https://arab.news/8q56e
Dr. Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate for this year’s US presidential election, was cheered by hundreds of attendees at the annual convention of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee in Dearborn, Michigan, last week — a sign that Democrats have a serious problem when it comes defeating Donald Trump on Nov. 5.
When I told Democratic friends that I planned to vote for Stein — noting that, while the Republicans are like wolves, the Democrats are a wolf in sheep’s clothing — they said that voting for Stein would make me responsible “for electing Trump.” I responded: “No. If Trump wins, you can blame the Democrats for failing to stand up for the principles they claim they hold sacred.”
Having covered American elections for half a century, I know they are unpredictable. Polls can only tell you which way the wind is blowing at any given moment and cannot predict who will win. Any issue can surface at the last minute to influence an election.
At the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee convention, I listened as several Arab Americans who had been hired by the Biden administration as part of the president’s long-forgotten “partnership” with the community explained why they quit over America’s support of Israel’s Gaza war. They said they were repeatedly told that “Arab voters” would come back to Harris and the Democrats because their only other option was a candidate who wants to “kick all Muslims” out of the country. However, the majority of Arabs in America are actually Christian, not Muslim, and the majority of American Muslims are non-Arabs.
When the names Trump and Harris came up, the hall filled with jeers.
Many Americans oppose the country’s continued support of Israel’s genocide in Gaza more than they oppose Trump
Ray Hanania
It would be a huge mistake for Democrats to take the support of Arabs and Muslims for granted. But it is not just the votes of Arabs and Muslims that are being taken for granted, it is the votes of all Americans who have a conscience and who believe that the principles of the rule of law and the truth really matter.
Many Americans oppose the country’s continued support of Israel’s genocide in Gaza — the US is providing billions of dollars in funds and weapons, which are being used to kill thousands of civilian women and children every week — more than they oppose a Republican candidate who is loose with his rhetoric.
Harris has been overly cautious about what she says on the Israeli assault on Gaza, which has been raging violently for almost a year. She has emphasized that she supports Israel’s right to exist, called Hamas a terrorist organization and expressed empathy for the families of those “killed by Hamas.” She has also expressed empathy for the Palestinians killed, but always avoids pointing a similarly harsh finger of blame at the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
That double standard of blaming Hamas for the massacre of more than 1,000 Israelis on Oct. 7 but failing to blame Israel for the massacre of more than 40,000 Palestinians is the crux of Harris’ failure on this issue. Her outrage is unbridled when it comes to denouncing the killing of Israelis, but it is cautious and restrained when addressing the killing of Palestinians.
Then there is her silence on the issue of free speech, as pro-Palestinian student protesters in the US have been censored and demonized for daring to criticize the actions of the Israeli government.
The Democrats can tell voters who oppose the ongoing Israeli genocide that not voting for Harris will result in a potential election boost for Trump all they want. But what they cannot say is that voting for Stein’s principled views on Nov. 5 is immoral.
For any voter with a moral conscience, the issue is not about the candidate they vote for winning the election. It is about standing up for what is right. It is about being true to America’s principles, which reject criminal behavior whether it is on the streets of Chicago or among the destroyed neighborhoods of Khan Younis, Rafah, Deir Al-Balah, Gaza City or Jabalia.
For any voter with a moral conscience, the issue is not about winning. It is about standing up for what is right
Ray Hanania
It is about telling Democrats that Americans are willing to put their morality above political expediency or millions of dollars in campaign donations. It is about principled voters telling Democrats that they can no longer be taken for granted.
If the Democrats’ failure to speak out against Israel’s atrocities results in Trump beating Harris, it will be because tens of thousands of women and children have been massacred by a foreign power using US weaponry and funding. That is not the fault of the Arabs, Muslims and other voters who took a stand and refused to vote for Harris.
If Trump is elected, so be it. American presidents come and go. But hard lessons learned remain in the political psyche forever and can ultimately rebuild a faulty national conscience.
Harris still has time, but the clock is ticking. She must clearly outline a policy that puts all lives, regardless of race or religion, above political expediency. This is something that outgoing President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken have failed to embrace.
She must not only reiterate her call for a ceasefire and assertion that she supports the two-state solution, but also go further: blame Netanyahu for the unjustified massacre of thousands of Palestinian civilians and vow to end America’s funding and arming of Israel.
Until she does, the choice in the US presidential election is an easy one. True leadership requires toughness and the making of difficult decisions.
- Ray Hanania is an award-winning former Chicago City Hall political reporter and columnist. He can be reached on his personal website at . X: @RayHanania