– I will always stick with the Democrats, but President Joe Biden will never win back my trust, says student and activist Lexis Zeidan (31) to news. – He is involved in the murder of over 35,000 Palestinians. In a packed stadium in Michigan, family and friends have gathered to celebrate the end of school for over one thousand graduating students at the Ross School of Business. Lexis is one of them. Lexis Zeidan is an activist and campaign manager for “Listen to Michigan”. The photo was taken during the graduation ceremony for a completed master’s degree at Ross Business School. Photo: Anders Tvegård / NRKLexis Zeidan is an activist and campaign manager for “Listen to Michigan”. The photo was taken during the graduation ceremony for a completed master’s degree at Ross Business School. Photo: Anders Tvegård / news It is a traditional ceremony, similar to other American universities, where names are read out while the students walk across the podium and greet the school’s management. Lexis has completed a master’s in management at the business school. The 31-year-old wears a cape and hat, like everyone else, but the accessories stand out: She wears a shawl in Palestinian colors over the black and white checkered scarf, the keffiyeh, which is the symbol of Palestinian resistance. Lexis is a Christian Palestinian-American. The family moved to the USA when the state of Israel was established in 1948. Several of those news meets in the important see-saw state of Michigan share the same opinion about the USA’s role in the Middle East. That could be a big problem for President Joe Biden. The road to the White House The city of Dearborn, just outside Detroit, is considered the “Arab capital” of the United States. Here there are Yemeni coffee shops, Palestinian restaurants and several mosques. The shops are full of clothes and food imported from the Middle East. Few labels have been translated from Arabic to English. Lexis knows that she and the Arab-Americans are a force in Michigan. They helped Biden cross the finish line last time. The road to the White House goes through Michigan, they say. The seesaw state of Michigan Around 3.5 million Arab-Americans live in the United States. Michigan has the largest concentration with an estimated 300,000 people who identify as Muslim or Arab-American. In 2016 Donald Trump won by 10,700 votes over Hillary Clinton (47.2% to 47%) In 2020 Joe Biden won won by 154,000 votes over Trump (50.6% to 47.8%) In the nomination election in February over 100,000 voters chose (around 13 percent) actively rejected President Joe Biden, and ticked the box “uncommitted” in protest of Biden’s Gaza policy. Source: Arab America/NPR/ Biden’s support for Israel and the war in Gaza has caused anger and disappointment in the Arab-American community in the state. Lexis is not afraid to use the influence she has. When the Democrats in Michigan were to nominate their presidential candidate earlier this year, she was one of the activists behind the campaign against Joe Biden. In less than three weeks, they mounted a protest, which has been copied in a handful of other states. “Throw her out” The boycott has received at least 30 delegates to the Democrats’ national meeting, which will be held at the end of August. How they will distinguish themselves is unclear. They are only a small fraction in the bigger picture. Biden has already secured a majority, but the police in Chicago are preparing for both protests and unrest outside the national convention premises. – If the president continues the same political line, he will give the White House to Donald Trump, says Lexis. The ceremony for the graduating students at Ross Business School is filmed. When her name is read, Lexis pulls out a Palestinian flag. She walks right past the school’s management, looks out over the arena and raises the flag with both hands. Some cheer. When the message is shown on the big screens, others in the hall begin to boo. During the graduation ceremony, activist and campaign leader Lexis Zeidan waves the Palestinian flag. She is greeted with cheers and boos. Video: Ross School of Business’ production/Anders Tvegård – Throw her out, someone shouts. – Release the hostages, exclaims another. The flag says that the University of Michigan is funding genocide. – I felt a sense of pride as a Palestinian and am happy that people noticed what I did, even if they did not agree with the matter, Lexis told news after the ceremony. – It’s about being on the right side of history. The university has chosen wrongly as long as they keep investments, my tuition money, in companies that do business with Israel. news has asked the school for a comment on the claim. The communications department refers to what the board said earlier this year. In a statement on the website, board chair Sarah Hubbard says that the school has not invested directly in companies in Israel, and that the fund shares are less than 1 percent. The university will continue to protect investments from political pressure. – Feeling betrayed The sound of razors drowns out the sports commentators in a barber shop in Dearborn. Baseball is shown on a pair of flat screens, which are placed high on the wall. Ibrahim al-Khalil gets his hair tousled. He has family in the West Bank, like many others in the area. Everyone he knows is deeply affected and marked by the carnage in Gaza. Ibrahim al-Khalil supports the student protests and tent camps. He believes it is the student’s duty to protest because they have paid for schooling and see that the school does not follow what they are taught about respect and rules. Photo: Anders Tvegård / news – They feel betrayed by the authorities and the president we elected. The US is not doing enough for our people in Palestine, says Ibrahim. He believes there are no good alternatives in this year’s presidential election. – Now the USA is sending emergency aid to Gaza at the same time as Israel is being supplied with weapons. It’s like putting a Band-Aid on a gunshot wound. Makes no sense, says Ibrahim. He sees no difference between the two presumptive presidential candidates when it comes to Israel policy. Support for Israel is systemic, the young man believes. He thinks it doesn’t matter who sits in the White House. – What can the party or Biden do to get your vote again? – It should be easy to ask for a truce. It boils down to this basic human right. Why must the civilian population of Gaza suffer? They are innocent. Calling for a ceasefire is the least an American president can ask for. He is unsure who he will fall for this autumn. Whether it is possible to forgive and forget, even if a truce should be in place during the summer. Protest election A third candidate such as Robert Kennedy jr. or the Greens’ Jill Stein is something he is considering. Scattered polls indicate that third-party candidates have so far not increased in support in Michigan. Editor Osama Siblani believes this could be the first presidential election where his newspaper does not recommend a presidential candidate. Photo: Anders Tvegård / news – This could quickly become a protest election where the top candidate, Joe Biden, does not get a cross on the ballot, says journalist Osama Siblani. But he believes people will come out on Election Day to vote for other candidates for Congress and local positions. Siblani has run the newspaper Arab American News for 40 years. He feels that there has been a build-up of rage against the US’s support for Israel for several decades. Michigan’s Arab-American voters could tip the state. Most often they vote for the Democrats, but President Biden’s policy in the Middle East has caused them to mobilize against the president. Photo: Anders Tvegård / news It has culminated in a lack of condemnation of the war in Gaza, and what is perceived as little American will to improve conditions on the ground. This is what he told Biden’s team when they visited his premises recently, he tells news. Several politicians are now making the trip in the hope of support. Arab American News has previously given its support to both Republican and Democratic presidential candidates. But now the journalist believes it is difficult to choose. Siblani mentions an Egyptian proverb, freely paraphrased: “I hear you say something I like to hear, but I see you do the opposite.” – That’s exactly how our president is now. He speaks with two tongues. If there were an election tomorrow, I could not have supported any of this year’s presidential candidates with my hand on my heart. Listen to Urix on news Radio: Published 21.06.2024, at 11.19
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