Joe Biden campaigned Thursday in Michigan, an electorally crucial northern US state, which is also the epicenter of anger among Americans of Arab origin against the Democratic president's pro-Israeli policies.

Protesters gathered near a building where the 81-year-old Democrat was meeting with members of the UAW auto union, to demand an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and to accuse him of supporting a "genocide" in the Gaza Strip. 'enclave. The American president's campaign team, which orchestrated the day, had nevertheless kept its exact itinerary secret until the last minute.

Joe Biden is now confronted, during almost all of his public appearances, with demonstrators who wave Palestinian flags and chant slogans against “Genocide Joe”.

The American president, who had not planned a meeting with representatives of the Arab-American community, visited black voters in a restaurant, before devoting himself to meetings with members of the UAW . The powerful auto union recently called for votes for Joe Biden, a welcome endorsement for the president, in a state that is the birthplace of the auto industry.

Michigan, an industrial state in the Great Lakes region, is what we call a "swing state", likely to lean either for the American president or for his great rival Donald Trump, favorite in the Republican primary, during the November election.

© JEFF KOWALSKY / AFP

“Intolerable”

Joe Biden won there, narrowly, against the former president in 2020. But this time he will have to deal with the anger of Americans of Arab origin, particularly numerous in Michigan. This electorate accuses the president of sacrificing the civilians of Gaza, in the grip of a very serious humanitarian crisis, in the name of supporting Israel.

US President Joe Biden (c) in a restaurant to meet the African-American community on February 1, 2024 in Harper Woods, Michigan © Mandel NGAN / AFP

The president's visit coincided with Thursday's announcement of rare financial sanctions targeting extremist Israeli settlers accused of violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. Joe Biden estimated, in an executive order, that “the situation in the West Bank, in particular the high levels of violence by extremist settlers, the forced displacement of people and villages, and the destruction of property, has reached intolerable levels”.

Senior White House officials will travel to Michigan in February to meet the Arab-American community, the president's spokesperson, Karine Jean-Pierre, promised.

Demonstration

The Israeli army has been carrying out a vast military operation in Gaza since the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas launched a bloody attack in Israel on October 7.

Several associations had already called for demonstrations in favor of an immediate ceasefire in Gaza on Wednesday evening in Dearborn, a suburb of Detroit known for being home to one of the largest communities of Arab origin in the country. Last week, the mayor of Dearborn refused to meet Joe Biden's campaign manager, who was visiting the region.

Demonstration in support of the Palestinians in Dearborn, October 14, 2023 in Michigan © JEFF KOWALSKY / AFP/Archives

“I am not going to talk about elections when we see a genocide taking place before our eyes with the support of our government,” explained Abdullah Hammoud on the social network X (formerly Twitter).

Almost every vote counts for the Democratic president, because the November election could be decided, like last time, on small differences in certain key states. For example in Pennsylvania: Joe Biden won with difficulty in 2020 in this eastern state of the country where many Americans of Arab origin also live.

With AFP

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