Wars in the Middle East contributed to political divisions among the Arab American community. In Macomb, Michigan, the families of Huwaida Araf and Adam Shapiro are divided over who to vote for in November.
Mr. Shapiro decided to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris. His 9-year-old daughter Mayar says he shouldn’t do that.
“Kamala Harris will be bad for Palestine, and we want what’s best for Palestine,” Mayar said. “She’s going to send bombs to Israel. And if she wants a ceasefire, she can’t send bombs to Israel. That’s why I think my father is wrong.”
Shapiro said this is a frequent topic of conversation in the house. His wife, Araf, ran for the U.S. Congress as a Democrat in 2022, but lost. She added to her daughter’s earlier point that Democrats say they want a ceasefire.
“Democrats are better at rhetoric. They talk about wanting a ceasefire, but they’re talking about actions where they keep sending arms,” Araf said. “We cannot say that even though we are working day and night for a ceasefire, we are continuing to send weapons that will allow us to continue bombing and genocide.”
The International Court of Justice is investigating the incident on suspicion of genocide. The court said genocide in Gaza was plausible. Israel denies the accusations, calling them “baseless.” Araf explains why he thinks what is happening is genocide.
“Even before this onslaught, I believed there was a need for a legal investigation and investigation into whether what Israel was doing constituted genocide,” Araf said. “I didn’t want to call it that in the past because I know how meaningful it is. But certainly Israeli policies over the years have made life for Palestinians almost impossible. In recent years, Israel’s system of domination and control over the lives of Palestinians has created a situation that even large human rights organizations have identified as the legal definition of apartheid.
Mr. Araf and Mr. Shapiro have been at the forefront of Palestinian activism and global refugee rights activism for more than 20 years. NPR listeners first met the couple in 2002, when they were living in Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank, organizing nonviolent resistance to Israeli occupation. The two met while working for Seeds of Peace, an organization that brings together Israeli and Palestinian teens.
In 2010, Araf was on a convoy of activists delivering humanitarian aid to Gaza. The convoy was attacked by the Israeli Navy, killing nine activists. Israel’s prime minister at the time expressed regret at the loss of life and said the Israeli military acted in self-defense.
The past year has been busy and difficult for activists, who are looking ahead to November’s presidential election. Michigan’s Arab American community supports Green Party candidate Jill Stein over Democrat Kamala Harris, according to recent polling data.
Mr. Shapiro is weighing his options carefully. He argues that Democrats aren’t winning votes with their policies. However, he has also ruled out voting Republican.
“There’s no question that[former President]Donald Trump will make things much worse, so I don’t think I can give him my vote,” Shapiro said. “I have a daughter, and the future of women’s rights in this country, and the future of reproductive health rights in this country, is on a cliff. I’m not happy with that, and I don’t think it’s a choice. I wish it wasn’t, but at this point I’m voting for Harris.”
Araf says he plans to vote for Stein in this election.
“Will Kamala Harris actually do anything to get my vote?” she says. “I hope so, but I don’t see it and I don’t see any signs of it.”
Araf knows that voting for the Green Party in key battleground states would likely siphon votes away from Harris and potentially tip Michigan to Trump. Asked whether Trump’s inauguration would mean more U.S. support for the war between Israel and Gaza, making it less likely that the Palestinians would get the outcome they want, she reflected on Trump’s history in office. .
“He did terrible things to Palestine. He moved the embassy to Jerusalem. He legalized the settlements,” Araf said. “But he did not participate in or finance the genocide.”
She says it’s difficult to compare President Trump’s policies to the Biden administration’s current policies, and talks about the sacrifices her loved ones in the Palestinian American community have suffered over the past year.
“It’s difficult, almost impossible, to look at the footage we see and go through the rest of the day as if we hadn’t seen it,” Araf said. “There’s a certain level of guilt. You always have to try to help and try to change the situation.”
As a result, her family’s mental health deteriorated. She says her activism interferes with her time with her family.
“A few months ago, my son said to me, “Mommy, you don’t care about us.” That hurt a lot. All you care about is Gaza. ‘And I know that’s painful. “Because he’s always watching me, listening to me, watching the news, thinking about how I can help, just speaking at events,” she says. “Mentally it’s hard to be there when I try to make time for my family, because I think about the suffering that’s going on and how I can live a normal life and continue my daily activities. , because it’s all about having fun and smiling and laughing.” I know this is happening. So it was quite a challenge. ”
Araf’s activism stems from the generations of trauma her Palestinian Christian family has lived in the region. And when she met Shapiro, she found a Jewish-American man who shared the same passion. It was difficult to convince her father to bless their marriage.
“My parents were a little nervous. My father originally didn’t approve of our wedding because all he knew was the Zionists who took over his land,” she said. say. “One thing my father knew was that Adam was simply a Jew, born in the United States with no connection to Palestine or Israel, and as far as the state of Israel was concerned, Adam had no right to his land and his father’s land. It means they had more rights.” I’m worried. “
But she says her parents quickly warmed to Adam. They realized they had more in common than they were different.
“It’s just connecting with people on a human level,” Araf said. “That’s what we all need to do.”
Despite the challenges of the past year and tensions surrounding the presidential election, the family remains hopeful for the future. Her daughter Mayar says she wants Michigan congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, the first Palestinian-American elected to the U.S. Congress, to run for president.
Mayar also hopes that Araf will one day run for president.
“She’s been saying to me for the last few years, ‘Mom, why don’t you run for president?'” Araf said. “I’m like, ‘We’re doing the job. I’m doing the job today, so one day you can run for president. So one day a Palestinian American will run for president of the United States. You will be able to do it.”
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Julia Corcoran produced and edited this interview for broadcast with Ahmad Damen. Corcoran adapted it for the web.
