My home town of Dearborn, next to Detroit, is once again under the microscope during a tight election season. While analysts and pollsters see numbers and statistics, I see a beautiful place thriving with diverse communities. Michigan is a key swing state and has the highest Arab-American population in the US, and when I walk in my neighbourhood, I’m greeted by a sea of kofias, Middle Eastern bakeries that make your mouth water, and fancy Yemeni cafes. “Free Palestine” and “ceasefire now” signs pepper the town, in yards and on windows. People express their solidarity with Palestine and Lebanon through T-shirts, watermelon earrings, flags, pendants and bracelets.

The Muslim and Arab community isn’t a monolith, of course, but Gaza is top of our minds this election. Like many in my community, I struggled to get out of bed and go about my daily life after the assault on Gaza began. As we saw our friends and family members being massacred, many of us banded together to put pressure on the Democrats to do something. We mobilised and got more than 100,000 “uncommited” votes in the Michigan presidential primary, showing how those opposed to US-funded genocide could vote as a bloc.

Our movement spread around the country, sending a message loud and clear to those in power – Americans want an end to the genocide – and contributed to Joe Biden stepping down as a candidate. We wanted to send a message that unless the Democrats committed to a permanent ceasefire, and ended arms sales and funding to Israel, we would not be voting for them. Candidates from both parties would need to work to earn the votes of our community.

Despite the media declaring that Kamala Harris won the first debate, the people around me in Dearborn weren’t so impressed. I started off with very low expectations: Harris’s policies don’t align........

© The Guardian