DEARBORN, Mich. — With the country still riveted on the legal wrangling that will determine the outcome of the presidential elections, Jewish and Arab analysts are still assessing the impact of the Arab-American vote and the unprecedented attention it has received.
For Jews, the issue raises key questions about the political leanings and newfound influence of the Arab-American community — and to what extent, if any, Arab clout could come at the expense of Jewish interests..
In this Detroit suburb with 300,000 Arab-American residents, Arab-American leaders said their community gave about 70 percent of their vote to Bush. About 7 percent went to Ralph Nader, whose Lebanese lineage and criticism of Israel appealed to many.
Leaders in this community, which has the largest concentration of Arabs outside the Mideast, also said they were surprised at how many community members turned out at the polls — about 48 percent. In addition, the traditionally Democratic group went Republican this time around.
The reasons are many, among them the perception that Republican George W. Bush paid more attention to Arab-Americans during the campaign than did his Democratic opponent, Vice President Al Gore.
Designating Michigan as a pivotal swing state, which he ultimately lost, Bush visited Arab-American leaders, actively courting their support and even mentioning their community by name in the second presidential debate, when he said they suffer from racial profiling.
But the top concern for Arab-Americans, say analysts, was the violence in the Middle East and the perception that President Clinton has not been a fair mediator in the peace process.
“Obviously the situation in the Middle East, with the new intifada, did not help emotions in this community and they linked the deterioration in the situation with the Clinton administration,” said Hassan Jaber, an Arab-American activist in the Detroit area.
“Some people actually believe the Democrats are better for the country, but they’re thinking about the people who are dying,” said another activist.
The more recent Arab immigrants are not only bringing to the United States their passion for Middle East issues, but are channeling it into the power of their vote.
It’s an embryonic political consciousness that began with their interest in the Middle East — where their families are and where their passions lie — but is beginning to develop into a more complex structure of advocacy and education in foreign and domestic issues.
David Gad-Harf, executive director of the Jewish Community Council of Metropolitan Detroit, compares it to the American Jewish political awakening at the opening of the 20th century.
For the newer immigrants, the ones who have been here 20 and 25 years, “Middle East issues are No. 1 on their mind and everything else comes second. Maybe way second,” Jaber said.
However, among the second and third generation, he added, “I believe they went heavily toward Gore.”
James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute and an ethnic adviser to the Gore camp, said, “Frankly, my sense about this election is that we all learned a great deal and have a great deal yet to learn, [including that] there has to be a tolerance for diversity of opinion in the country and in our community.” “
He said the next president will have to “do better on appointments in the administration,”
Gad-Harf said that Jewish-Arab cooperation, which has declined in recent weeks as a result of the violence in the Middle East, could resume once things quiet down.