These Muslim activists in Pennsylvania want to ‘abandon Biden’ over Gaza

The national “Abandon Biden” movement on Monday launched an effort to encourage Muslim voters and allies in Pennsylvania to ditch President Joe Biden in November.

Leaders of the movement, which seeks to punish Biden for supporting Israel and failing to call for a cease-fire in Gaza last year, gathered Monday at Independence Mall in Philadelphia.

“You have not only abandoned the American people, you have abandoned humanity,” activist Hayla Solomon, 23, said at the rally. “Today and moving forward, we are holding you accountable for your negligence, heedlessness, and callousness. We are abandoning you, Joe Biden.”

The Abandon Biden movement started when a group of organizers decided to give Biden an ultimatum in late October: to call for a cease-fire by the end of the month. The movement officially launched in Michigan in early December and has expanded to several other swing states, including Pennsylvania, a state Biden likely needs to win to beat former President Donald Trump in their expected rematch.

A group of activists and passersby listened as speakers exclaimed that they’ve had enough of Biden, who they contend has helped fund genocide by giving Israel military aid as it attacks Gaza, where the death toll has surpassed 29,000. Israel faces international allegations of genocide in the United Nations’ top court, though the country vehemently denies the characterization of its war against Hamas after the Oct. 7 attack on Israel in which Hamas killed 1,200 people and took about 250 hostages.

Biden said Friday that he has pushed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for a temporary cease-fire to retrieve hostages in Gaza, short of the permanent cease-fire activists have called for.

Biden campaign spokesperson Ammar Moussa said Monday the president has urged Israel to avoid civilian casualties and pushed for humanitarian aid in Gaza.

“President Biden knows the importance of earning the trust of every community, of upholding the sacred dignity and rights of all Americans,” Moussa said in a statement. “President Biden is working closely and proudly with leaders in the Muslim, Arab American and Palestinian communities in America, to listen to them about a wide range of issues, stand up for them, and fight back against hate. President Biden has also expressed deep concern about the deaths of Palestinian civilians in Gaza.”

Samer Amm, an imam at three mosques in Delaware County who spoke at the rally, said his mother is in Gaza and called Biden a “killer” for sending weapons to Israel.

“My mom, she’s there, and I’m paying tax,” he said. “Imagine my money is going to maybe kill my mother over there.”

Activists said that they aren’t promoting a Trump presidency, but rather holding Biden and the Democratic Party accountable after Muslim Americans overwhelmingly supported Biden in 2020. The organizers believe that Muslim voters and their allies can make a big enough impact on Nov. 5 to ensure Biden only serves one term.

Rabiul Chowdhury, 28, cochair of the national movement and its Pennsylvania chapter, said in an interview that Muslim Americans who want to punish the president are willing to endure four more years of Trump, even though he threatened a “Muslim ban” and instituted restrictions on travel from Muslim-majority countries as president.

“One banned my community, my family, from coming in; another one is killing my family,” said Chowdhury, of Ardmore, who was born in Bangladesh. ” ... I’m willing to take the ban over being killed, putting it in simplest terms.”

Pennsylvania’s Muslim population is small, but losing part of his 2020 coalition could cost Biden in the state that has been narrowly decided in the last two presidential elections.

According to a 2014 survey by Pew Research Center, 73% of adults in Pennsylvania are Christian, while 6% are members of other religious faiths, including 1% Muslim and 1% Jewish.

» READ MORE: Some young Pa. voters can’t bring themselves to vote for Biden this year over the war in Gaza

EmgageUSA, a group that mobilizes Muslim voters, estimates the state had 167,618 Muslim voters as of 2020. While the organization says that’s a 26% increase from 2016, it’s just under 2% of the current registered voters in the state.

While Biden’s handling of the conflict in Gaza has angered progressives, support for Israel is still strong in the commonwealth. A January poll from Quinnipiac University found that 26% of Pennsylvania voters say they think more favorably of Democratic Sen. John Fetterman for expressing strong support for Israel compared to 14% who say it makes them think less favorably of him. And 57% say it has no bearing on their view of him.

Trump hasn’t promised a friendly reception to cease-fire activists. In October, the former president said he would reject refugees from Gaza, revoke the visas of pro-Palestinian demonstrators, and reinstate a travel ban, according to the New York Times. He also called protests against Israel’s attacks in Gaza “pro-jihadist.”

Pennsylvania Democratic Party Chair and State Sen. Sharif Street said in a statement that he is proud to support Biden in a high-stakes election and warned of a Trump presidency.

“As a Muslim-American, I know that President Biden has my back and will fight for our community,” Street said in a statement. “While Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans threaten our way of life, President Biden has stood up to protect our reproductive rights, economic opportunity, and democracy. This is the choice we face at the ballot box this November.”

But activists said that they’re tired of fear-mongering about Trump from Democrats. Khalid Turaani, one of the founders of the national movement and cochair of the effort in Michigan, said it’s insulting.

“You cannot scare us with Trump,” Turaani said at the rally. “You cannot scare us with what potentially can happen when you’re actively pursuing a genocide against the Palestinian people.”