(Detroit Free Press) Mike Bloomberg’s outreach to Arab American and Muslim communities in metro Detroit has sparked an intense debate, with some criticizing him over his past support of surveillance of their population in New York City when he was mayor.
This month, Bloomberg’s campaign has taken out ads in Arabic and English in the Arab American News, a Dearborn-based newspaper. And on Sunday, a Bloomberg campaign representative of Arab descent, Fatima Shama, met with Arab American leaders in metro Detroit at two meetings, local community leaders say.
The effort is part of an aggressive push by the Bloomberg campaign in Michigan ahead of the March 10 Democratic primary. But some in Arab American and Muslim communities say they are concerned about Bloomberg’s history of support for spying on their communities and what they see as his hawkish views on Middle Eastern issues.
