The New York Times over the weekend published a splashy profile of Arab-American activists in Michigan, detailing Muslim voters' anger over President Joe Biden's handling of the Israel-Hamas war.
It didn't tell readers, however, that several of the people featured in the piece, titled "Here’s How Joe Biden Loses Michigan," have praised Hamas or called for the destruction of Israel, providing a window into the nature of the opposition even to the Biden administration's tepid support for the Jewish state.
The activists featured in the video essay include:
- Amer Zahr, an activist based in Dearborn, Mich., told the Times the United States is "actively funding" genocide in Gaza. What they didn't tell us: Zahr, a former surrogate for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.), said at a Dearborn rally in December 2017 that he "stand[s] with every resistance against Israel and every resistance against the occupation … whether it's called Hamas, whether it's called Hezbollah." In a Facebook video in December 2021, Zahr urged Muslims and Arabs to "stop condemning anti-Semitism."
- Imran Salha, the imam of the Islamic Center of Detroit, told the Times he would only vote for Biden on a ballot signed with "blood" thanks to Biden’s funding for "genocide" in Gaza. What they didn’t tell us: Salha said at a pro-Palestinian rally in Detroit days after Hamas's invasion of Israel that Muslims have a "fire in our hearts that will burn that state until its demise," the Washington Free Beacon reported. In a sermon at the Islamic Center of Detroit in May 2023, Salha referred to the "sick, disgusting Zionist regime" and prayed: "may Allah eradicate them from existence."
- Wissam Charafeddine, whom the Times identified as an employee of the Dearborn public school system, told the paper he would not vote for Biden, "and no one will be voting for Biden that I know of." What they didn’t tell us: He has called in social media posts for the "elimination" of Israel and sided with Hamas over the Jewish state. "Israel deserves elimination more than Hamas given the genocide and thousands of massacres," Charafeddine wrote in April. In February, he stated: "Hamas should not negotiate with terrorists."
- Nidal Jboor, a physician, asserted to the Times that "no Americans should vote for a president who supported genocide." What they didn’t tell us: Jboor is the cofounder of Doctors Against Genocide, an anti-Israel group that planned to hold a protest in December against the Jewish state inside the United States Holocaust Museum. The museum called the protest "deeply offensive to survivors and the memory of the victims to exploit Holocaust history."
Biden, who beat former president Donald Trump in Michigan by 150,000 votes in 2020, narrowly trails the Republican in recent polls, according to FiveThirtyEight. And according to the Times, anti-Biden sentiments among Michigan’s sizable Arab- and Muslim-American communities are "more than enough" to swing the battleground state against Biden. "This enclave may pick America’s next president," a Times narrator says.
Biden has sought to alleviate his eroding support in Michigan, dispatching White House and campaign officials to meet with Arab-American leaders in Dearborn, some of whom have expressed support for Hamas.
Team Biden met earlier this year with Arab American News publisher Osama Siblani, who has referred to Hamas and the Iran-backed terrorist group Hezbollah as "freedom fighters." In 2022, Siblani urged Arabs to "fight" Israel with "stones" or "guns," the Free Beacon reported. The Times has quoted Siblani in multiple stories in its coverage of Biden's relationship with Arab and Muslim voters without mentioning Siblani’s sympathetic views of terrorist groups.
The Times did not respond to a request for comment.