(WXYZ) — Arab American Amer Zahr is big on stand-up comedy, but he's even more passionate when it comes to standing up for his Palestinian roots.
Last year, Amer was heavily involved in the "Abandon Biden" campaign. While Joshua Feinstein, a former Zionist, and Mikal Goodman played key roles in the "uncommitted" movement, none of them voted for Donald Trump.
"As an American, was Gaza the only important topic for you?" I asked.
"Absolutely not," said Joshua.
Amer said, "Gaza was the biggest issue in the election. It is what made Biden drop out; don't let anyone tell you anything different. And it's the reason Harris lost."
"You are not Arab, you are not Muslim ... why was this important for you? I asked Mikal.
Mikal said, "For me the boundary of I'm only helping them because they look like me is something that I've never done. It's a collective struggle. MLK has said that, Malcom X has said that."
In January, Donald Trump was sworn in for a second term.
Mikal says the policies rolled out by Trump are "absolutely horrendous."
Related video from earlier report: Interview with activists in the uncommitted vote movement
"It's confirming everything that many of us believe to be true. We knew once he got in office, he would start attacking marginalized groups through the dismantling of DEI programs, we are seeing mass firing. Mass firing at the FAA. Local and state governments are threatened for supporting Black and brown working-class people," he said.
"Based on some of the things President Trump has said about Gaza, about Palestine, about the Middle East, does that sit well with you?" I asked.
Amer said, "No. I'm not worried about Trump ethnically cleansing 2 million people from Gaza. What we have seen is that for instance, two major recipients of U.S. aid, Egypt and Jordan, have stood up and said, this is not going to happen. Even Saudi Arabia who is very cozy with the US, was talking about normalizing relationship with Israel has gotten up and said, this is not going to happen. So again, in a weird way, he kind of brings people together to talk about justice in Palestine. So there may be a silver lining to all of this."
Joshua said, "Him being a wild card and having a knock-on effect on stopping the bombing, I realize it's a temporary relief."
Many uncommitted voters believe that the current ceasefire deal came to fruition with Trump winning back the White House.
"I also realize, Trump being in office will create a spike of ... uncertainty," said Joshua. "What was not OK with me, is ... seeing, my friends and family being bombed every day, seeing innocent people being killed. And I think if you look at the community here in Michigan, we rather see someone come at us and stab us in the chest, rather than tell us they are our friend and keep stabbing us in the back."
Amer said he wants elected officials to listen to his community.
"We understand there is really no place for Arabs, Muslims, brown people, immigrants, but the Democratic party has to listen to us," he said.
"How do you respond, when people say it is the uncommitted movement that helped Trump get back in the office?" I asked.
"Statistically, it was not the uncommitted that moved the needle. Our idea for the uncommitted was to vote for peace, vote for your conscience," said Joshua.
Mikal said overall people wanted to see change happen.
Joshua said while he does feel they have the Democratic party's attention, there are still questions.
"So we have the attention, but do we have the ear? Do we have the openness to actually say let's figure this out instead of pointing fingers ... that's the question," he said.
