THE state of Michigan sits in the upper Midwestern portion of the United States. Once the hub of the American auto industry the state has since become part of what Americans call the Rust Belt. It is rusting because the American auto industry and the jobs that came with it have shifted elsewhere. Rust, perhaps a better word than rot, is a metaphor for the flailing job landscape and the general feeling of malaise that surrounds many of the state’s residents as they look at their future. Apart from all of this, two other facts about Michigan are important in the contemporary context. Firstly, Michigan is defined as one of the ‘swing states’ that will decide next week’s presidential election in the US. Secondly, it is home to the largest geographic concentrations of Arab-Americans in the country.

The Muslim-Americans of Dearborn, Michigan, are largely from the Middle East and the 2023 figures put them at around 110,000. In 2020, President Joe Biden won the state by 154,000 votes. In the current poll estimates, former president Donald Trump is leading in Michigan. This indicates that the Muslim-Americans, including the large Arab-American voting demographic in the state, are likely going to decide the election in Michigan in his favour, as at the present moment, most of these crucial Michigan voters are not inclined positively towards the Democratic Party.

In the Michigan Democratic primary, when the present incumbent was still the presumed presidential candidate, a........

© Dawn