Dearborn, Michigan - President Joe Biden travels Thursday to the crucial swing state of Michigan, which is also the crucible of growing Arab-American anger at his continued diplomatic and military support for Israel's assault on Gaza.

The trip comes days after the Democratic incumbent's campaign manager traveled to the city of Dearborn – home to the largest population of Arab Americans in the United States – only to be snubbed by the Detroit suburb's mayor.

It was an ominous sign for Biden, for whom swing states such as Michigan could prove crucial in November, when he faces a likely rematch with his predecessor Donald Trump.

The White House has made clear that Thursday's trip is purely a campaign visit, and Biden's 2024 team has said that he will meet with members of the powerful United Auto Workers (UAW) union in the Detroit area, which endorsed him last week.

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That could carry a lot of weight in Michigan, home to the US auto industry, although rank-and-file UAW members took to X to say that union leaders "voted in secret" to endorse Biden, and the move did not have their support. The UAW in December joined calls for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.

Despite the endorsement, Biden will still have to contend with the anger of Muslim and Arab Americans as Israel's devastating bombardment and siege of Gaza grinds on.

Biden has asked Congress for billions of dollars in additional military aid to Israel, and his government has vetoed multiple UN Security Council calls for a ceasefire in the conflict, leaving many Muslim and Arab Americans feeling betrayed by the Democratic Party, normally their political home.

They accuse the 81-year-old Democrat of sacrificing civilians in Gaza, which is facing a serious humanitarian crisis, in the name of supporting Israel.

White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said Wednesday that Biden was "heartbroken by the suffering of innocent Palestinians," nearly 27,000 of whom have been slaughtered in Gaza since October.

When asked what Biden plans to say to Arab Americans in Michigan, she reiterated, "The president continues to believe that Israel has a right to defend itself [...] as long as it is done in accordance with international humanitarian law."

The International Court of Justice last month issued provisional measures against Israel and said there was a plausible case of genocide in Gaza.

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A federal court in Oakland dismissed a historic lawsuit against Biden and other top US officials on jurisdictional grounds but upheld that there is a plausible case that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza – with US backing.

On Wednesday, a group of Dearborn organizations called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

The city's mayor, Abdullah Hammoud, had earlier written on X that he refused to meet with Biden's campaign manager.

"I will not entertain conversations about elections while we watch a live-streamed genocide backed by our government," he said.

Biden is now regularly confronted by demonstrators waving Palestinian flags and chanting slogans against "Genocide Joe" – and he is expected to face the heat at the ballot box come November.

"It is a genocide that's happening against our families and our people, and people have been responding very strongly," Amer Zahr, a University of Detroit law professor and comedian, told AFP.

"We're not supporting Joe Biden under any circumstances – or any politician frankly – that is not willing to simply call for a ceasefire," added the 46-year-old former surrogate for Bernie Sanders.

Biden won decisively among Arab and Muslim Americans in 2020. But according to an analysis by Youssef Chouhoud, a quantitative social scientist at Christopher Newport University who looked at polling data from sources including nonprofit Emgage and the Council on American-Islamic Relations, many could stay home or vote for a third-party in 2024.

"In Michigan, for example, that could mean Biden would lose about 55,000 votes, or about a third of the 154,000-vote margin of victory he earned over Trump in 2020," Chouhoud wrote on The Conversation.

Samra'a Luqman, a 41-year-old community organizer, co-chairs the growing Abandon Biden movement in Michigan, aimed at dislodging the president from the White House in 2024.

"The goal is ultimately not just to abandon Biden, but to ensure that we oust Biden," she told AFP, adding that she was still proud of some Democrats, including Hammoud and Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib.