Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, appears to be facing significant opposition from Muslim voters as she continues to face a neck-and-neck race in Michigan in the weeks leading up to this year’s presidential election.

Michigan is the swing state with the largest concentration of Muslim voters, a group that overwhelmingly supported Democrats in recent presidential elections. However, large segments of these voters are alienated by the Biden-Harris administration’s handling of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, which comes amid a larger conflict between Israel and Hamas.

President Joe Biden’s administration has stood firmly on Israel’s side since Hamas, a Palestinian militant group, attacked Israel on October 7 last year, killing 1,200 Israelis and taking 250 others hostage. At least 42,000 Palestinians were killed in the ensuing war, the Associated Press reported, citing the Hamas-run health ministry in the Gaza Strip.

At the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August, Harris received one of her biggest cheers for her support for Palestinian statehood. However, in her speech she reiterated her commitment to Israel’s security while also addressing the human cost of the conflict.

“President Biden and I are working to end this war so that Israel is safe, the hostages are released, the suffering in Gaza ends, and the Palestinian people can exercise their rights to dignity, security, freedom and self-determination,” she said.

“The Vice President has made several public statements since her nomination expressing her perspective and position on the war in Gaza,” the Harris campaign wrote in an emailed statement Newsweek. “The campaign engages with the local Muslim and Arab American community and meets them where they are.”

Harris’ campaign also mentioned a list of various advocates for key Muslim constituencies and officials, including Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Democrat from Minnesota, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, Arab-American activist Ismael Ahmed of Michigan and U.S. Sen. George Helmy, a Democrat from New Jersey.

Harris also received support from Emgage Action — a group that “educates and mobilizes Muslim American voters,” the Black Muslim Leadership Council and Lebanese Americans for Harris, among others.

Recent polls in the battleground states – which include Michigan with a margin of error – have shown Harris leading former President Donald Trump, the GOP candidate, by about three points in Michigan, according to the latest edition of Quinnipiac and Bloomberg/Morning. is (49 to 46 percent). According to current surveys, they only get 2 points (49 to 47 percent). Washington Post-Schar School poll of likely voters.

Major poll aggregators Nate Silver’s Silver Bulletin, ABC News’ FiveThirtyEight and RealClear Politics have even narrower averages at 0.8 percent, 0.7 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively.

Each candidate has a difficult past when it comes to the country’s Muslim population. Democrats lost reputation and support after supporting Israel, while Trump issued a travel ban on seven Arab, Muslim-dominated countries almost immediately after taking office in 2017.

Meanwhile, discontent among Muslim voters in Michigan over the way Biden and Harris have handled Gaza led to a significant “non-binding” protest vote during the Democratic primary.

Biden clearly lost to “Uncommitted” in Dearborn, the first US city with an Arab majority and home to the largest mosque in North America.

This was announced by the office of Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud Newsweek that it “had no comment or insight to provide” when contacted.

The group Abandon Harris — an extension of the Civil Rights Alliance of America — cited the administration’s “policy of death in Gaza” as one of its driving motivations for “punishing Harris.” Instead, the group supported Green Party candidate Jill Stein for president.

The Harris campaign noted Newsweek that Harris has “highlighted the humanitarian crisis in Gaza” and called on Israel to “obey humanitarian law,” and that the Biden-Harris administration has granted temporary protected status and work permits to thousands of eligible Lebanese nationals.

However, Trump has made surprising progress thanks to strong support from Mayor Amer Ghalib of Hamtramck, Michigan – the only city in the US with an all-Muslim government and the country’s first Muslim majority population.

Ghalib, a Democrat, posted on Facebook that things were “looking good” for Trump as he announced his “support and support for the former and hopefully next President of the United States.”

Ghalib’s office did not respond to a request for comment Newsweek by email until the time of publication.

At the same time, Harris received support from three Hamtramck city councilors: Mohammed Alsomiri, Mohammed Hassan and Muhith Mahmood — all of whom said the Trump campaign had contacted them several times in recent months in hopes of winning their support The Detroit News.

According to the 2020 U.S. Census, approximately 4.5 million American citizens identify as Muslim, with about a quarter million living in Michigan.

Michigan went for Trump in the 2016 presidential election by a margin of almost 11,000 votes, while Biden won the state in 2020 by around 154,000 votes.

Michigan is one of the “blue wall” states that famously voted for Democrats over a 30-year period until Trump seemingly crushed them in 2016, winning Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania.

Biden restored that support in 2020 and political analysts again view these states as the clearest path to victory for Harris. If Harris fails to win these states, it would be incredibly difficult for Harris to win the election.

The Harris campaign continues to invest six figures in digital outreach, including WhatsApp channels for Muslim and Arab American voters to share campaign messages and targeted ads to reach the same voters online.