Al Jazeera
Will escalating violence in the Middle East affect the US elections?
Arab voters have expressed frustration with Vice President Kamala Harris’s continued support for Israel’s war in Gaza.
By Brian Osgood
Published On 12 Oct 202412 Oct 2024
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With the United States presidential election less than four weeks away, analysts caution that Israel’s expanding military campaigns across the Middle East could bruise the chances of the Democratic candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris.
Foreign policy is rarely a top priority for US voters. But Israel’s yearlong war in Gaza, as well as its intense bombing campaign in Lebanon, have spurred questions about the US’s role in the conflict.
The administration of President Joe Biden has been unwavering in its support of Israel, splintering the Democratic base, with some voters — particularly Arab Americans — turning against the party.
With Harris in a tight race against former Republican President Donald Trump, anger towards the Biden administration could mean that Arab voters in key states like Michigan stay home in November.
“This is a constituency that, by the second term of the Obama administration, identified as Democrat by a two-to-one margin,” Jim Zogby, the co-founder of the Arab American Institute, told Al Jazeera. “Now party identification is virtually tied at 38 percent each.”
Much of that decrease, he said, has to do with the Biden administration’s support for the war in Gaza, which has erased entire neighbourhoods and killed more than 42,000 people, many of them women and children.
That campaign has been enabled by about $20bn in US weapons assistance.
“It’s less that this group of voters is getting more conservative, and more that they want to punish this administration for what they’ve allowed to happen,” said Zogby.
“There’s a sense that Palestinian and Lebanese lives don’t matter.”
Eroding support
A September poll by the Arab American Institute found that Harris and Trump were virtually tied among Arab voters, receiving 41 percent and 42 percent support, respectively.
That figure is actually a marked improvement for the Democrats. When Biden was running for re-election, his support among Arab voters cratered after the beginning of the war in Gaza, dropping to just 17 percent in October 2023.
Biden previously won 59 percent of the Arab vote in the 2020 presidential race.
When Biden dropped out of the 2024 race, following a debate performance that underscored concerns about the 81-year-old’s age, some voters hoped his replacement, Harris, would bring a fresh approach.
But Harris has thus far refused to break with Biden or call for an end to weapons transfers, even as a series of escalatory strikes by Israel have brought the Middle East to the brink of a wider regional war.
In a TV interview this week, when asked whether she would have diverged from Biden on any issues, Harris replied: “There is not a thing that comes to mind.”
The Harris campaign also fielded criticism during August’s Democratic National Convention, after party officials refused to allow a Palestinian American speaker on stage to give voice to the suffering in Gaza.
“People are looking for the slightest gesture of humanity, and the campaign just won’t give it to them,” said Zogby. “They’re making a mistake that will cost them votes.”
Swing states
While US policy towards Gaza may not be a top priority for most voters, more than 80 percent of Arab Americans say that it will play an important role in determining their vote.
Many of those voters are concentrated in a small number of swing states that play an outsized role in deciding the country’s presidential elections.
The Midwestern battleground state of Michigan, for instance, has the second-largest Arab population in the country. It also has the largest percentage of Arab Americans of any state: Nearly 392,733 people identify as Arab in a state of 10 million.
Polling averages show Harris with a lead of only around 1.8 percent there, well within the margin of error.
And her razor-thin lead in the state could be eroded by third-party candidates like Jill Stein, who has actively courted the Arab and Muslim American vote in the area.
“The situation in Gaza has complicated Democratic chances in Michigan,” said Michael Traugott, a research professor at the Center for Political Studies at the University of Michigan.
“Since we expect things to be close, it will hurt Harris if a large portion of the state’s Arab community stays home on election day,” he added.
But Michigan’s Arab American population is no monolith, and there have been bitter divisions within the community over how best to use its electoral leverage.
Some believe that a Harris loss in Michigan would send a warning to future candidates about underestimating the influence of Arab voters.
Others view a second term for Trump, a pro-Israel hawk, as an unacceptable risk: the Republican has previously said that Israel should “finish the job” in Gaza and vowed to deport foreign nationals involved in pro-Palestine student protests.
One group attempting to walk a tightrope between those perspectives is the Uncommitted National Movement, an organisation born of a protest movement against Biden.
During primaries, the movement called on Democrats to vote “uncommitted”, rather than throwing their support behind the Democratic president.
Now, as the general election approaches on November 5, the movement says it cannot support Harris — but it also opposes a second Trump presidency.
“As a Palestinian American, the current administration’s handling of this genocide has been beyond enraging and demoralising,” a spokesperson said in a video released this week.
“But the reality is that it can get worse. Nobody wants a Trump presidency more than [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu, because that is his ticket to wiping Palestine off the map.”
Expanding fighting
The final weeks of the presidential race have coincided with the looming threat of further escalation in the Middle East, adding an element of uncertainty to the final weeks of the US race.
In early October, for instance, Iran launched a ballistic missile attack against Israel, in response to the assassinations of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut, among others.
On that same day, Israel launched a ground operation in southern Lebanon, in addition to its deadly aerial bombing campaign in the region. Israel is expected to take further action against Iran as well.
Analysts worry that a massive Israeli retaliation could set off a destructive war between Israel and Iran, an anxiety shared by many in the US.
A September poll by the Pew Research Center found that 44 percent of Americans are extremely or very concerned about the fighting spreading to other countries in the Middle East. Forty percent felt the same about the possibility of US forces becoming more directly involved.
Respondents who identified with the Democratic Party were also more likely to believe that Israel’s war in Gaza has gone too far and that the US should do more to bring it to an end.
Laura Silver, associate director of global research at Pew, told Al Jazeera that those results reflect diverging views between Democrats and Republicans over foreign policy.
“Republican-affiliated Americans are much more likely to want the US to provide weapons to Israel, and they’re somewhat less likely to want the US to play a diplomatic role,” Silver said.
She pointed out that younger and older people also had different approaches to the war in Gaza — and the Israel-Palestine conflict more generally.
A February poll found that 36 percent of people between the ages of 18 and 29 said the Biden administration favoured Israel too much in the current war, compared with just 16 percent of people aged 50 to 64.
But Zogby said that Democrats have yet to recognise the shifts taking place among important constituencies, such as young people and communities of colour, on the question of Palestine.
“The pro-Palestine movement has become part of a larger focus on social justice,” he said. “The Democratic Party hasn’t changed on this, but the people who vote for them have. They aren’t listening, and they’ll pay a price for that.”
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA
Video Duration 02 minutes 56 seconds02:56
Published On 5 Nov 20245 Nov 2024
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- After a heated presidential campaign, millions of voters across the United States are gearing up to cast their ballots on Election Day.
- Democratic candidate Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump are going head-to-head in a race that remains too close to call.
- What time do polls close in your state on Election Day in the US?Millions of Americans are set to cast their ballots after a heated presidential election campaign.Tuesday is the final day to cast a ballot, and below, we’ve assembled a broad overview of when polling stations close in each of the 50 states, which span six time zones. Check it out here.Click here to share on social media
- 20m ago (09:20 GMT)‘I Voted’ stickers are running their own contestIn Georgia, it’s adorned with a peach. In the seaside city of San Francisco, it boasts sea lions and the Golden Gate Bridge.The “I Voted” sticker is the traditional prize of casting a ballot on Election Day – and different jurisdictions around the US use their versions to show off their local pride.Some areas even encourage submissions from residents. A fan favourite this year came from Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan, where 12-year-old Jane Hynous submitted a drawing to a local “I Voted” sticker competition – and came away victorious.Her entry? A deranged werewolf, ripping its shirt in two: a perfect portrait of the pathos of election season.
A volunteer helps cut “I Voted” stickers at the Boyle Heights Senior Center on Monday, in Los Angeles [Damian Dovarganes/AP Photo]Click here to share on social media - 30m ago (09:10 GMT)
Key economic data that landed in the final days of the raceThe monthly jobs report, released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday, showed that the economy added about 12,000 jobs in October. In September, by comparison, the economy added about 223,000 jobs.For Harris, who is rated as less competent than Trump to handle the economy in most polls, the report could have hardly arrived at a worse time. Unsurprisingly, the Trump campaign held up the report as evidence of economic mismanagement by the Biden-Harris administration, branding the jobs figure a “catastrophe”.The picture, however, is complicated by the fact that the period overlapped with hurricanes Helene and Milton and strike action by more than 30,000 Boeing employees.Even so, the figure fell well short of expectations: economists polled by Dow Jones, who took into account the hurricanes and the strike, had predicted 100,000 jobs. Still, there are other strong economic metrics to consider, too, including 2.8 percent growth in the third quarter.Click here to share on social media - 40m ago (09:00 GMT)Harris’s Indian ancestral village is praying for her victoryResidents of the tiny South Indian village of Thulasendrapuram in Tamil Nadu have gathered to pray for Harris, who could become the first United States leader with South Asian roots.Harris’s maternal grandfather was born in the village, about 350 kilometres (217 miles) from the southern coastal city of Chennai, more than 100 years ago. As an adult, he moved to Chennai, where he worked as a high-ranking government official until his retirement.Harris has never visited Thulasendrapuram and she has no living relatives in the village, but people here still venerate the family that made it big in the US.“Our village ancestors’ granddaughter is running as a US presidential candidate. Her victory will be happy news for every one of us,” M Natarajan, the temple priest, told The Associated Press.Natarajan led prayers in front of the image of the Hindu deity Ayyanar, a form of Lord Shiva. “Our deity is a very powerful God. If we pray well to him, he will make her victorious,” he said.
Villagers participate in special prayers for the victory of the Democratic presidential nominee in Thulasendrapuram, an ancestral village of Harris, in Tamil Nadu state, India [Aijaz Rahi/AP]Click here to share on social media - 50m ago (08:50 GMT)Texas, Missouri judges deny requests to block Justice Department from sending poll monitorsUS judges have denied requests from the Republican-led states of Missouri and Texas to block the federal government from sending lawyers to their states on Election Day to monitor compliance with federal voting rights laws.Both states are among the 27 that the US Justice Department said it would send monitoring staff to at voting locations, as it has done regularly during national elections.Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton had said sending monitors “infringes on States’ constitutional authority to run free and fair elections”.Trump continues to falsely claim that his 2020 defeat was the result of widespread fraud. He has urged his supporters to turn out at polling locations to watch for suspected fraud.Click here to share on social media
- 1h ago (08:40 GMT)It’s voting day. Here’s what polls say, what Harris and Trump are up toAccording to FiveThirtyEight’s daily tracker, Harris has a 1.2-point lead over Trump nationally, a margin that has remained fairly static in recent days, though it has shrunk compared with a month ago.In swing states, Harris has a one-point advantage in Michigan and Wisconsin, according to the same tracker.Harris spent the final day campaigning in Pennsylvania. The Democratic candidate started with an event in Scranton, the hometown of President Joe Biden.Trump continued his campaign with a whirlwind tour through North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Michigan.In his first stop at Raleigh, North Carolina, the Republican candidate claimed a decisive advantage in the presidential race. He then went to Reading, Pennsylvania, where he again suggested that he would carry out mass deportations of immigrants.Read our full story here.Click here to share on social media
- 1h ago (08:30 GMT)US presidential candidates end their final campaign rallies
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign rally in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Monday [Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters]
Supporters of Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris attend a campaign rally in Philadelphia [Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters]
Republican presidential nominee and former President Donald Trump reacts during his campaign rally at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Tuesday [Brian Snyder/Reuters]
Republican presidential nominee and former President Donald Trump dances at a campaign rally in Grand Rapids [Carlos Osorio/Reuters]Click here to share on social media - 1h ago (08:25 GMT)What did Harris say in her closing argument in Pennsylvania?Harris ended her campaign in Philadelphia, at the art museum steps made famous in the movie Rocky, and was introduced by Oprah Winfrey and Lady Gaga.“The momentum is on our side,” she said, focusing on optimism about the future and never mentioning Trump by name.She doubled down on the economy, a key issue for US voters grappling with unemployment and inflation, and outlined her plan to “build an economy where we bring down the cost of living”.Among the measures she intends to implement, she listed a ban on corporate price gouging on groceries; cutting taxes for workers, middle-class families and small businesses; and lowering healthcare costs, including the cost of home care for seniors.
Oprah Winfrey introduces US Vice President Kamala Harris in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on the eve of Election Day [Angela Weiss/ AFP]Click here to share on social media - Sign up for Al JazeeraAmericas Coverage NewsletterUS politics, Canada’s multiculturalism, South America’s geopolitical rise—we bring you the stories that matter.Subscribe
By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policyprotected by reCAPTCHA - 1h ago (08:24 GMT)A recap of the latest developmentsLet’s bring you up to speed:
- Democratic candidate Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump have made their final appeals to American voters ahead of Election Day on Tuesday.
- Harris has stressed she intends to be a “president for all” at her closing campaign rally in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania while Trump pledges to lead the US to “new heights of glory” at an event in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
- Polls continue to show the candidates locked in a close battle for the White House, with the race likely to come down to key swing states.
- More than 82 million Americans have voted ahead of Election Day, according to a tally by the University of Florida’s Election Lab.
- 1h ago (08:24 GMT)Photos: Harris and Trump deliver final pleas to US voters
Harris speaks during a rally in Pennsylvania, November 4 [Susan Walsh/AP Photo]
Trump dances at an event in Pennsylvania, November 4 [Chris Szagola/AP Photo]
[Jeenah Moon/Reuters]
Harris supporters ahead of her speech in Philadelphia [Hannah McKay/Reuters]Click here to share on social media - 1h ago (08:24 GMT)Where do Harris, Trump stand on key issues?Harris and Trump have spent months pitching their different visions for the country.The presidential candidates advocated to solve the country’s problems, diverging on most of the policies and only agreeing on some.From the economy to foreign policy, immigration, abortion and crime, we’ve taken a closer look at their campaign platforms and promises.Have a look at their positions on the key issues in our story, here.
https://imasdk.googleapis.com/js/core/bridge3.675.2_en.html#goog_1829997514Play VideoVideo Duration 27 minutes 00 seconds27:00How will domestic issues shape the US election?Click here to share on social media - 1h ago (08:23 GMT)
How will US Election Day unfold?Millions of Americans will head to polling booths to cast their ballots in the US presidential election.Voters will also elect 34 US senators (out of 100) and all 435 members for the US House of Representatives, among other posts that are up for grabs.With the country stretching across six time zones, Election Day is a massive undertaking – and voting will begin as early as 5am EST (10:00 GMT) and go as late as 1am (06:00 GMT) on Wednesday.Check out our hour-by-hour breakdown of how Election Day will unfold, in our explainer, here.Click here to share on social media - 1h ago (08:23 GMT)What did Trump say in his closing argument in Michigan?Trump showed up more than 90 minutes after he was scheduled to begin his remarks in Grand Rapids, Michigan. An old clip of Trump shaving the head of disgraced former WWE CEO and longtime associate Vince McMahon on a wrestling show was played to entertain the crowd.He started the rally by recounting his unlikely victory in 2016 and then predicted the greatest victory ‘in the history of our country’. He even claimed that God had saved him from an assassination attempt during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania in July so that he could “save America.”He again linked immigration to a high crime rate, despite data showing the opposite, blending false claims about voter fraud with warnings about migrants committing crimes and promises to revitalise the United States.“Over the past four years, Americans have suffered one catastrophic failure, betrayal and humiliation after another,” Trump said. He added that “we do not have to settle for weakness, incompetence, decline, and decay.”Click here to share on social media
- 1h ago (08:18 GMT)Welcome to our live coverageIt’s officially Election Day in the United States!Millions of Americans will head to the polls on November 5 to cast their ballots after a heated presidential election campaign.Democratic candidate Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump are locked in a close fight, with recent polls showing the race remains too close to call nationally and in key battleground states.Stay with Al Jazeera’s Live team as we bring you the latest developments, analyses and reactions from across the US.
Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during his final campaign rally at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan in the early hours of Tuesday [Jeff Kowalsky/AFP]Click here to share on social media
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES
The state’s top Democratic legal official says the giveaway in states likely to decide the US election is a ‘scam’.
Published On 5 Nov 20245 Nov 2024
A $1m-a-day voter sweepstakes operated by a political group established by billionaire Elon Musk can continue, a judge in the state of Pennsylvania has ruled.
Last month, the world’s richest man announced he would start the giveaway in seven battleground states likely to decide the outcome of the United States 2024 election.
Musk’s giveaway has widely been seen by many as an unsubtle attempt to secure extra votes for Republican candidate Donald Trump, who Musk has thrown his vocal and financial support behind.
Musk has given $75m to America PAC, a political action committee that has been funding various Republican candidates, including former President Trump.
Winners ‘not chosen by chance’
The Tesla CEO has already gifted $16m to registered swing-state voters who qualified for the giveaway by signing his political petition.
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Pennsylvania‘s Common Pleas Court Judge Angelo Foglietta’s decision on Monday came after a surprising day of testimony in a state court in which Musk’s aides acknowledged hand-picking the winners of the contest based on who would be the best spokespeople for his super PAC’s agenda.
Previously, the 53-year-old billionaire had claimed the winners would be chosen at random.
District Attorney Larry Krasner, a Democrat, called the process a scam “designed to actually influence a national election” and asked that it be shut down.
As it was, the judge ruled in favour of Musk and his America PAC.
Musk’s lawyer, Chris Gober, said the final two recipients before the presidential election would be announced in Arizona on Monday and Michigan on Tuesday.
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“The $1 million recipients are not chosen by chance,” said Gober.
“We know exactly who will be announced as the $1 million recipient today and tomorrow.”
‘They were scammed’
Chris Young, the director and treasurer of America PAC, testified that the recipients were vetted ahead of time, to “feel out their personality, [and] make sure they were someone whose values aligned” with the group.
Musk’s lawyers, defending the effort, called it “core political speech” given that participants were asked to sign a petition endorsing the US Constitution.
More than 1 million people from the seven battleground states – Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Nevada, Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina and Michigan – have registered for the sweepstakes by signing a petition saying they support the right to free speech and to bear arms, the first two amendments to the US Constitution.
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District Attorney Krasner has questioned how the PAC might use their data, which it will have on hand well past the election.
“They were scammed for their information,” Krasner said. “It has almost unlimited use.”
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES
Support for Green Party candidate grows as some voters stress the need to break away from Democrats and Republicans.
By Ali Harb
Published On 4 Nov 20244 Nov 2024
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Dearborn, Michigan – On a sunny but frigid afternoon, dozens of protesters stood on a street corner in the Detroit suburb of Dearborn and chanted against Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris as well as her Republican rival Donald Trump.
“Trump and Harris, you can’t hide, no votes for genocide,” a keffiyeh-clad young woman chanted on a bullhorn. The small but spirited crowd echoed her words.
If not Trump or Harris for the next United States president, then who?
The Abandon Harris campaign that organised the protest has endorsed Green Party candidate Jill Stein, demonstrating the growing disconnect that many Arabs and Muslims feel with both major parties over their support for Israel.
Stein has been gaining popularity in Arab and Muslim communities amid Israel’s brutal war on Gaza and Lebanon, public opinion polls show.
While the Green Party candidate is extremely unlikely to win the presidency, her supporters view voting for her as a principled choice that can set a foundation for greater viability for third-party candidates in the future.
Hassan Abdel Salam, a co-founder of the Abandon Harris campaign, said more and more voters are adopting the group’s position of ditching the two major candidates and backing Stein.
“She best exemplifies our position against genocide,” Abdel Salam said of the Green Party candidate, who has been vocal in supporting Palestinian rights.
The strategy
Abandon Harris has been urging voters against supporting the vice president over her pledge to continue arming Israel amid the US ally’s offensives in Gaza and Lebanon, which have killed more than 46,000 people.
Abdel Salam praised Stein as courageous and willing to take on both major parties despite recent attacks, especially by Democrats.
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For the Abandon Harris campaign, backing Stein is not only about principles; it is part of a broader strategy.
“Our goal is to punish the vice president because of the genocide, to then take the blame for her defeat to send a signal to the political landscape that you should never have ignored us,” Abdel Salam told Al Jazeera.
In addition to the endorsement of the Abandon Harris campaign, Stein has won the backing of the American Arab and Muslim Political Action Committee (AMPAC), a Dearborn-based political group.
“After extensive dialogue with both the Harris and Trump campaigns, we found no commitment to addressing the urgent concerns of our community, particularly the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon,” the group said in a statement last month.
“The need for a ceasefire remains paramount for Muslim and Arab American voters, yet neither campaign has offered a viable solution.”
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AMPAC added that it is backing Stein “based on her steadfast commitment to peace, justice, and a call for immediate ceasefires in conflict zones”.
With support for Stein on the rise in Michigan’s Arab and Muslim communities, where President Joe Biden won overwhelmingly in 2020, Democrats are noticing and pushing back.
Democrats target Stein
The Harris campaign released an advertisement aimed at Arab Americans in southeast Michigan that took a dig at third-party candidates.
In the commercial, Deputy Wayne County Executive Assad Turfe says Harris would help end the war in the Middle East as the camera zooms in on a cedar tree – Lebanon’s national symbol – hanging from his necklace.
Turfe warns voters in the video that Trump would bring more chaos and suffering if elected. “We also know a vote for a third party is a vote for Trump,” he says.
Stein’s supporters, however, categorically reject that argument.
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Palestinian comedian and activist Amer Zahr, who is running for a school board seat in Dearborn, argued that Democrats should be grateful that Stein is on the ballot and slammed the argument that a vote for Stein is a vote for Trump as “paternalistic”.
“It assumes that if Stein wasn’t there, we’d be out there voting for you,” Zahr told Al Jazeera.
“If it really were two parties and there were no other parties, I think most of the Arab Americans who are voting for Stein would vote for neither. And in fact, if there were really only two choices, a lot of the people who are voting for Stein right now out of anger for the Democratic Party might go for Trump.”
Zahr, who was on a shortlist of candidates that Stein considered for her vice presidential pick, also dismissed the argument that a vote for the Green Party would be “wasted” because it is unlikely to win.
“I mean news flash: Voters vote for people who speak to their issues,” he told Al Jazeera, praising Stein for standing up to Israel and running as an “openly anti-genocide” candidate.
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“Jill Stein, to me, is a noble vehicle to express our deep anger and the distrust and betrayal that we feel at the ballot box.”
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Video Duration 2 minutes 06 seconds2:06
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) released a separate commercial last month also proclaiming that “a vote for Stein is really a vote for Trump”.
Stein has pushed back against that claim, slamming the Democrats’ attacks as a “fear campaign and smear campaign”.
She told Al Jazeera’s The Take podcast last week that the Democratic Party is coming after her instead of “addressing the issues like the genocide, which has lost Kamala Harris so many voters”.
‘I am sick of the two-party system’
While foreign policy may not be a top priority for the average US voter, numerous Arab and Muslim Americans interviewed by Al Jazeera over the past week said Israel’s assault on Lebanon and Gaza is their number one issue.
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And so, with both major-party presidential candidates voicing uncompromising support for Israel, some voters are looking to Stein to break away from the two parties and forge a new path.
“I am sick of the two-party system and their power play politics, where on both sides, they are unanimously agreeing on this bipartisan issue that they support Israel,” said Haneen Mahbuba, an Iraqi American voter.
With a keffiyeh-patterned scarf that says “Gaza” in Arabic around her neck, the bespectacled 30-year-old mother raised her voice in anger as she described the violence Israel is committing in Gaza and Lebanon with US support.
Mahbuba told Al Jazeera that she feels “empowered” by voting for Stein because she is not giving in to the “fearmongering” about the need to vote for the “lesser of two evils”. She added that it is Harris’s voters who are wasting their votes.
“They’re giving away their vote when they vote for the Democratic Party that has continuously dismissed us, disregarded us, silenced us and seen us as less important,” Mahbuba said.
‘Indistinguishable’
Stein ran for president in 2012, 2016 and 2020, but she failed to make a major impression on the elections.
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However, Stein’s Arab and Muslim supporters say this year, the Green Party can put a dent in the results to show the power of voters who prioritise Palestinian human rights.
Wissam Charafeddine, an activist in the Detroit area, said backing Stein is the right choice both morally and strategically.
“I’m the type of voter who believes that voting should be based on values and not politics. This is the core of democracy,” he said.
Charafeddine, who has voted for Stein in the past, added that Arab Americans are fortunate to be concentrated in a swing state where their votes are amplified.
“When we vote for Dr Jill Stein, we are not only voting [for] the right, moral platform that actually is most aligned with our values, interests, desires and priorities, but also it accounts for the Palestine vote and to the anti-genocide vote,” Charafeddine told Al Jazeera.
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Bottomline, advocates say the growing support for Stein shows that many Arab and Muslim voters have reached a tipping point with both the major parties’ support for Israel.
“Harris and Trump simply are indistinguishable to us because they passed a certain threshold that we cannot ever buy into the logic of lesser of two evils,” Abdel Salam told Al Jazeera.
“These are two genocidal parties, and we cannot put our hand with either of them.”
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA
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