Arab Americans in Dearborn, Michigan, are grappling with feelings of not being heard in the 2024 elections.

Farhat said the Democratic Party “missed several key opportunities” to reassure Arab American voters concerned about the situation in the Gaza Strip. One glaring omission, he said, is the ongoing decision to supply Israel with weapons for its military campaign in the enclave. He also points out how the Democratic National Convention did not allow a Palestinian American who suffered from the war speak despite giving a platform to parents Hersh Goldberg-Paulinemurdered Israeli-American kidnapped by Hamas on October 7, 2023.

“It’s time to listen—we’ve moved beyond that now,” Farhat said. “We’re at a point where voters like mine are demanding action in the form of a change in policy, not just a change in rhetoric, but having the party that this community has been loyal to for years stand up for them.”

Maryam Hassanein, 24, resigned from her position at the Biden administration’s Interior Department this summer to protest U.S. actions in the Gaza war. She believes nothing will change if Democratic voters are pressured to support the party, adding that the onus is on candidates to get out the vote.

“Discouraging people from voting the way they want to vote from an independent and third party perspective is not really what we should be doing,” Hassanein said. “Change won’t happen if we sit here and say change won’t happen. If we accept things as they are, then of course there will be no change.”

Activist Linda Sarsour, who lives in Brooklyn, New York, but was in Dearborn for the ArabCon conference, has a broader view that echoes others who spoke to NBC News. She says the concerns of the Arab-American community go beyond the conflict in Gaza and reflect the complex nature of their struggle, which includes domestic issues.

“We care about health care, we care about economic issues, we use transportation systems, we have property taxes, we worry about our energy bills that are monopolized by large corporations,” Sarsour told NBC News at ArabCon. “So I want this administration and those running for office to know that yes, the war in Gaza is our top priority, but they also want to hear what your other plans are.”

Not only Gaza

While the Gaza Strip weighs heavily on the minds of many Arab residents of Dearborn, it is not the only conflict on their minds. The US-backed and Saudi-led war in Yemen has pushed millions of people to the brink of famine. War in Iraq, now widely criticizedleft 200,000 civilians diedhaunting many refugees who sought safety in Dearborn. Syria and LibyaThe US has also been devastated by US airstrikes, further fueling mistrust of US foreign policy in the region.

39-year-old Yemeni American Mona Mawari lost her uncle to a missile attack during the war in Yemen. Her family’s story reflects the trauma experienced by many and led her to quit her job as a pharmacist and devote herself full-time to community service.

“He was attending a memorial service when the rockets hit the event hall,” said Mawari, who spoke to NBC News from a crowded Yemeni coffee shop on Schaefer Road. “He was like a father to me.”

Syed Saleh Qazwini, who leads the Arab-majority community at the Muslim Educational Community Center of America (MECCA) in nearby Canton, said the community has watched the devastation in their countries happen in stages over the years. As an Iraqi-American, he said his family has “already paid the price” for U.S. foreign policy.

“Our government, which calls out other countries for human rights violations, why don’t they say anything?” Qazwini spoke about the war in Gaza. “Why are they the suppliers of these bombs that are killing children and innocent lives?”

Zena Alzein and Zaraa Bahsoun, 19-year-old Lebanese-American students, said they did not want to vote for Harris or Trump because of the foreign policies their administration supports in the Middle East.

“We want to feel like we didn’t have a hand in allowing or supporting these things,” Bahsun said, with which Alzein agreed.