For Arab Americans in Little Palestine, there is no safe choice in this election

The Chicago area is home to the most populous Palestinian-American community in the country

Rush Darwish has a vision for Little Palestine: an archway with a welcome sign, alongside an image or a statue of a Palestinian family. It would have a Palestinian museum and a cultural centre.

He says it’s a work in progress.

Little Palestine, nestled in the city of Bridgeview – about 25 kilometres from downtown Chicago – has come a long way from a century ago, Mr Darwish says, when a few families from Beitunia in the occupied West Bank first settled in the area.

Today, Little Palestine has four mosques, two Muslim schools and dozens of Palestinian-owned restaurants, cafes, medical clinics and jewellery stores.

About 200,000 Arab Americans live in the Chicago area, officials estimate, the majority of them of Palestinian descent, making it by far the most populous Palestinian-American community in the country.

The Democratic National Convention held this week in Chicago highlighted the deep fractures between Arab Americans and the party that have developed since the Israel-Gaza war erupted.

While inside the convention centre, thousands of Democratic supporters voiced their enthusiastic support for Vice President Kamala Harris as the nominee for president – outside, thousands of Arab Americans and allies waved large Palestinian flags and demanded an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

The decision to host the convention in the city was made before the October 7 Hamas attack that killed 1,200 people and sparked Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, now approaching its 11th month.

More than 40,200 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli air strikes on the tiny coastal enclave – including relatives of dozens of Chicago residents.

“We hurt, but there’s also hope – and that's why this region is so important,” Mr Darwish, president of the Arab-American Business and Professional Association, told The National. “The foundation, the epicentre of what it means to be Palestinian in the nation, starts right here in Little Palestine.”

The community was hit hard shortly after the war broke out when six-year-old Wadea Al Fayoume, a Palestinian American boy in Chicago, was stabbed to death by his family's landlord in a suspected hate crime.

Arab Americans have historically been a reliable Democratic voting bloc in US elections.

But Mr Biden’s steadfast support for Israel since the war’s start, his refusal to back a permanent ceasefire or place conditions on military aid to Israel, has fractured that backing and deeply angered Arab Americans.

Four years ago, the majority of Arab Americans turned out for Joe Biden at the polls in an effort to unseat Donald Trump, the president who passed the so-called Muslim travel ban.

Mr Darwish, a long time Democrat, was an organiser with the group Arab Americans for Biden.

After the war started, however, the group changed direction – and it name – to Arab Americans Forward.

Still, Mr Darwish says there is reason to be hopeful. The DNC being held in his home state has been an opportunity for Palestinians, Arab Americans and their allies to take to the streets and voice their concerns.

“We are making the right strides, we really are,” he said. “We just have a long way to go, and we're going up against a giant.”

Mr Biden abruptly announced that he was ending his campaign for president last month after coming under intense pressure from his party over his mental acuity, casting doubt on his ability to beat Mr Trump.

He has also endured intense criticism over his policy towards Israel.

His stepping aside brought initial relief as well as optimism for Arab Americans, but they say Ms Harris has so far offered little to suggest that she would change course on Gaza.

“You know what?” she said when pro-Palestinian protesters heckled her during a campaign speech in Michigan. “If you want Donald Trump to win, then say that. Otherwise, I’m speaking.”

She has voiced sympathy for Palestinians and said that she is working towards a ceasefire in Gaza, but she has also said she would not support an arms embargo on Israel, a main demand from the community.

“I don't think anything has changed; I think they're the same,” Munir Shujaeih, a Palestinian-American shop owner in Little Palestine, told The National of Ms Harris and Mr Trump.

“Everybody that's come in has basically been competing and catering to the Israeli government. I honestly don't know who to vote for. To me, they're both worse than each other.”

Yasmine El Agha was born and raised in Chicago. Since the war’s start, she has lost more than 150 family members in Gaza.

She said she is uncomfortable with the prospect of casting a vote come November 5.

“After seeing the level of violence that my family has experienced, it's hard for me to be able to sign off on someone's name and knowing that I'm directly contributing to my family's murder,” Ms El Agha told The National.

“And so right now, not voting seems like the best option to me because I can't justify voting for Kamala or voting for Trump.”

Hamza Ismail is the grandson of Palestinian refugees and is now running the family business, Al Bawadi restaurant, in Little Palestine. A decade and a half ago, the restaurant was a Taco Bell, but is now a landmark serving up traditional dishes from back home.

Like several other businesses along the main street in Little Palestine, after October 7, Mr Ismail put up an electronic sign outside the restaurant with flashing messages informing passers-by about death toll in Gaza, and calling the US government to stop sending weapons to Israel.

He says he will not be participating in the 2024 US elections.

“I do have trouble voting, given that I feel like, no matter who I vote for, what I do, it doesn’t and it won't benefit my brothers and sisters in Palestine, and they're always going to put us at the bottom of the barrel,” Mr Ismail told The National.

He adds that he finds more meaning and purpose in other forms of participation.

“I think we do our part in protesting by bringing food to the protests – we always come back to food in a way,” he said. “That's the role I like to play.”