Green Party presidential nominee Dr Jill Stein speaks during a rally in Dearborn last week. Reuters
Green Party presidential nominee Dr Jill Stein speaks during a rally in Dearborn last week. Reuters
Green Party presidential nominee Dr Jill Stein speaks during a rally in Dearborn last week. Reuters
Green Party presidential nominee Dr Jill Stein speaks during a rally in Dearborn last week. Reuters

Abandon Harris campaign backs Jill Stein as Arab Americans sour on Kamala Harris


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With the death toll in Gaza rising and Israel's invasion of Lebanon intensifying, it was not a difficult decision for the Abandon Harris movement to endorse Green Party presidential candidate Dr Jill Stein.

“Again and again, there has been silence from the Biden administration,” Hassan Abdel Salam, the director and co-founder of Abandon Harris, told a recent press conference in Dearborn as he introduced Dr Stein. “We have with us a leader, a person of truth, a partner in truth and conscience.”

The move could have a significant impact on the US presidential election. It’s here in Dearborn, and in other Michigan cities – home to more than 300,000 Arab Americans – where the presidential election could be won or lost. President Joe Biden beat Donald Trump by 155,000 votes in 2020 with a significant number of those coming from Arab and Muslim Americans.

In Dearborn, the 2020 Biden-Harris ticket beat Trump by 17,500 votes. In Hamtramck, a city of 28,000 people of whom around 60 per cent are Muslim or Arab Americans, Mr Biden won 86 per cent of the vote four years ago. That city's Muslim mayor has now endorsed Mr Trump.

Further north of Detroit, in Oakland county, where around 65,000 Arab Americans live, Mr Biden beat Mr Trump by more than 100,000 votes in 2020.

The Green Party's presidential candidate Jill Stein speaks to a group of Abandon Harris campaigners in Dearborn, Michigan on October 9, 2024. Photo: Stephen Starr
The Green Party's presidential candidate Jill Stein speaks to a group of Abandon Harris campaigners in Dearborn, Michigan on October 9, 2024. Photo: Stephen Starr

While most national polls show around one per cent of voters likely to back Dr Stein, in Michigan that number doubles. The difference may appear negligible but in a state where only a few thousand votes could decide the winner, it poses a serious problem for the Democratic Party candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris.

“We have a whole campaign of flyering, door knocking and phone banking, and we’re targeting people (across the state),” Mr Salam said. “We feel if we get 70,000 voters to vote against the Vice President, we will definitely be victorious in Michigan.”

The endorsement is a significant boost for Dr Stein.

“You serve as the conscience of the nation, demanding an end to genocide in Gaza being perpetrated in our name with our tax dollars,” she told the audience. “Abandon Harris is a moral compass for a nation that is lost at sea. You have given new life to our ailing democracy.”

For Huda Al Qouqa, whose family were displaced from Silat Ad Dhahr in what is now the occupied West Bank during the Nakba in 1948, last week's press conference was the first time she felt the need to attend an Abandon Harris event.

She said her son-in-law’s family is all in Gaza. “His cousins, his uncles all died. It doesn’t matter who you are – doctors, reporters; it’s really devastating,” she said.

The Dearborn resident said that seeing the news headlines focus on hurricanes while dozens of people were being killed in Gaza and Lebanon prompted her to get out and take part in the Abandon Harris protests.

“We need to encourage the third party more,” she said. “In the end, this is our country.”

Mr Abdel Salam said part of his motivation for advocating against Ms Harris springs from seeing first-hand how Palestinians are treated by Israel. He was detained and interrogated by Israeli police following his involvement in a pro-Palestine protest in Jerusalem in 2022.

Attendees listen to Green Party presidential nominee Jill Stein during a rally in Dearborn. Reuters
Attendees listen to Green Party presidential nominee Jill Stein during a rally in Dearborn. Reuters

Asked whether the Abandon Harris campaign may end up handing the White House to Mr Trump, who has claimed to be one of Israel’s biggest supporters and under whose previous administration restricted travel for several Muslim-majority countries in 2017, Mr Abdel Salam said there is a big difference between preventing people from travelling on one hand, and killing them on the other.

“Mr Trump … is a despicable candidate, an insurrectionist, a racist who spews perpetual racism,” he said. “But a lot of folks in the community now are completely persuaded that this is the only option.”

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Trump v Khan

2016: Feud begins after Khan criticised Trump’s proposed Muslim travel ban to US

2017: Trump criticises Khan’s ‘no reason to be alarmed’ response to London Bridge terror attacks

2019: Trump calls Khan a “stone cold loser” before first state visit

2019: Trump tweets about “Khan’s Londonistan”, calling him “a national disgrace”

2022:  Khan’s office attributes rise in Islamophobic abuse against the major to hostility stoked during Trump’s presidency

July 2025 During a golfing trip to Scotland, Trump calls Khan “a nasty person”

Sept 2025 Trump blames Khan for London’s “stabbings and the dirt and the filth”.

Dec 2025 Trump suggests migrants got Khan elected, calls him a “horrible, vicious, disgusting mayor”

Tamkeen's offering
  • Option 1: 70% in year 1, 50% in year 2, 30% in year 3
  • Option 2: 50% across three years
  • Option 3: 30% across five years 
Dubai Bling season three

Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed 

Rating: 1/5

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%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EJames%20Gunn%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Chris%20Pratt%2C%20Zoe%20Saldana%2C%20Dave%20Bautista%2C%20Vin%20Diesel%2C%20Bradley%20Cooper%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
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The lowdown

Bohemian Rhapsody

Director: Bryan Singer

Starring: Rami Malek, Lucy Boynton, Gwilym Lee

Rating: 3/5

Results

Stage 7:

1. Caleb Ewan (AUS) Lotto Soudal - 3:18:29

2. Sam Bennett (IRL) Deceuninck-QuickStep - same time

3. Phil Bauhaus (GER) Bahrain Victorious

4. Michael Morkov (DEN) Deceuninck-QuickStep

5. Cees Bol (NED) Team DSM

General Classification:

1. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates - 24:00:28

2. Adam Yates (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers - 0:00:35

3. Joao Almeida (POR) Deceuninck-QuickStep - 0:01:02

4. Chris Harper (AUS) Jumbo-Visma - 0:01:42

5. Neilson Powless (USA) EF Education-Nippo - 0:01:45

Five personal finance podcasts from The National

 

To help you get started, tune into these Pocketful of Dirham episodes 

·

Balance is essential to happiness, health and wealth 

·

What is a portfolio stress test? 

·

What are NFTs and why are auction houses interested? 

·

How gamers are getting rich by earning cryptocurrencies 

·

Should you buy or rent a home in the UAE?  

Past winners of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

2016 Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes-GP)

2015 Nico Rosberg (Mercedes-GP)

2014 Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes-GP)

2013 Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing)

2012 Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus)

2011 Lewis Hamilton (McLaren)

2010 Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing)

2009 Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing)

 

In numbers: China in Dubai

The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000

Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000

Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000

Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000

Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent

Evacuations to France hit by controversy
  • Over 500 Gazans have been evacuated to France since November 2023
  • Evacuations were paused after a student already in France posted anti-Semitic content and was subsequently expelled to Qatar
  • The Foreign Ministry launched a review to determine how authorities failed to detect the posts before her entry
  • Artists and researchers fall under a programme called Pause that began in 2017
  • It has benefited more than 700 people from 44 countries, including Syria, Turkey, Iran, and Sudan
  • Since the start of the Gaza war, it has also included 45 Gazan beneficiaries
  • Unlike students, they are allowed to bring their families to France
From Zero

Artist: Linkin Park

Label: Warner Records

Number of tracks: 11

Rating: 4/5

EXPATS
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Lulu%20Wang%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Nicole%20Kidman%2C%20Sarayu%20Blue%2C%20Ji-young%20Yoo%2C%20Brian%20Tee%2C%20Jack%20Huston%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
FA CUP FINAL

Manchester City 6
(D Silva 26', Sterling 38', 81', 87', De Bruyne 61', Jesus 68')

Watford 0

Man of the match: Bernardo Silva (Manchester City)

SPEC SHEET

Display: 10.9" Liquid Retina IPS, 2360 x 1640, 264ppi, wide colour, True Tone, Apple Pencil support

Chip: Apple M1, 8-core CPU, 8-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine

Memory: 64/256GB storage; 8GB RAM

Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, Smart HDR

Video: 4K @ 25/25/30/60fps, full HD @ 25/30/60fps, slo-mo @ 120/240fps

Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR, Centre Stage; full HD @ 25/30/60fps

Audio: Stereo speakers

Biometrics: Touch ID

I/O: USB-C, smart connector (for folio/keyboard)

Battery: Up to 10 hours on Wi-Fi; up to 9 hours on cellular

Finish: Space grey, starlight, pink, purple, blue

Price: Wi-Fi – Dh2,499 (64GB) / Dh3,099 (256GB); cellular – Dh3,099 (64GB) / Dh3,699 (256GB)

Muguruza's singles career in stats

WTA titles 3

Prize money US$11,128,219 (Dh40,873,133.82)

Wins / losses 293 / 149

Updated: October 13, 2024, 11:30 PM