One major political trend in the United States that has received little attention following the Democratic Party’s stunning defeat in the November 5 election is the success of Arab American political organizing.
A new generation of political activists has emerged, giving the Arab American community of 3.5 million people unprecedented representation and influence in elected political office. He also launched the Uncommit movement during the Democratic primary, putting Arab Americans on the electoral map for the first time by making the foreign policy issue of Israel’s genocide in Gaza a national moral issue.
Democrats underestimated the power of this new generation and the intensity of public anger, and it cost them dearly in the election.
What happened in the Arab American community is an old story across America. They, like other communities, began their pursuit of political influence as a low-profile immigrant group who became dynamic citizens after political developments threatened their well-being and motivated them to take action. .
Arab American mobilization began with small participation in Jesse Jackson’s Democratic presidential campaigns in 1984 and 1988. Jackson said, “Whites, Hispanics, blacks, Arabs, Jews, women, Native Americans, small farmers, businessmen, environmentalists, peace activists, young people, old people, lesbians, gays, and the disabled make up the American Quilt. ”
His campaign galvanized a voter registration drive within the Arab American community that continued for the next three decades. By 2020, nearly 90 percent of Arab Americans were registered to vote. By 2024, the Arab American voter bloc had grown large enough to influence outcomes in key battleground states, particularly Michigan and Pennsylvania, through extensive coordination with other groups.
The 9/11 attacks and subsequent backlash further motivated Arab Americans to participate in meaningful politics. Many members of the community refused to live in fear, seeking to avoid the threats and vilification that had politically suppressed and silenced their parents and grandparents.
Omar Kurdi, founder of Arab American Cleveland, told me: We refused to live in fear of politics. Since then, we have been proud, confident and active in public life. We no longer accept crumbs, we want a share of the pie, and we know what to do to get there. ”
As a result, over the past two decades, Arab Americans have entered public life and politics at all levels, from local, city, and county offices to state and federal offices.
Elected officials say they were successful because voters knew and trusted them. Candidates like Michigan’s Rashida Tlaib, who won seats in state and national legislatures, inspired hundreds of young Arab Americans to join the political fight.
Successful experiences in city government taught newcomers how they can influence decision-making, improve their lives, and contribute to the community at large. Ohio activists said they learned the basics of politics locally, including “lobbying, applying pressure, protesting, educating the public, building consensus, and building coalitions around shared values, issues, and goals.” , an activist in Ohio told me.
All this momentum built over the years coalesced into the “Uncommitted” movement in 2024. With the Biden administration unconditionally supporting Israel’s perpetration of genocidal violence in Palestine and Lebanon, Arab American activists have moved to capitalize on their newfound influence as voters. Politics.
They appeal to like-minded social justice activists from other groups that mainstream political parties have long taken for granted, including Muslim Americans, blacks, Hispanics, young people, progressive Jews, churches, and labor unions. During the primary election, he sent the following strong message: I will not support Biden’s re-election unless he changes his position on Gaza.
The campaign had hoped tens of thousands of voters would send a big message to Democrats by voting “irresponsibly” in the primaries, but in reality, hundreds of thousands of Democrats turned out to vote in six key states. members voted. Those numbers are enough to send 30 uncommitted delegates to the Democratic National Convention in August, where they can lobby their colleagues to shape the party’s national platform.
One activist involved in the process said he convinced 320 of the other 5,000 delegates to support his demands for a Gaza ceasefire and the party’s commitment to an arms embargo on Israel. A political system that wasn’t enough to change a party’s position, but enough to prove that working from within can move things for the better over time.
Intergenerational support and motivation was a major factor in the success of the Uncommitment movement. Maya Berry, executive director of the Arab American Association, who has been involved in such efforts for 30 years, said Arab Americans have always been in political positions but have had little influence because of their small numbers. But they learned how the system works, providing valuable insight when it’s time to take action this year. As an example, she cited Abbas Alawie, co-chair of the National Movement for Irresponsibility and a longtime parliamentary staffer.
The exact contribution of the Uncommitted movement to the Democratic Party’s defeat is currently hotly debated. One activist told me that the movement has “put Arab Americans at the center of Democratic politics, led progressives, helped defeat Harris in battleground states, and supported Gaza in ways we have never been able to do before.” , which brought national attention to divestment and moral issues.” Previously. “
All of this is taking place in uncharted territory, and it is unclear whether Arab Americans will be able to influence both the Democrats and Republicans who may contest their votes in the future.
One Arab-American activist in her 30s added: “Freed from the Democratic Party we took for granted, we Arab-Americans are now officially the floating vote.”
Other activists I spoke to believed that the election experience could set the stage for a larger campaign against the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC, which would require political action committees ( The next hurdle will need to be overcome: establishing a PAC and raising significant funds.
That’s a future possibility. For now, it is important to recognize that national-level Arab American political efforts have emerged out of the fires and devastation of U.S. and Israeli genocide in Palestine and Lebanon. Whether it can improve the well-being of Arab Americans and all Americans will become clearer in the coming years.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial stance of Al Jazeera.
