens guest host Peter Armstrong.
"I did spend my entire adult life supporting Democrats, and I will continue to support Democrats on the local level. But President Biden is not heeding our voices to stop sending weapons, bombs, to shred the bodies of children in Gaza."
Ahwal is one of several Democrats in Michigan who are voting "uncommitted" to protest Biden's support for Israel. It's part of a campaign called Listen to Michigan, headed by Layla Elabed, sister of Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib, the first Palestinian American woman in Congress.
Tlaib, too, has endorsed the movement, as has Dearborn, Mich., Mayor Abdullah Hammoud.
WATCH | Michigan protesters urge Democrats to vote 'uncommitted':
Biden has backed Israel throughout the latest Israel-Hamas war, which began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas militants attacked Israeli communities, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 200 people hostage, according to Israeli officials.
Since then, Israel has laid siege to, and bombarded, the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, in what it says is an effort to root out and destroy the militant group once and for all.
In doing so, Israeli forces have killed more than 29,700 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry, including more than 10,000 children, hundreds of health-care workers and dozens of journalists.
About 1.9 million, or 85 per cent, of Gazans have been displaced, according to the United Nations, and huge swaths of infrastructure, including all major hospitals, have been left dysfunctional.
South Africa has asked the International Court of Justice to investigate whether Israeli's actions in Gaza constitute a genocide, an allegation Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called "outrageous."
Biden has criticized Israel's actions as "over the top" and has repeatedly pressed Netanyahu to negotiate a ceasefire, and eventually, a two-state solution. But he has also pushed Congress to fund additional financial and military aid for Israel.
In a statement, Biden campaign spokesperson Ammar Moussa said that Biden "is working closely and proudly with leaders in the" Muslim and Arab American communities "to listen to them about a wide range of issues."
"He has urged Israel to do everything possible to avoid civilian casualties," Moussa said. "He has also successfully pressed for humanitarian aid to be delivered in Gaza."
But for Ahwal, who left the West Bank 50 years ago, it's not nearly enough.
"Twenty-nine-thousand people [killled] is not 'over the top.' Twenty-nine-thousand people is genocide," she said.
The Trump of it all
Ahwal says the only way Biden can earn her support again is to halt financial and military aid to Israel, pressure Israel to end the war in Gaza, stop vetoing UN resolutions calling for a ceasefire, and reinstate funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency.
"And stop kowtowing to Netanyahu's fascist government," she said.
Asked if she's worried that her efforts will, ultimately, help pave a path to victory for Biden's Republican rival, former U.S. president Donald Trump, she said: "I will never vote for Trump."
Nevertheless, she says she's tired of choosing "the lesser of two evils."
"The reason I hold Biden more responsible than Trump [is that] Trump, to me, is a non-entity. He's a horrible human being. I really don't think he has any conscience," she said.
"But when I listen to Biden, I hear how he talks about compassion. I hear how he talks about Ukraine. I see how, basically, he touches the hearts of people. But when it comes to Palestinians, he becomes callous.
"It just tells me that my life, the life of my family, the life of my friends, the life of my people, don't matter."