Dem
47
GOP
53
U.S. Muslim leaders are now shocked! Shocked! Donald Trump has nominated people who are planning to carry out the plans Trump shouted from the rooftops during his campaign. Many Muslims and their leaders voted for Donald Trump to stick it to Joe Biden, and then Kamala Harris, for the Biden administration's positions on Gaza. Rabiul Chowdhury chaired the "Abandon Harris 2024 campaign" and co-founded "Muslims for Trump." Now that Trump won, they were hoping for a seat at the table.
Instead of listening to them, Trump is doing exactly what he promised to do during the campaign, namely egg Israel on. For example, Trump picked Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) for Secretary of State. Early this year, Rubio said he believed Israel should destroy "every element" of Hamas, adding "These people are vicious animals." Trump's views and Rubio's views were not exactly secrets.
In addition, Trump picked Mike Huckabee as U.S. ambassador to Israel. Huckabee is an evangelical Christian who believes Jesus will eventually return to earth, but only if there is a Jewish state in the holy land. Huckabee backs the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and opposes a Palestinian state. He also once said: "There's really no such thing as a Palestinian."
Then there is Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), who is headed to the U.N. She has called the U.N. a "cesspool of antisemitism." Trump has also promised to reinstate the Muslim ban on Day 1 of his administration.
Rexhinaldo Nazarko, executive director of the American Muslim Engagement and Empowerment Network, said "We are very disappointed." Hassan Abdel Salam, another co-founder of "Abandon Harris 2024" (which endorsed Jill Stein) said of Trump: "It's like he is going on Zionist overdrive." Salam seemed surprised. After all, Trump campaigned in Dearborn, so Salam just assumed showing up in Michigan meant that Trump would do what Muslims wanted. It apparently didn't occur to him that the 99.9% of the time when Trump was not in Dearborn he was very strongly pro-Israel and anti-Muslim. Nazarko and Salam must also have missed the Muslim ban the first time around.
Bill Bazzi, mayor of neighboring Dearborn Heights, said he believed Trump would work to end the war. He probably will, provided it ends with an Israeli military victory so he can get rid of the Gazans and turn Gaza into "Monaco South," a playground for the ultrarich.
The Muslim leaders are like the university students who protested the destruction in Gaza in the spring. They didn't like Joe Biden (and by implication, Kamala Harris), but didn't consider the fact that the alternative was 100x worse on the issue they cared about. Opposing someone you dislike is emotionally so much more satisfying than picking the lesser of two evils, but the end result may not be so satisfying. Welcome to politics. (V)