{"id":42948,"date":"2026-04-06T15:09:59","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T15:09:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=42948"},"modified":"2026-04-06T15:09:59","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T15:09:59","slug":"arab-americans-in-michigan-warn-centrist-democrats-attacking-hasan-piker-they-havent-learned-from-2024-michigan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=42948","title":{"rendered":"Arab Americans in Michigan warn centrist Democrats attacking Hasan Piker: \u2018They haven\u2019t learned from 2024\u2019 | Michigan"},"content":{"rendered":"


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A<\/span> heated debate over criticism of Israel<\/a> and the political influencer Hasan Piker<\/a>\u2019s role on the left has bitterly divided progressive and establishment Democrats in a US Senate<\/a> race in Michigan<\/a>, an electorally critical swing state. The ongoing controversy likely marks a preview of things to come as the midterm and 2028 election seasons ramp up, and it is drawing warnings from Arab American leaders in a state where the party\u2019s Israel policy badly damaged Kamala Harris\u2019s campaign.<\/p>\n

Mallory McMorrow, a state senator favored by much of the establishment, is locked in a tight three-way race with the progressive Abdul El-Sayed<\/a>, and Haley Stevens, the US representative who is backed by Aipac. El-Sayed and Piker last week announced plans to rally together<\/a>. In response, McMorrow, the Anti-Defamation League<\/a>, the Trump administration<\/a>, Third Way<\/a>, Senator Elissa Slotkin<\/a> and other pro-Israel figures went on the offensive, labeling Piker as antisemitic and seeking to tar El-Sayed over his association with him.<\/p>\n

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Piker, who is Muslim and has an audience of 3 million on the Twitch streaming platform, often strongly criticizes Israel<\/a> over its assault on Gaza, Lebanon invasion, war with Iran, treatment of Palestinian people, and other issues, sometimes in provocative terms \u2013 he described<\/a> Hamas as \u201ca thousand times better than the fascist settler colonial apartheid state\u201d. He is also a heavyweight political force with a massive following among younger voters: Piker interviewed<\/a> and earned praise<\/a> from Bernie Sanders, who is Jewish, and was invited by the Harris campaign to livestream from the Democratic national convention in August 2024.<\/p>\n

Seven Arab American leaders who spoke with the Guardian say centrist Democrats\u2019 attack on El-Sayed and Piker are strategic and moral blunders that show the party is making the same mistakes<\/a> that fueled their 2024 electoral demise in this critical swing state and nationally.<\/p>\n

They dismissed the attacks as an effort to censor criticism of Israel, and an expression of anti-Arab bias that imbues much of the political establishment. Michigan holds the nation\u2019s largest Arab American population per capita in the US, and it is anchored by a huge Lebanese diaspora largely from southern Lebanon. The controversy unfolds amid Israel\u2019s assault<\/a> on southern Lebanon, and as Israel and its military action are deeply<\/a> unpopular<\/a> among Democrats.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are not showing empathy toward Lebanese and Muslim communities,\u201d said Basim Elkarra, executive director of Council on American-Islamic Relations Action.<\/p>\n

Harris lost Michigan in 2024 by<\/a> a narrow 80,000 votes, and by one estimate support for Israel cost her 100,000 votes here. A November 2024 Guardian analysis found<\/a> a 22,000-vote swing away from Democrats in the three cities with the largest Arab American and Muslim populations alone. Nationally, one poll found it to be the top issue<\/a> for Democrats who did not support Harris.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome in the Democratic party haven\u2019t learned from 2024,\u201d Elkarra added. \u201cEspecially in a battleground state, I think they\u2019re going to suffer the consequences in 2028 if they don\u2019t rectify their strategy.\u201d<\/p>\n

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T<\/span>his moment in Michigan is particularly sensitive. McMorrow and her surrogates have said Piker should be shunned because the rallies come less than a month after the Temple Israel synagogue attack<\/a>, which was widely condemned by the Arab American community in Michigan. McMorrow did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is not somebody that you should be campaigning with at a moment when there is clearly a lot of pain and trauma across our state,\u201d McMorrow said<\/a> to Jewish Insider while highlighting that children were at the synagogue. \u201cYou don\u2019t fan the flames.\u201d<\/p>\n