‘Take that, Dearborn’: Muslim Americans scapegoated for Trump’s Gaza 'takeover’ plan

Social media has been in an uproar this week ever since US President Donald Trump held a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, where he announced his Gaza "takeover" plan. 

Trump announced on Tuesday the US could "take over" the Gaza Strip and transform it into a premier tourist destination, or the "Riviera of the Middle East" - but without Palestinians.

On social media, many debated the plan, with large swathes of people denouncing it as "ethnic cleansing". Others immediately pointed out the US's long history of "settler colonialism" and "imperialism".

In the US, many liberal commentators, especially supporters of the Democratic Party, said Trump was acting precisely as they had warned ahead of presidential elections in November 2024. They blamed his Gaza takeover plan on Muslims for voting for him instead of Kamala Harris.

Voters in Michigan's Dearborn, the largest majority Arab-American city in the United States, overwhelmingly supported Trump in a clear protest against the Biden administration's handling of Israel's war on Gaza. 

In reality, Trump won every swing state in the US election, and had he lost Michigan, Harris still would not have come close to competing in the electoral college. 

Arab Americans reacted to the blame in a humorous way, referring to Schrödinger's cat, which is a thought experiment in quantum mechanics where a cat in a box is both alive and dead at the same time until someone observes it. 

I'm Schrödinger's Arab, I both cost you the election and have no effect on American politics at all

— Omar D. Foda🇵🇸 🇱🇧 (@EgyptsBeer) November 6, 2024

Trump's plan sparked a wider war of words on social media between liberals and those who said they would refuse to vote for the Democratic Party over their support for the "genocide" in Gaza.

Liberals targeted American Muslims, Arabs and Latinos for not fully supporting former Vice President Harris. Liberals specifically castigated Muslims and Arabs, with many of the tweets directed at the Arab community in Dearborn.

Trump literally got 55% of the vote in Dearborn. They chose to fuck around. Now they’re finding out.

Great job, Dearborn! https://t.co/AHHGR6XPou

— queen of hoops snark 👸🏻✡️🏀🪷 (@layneashley222) February 5, 2025

Posts on social media along the lines of “you get what you deserve”, referring to Trump doubling down on the "occupation" of Gaza and the West Bank, took social media by storm. Posts ranged from calls to deport Muslims and Latinos to wishing for Trump to unleash more destruction on Gaza. 

However, many people disagree, suggesting that this has turned into a chance for the Democrats to blame Muslims for anything that goes wrong in the country.

All these "Hey, Dearborn how you doing now?" folks are doing is simultaneously acknowledging that the Genocide cost Harris the election and that they were too cowardly to do anything about it when it mattered.

— Yousef Munayyer (@YousefMunayyer) February 5, 2025

Many suggested that Harris's inability to break with Biden's unconditional support for Israel during the election campaign likely cost her the election and prepared the ground for what Trump has suggested for Gaza. 

This debate also sparked an overall discussion about Islamophobia and anti-Arab sentiment that is widespread in the US, with some saying that liberals see this as an opportunity to air out these sentiments. 

Another debate was sparked about Trump’s plan to enact a strict immigration agenda, which includes plans for mass deportation, stricter border security, and reduced incentives to migrate legally to the US. 

On Wednesday, a deportation flight carrying around 100 Indian nationals who were accused of entering the US illegally landed in the state of Punjab, which created another uproar on social media.

However, some on social media felt that anyone who voted for Trump knew that his immigration policies would become tighter and thus had no right to complain. 

The Muslims in Dearborn Michigan overwhelmingly voted for Trump. They decided to vote against Harris as a punishment, because she didn’t overrule Biden and stop Netanyahu. She had no power to do that, she was not President. They were warned that Trump would deport them. 🤷🏽‍♀️ pic.twitter.com/Mrzv4mjw4n

— Here For THEE Comments 1 (@forthecomments1) January 29, 2025

Whether it is the seemingly tightening immigration policy of the Trump administration or his plan to turn Gaza into a “Riviera of the Middle East”, many on social media feel that the blame is always somewhat pinned on Muslims.

Some have suggested that the destruction of Gaza and the advance of the far right both in the US and Israel are what people need to focus on, rather than quickly going for the “Take that, Dearborn”, mantra.

It takes a special kind of myopia to see the obliteration of Gaza, the trauma and suffering on all sides, the unchecked advance of Israel's far right, the generational failure of U.S. Mideast policy, the quixotic quests of Trump — and then say, "take that, Dearborn."

— Ishaan Tharoor (@ishaantharoor) February 5, 2025

Trump's announcement of the Gaza plan is not the first time Arab and Muslim communities have been blamed. During and after the US elections in 2024, several commentators quickly sought to pin the blame on the Muslim and Arab communities.

But multiple polls showed Israel’s war on Gaza and the US's unconditional support was just one of many factors that cost the Democratic Party the election.

Meanwhile, a group that seemingly had a key role in Trump’s voter outreach to the Arab American community during the election campaign announced on Wednesday that they are rebranding after the president said the US would “take over” the Gaza Strip.

The chairman of the group formerly known as Arab Americans for Trump, Bishara Bahbah, said in an interview with the Associated Press that they would now be called Arab Americans for Peace.

This has also led to many on social media doubling down on their blame for the Arab Americans who voted for and supported Trump during the election campaign.