FLASH
Shkruar nga Hafez Al-Merazi
Harris' declaration of absolute support for Israel or the fact that her husband is an American Jew will not help her in the election.
Neither his phone calls, nor envoys, nor military and diplomatic channels with Arab allies were enough: US President Joe Biden was unable to help his vice president and party candidate Kamala Harris, convincing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to fall agreed to a cease-fire in Gaza last week.
Whether Netanyahu has any interest in a cease-fire, prisoner and hostage swap or allowing aid to go to Gaza, he is using the upcoming presidential election to blackmail Biden, Harris and the Democrats and please Republican nominee Donald Trump. This is depriving the Democratic Party of crucial votes from Arab-Americans in battleground states like Michigan, where they have set two conditions on voting for Harris: stop the war in Gaza; and stop supplying arms to Israel.
A Democratic president is not in Netanyahu's interest, especially if Harris repeats the rhetoric of the Israeli left and Arab normalizers who are uncomfortable with Netanyahu's practices. On Thursday, in her first interview since becoming the Democratic nominee, Harris confirmed that she would not deviate from Biden's approach to the Middle East.
They all call for a two-state solution, with the declaration of a Palestinian state as the starting point. Harris' declaration of absolute support for Israel or the fact that her husband is an American Jew will not help her in the election.
Yet Trump despises Netanyahu. The former US president sharply criticized him for rushing to congratulate Biden in 2020. Trump saw it as a show of ingratitude, especially after he recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, moved the US embassy there and recognized the annexation of the occupied Golan Heights.
However, Trump remains closest to Netanyahu and his extremists. This is thanks to his right-wing agenda and his promises to his billionaire donors in Israel and America to help Israel expand without any reference, even rhetorical, to Palestinian rights.
In Trump's first term, he excluded the Palestinians from peace plans with the Arabs, which were bolstered by partnership and trade agreements with Israel, whether under the banner of the Abraham Accords or the Negev Pact or Arab military and security coordination with Israel.
A week before leaving the White House, Trump decided to transfer the jurisdiction of Israel from the umbrella of the US military command in Europe to the Central Command, CENTCOM, which is responsible for the Arab region and is headquartered at the Al Udeid base in Qatar .
Netanyahu is not making an alliance with the Democratic candidate and is blackmailing the party.
The activity of this base extends to the coordination of the forces of the participating countries in military maneuvers with the American forces from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and even Jordan and Egypt, with the exercises "Bright Star" in the western desert of Egypt. It also coordinates the air defense network of all these countries under the American umbrella and with the participation of Israel. The goal is to repel any missiles directed at these countries by their adversaries, just as Arab countries participated in repelling Iranian and Houthi missiles fired at Israel.
Therefore, Netanyahu and the Israeli right are looking forward to more of Trump's electoral promises.
In the 2016 election, Trump sold his promise to move the embassy to Jerusalem for about $60 million, which he received as a donation from Sheldon Adelson, the American casino magnate and staunch supporter of Israel, and his Israeli wife Miriam , who carried the torch of Zionist Expansion after her husband's death in 2021.
This year, Miriam Adelson pledged $100 million to the Trump campaign in exchange for US recognition of Israel's annexation of the West Bank, without recognizing the Palestinians' right to Israeli citizenship.
Biden's broken promises
It is for all these reasons that Netanyahu is not allying with the Democratic nominee and blackmailing the party as he has blackmailed the Biden administration, despite all he has done for Israel — especially since the October 7 Hamas attack.
For Israel's sake, Biden broke his election pledges not to deal with Arab dictatorships and to hold them accountable.
While neither Biden nor any other Democrat or Republican dare promise the Palestinians freedom and human rights, he pledged as a candidate to hold the Saudi regime accountable and isolate it for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Democrats are content with formal statements of outrage against tyrannical regimes to please their progressive wing.
In contrast, since Trump has taken over the Republicans, the party no longer makes such statements.
Trump has been in complete harmony with tyrants; it has no place for rights and freedom. He rather envies tyrants for their absolute powers and wishes to have the same powers one day; he has told supporters to vote for him so they don't have to go to the polls again.
Boycott?
Both candidates are bad when it comes to the Palestinian right to self-determination and the human rights of the Arab people, which have been violated by their tyrannical Western-backed regimes. However, the lesser evil is clear.
Arab-American voters do not have the luxury of abstaining or choosing a third-party candidate in November. Trump is a threat to Arabs and Muslims in the United States; he has threatened to deport many of those who took part in anti-Israel demonstrations, calling them "Hamas supporters". He has also pledged to restore his "Muslim ban", which is in addition to plans that will affect the rights of immigrants and minorities.
Arab Americans should learn from the experience of American Jews.
The anger of Arab-Americans over the policy of the Biden-Harris administration is understandable. Their policies allowed Israel to do whatever it wanted only because this administration is concerned about the influence of the Zionist lobby. However, Trump wants Arab voters to boycott the election, or at least not vote for Harris and vote for an independent candidate who supports Palestinian rights.
Arab Americans should learn from the experience of American Jews who supported the Democratic Party even though President Franklin Roosevelt did not allow Jewish refugees fleeing the horrors of the Nazis to land in the United States at the beginning of World War II. He brought many of them back. American Jews continued to vote for the Democratic Party, and Harry Truman came to the White House and recognized Israel hours after its creation.
Even if this generation loses current rounds with the Democratic Party regarding Palestine, they should continue to work with the party that respects their domestic liberties./ Adapted "Pamphlet" from "WorldCrunch"
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