According to Newsweek, based on interviews conducted with activists and individuals, the airstrikes ordered by President Joe Biden in Yemen appear to be another nail in the coffin for Arab and Muslim voter support for him.
Biden had authorized multiple airstrikes against the Houthi group in Yemen to prevent them from carrying out attacks on commercial shipping vessels passing through the Red Sea. The first of these strikes, executed by the US military in cooperation with Britain, received support from Australia, Bahrain, Canada, and the Netherlands.
Edward Ahmed Mitchell, deputy executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), expressed displeasure over Biden’s administration escalating the crisis by bombing Yemen without congressional approval instead of just addressing its roots, which he referred to as the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
Mitchell added that “if the genocide ends, the temperature of the situation in the region will decrease,” describing the American airstrikes without congressional approval as illegal and dangerous, stating that “they will not ultimately bring peace but will exacerbate the risk of escalating the war.”
Responding to Biden’s statement that the U.S. and its partners will not tolerate Houthi attacks on “our people,” Mitchell remarked that “our government rushes to protect commercial ships but doesn’t hurry to protect the thousands of children being killed in Gaza.”
According to the Newsweek report, a coalition of Muslim Americans in swing states launched a “Dump Biden” campaign and urged voters not to re-elect him for a second presidential term in the upcoming elections this November, due to his reaction to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Voting Preferences
Jelani Hussein, director of CAIR’s Minnesota branch, mentioned that the overwhelming majority of Muslims confirmed they would not vote for the current president in the upcoming elections.
Dr. Hassan Abdul Salaam from the “Dump Biden” campaign informed Newsweek via email on Saturday that the situation in Yemen has proven their campaign’s prediction of a disaster represented by the president’s policy on Gaza to be accurate.
He stated that “the United States simply cannot use force without checks and balances. For American Muslims, and Muslims around the world, Palestine is the most critical issue in foreign policy.”
The article then conveyed Mitchell’s prediction, on behalf of CAIR, that the genocide in Gaza is likely to have a “significant effect” on the political leanings and election decisions of American Muslims in the upcoming elections and beyond. However, he noted that it is unclear how things will change.
Netanyahu’s Support
Meanwhile, Wael Alzayat, CEO of EMGAGE, a.nonprofit aimed at educating and mobilizing Muslim voters, shared his belief that Biden’s standing among Arab and Muslim voters had already been significantly impacted by his policy towards Israel and Palestine and “absolute” support for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
As per the Newsweek report, EMGAGE published poll results in early November indicating that only 5.2% of American Muslims confirmed they would vote for Biden in the 2024 elections.
