Donald Trump assured that he could achieve peace in the Middle East. And he seems to have convinced certain Arab-Muslim voters who gave him their vote in the American presidential election.
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These new supporters are celebrating the victory of the Republican billionaire on Wednesday, convinced that he will keep his promise, despite the siege of Gaza and the bombings in Lebanon carried out by Israel, led by Benjamin Netanyahu, one of its allies.
In Dearborn, the largest city with a majority population of Arab origin in the United States, the 78-year-old former Republican president largely won ahead of Kamala Harris, according to the first results, while Joe Biden had excelled there in 2020.
This time, the left electorate has fractured between Kamala Harris and the environmentalist Jill Stein.
“People have understood the message that Trump is trying to bring peace to the Middle East and to the whole world,” assures AFP Bill Bazzi, Lebanese-American, mayor of Dearborn Heights and supporter of Donald Trump.
The Republican’s supporters believe the end of the conflicts in Gaza, where Israel has been at war against the Islamist movement Hamas for more than a year, and in Lebanon, where bombings against pro-Iranian Hezbollah have been going on for several weeks, is possible.
During his first term, Donald Trump took measures banning or restricting entry into the United States, mainly targeting Muslim-majority countries. He had supported Israeli settlements in the West Bank and moved the US embassy from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv, a major setback for Palestinian hopes for statehood.
“More diplomacy”
The mayor dismisses these measures as so much disinformation from the media.
For him, this “Muslim ban” consisted solely of more strictly controlling influxes from certain unstable countries, in order to prevent members of the Islamic State organization from entering the United States.
During the campaign, Donald Trump judged that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must “finish the job” against Hamas. But according to Bill Bazzi, Donald Trump is “pushing for an end to the war.”
“He wants more diplomacy,” assures the former Marine, who claims to have high-ranking contacts in Donald Trump’s entourage.
Like other Americans of Arab origin, Samra’a Luqman, a Yemeni-American activist and real estate agent, refuses to give up.
She says she is scandalized by the unwavering military and diplomatic support provided by the government of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to Israel.
“They can hold us responsible for Harris’ defeat. I want them to do it,” she says. “It was my community that said ‘if you commit genocide, we will hold you responsible’.”
“He will”
In front of the Shatila bakery, Trump voters are jubilant.
“He is smarter, better educated for this position,” assures Diyaa Abd, a truck driver from Iraq, adding that under the Republican’s first mandate, there was peace in Ukraine and the Middle East.
“Whoever had to win won,” adds Mike Sima, 75 years old.
Donald Trump’s team also made the trip to Dearborn, unlike its rival.
The Democratic candidate’s decision to campaign alongside former Republican parliamentarian Liz Cheney, an ardent defender of the war in Iraq, also put off part of the Arab electorate.
Donald Trump’s proximity to the American-Lebanese Michael Boulos, husband of his daughter Tiffany, may also have benefited the billionaire. Massad Boulos, Michael’s father, participated in his campaign as an advisor.
However, some recognize that Donald Trump may have made contradictory remarks.
“Yes, he said ‘finish the job’ (in Gaza), but when I asked what that meant exactly, I was told ‘stop the war’,” insists Bishara Bahbah, president of the association of Arab-Americans for Trump.
“He said it and he will do it. Trump proved he did what he said.”
