Was It Really Worth It?

This is the question we should be asking all the people who rejected Kamala Harris to show support for Gaza.

Courtesy of the Intercept

October 7th, 2023, was a tragic day in the history of the never-ending turmoil between the nation of Israel and the people of Palestine. Who would have predicted that that brutally violent day would end up costing the Democrats the White House? Of course, we should have known that it might, but given the vileness of the right, and Trump in particular, it would have been hard to believe that so many Muslims and supporters of Gaza would turn their backs on democracy to support fascism. 

The day after the election, an editorial in Al Jazeera warned us against blaming Muslim Americans. 

“I hope every f*cking Muslims [sic] who voted Trump gets to watch Bibi turn Gaza into a glass parking lot,” wrote one. “[Green Party leader Jill] Stein voters are going to see what Trump does to Gaza,” suggested another.

Their argument appears to be that by rejecting Harris, we gifted Trump the presidency and “sacrificed” the future of American democracy at the altar of foreign policy (Don’t Dare Blame Arab and Muslim Americans).

As an American patriot and someone who thinks that climate change is the absolute most pressing problem humanity needs to address, I find the Muslim choice to vote for Trump or Jill Stein over the vice president was a decision based solely on emotion, void of any logic. Yes, I get that this is a very emotional issue. What is going on in Gaza is a goddamn tragedy. Personally, I find Netanyahu repulsive. He is the Israeli Trump. The October 7th, 2023 attack might not have ever happened had someone other than Netanyahu been in charge. 9/11 most likely would not have happened had Bush and the neocons not been running America. Right-wingism loses itself in the dogma and messianic view that all non-believers can (and will) be eventually won over, even if they don’t want to be.

Expressing dismay, if not disgust, with the war in Palestine, is not just okay, but it is very American. If your elected officials ignore you, you make them pay at the ballot box. However, we are not dealing with normal times. Donald Trump has a record of seeking to legislate against Muslims coming to America. Trump regularly blames Muslims for all kinds of bad stuff, and his blind loyalty to Netanyahu empowered the Israeli leader to act the way he has since October 7th of last year. 

If Netanyahu had been more fearful that America might cut him off, he might have acted differently. He always knew, however, that Trump and the American right had his back, and then he just ignored Biden. American Muslims and the ill-informed students and liberals who protested so vehemently on behalf of HAMAS and the Palestinians failed to appreciate that Israel is not an American state. Israel is a completely independent foreign country and free to act in what it perceives to be in its best interests. Regardless of how much Joe Biden might express misgivings over the Israeli bombings, Biden was limited in what he could do and say. 

Some Muslim writers are working overtime to draw attention away from the collective Muslim refusal to support Kamala Harris. The excuses are, of course, ridiculous. Some are saying that the results of the race weren’t very close, and losing Michigan really meant nothing in the big picture. Others are saying the Democrats were destined to fail because they offered nothing in dealing with the issues concerning Americans, like healthcare and climate change. Okay, that statement was beyond lunacy. Only the Democrats have ever provided affordable healthcare solutions and sought to address climate change — Republicans deny it exists and legislate to make the situation worse. 

It’s a hard sell and a rejection of the facts to suggest that American Muslims had nothing to do with Kamala Harris’s loss. Part of the blame lands squarely on their shoulders, and so be it. If you were ballsy and shortsighted enough to work hard to elect a man who hates everything about your people’s existence on the Earth, then you can’t just skate gleefully away from the reality of those casting votes. Donald Trump will do nothing good for the people of Palestine. Trump will sooner instead than later so thoroughly screw over Muslim Americans that they will be out and about chanting and burning Trump in effigy.

There is no value to be gained or added by rejecting Kamala Harris’s candidacy. Donald Trump will set Muslims throughout the world back by decades because, most significantly, he is speaking in whispers to the dumbest and most racist in our society. No matter what he says or hopes, his solutions will worsen for the affected parties. It’s not a long fuse before the powder keg on the war in Ukraine blows.

When it does, let’s give a round of applause to all Muslim Americans and pray that our loved ones are safe. As the author in the Op-ed piece wrote in Al Jazeera: 

It is time, as the country and the world gear up for a second Trump presidency that Democrats stop passing the buck and take responsibility for the choices they made. We are here not because of anything Arab and Muslim Americans did or did not do. We are here because the Democratic Party, first under Joe Biden and then Kamala Harris, insisted on perpetrating genocide while ignoring the fundamental principles of “democracy” and “freedom” they supposedly cherish.

So, Vice President Kamala Harris, Gaza, is speaking now. Was the slaughter of our children worth it (Don’t Dare Blame Arab and Muslim Americans)?

If this isn’t a perfect instance of projection mixed with a hearty dash of cluelessness, then I don’t know what is.