Dem
50
GOP
50
Although many Arab Americans think that Donald Trump will be worse for their community than Kamala Harris, they nevertheless plan to vote for Jill Stein, just to punish Joe Biden for his role in supplying Israel with weapons it is using in Gaza. The technical term political scientists use for this is cutting off your nose to spite your face.
They may or may not have heard about Young Jared's plan to turn Gaza, with its great beaches and excellent weather, into Miami Beach East, filled with expensive condos and hotels. And they may or may not have heard that Donald Trump thinks even bigger than Young Jared. He wants to turn Gaza into Monaco, creating another paradise for the ultrawealthy. Neither of these plans seems to have much room for the Gazans who live there, although some could maybe become hotel maids. But opposing Harris feels so good that many Arab Americans are planning to vote third-party, even if that means Trump wins.
Hudhayfah Ahmad, a media representative for the Abandon Harris Campaign, was clear: "We want to break our community out of the mindset of the lesser evil." He said that of the many tools in his toolbox, voting is one, and it must be utilized morally, ethically, and consciously (and apparently without regard to the consequences). Another Arab-American leader, Abed Hammoud, hasn't formally endorsed Stein, but is actively campaigning against both Harris and Trump. Senan Shaq, a Stein surrogate, said that Arab Americans in his community have begun to feel hopeless about Biden's ability to end the war in Gaza, so he joined Stein's campaign and is raising money for her. Leading imams and Arab scholars have urged Muslims to snub Harris over Gaza.
Stein has called not only for a cease fire, but also for an end to Israeli occupation of Gaza, as well as accountability for war crimes. This sounds appealing to many Arab Americans. But some Arab Americans think that voting for Stein doesn't deliver a strong enough message to Harris, and the toughest punch to her is to actually vote for Trump, even though he is more or less calling for all the Gazans to be removed from Gaza.
Harris understands that she has a problem with Arab Americans, primarily in Michigan. She has talked about the suffering of the Gazans at length, but she also said her Middle East policies wouldn't be all that different from Biden's. Consequently she doesn't appear to be making much progress with them. She's in a bind because far more voters are pro-Israel than pro-Palestinian, and many voters regard the attack on Israel last year that killed a larger proportion of Israelis than 9/11 killed Americans as justification for some kind of response, even if they think Israel has overreacted.
Trump is trying to take advantage of the situation, meeting with Muslim leaders in Michigan and other states. He said he would end the war in Gaza just as he would end the war in Ukraine. After all, he can't rebuild Gaza as Monaco in the middle of an active war zone.
For Arab Americans, voting for Stein en masse is playing with fire. If Trump wins, his plan for ending the war is for Israel to win it. He has already told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to "finish the job." Arab Americans aren't going to like the results. And if Harris wins Michigan without the Arab American vote, that sends her the message that she doesn't need them, rather than the message that they are an important part of her base. (V)