Frustration over Mideast war in America's largest Arab-majority city may push some away from Democrats

On Dearborn, Mich.’s Warren Avenue, where halal butcher shops and Middle Eastern bakeries are common, there are as many Arabic signs as there are English. Last year, Dearborn became America's largest Arab-majority city. And state-wide, Michigan has the second highest number of Arab-Americans - just after California.

But a major difference? Michigan is a key election battleground, and every vote matters.

Historically, Dearborn has leaned reliably toward the Democrats. But as the war in Gaza rages, the conflict is a significant a ballot box issue this election, and many Arab-American voters in the area told CTV National News they don't feel heard by the party where they felt they once had a home.

As an ongoing part of Omar on the Road: America Decides 2024, CTV National News visited the University of Michigan-Dearborn campus to talk to Arab-American students about why they’re feeling left out of the Democrats’ tent.

Some are voting in their first election, while others, in a kind of protest vote, are choosing a third-party candidate or sitting out of the election completely.

"I just don't feel like any of them really care for any of the Middle Eastern countries to be honest," one Muslim student told CTV News, who asked that she remain anonymous in order to speak freely about the war.

"The whole situation feels like walking on eggshells," said another student, who had a similar request. "Both parties I feel like generally lack sympathy for people in the Middle East right now. I feel like they're not willing to look at both sides."

At the University of Michigan's Ann Arbor campus, Jewish students told us the war in the Middle East matters in the run up to election day.

"I definitely think, along with other issues, it ranks pretty highly up there," student Lexie Meltzer said.

"This past year has taught us a lot about the politics of our country and how in general people are impacted by stuff that happens globally,” said a fourth student, Ryan Silberfein.

They didn't divulge who they were voting for but said they've made their pick.

Both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump have campaigned on the issue and faced questions on how they would reach a ceasefire during ABC's presidential debate in September.

Harris said “Israel has a right to defend itself” in response to the Oct. 7 attacks, adding, “We would.”

But, she said, “How it does so matters. Because it is also true (that) far too many innocent Palestinians have been killed: children, mothers. What we know is that this war must end.”

“She hates the Arab population,” Trump said, referring to Harris. “The whole place is going to get blown up. Arabs, Jewish people, Israel. Israel will be gone.”

He said the war “would've never happened,” under his presidency because “Iran was broke under Donald Trump.”

There is mounting frustration among Arab Americans against the Democrats, hinged in part by the government’s inability to broker a lasting ceasefire. More than 40,000 Palestinians and 1,200 Israelis have been killed.

Hoping to seize on the frustration from disaffected Arab American Democrats, Donald Trump is trying to make inroads. Earlier this month, two Muslim Michigan mayors and an Imam from the state threw their support behind the Republican candidate, who during his first term enacted an entry ban on refugees and citizens of seven Muslim-majority nations.

With files from CTV's Luca Caruso-Moro and The Associated Press