“That’s why they came and tore my family apart,” he said.

Then in 2006, two of Turfe’s grandmothers were killed in Lebanon, where Israel was fighting Hezbollah in a war supported by President George W. Bush.

Turfe said that until those years, his congregation was predominantly Republican. But members gravitated toward Democrats during Barack Obama’s presidency and then helped Biden defeat Trump in 2020.

These political ties have now been severed.

Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 Israelis and kidnapping more than 200 hostages. Israel launched its attack soon after, with military and diplomatic support from the Biden administration.

As civilian casualties mount in Gaza, anti-war Democrats in Michigan and elsewhere have launched a protest ballot movement in the Democratic primary. They raised over 100,000 “uncommitted” votesThe majority come from the state’s Muslim-majority cities, such as Dearborn.

Turfe was part of the “neutral” movement when Biden was running for re-election, but said: changed his mind When Harris became a candidate. He endorsed her in August and met with her before a rally near Detroit in October.

He said he told Harris about his grandmothers’ deaths almost two decades ago and “I felt her empathy.”

“He felt my pain,” Turfe said.

Turfe’s support sparked a backlash. Photoshopped images on social media accuse him of supporting the oppression in Gaza. He also received text messages labeling him as a traitor. Longstanding relations in his hometown of Dearborn have become strained.

Dearborn resident Suehaila Amen is used to her community being in the national spotlight, having starred in the 2012 TLC reality series “All-American Muslim.” Amen, a lifelong Democrat, said he would not vote for Harris.

“They want to send their people to come and see how we feel because they are afraid they will lose what is now a volatile province,” said Amen, who lived in Lebanon from 2017 to 2021. “But you know, if he loses, it will be by his own hand, by his own hand, and he will deserve it.”

Amen said he didn’t want Trump to win, but “at the end of the day, I have to sleep at night.”

Harris made a rare reference to Israel’s fight against Hamas and Hezbollah in a recent speech in Oakland County outside Detroit.

“This year has been very difficult, given the scale of death and destruction in Gaza and the civilian casualties and displacement in Lebanon,” he said. death Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar“It can and should be a turning point,” he said.

Harris also said she was “proud to have the support” of Turfe and other Muslim leaders.

But Harris has made no calls for reducing the flow of U.S. arms to Israel, and her campaign did not allow a pro-Palestinian speaker to take the stage at the Democratic National Convention in August, a key demand of the “no-commitment” movement.

Khanna, a progressive Democrat from California, spent months in close contact with Arab American leaders in the Detroit metropolitan area and this summer received a “Profile in Courage” award from the Arab American Civil Liberties Union. Khanna is Hindu, but he said his family’s background gives him common experiences with Arab Americans.

At a meeting with Arab American leaders on October 26, Khanna sat next to Harris’ Arab and Muslim outreach directors and acknowledged that Harris had “not done enough” to help end the Israel-Hamas war.

“If Trump is elected, people like me will not be in any room,” Khanna said. “Harris gives people like us a seat at the table to advocate for you.”

That’s the kind of message that resonated with Mike Musheinesh, a Palestinian American who runs his own auto parts store and attended the meeting. He said the community should vote for Harris “even if we have to hold our noses.”

“If we want to have a seat at the table, we have to help it cross the finish line,” he said.

___ Associated Press writer Chris Megerian in Washington contributed to this report.

___

This story has been updated to correct Assad Turfe’s position that the election reference be deleted. He was not elected, he was appointed.