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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">'Learn a Lesson' - How Gaza Genocide Shaped the 2024 US Elections</h1>November 7, 2024</div>
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<img src="https://www.palestinechronicle.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Harris_Genocide_PC.png" alt="" title="Harris_Genocide_PC" class="gmail-moz-reader-block-img" width="441" height="296" style="margin-right: 25px;">
The voting patterns of Arab Muslims
and their allies suggest that Gaza played a major role in decisive votes
in some American states. (Design: Palestine Chronicle)
<p><strong>By <a href="https://www.palestinechronicle.com/writers/romana-rubeo" title="Display all articles for Romana Rubeo">Romana Rubeo</a></strong> </p>
<blockquote>
<h3><span>The voting patterns of Arabs, Muslims and their allies suggest
that Gaza played a major role in decisive votes in seveal US states. </span></h3>
</blockquote>
<p><span>George Helmy, a Democratic senator and a member of the US
Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told Al-Jazeera on Wednesday that
the war in Gaza contributed to Kamala Harris’s loss of the state of
Michigan. </span></p>
<p><span>Earlier, official results from the state, home to hundreds of
thousands of Arab-Americans, indicated that approximately 110,000 votes
went to candidates other than Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.</span></p>
<p><span>The voting patterns of Arabs and Muslims and their allies
suggest that Gaza played a major role in decisive votes in some American
states. </span></p>
<h4><b>The Case of Michigan</b></h4>
<p><span>Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris lost Michigan, a
crucial swing state, where votes from Arab and Muslim communities
proved influential.</span></p>
<p><span>Republican candidate Donald Trump claimed Michigan’s 15
electoral votes. Many American Muslims in the state expressed
frustration with the Biden-Harris administration’s unwavering support
for Israel amid the ongoing crisis in Gaza.</span></p>
<p><span>According to the Associated Press, with 99% of precincts
reporting, Trump gained 49,8 % of votes in the key state, while Harris
received 48.3%. Green Party candidate, Dr. Jill Stein, gained 0.8%,
absorbing some of the dissatisfaction among Arab communities.</span></p>
<p><span>For example, in the city of Dearborn, which is considered the ‘capital’ of the Arab American community, Jill Stein </span><a href="https://www.aa.com.tr/en/2024-us-presidential-election/muslim-voters-in-city-of-dearborn-michigan-reject-democrats-over-gaza-stance/3386970"><span>garnered</span></a><span> an impressive </span><span>18.37%.</span></p>
<p>In addition to her support for Israel, Harris’s campaign appeared to suffer from other choices or mistakes.</p>
<p><span>Last August, for instance, she </span><a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4842001-muslim-women-for-harris-pulls-support-over-palestinian-dnc-speaker-controversy/"><span>refused</span></a><span> to have a Muslim or Arab speaker at the Democratic National Convention. </span></p>
<p><span>Last week, former US President Bill Clinton was sent by the
Democratic Party to rally support for Harris. However, Clinton faced
wide criticism for remarks justifying Palestinian civilian casualties,
claiming that Hamas “forced” Israel into such actions.</span></p>
<p><span>“I understand why young Palestinians and Arab Americans in
Michigan think too many people have died. I get that,” Clinton said
addressing Arab-American voters.</span></p>
<p></p>
<p><span>“But if you lived in one of those kibbutzim in Israel right
next to Gaza, where the people there were the most pro-friendship with
Palestine, most pro-two-state solution of any of the Israeli communities
— were the ones right next to Gaza. And Hamas butchered them,” he
continued.</span></p>
<p><span>In an attempt to engage with “leaders of the Arab-American
community,” Harris herself headed to Michigan, and vowed to do
“everything in her power to end the war”.</span></p>
<p><span>Yet voters appeared skeptical of her commitment. While
acknowledging the “suffering in Gaza”, she reiterated, once again, that
she must “ensure Israel is secure”.</span></p>
<h4><strong>Demands Rejected</strong></h4>
<p><span>US voters opposing Israel’s genocide on Gaza openly declared
that they would not support the Democratic party and the outgoing
administration, which provided Israel a record $17.9 billion in military
aid during the first year of the war, according to a report from Brown
University’s Costs of War Project.</span></p>
<p><span>Speaking to Al Jazeera on Wednesday, Arab American activist
Adam Abusalah stated that Harris’s campaign disregarded warnings from
the community.</span></p>
<p><span>“We’ve been warning the Democrats for over a year now, and the
Democrats continue to downplay what’s going on,” he was quoted as
saying. </span></p>
<p><span>Just a few days before election day, a report </span><a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/11/01/voters-election-harris-trump-israel-gaza/"><span>published</span></a><span> in The Intercept noted that,</span></p>
<blockquote><p><span>“after months of protests on the streets and
organizing within the Democratic party, Kamala Harris’s campaign has not
shown signs it will stray from the Biden administration’s steadfast
support for Israel amid its genocidal war in Gaza and invasion into
Lebanon”.</span></p></blockquote>
<p><span>The Intercept interviewed “voters who are horrified by the
ongoing U.S. support for Israel’s war” and found out that “each voter(…)
had demanded of Biden, and now Harris, an immediate, permanent
ceasefire, and an end to the U.S. policy of unconditional military aid
to Israel”.</span></p>
<p><span>“The rejection of such demands have left voters uneasy about their choices,” the report stated.</span></p>
<p></p>
<h4><strong>The Exception: Rashida Tlaib</strong></h4>
<p><span>Democratic Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib won re-election in
Michigan’s 12th congressional district, securing her fourth term as the
only Palestinian-American woman in the US House of Representatives. </span></p>
<p><span>The Associated Press declared her victory early, with only 18
percent of precincts reporting. Tlaib garnered a remarkable 77 percent
of the vote, while her Republican challenger, James Hooper, only
received 19 percent.</span></p>
<p><span>Notably, Tlaib was the only member of the so-called ‘Squad ’ not to endorse the Democrat candidate.</span></p>
<p><span>Tlaib has been outspoken in her criticism of the Democratic
Party’s stance on the ongoing genocide, stating that it was “hard not to
feel invisible” when the party chose not to include a
Palestinian-American speaker at its convention.</span></p>
<p><span>“Our trauma and pain feel unseen and ignored by both parties,”
she said in an interview with former MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan at the time.
“One party uses our identity as a slur, and the other refuses to hear
from us. Where is the shared humanity? Ignoring us won’t stop the
genocide.”</span></p>
<h4><strong>‘Learn a Lesson’</strong></h4>
<p><span>The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s
largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, issued a
statement on Wednesday calling for Democratic leaders to “learn lessons
from Vice President Harris’s loss of support among Muslims and other
voters opposed to the Gaza genocide.”</span></p>
<p><span>“It is important for Democratic and other elected officials to
recognize that Vice President Harris’ steep drop in support in key
states compared to President Biden’s 2020 victory resulted, in part,
from the deep frustration and disillusionment that many young, Muslim,
Arab, Black, and other voters feel with the Biden-Harris administration
due to its steadfast financial and military support for Israel’s ongoing
genocide in Gaza,” the statement said.</span></p>
<blockquote><p><span>“Rather than listening to the clear majority of
American who support both a ceasefire and a suspension of weapons to
Israel, Vice President Harris only struck a slightly more sympathetic
tone toward Palestinians while sticking with the substance of President
Biden’s disastrous stance.”</span></p></blockquote>
<p><span>“This led to an unprecedented shift of support from Muslim,
Arab, and other communities who traditionally vote for Democratic
presidents,” the statement concluded.</span></p>
<p><em>(The Palestine Chronicle)</em></p>
<div>
<p><br></p>
<p><span><i><span>– Romana Rubeo is an Italian writer and the managing
editor of The Palestine Chronicle. Her articles appeared in many online
newspapers and academic journals. She holds a Master’s Degree in Foreign
Languages and Literature and specializes in audio-visual and journalism
translation.</span></i></span></p></div>
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