Osama Shiblani, editor-in-chief of the Arab American newspaper, told CNN. news central He said his newspaper would not support Vice President Kamala Harris because of the Biden-Harris administration's handling of the Middle East conflict.
Siblani noted that he has been in contact with Harris and the Biden campaign over the past five months or so.
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“And we didn't see anything that would draw our attention to the concerns of our community or what was going on overseas. Our homes, our friends' homes, our families overseas were in the United States. They were killed by manufactured bombs,” he told CNN's John Berman.
“For 12 months we have been telling them to stop this war, and now there are 43,000 dead in Gaza, 2,200 in Lebanon, thousands injured, “More than 100,000 people were injured in Gaza and 11,000 in Lebanon. Their homes and property were completely destroyed,” he added.
Siblani said neither Harris nor former President Donald Trump were able to give the issue proper attention.
Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign event at the Gila River Indian Community Reservation in Chandler, Arizona, on October 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
As a result, the outlet has decided to suspend approval for this period.
Mr. Berman asked whether Mr. Siblani considered Mr. Trump and Harris' foreign policy to be the same.
“At the end of the day, I think they're both the same when it comes to foreign policy. Here at home, we've been trying to reach out to Kamala Harris,” he said.
Siblani added that roughly 7 in 10 Arab Americans in Michigan voted for Biden in 2020, leaving their community without a “seat at the table.”
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He explained:
And when his wife, Jill Biden, showed up here and he and then-Vice Presidential candidate Kamala Harris showed up here, we supported them. We interviewed Kamala Harris. We interviewed his campaign officials. And they said, let's sit around the table. There are no seats around the table. There are no seats in the room. We have no seat in the building, in the neighborhood, in the city, or in the countryside. So why would we do that? And we voted for him because we were voting against Donald Trump.
The Arab-American newspaper is based in Dearborn, Michigan, which has a large Arab-American and Muslim population. Most Democratic Dearborn voters joined the “Listen to Michigan” campaign and voted unopposed in the Democratic primary to protest Biden and Harris' handling of the war.
A whopping 57 percent of voters checked the uncommitted option, compared to just 40 percent who voted for Biden, making Biden and Harris an epic prospect for Arab American and Muslim voters. This was one of the first signs that we were facing a crisis.
