Oct. 26, 2024, 7:00 PM UTC
DEARBORN, Mich. — Orthopedic surgeon Adam Fahs burst into tears as he recently recounted the horrors of what he saw in Gaza when he traveled there last December to treat wounded Palestinians. Fresh in his mind, he said, were the European Hospital’s wards full of women and children who had been maimed, and doing his best to treat them with grossly inadequate access to medical supplies.
“I remember talking with one of the health care workers and he was telling me that there’s a tradition now that the Palestinians have where before you go to sleep, you say goodbye to your family because you never know if you’re going to wake up,” said Fahs, a Lebanese American. “And you say your testimonies of faith, in case you pass away in your sleep.”
Orthopedic trauma surgeon Dr. Adam Fahs in Dearborn, Mich., on Sept. 14.Mustafa Hussain for NBC News
That haunting reality weighs heavily on Fahs, now back home in Michigan, a key swing state that holds outsize weight in determining the next president, making every vote crucial. With Arab Americans making up a significant part of the state’s electorate, their support could be decisive. Fahs says he’s disaffected with both candidates — former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. The way he sees it, it doesn’t matter who is in office — no candidate cares about Gaza or Arab life.
In Dearborn, Michigan, America’s only Arab-majority city, voters are wrestling with difficult decisions ahead of the upcoming general election. After speaking with dozens of Arab Americans here, it’s clear the community, traditionally leaning Democratic, now finds itself disillusioned by both major parties, especially over the U.S. handling of the war in Gaza. With frustration mounting over foreign policy and domestic issues like inflation and health care, many question who truly represents their values. And as Election Day approaches, the debate continues: whether to support the familiar, vote third party, or sit this one out altogether.
Mayor Abdullah Hammoud speaks at the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee’s 44th Arab American Convention, or “ArabCon,” in Dearborn, Mich., on Sept. 13.Mustafa Hussain for NBC News
ArabCon in Dearborn, Mich., on Sept. 14.Mustafa Hussain for NBC News
It was this very debate that drew prominent Arab American figures, including activists and politicians, to Dearborn in September for the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee’s 44th Arab American Convention, or “ArabCon.” Among them, novelist and activist Susan Abulhawa, who delivered a resounding message.
“Vote out of hope, not fear,” Abulhawa said.
Disappointment with Democrats
Driving through the streets of Dearborn, one might liken it to many other suburban cities in the U.S. A closer look reveals the Arab-majority city’s many layers — clusters of Yemeni grocery stores and coffee houses, Lebanese bakeries selling mana’eesh, a traditional flatbread, and Iraqi restaurants dishing out kebabs. The only visible flag in the area is an American one, fluttering at full mast by a gas station — a reminder that the city is just as American as it is Arab.