- Title: PERSONAL: Lebanese-American woman abstains from voting in U.S. election
- Date: 4th November 2024
- Summary: BEIRUT, LEBANON (NOVEMBER 4, 2024) (REUTERS) LEBANESE-AMERICAN CITIZEN, ZEINAB BAYDOUN, WATCHING NEWS ON U.S. PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION ON TV VARIOUS OF BAYDOUN SITTING ON THE COUCH AND SAYING (English): "I want him or her, whoever wins, to stop the slaughter." U.S. FLAG ON TV STAND VARIOUS OF BAYDOUN LOOKING AT HER U.S. PASSPORT BAYDOUN SHOWING HER PASSPORT (SOUNDBITE) (English) LEBANESE-AMERICAN CITIZEN, ZEINAB BAYDOUN, SAYING: "Actually, as an Arab-American, I've always voted in the elections. I don't vote like, usually, Democratic or Republican. I always vote according to the candidates' policies and economic plans. But this year, I decided not to vote." BAYDOUN BEING INTERVIEWED (SOUNDBITE) (English) LEBANESE-AMERICAN CITIZEN, ZEINAB BAYDOUN, SAYING: "We had hoped that the U.S. would do anything to stop this war. Kamala, she's been in charge (as vice president) for four years now. She could have done something about it." HANDS OF BAYDOUN (SOUNDBITE) (English) LEBANESE-AMERICAN CITIZEN, ZEINAB BAYDOUN, SAYING: "I've always supported President Trump. But when he said that Israel looks tiny and he's thinking of, wondering if we can make it bigger, along with, right now, the Israeli ground manoeuvre, so I thought, like, what if he gives them my Bint Jbeil, my city in South Lebanon. So I've got, like, serious fears right now." (SOUNDBITE) (English) LEBANESE-AMERICAN CITIZEN, ZEINAB BAYDOUN, SAYING: "Both of them are playing politics on issues of life and death for people that we care about. And this thing made me not to vote for any of them." BAYDOUN'S FAMILY PHOTOGRAPH ON A DIGITAL FRAME (SOUNDBITE) (English) LEBANESE-AMERICAN CITIZEN, ZEINAB BAYDOUN, SAYING: "We don't know anything about our houses. We don't know when we're going to be bombed, we're going to be slaughtered. And it's all from our (U.S.) tax money."
- Embargoed: 18th November 2024 13:59
- Keywords: ISRAEL LEBANON PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION US VOTING
- Location: BEIRUT, LEBANON
- City: BEIRUT, LEBANON
- Country: Lebanon
- Topics: Middle East,Government/Politics,Elections/Voting
- Reuters ID: LVA001698704112024RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Zeinab Baydoun, a Lebanese-American citizen has chosen to sit out this year presidential election - a stark departure from her usual engagement.
Having always voted based on candidates policies, the 36-year old said she was disappointed over the foreign policies of both Democratic candidate Kamala Harris and Republican candidate Donald Trump.
The election comes a week after U.S. efforts to halt fighting between Israel and Hezbollah failed, as a U.S.-drafted ceasefire proposal ran aground.
Baydoun's family emigrated to the United States early in the 1990s from her hometown Bint Jbeil, in southern Lebanon.
Growing up in Michigan, she returned to Beirut in December, 2022 to take care of her ailing father - a few months before Lebanese armed group Hezbollah and Israel started exchanging fire in parallel with the Gaza war.
Baydoun said Washington's stance on the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah made her feel disillusioned.
With the onset of Israeli strikes in Lebanon, Baydoun has lost relatives and friends in her hometown and she herself had to flee her family apartment in Beirut after a strike in her neighbourhood.
Despite the intensifying fighting, Baydoun decided to stay in Lebanon as she couldn't face leaving her family behind.
Lebanese armed group Hezbollah and Israel have been exchanging fire for a year in parallel with the Gaza war but fighting has escalated in recent weeks.
Israel says it has uncovered Hezbollah tunnels and weapons stores in south Lebanon, and that the Iran-backed group had planned an incursion into Israel even larger than the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas.
The health ministry said on Friday (November 1) that Israeli attacks have killed at least 2,897 people and injured 13,150 in Lebanon.
(Production: Kuba Stezycki, Joelle Kozaily) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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