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Nihad Awad, executive director of CAIR the Council on American-Islamic Relations spoke at the American Moslem Society (Masjid Dearborn) on February 25, 2024, ahead of the Democratic presidential primary elections in Michigan. He urged his audience to vote "uncommitted" in the primaries in order to send the message to Biden that Muslims will never vote for him. He said that Muslim voters should not be taken for granted by any political party, and he emphasized that the political parties should also focus on Muslim interests.
Awad said that Muslim Americans are willing to negotiate with President Biden, his administration, or his campaign on changing their policies towards Palestine, Yemen, and other issues, such as Kashmir. He said that the "Zionist lobby" has been able to influence American lawmakers to pass resolutions benefiting Israel. Awad explained that the reason for this "moral and political corruption" is that institutions have been able to "buy the loyalty" of these lawmakers. He continued to suggest that instead of American Muslims spending money on humanitarian aid, they should spend money on "those who make political decision here," and avoid the destruction caused by America altogether. The talk was streamed live on the mosque's YouTube channel.
Nihad Awad: "Do the upcoming elections affect what is happening in Gaza? The answer is a million percent "yes,' because what is happening in Gaza now is happening with the consent, arming, support, justification, and protection of the U.S. administration, the administration of President Biden. He is doing that because he thinks that since he is the president, he has the right to do so, because he is managing the affairs of the country. But who put him in the White House? The voters, including the Muslim voters in Michigan.
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"Now the responsibility is yours once again, do you understand? The responsibility to express your indignation at this unjust president who is financing this crime is yours once again.
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"The Zionist lobby, or the pro-Israel lobby, was able to influence the Congress and the Senate to pass resolutions that give Israel $14 billion, regardless of the massacres. What is the reason for this moral and political corruption? It is because some institutions have managed to amass money over the years, and buy the loyalty of those [lawmakers]. The solution is that we liberate their loyalty from political corruption.
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"You can send a very powerful message next Tuesday by choosing the 'uncommitted' option. This is a powerful message – the Muslims in Michigan are saying to [Biden]: 'We will never vote for you, you will not get our trust.' What will happen if this message is received on Tuesday evening? I expect that either the President changes his policy towards the war in Gaza and demands a ceasefire, or there will be pressure on him from the Democratic Party to resign and nominate another candidate, because Muslims anywhere in the U.S. will not vote for him.
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"Subsequently, if President Biden, his administration, or his campaign want to negotiate with us after receiving a clear message, we will negotiate with them about changing his policies on Palestine, Yemen, and many other issues. Gaza is only the spearhead. It is the start. It exposes (people's views).
"But beyond Gaza, there is Yemen, there is the Arab and Islamic world, and there are Muslim minorities that are suffering in India and in Kashmir.
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"No political party should take our votes for granted. At the end of the day, we are Muslim voters, not Democrat or Republican voters. We are focusing on our interests, and they should focus on our interests, too. This message is not intended for Biden alone, but to the Democratic Party in its entirety and to the Republican Party as well.
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"Do you know how much Muslims in the U.S. spend on humanitarian aid? Give me a number. It is about $1.5 billion.
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"In other words, the Muslims in America are sending their money to rebuild what the U.S. has destroyed. Why? Because we do not have enough political power here to prevent those unjust policies that bring about killing, destruction, and displacement. We, as Muslims here, are acting the other way around. Instead of preventing the catastrophe from happening, we wait until it happens, and then we deal with it over there. We do this time after time. But brothers, we spend $1.5 billion on what is called 'the aftermath.' Why don't we spend just $50 million on those who make the political decisions here, and save the Islamic nation from the killing, death, and destruction?"
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