Furious at Biden, Palestinian-American activist rallies support for Trump

After seven months of war on his people, Bishara Bahbah is angry.

Angry about all the death and destruction, Israel's impunity and the United States' complicity.

So the Palestinian American doctor, who voted for US President Joe Biden in 2020, made a big decision: to support Donald Trump for president in November.

Bahbah, the National Chairman of Arab Americans for Trump, organised a meeting with Trump surrogates and leaders from his own community in Michigan last week.

His group is unaffiliated with the official Trump campaign, but hopes to maintain a direct communication line with him if he wins in the fall.

Polls show that Arab American support for Biden has plummeted due to his support of Israel's war on Gaza. But many in the community are loath to throw their support behind Trump, who enacted a so-called Muslim travel ban while in office and regularly spouts anti-Muslim rhetoric.

However, Bahbah is now in Arizona, another battleground state, drumming up support for Trump, the candidate he believes will finally put an end to Israel's war on Gaza. The activist recently sat down with TRT World to explain his stance and how the election is a pivotal moment for Arab Americans.

TRT World: Can you tell us a bit about yourself?

Dr. Bishara Bahbah: First of all, I have to disclose the fact that I became a Republican three months ago. I've been flip flipping and flopping, but I decided that primarily we have had enough with Joe Biden and his complicity in massacring and committing genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza. That was one of the major primary factors.

The other one is, I believe that Trump is committed to a no-war situation, which means when Trump gets into office, that war between Israel and Hamas will stop. And the only person that (Israeli Prime Minister) Benjamin Netanyahu fears in the world is Donald Trump.

He's played political football with Joe Biden. However, Trump is the one who he fears the most. And honestly, I don't know how long Netanyahu is going to be in power because it seems like the International (Criminal) Court and countries are agreeing to arrest him.

So this was a trigger point as far as I'm concerned. Then I've gotten into communication with the senior level of the Trump team. There's a distinction here between the Trump team and the campaign. I am not talking about the campaign. The campaign runs in a different parallel mode.

And in many ways, the Trump team are people like Richard Grenell, who was a former US ambassador to Germany and acting national director of intelligence under President Trump.

Now, Richard Grenell reached out to me and we began speaking. We decided that we need to do something in order to make sure that Arab-American votes are not just sitting on the sidelines, but are also used in order to proactively elect President Trump.

And in the meeting that we held in Troy, Michigan, which was the first of many meetings we will have, a delegation of heavyweights came out to us from the Trump camp.

We had, for example, Richard Grenell himself. We had Michael Boulos, who is the son-in-law of Donald Trump and who is married to (his daughter) Tiffany. We had Michael Boulos' father, Dr. Mazen Boulos, a Lebanese American businessman who is very successful.

And there was an Arab American and a Palestinian American, a lightweight challenger in the (Ultimate Fighting Championship) Bilal Muhammad. And Ali Abdelaziz, who is an Egyptian American, and he's the manager of the top 150 fighters in the UFC.

Just to emphasise the significance of the meeting, Richard Grenell attempted to call President Trump during the meeting in order to get him on the phone to address the group.

Unfortunately, the call came after the meeting ended. But that shows how much importance the Trump team is putting and President Trump is putting on the Arab, Muslim American voice and votes.

And in the United States, particularly in Michigan and Arizona, because these are very important swing states. And of course, as you know, the latest poll that was done by The New York Times indicated that overall Trump's support among the Middle Eastern, North African or Muslim voters was 57 percent to 25 percent for Biden. So there is already a significant base of support.

We wanted to be proactive in order to bring people out. In fact, this morning, the head of the executive director of a Chaldean education action committee which is based in in Michigan as well, reached out to us in order to coordinate our work because she said they are doing the same work in Michigan that we are doing with multiple organisations, and they would like to engage with us.

So we're not really getting Muslims. We're getting Christian Americans, Arab-Americans to hop on the bandwagon and support Trump.

TRT World: So how do you think Trump would be better for Arab Americans than Biden? Is Palestine a central issue here?

Dr. Bishara Bahbah: As far as Gaza is concerned. Trump is on record, and that was repeated by Ambassador Grenell. And he wants to put an end to that war. He wants the area to be rebuilt and flourish.

Once Hamas is out of the picture and there is new leadership both among the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli government, you know, there is going to be a process leading to peace and security in the region, including among Palestinians and Israelis.

TRT World: So have you heard his comments about deporting people from the US who are sympathetic to the Palestinian cause?

Dr. Bishara Bahbah: You know what? I have heard those comments. And in reality, they don't have a practical effect on the ground.

Ambassador Grenell clearly indicated that there was no Muslim ban. The only thing that the Trump camp feels is important is vetting from areas where there is tremendous political instability should be increased. There will be no Muslim ban.

And then Michael Boulos, who was sitting next to me at the meeting, told me that the whole issue was grossly misunderstood about the Muslim ban. And we did hear clarifications. Some people raised important issues as they should have in a meeting like this one. But I felt that the openness and receptivity of the Trump team was quite significant.

Now, a couple of other issues that I wanted to point out, and that is for those who criticise. I was angered myself when President Trump recognised Jerusalem as the capital of Israel (in December 2017).

But at the same time, there is a clear recognition that that did not rule out the establishment of a Palestinian state in East Jerusalem, in East Jerusalem. It did not mean exclusivity only for Israel, and once the peace talks are in progress and once we have - the term that was used by Richard Grenell was to 'muscle peace,' you know, use the muscle to implement peace.

And that's very important because honestly without both sides being pushed, there's not going to be an agreement of any sort. So that issue was raised.

Now, the interesting part is why didn't Biden reverse that? Democrats have been attacking Trump for (recognising Jerusalem as Israel's capital). At the same time, Biden promised to reopen the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) representation in Washington, DC.

That has not happened. Biden promised that he would reopen the US consulate in East Jerusalem. That has not happened.

These were issues that really move the Arab American community. Now, the Chaldean Americans, for example, care about conservative issues, such as they don't want to see pornography in their schools. And I think that the Muslims agree with that. Muslims and other Arabs agree with them in totality.

So the work there is both on the international as well as the domestic fronts.

TRT World: So what about climate crisis, women's rights, those kinds of issues? You voted for Biden in 2020?

Dr. Bishara Bahbah: Well, we did not discuss those issues. I believe I did (vote for Biden), yes. So I've had a complete change of mind. Now it's not like I don't care about women's rights. I mean, my daughter is very involved in that field in terms of, she was the one who rolled out the contraceptive over the counter, working with a very important pharmaceutical company in the United States.

So that is an important issue, for example, for her. That is an important issue for my Turkish wife as well. And I support those. And I don't see that there's going to be any rollback in the support of women's rights in any form or shape, you know?

TRT World: How are your colleagues responding to you? Because I imagine that this is not a very popular perspective in the Arab and Muslim communities.

Dr. Bishara Bahbah: With the polls showing that 57 percent (of people in my community) are supporting Trump over Biden, I am not in a minority here. Some people have not realised that I have switched positions. But everybody is very angry. I mean, there were people that attended the Secretary of State's meeting last Friday in Washington, DC, and they told me that they went in angry and came out angrier.

So (Secretary of State Antony) Blinken, Biden and all that group are really doubling down on their genocidal support of Israel. And whether they stop the export of 2,000 bombs is irrelevant because it takes a bullet to kill a person. It takes a tank shell to kill a person. So what is the difference?

When the United States approved $60 million worth of tank shells to be sent to Israel on an emergency basis, where are those shells going to go? They're going to go on top of our people. And Trump understands that we have a very strong, strong connection to our homelands, where we came from.

Now, all my children were born in the United States, for example, But still, my children feel that connection to Palestine. I'm from Jerusalem.

TRT World: And do you have family in Jerusalem right now? How are they there?

Dr. Bishara Bahbah: Yes, of course. My family in Jerusalem and the (occupied) West Bank, they are doing okay. I mean, they are living under the same boot that other Palestinians are living under. For example, my sister lives in the Bethlehem area. Every time her kids go out to do their work, she's always worried about when they'll come back.

Will the settlers attack them in the city? Now, Israeli settlers have been going into areas in the West Bank like going into the middle of Tel Aviv. They have no respect whatsoever for what is happening to the rights of any Palestinians living there. Now, I was affected as well by Israel's bombing of the church in Gaza (in October 2023).

Three of my relatives were killed and the Israelis said, 'we did not bomb the church.' Yes, you did bomb the church, and my relatives were among them. So don't lie to us. They demolished 131 mosques. They blew up all the Palestinian academic institutions. They shut down just about every hospital, and they're starving our people.

So are we going to sit and watch? I'm not going to. I'm not going to pin my hopes on them to do anything. So I'm going for Trump all the way through because I want to see an end to that conflict. I want to see a resolution that would be satisfactory to both the Palestinians and Israelis based on a two-state solution.

TRT World: Trump also had a chance when he was president to push for this two-state solution and the Abraham Accords didn't even consider the Palestinian perspective.

Dr. Bishara Bahbah: You know what? I blame the Palestinian Authority for that. (Palestinian President) Mahmoud Abbas had four meetings with President Trump. And I was briefed by someone who was in the room about four meetings.

Trump was very (receptive) in the meeting, saying 'Yes, you should have a Palestinian state,' and then somebody else from his entourage said, 'Mr. President, that's not the United States government policy.' So instead of engaging Trump, Palestinian Authority started bashing him. You don't get anything out of bashing the president of the United States.

And American leadership is needed because the only country that can influence the course of events in Israel is the United States. And we've seen that Biden has been a lightweight. In fact, Biden's image in the United States had been weakened because of how the Israeli prime minister and Israeli government has been treating Biden and his administration.

This is the first time in US history where Arab American votes are going to decide who the president of the United States is going to be. This is the first time in US history that our votes will count more than any money coming into any campaign on either side. You know, they can pour as much money as they want in Michigan.

They will not win Michigan. They will not win Arizona, because our votes are more important than their money. And this is the first time that we're going to be proving that.

Now, the key here for the and Muslim American community communities in the United States is that and I'm quoting Richard Grenell, 'If Arab-Americans and Muslim Americans stay uncommitted and let's say Biden wins, Biden owes them nothing.'

However, 'if Arab Americans and Muslim Americans throw in their weight to Trump, they are going to have a direct line of communication and influence to the White House.'

So it's a calculation. So the argument by Richard Grenell is that you provide your support to Trump at an early stage. You will get credit for that. And every presidential candidate in the future is going to come and ask you what you want, and so and this is an important point, and the numbers are speaking for themselves.

Yes, I have friends of mine who literally attacked me on Facebook and other outlets for having my position. But you know what? I don't see any other option. And voting for the third party candidate, that's a wasted vote and they're not going to be elected in the foreseeable future in the US.

And therefore it's important to throw our weight on the winning side and have a direct line of communication and provide this influence and affect policies.

TRT World: Is there anything you would like to add?

Dr. Bishara Bahbah: Grenell did indicate and very clearly that there is no candidate that is perfect, you know, that no Republican or Democratic candidate is perfect.

With Trump, there's only four years to go and he's going to get a lot done in those four years because he wants a legacy. And that will stay way beyond his presidency. That will last beyond his presidency. And if we don't do it now, we're going to lose out. So this is our opportunity. We've never seen this much attention being paid to the Arab and Muslim American communities.

And the Trump campaign's emphasis is on Michigan and Arizona. Winning those two states is absolutely critical because it would ensure that Trump gets the electoral votes needed to become president of the United States.

TRT World: Are you stressed about November?

Dr. Bishara Bahbah: I'm not really stressed. I know that there's a lot of work to be done between now and November, but I am looking forward to the opportunity for change because we need that and we need that desperately. Every day that Biden is in power, more and more of our people are getting killed.

They're getting starved as we speak. The United States spent $320 million on a pier. And yesterday was the first time any of that aid came in. And it's not sufficient.

And on the other side, the Israelis are going to receive it. You put the Israelis in charge of anything, they're going to use food as a political weapon. Starvation as a political weapon is against international human human laws.

And this is what has to be noted. And the fact that the Biden administration is trying to shield Netanyahu and his defence minister from the ICC and trying to impose sanctions against them, you know, that's ridiculous.

TRT World: But that's a bipartisan effort. The Republicans also want to do that.

Dr. Bishara Bahbah: I understand. But at the same time, what I'm saying is that when Trump is in power, things will change.