(WXYZ) — For several months, 7 News Detroit has been there as a growing number of Arab and Muslim Americans have called on Joe Biden to step down. The groups have hosted several protests across metro Detroit calling the president unfit to run after his administration failed to call for a cease-fire in Gaza.
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Now that Biden has announced he will not seek re-election amid growing pressure from Democratic allies concerned about his age and health, organizers are counting it as a small win.
"We don’t say mission accomplished. We do say that the mission is changed," said Hudhayfah Ahmad who is a spokesperson for the Abandon Biden movement. "Right now we are still deliberating on how to move forward. We are coming out with a list of demands for whoever is going to be the DNC nominee and again we’re just taking it day by day."
The Abandon Biden movement began back in October after Israel launched a strike on Gaza following the Oct. 7th Hamas attack. The members of the Abandon Biden movement demanded President Biden call for a cease-fire to stop the bloodshed of innocent civilians caught in the crossfire. After the Biden administration failed to do so, the group formed and began hosting protests across Metro Detroit and organizing chapters across the nation.
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Ahmad has been on the front lines with other protesters for months as a part of the Abandon Biden Movement. Monday, he and other members of the group were in Washington D.C. holding a press conference in response to Biden's announcement.
Ahmad said while they believe Biden stepping down was a small win, he was disappointed in the reason for his departure.
"We believe people who called on him to step down did so for the wrong reasons," said Ahmad. "There really was no glee or satisfaction due to the fact that people were agreeing with us that he was unfit to lead but it wasn’t because of his backing, funding, or supporting the genocide in Gaza it was because he embarrassed himself in a debate against Donald Trump."
The Uncommitted National Movementhas also risen in the months since the war began in Gaza. The group has also been working to bend the Biden administration's foreign policy to end the war.
"My initial reaction was that this was a small victory for our campaign," said Layla Elabed who is one of the organizers for the Uncommitted National Movement.
Elabed says while uncommitted voters are not closed off to the idea of casting Democratic votes in November, those votes will have to be earned.
"As a Palestinian, as an Arab American, as a voter I know what my community is feeling right now. We are grieving, we are frustrated. We feel a very deep betrayal from the Democratic Party which I think is warranted in this moment," said Elabed. "I think right now there’s an opportunity for Harris or whoever the nominee is going to be to rectify that but they need to act soon."
Both groups say they are now turning their efforts to the Democratic National Convention, set to take place in Chicago next month.
"I think for Harris to be a candidate to unite the party, to win her race to the White House, she needs to have a strong differentiation between her and Biden's current policy on Gaza and funding weapons to Israel," said Elabed. "Our hope is that at the DNC we are going to have the opportunity to shift the policy, shift the party platform in order to have real wins that will save Palestinian lives."
