Arab Americans challenge Biden’s Gaza response in primary

Good morning! It’s Tuesday, February 27th. I’m Mark Garrison in for Shumita Basu. This is Apple News Today. On today’s show, Michigan Arab Americans upset over Gaza could threaten Biden’s re-election, Florida health policy under fire during a measles outbreak, and how our names might influence our careers.

But first, let’s take a quick look at some other stories in the news. President Biden says there could be a Gaza ceasefire deal in place as soon as Monday. "Reuters" reports that a draft proposal includes new aid for civilians, and an exchange of hostages held by Hamas for Palestinian prisoners in Israel. Biden told “Late Night” host Seth Meyers about what Israel is potentially willing to do.

Ramadan's coming up, and there's been an agreement by the Israelis that they would not engage in activities during Ramadan as well, in order to give us time to get all the hostages out.

Biden may have sounded optimistic about a deal coming together soon, but Hamas officials said there are still big gaps between Israel and Hamas. Today, Biden is hosting Congressional leaders at the White House for talks on aid to Israel, Ukraine, and avoiding a partial government shutdown. In Europe, Sweden is set to join NATO as early as this week. For many years, the country avoided membership. But Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

I'm happy to share with you that starting in August this year, the Albert Einstein College of Medicine will be tuition free.

Dr. Ruth Gottesman, a former professor there, announcing her one billion dollar donation to the institution.

It’s one of the largest donations to a school in American history. It’s Primary Day in Michigan. And in this critical swing state with a large Arab American population, some voters say President Biden isn’t doing enough for Palestinian civilians in Gaza.

They plan to express their frustration today.

When I was in Dearborn at the end of January, I was really struck by how much the Israel-Gaza war has just consumed the community. It is all people think about. It's all people talk about.

Yasmeen Abutaleb covers the White House for "The Washington Post." She spoke with Arab Americans who plan to flex their power as a voting bloc. Activists, backed by local politicians, are encouraging Democrats to choose the option “uncommitted" on their ballot, instead of Biden. The goal is to have at least 10,000 of these votes, sending a message: tilting too far toward Israel could cost Biden the White House.

They want Biden to call for a full ceasefire in Gaza, they want him to stop vetoing these resolutions at the U.N. and beyond that, you know, they say he can't just call for a ceasefire and then come and campaign the next day. There are a lot of Democrats who are saying there's a lot of trust rebuilding that needs to happen in this community over the next few months.

There are over 300,000 in Michigan with heritage from the Middle East or North Africa. The majority voted for Biden in the last election. Some are waiting to see if he can earn their vote by the general election. But others told "The Post," they’re done supporting the president. Polls pitting Biden against Trump show a tight potential race in Michigan. If Biden loses a significant amount of support among Arab American voters, Abultaleb says, that could complicate his campaign.

If he can't win that state, I think there is a deep, deep fear that that means he is not going to win the election. And I think the voters there are well aware of it.

In 2016, Donald Trump beat Hillary Clinton in Michigan by 10,000 votes. That’s why organizers in the state have been pushing to get that many Democrats to vote "uncommitted" in today's primary. Abutaleb says, it’s meant to be a warning to Biden that many Arab American voters are not happy, and they’ll matter in a close race.

And I think what was really striking about this community

is they are well aware of their voter power.

In the U.S. and around the world, public-health experts are worried about rising measles cases.

It’s highly preventable with vaccination, but highly-infectious when people aren’t protected. Measles is most common in children. Symptoms include fever, cough, and a full-body rash. In the U.S., multiple states are reporting infections. There are a few dozen cases this year, a relatively large number compared to recent years in America. Florida is at the center of the outbreak, with a large share of those cases. And public health experts are criticizing the state Surgeon General.

The Surgeon General in Florida chose not to do that, but actually to say, given the burden of having your kid home from school for three weeks, he was going to leave it up to parents to decide.

Engber says, this is similar to Dr. Joseph Ladapo’s approach on other issues. He was appointed during the COVID pandemic by Republican Governor Ron DeSantis. Engber says, Dr. Ladapo got a lot of criticism for questioning COVID vaccination recommendations and other common policies.

Making the argument that a lot of these public-health measures, in terms of mandatory quarantine, school closures, mask mandates, that all those things were doing more harm than good.

Measles can lead to severe and potentially deadly complications. Engber explained that at the hard-hit Broward County Public Schools, the overall vaccination rate is high. And it’s unclear how many families will decide to send unvaccinated kids to school because of Dr. Ladapo’s guidance.

Lots of parents are still going to be making their own decisions based on what they hear more generally about the life-saving value of these vaccines.

Still, experts worry that if Dr. Ladapo’s guidance spreads, and more unvaccinated kids are in school during a measles outbreak, that could be a major problem.

Doctors say the safest bet for parents is to make sure they get their kids vaccinated against measles. Finally, a story about people who seem destined to do what they do.

Let’s start on the track at the 2012 Olympics in London.

Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant, Usain Bolt of Jamaica is the fastest man on the planet.

That’s Bolt racing to one of his many gold medals. Even his name sounds fast, like, what else could a guy named Bolt be but a champion sprinter. The term for that is aptonym. A name that’s especially well-suited to the person’s career. And there’s research showing that there may be more to these names than just coincidence. "National Geographic" spoke to a lot of people whose professions match up with their surnames. There’s Carla Dove, who studies birds at the Smithsonian.

So someone’s name might give them the tiniest nudge toward a career choice. If nothing else, people with aptonyms say it gives them extra recognition. Betsy Weatherhead is an atmospheric scientist. She says, people naturally remember her because of her name, and she’s grateful for that. You can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app. And if you’re already listening in the News app right now, we've got a Narrated Article coming up next from "WIRED."