Hold Your Nose, Trump Would Be Much Worse

Don’t Let Harris’ Missteps with The Palestinians Deter You from Voting for Her

I’ve had qualms with Kamala Harris since she was San Francisco’s District Attorney. I appreciated that she was against the death penalty but wanted her to go further on restorative justice. That said, I voted for her for Attorney General and when she ran for the Senate in 2016. She was not my first or second choice during the Democratic primary in 2020, yet I support Democrats even if I have significant disagreements on issues near and dear to my heart.

One of these issues is Israel. I’m Jewish, but I’m not a Zionist. NY Jewishness runs through my veins despite spending more years of my life in Northern California than on the East Coast, but I don’t think we’re the “chosen people.” I can understand why people felt there needed to be a Jewish homeland after the Holocaust, but I think New Jersey would have been a better bet :)

In my opinion, Israel’s founding was, in part, based on colonization. Let’s not forget that the Soviet Union was the first country to recognize Israel’s right to exist. Perhaps the Soviets thought Israel would act as a satellite for its interest in the Middle East, but that’s not how history bore out. For decades, Israel has moved in lockstep with the United States and vice versa. There’s no denying that the sizable Jewish population in the US has contributed to what some call a “special relationship” (I’ll leave my thoughts on this for another time), but there are also geo-political interests at stake. Whatever the reasons, the United States has armed Israel to the teeth and sanctioned human rights abuses against its Arab population and those who live in the West Bank and Gaza, creating a de facto apartheid. While I support the Palestinian cause and understand their anger, October 7 was unjustified savagery. Yet, Israel’s response has dwarfed those atrocities. Call it genocide (I do) or not. Israel has decimated Gaza, and its residents are enduring a humanitarian crisis that should horrify anyone with a beating heart. I don’t think we should give Israel another dime, and we should use our immense influence to pressure the Israelis to agree to a ceasefire and territorial concessions.

In addition to my profound opposition to American support of Israel’s apartheid and genocide, I’m incredibly disappointed with how Harris has shut out Palestinian and Arab American leaders. No one is asking her to meet with Hamas or Hezbollah, but taking time to sit down with families who’ve lost loved ones in Gaza would, besides showing compassion and humanity, let Arab American voters know that she recognizes their pain and cares about their vote. I think she’s made a huge mistake, and I’ve expressed my concern to friends involved in her campaign. This misstep could cost her the election because there are a lot of Arab Americans in Michigan, one of the states she needs to win. I honestly can’t fault Arab Americans for staying home and not voting. At the same time, I’m asking everyone reluctant to vote for Harris because of Israel to please consider the following: Trump would be much worse.

Undoubtedly, he sees a Gazan future with Trump buildings on its beaches. He doesn’t think about human rights, exemplified by his threats of mass deportations of immigrants. The Abraham Accords, his signature Middle East policy, wholly shut out the Palestinians. All it does is pave the way to make his cronies in Saudia Arabia, Israel, and elsewhere in the Middle East richer. Palestinian sovereignty and Israel’s security will not come through deals with Saudi sheiks but with territorial compromise, which he does not favor. It was Trump who moved the American embassy to Jerusalem, an inflammatory decision no American president up to that point was willing to make.

One of Trump’s first moves as President in 2017 was to enact a Muslim ban. Remember the protest? I do because tens of thousands of us were out in the street and at airports, making our opposition known. The Muslim ban would not affect me, but I take an intersectional view, where oppression against one is oppression against all. Trump is an immoral white nationalist and racist, and while I think Kamala hasn’t done nearly enough to win over Arab Americans, her rhetoric has been gentler. She’s acknowledged the suffering Israel’s caused the Palestinians, and I hope that should she become President, she will break with Biden and have a more even-handed approach towards this horrific situation. With Trump, there is no hope.

Another thing is that I’m not a single-issue voter. While I take issue with the Democratic establishment’s coziness with Israel and marginalization of the Palestinians, when it comes to women, LGBTQ+, immigrants, and just plain old civil rights, there is no comparison between Harris and Trump. We will have to live with his three Supreme Court justices for years; do we want more? As said, I look at the world through an intersectional prism, and I ask those of you who are thinking about not voting for Harris because of Israel to do the same. Being an ally is not just showing up when you have skin in the game or strong principles. It’s going to bat for those who’ve gone to bat for you, even if you might have to hold your nose sometimes.

The stakes are too high to vote for anyone other than Kamala Harris, even in safe blue states like California. If the election is as close as many predict and gets thrown into the courts, the popular vote might impact how justices rule. Trump and MAGA are a malaise in the world deserving of comparison to the rise of the Nazis in Germany. As Americans, we can ensure he does nothing to worsen national and global crises, such as climate change, by turning our backs on them. I’m not under any illusion that Kamala Harris will govern as a progressive, and given the broad coalition that might put her into the White House, she should give something to Republicans who are helping her campaign. Considering what we’re dealing with, I can live with that compromise. I’d rather have President Harris with a Republican cabinet member or two than Trump and his band of bigots, grifters, and bullies running this country on a fast track to hell.

So, with just a few days left before the election, I ask all of you who are thinking about not voting for Kamala Harris because of Israel/Palestine or any other issue you disagree with her on to please consider the larger picture. Every vote counts. We’re lucky to live in a country where citizens have that right; if you want to have this right in the future, please vote for the candidate who, imperfect though she may be, believes in democracy, Kamala Harris.

I realize there’s a lot above that opens other discussions. The one I’ll address now is how I can say I’m not a Zionist yet call for territorial concessions, in essence, a two-state solution. While I don’t support Jewish or any other kind of nationalism, I think a two-state solution, with Jerusalem as a separate, international, demilitarized zone, is the best chance for peace. Sure, one country where everyone has the same rights and protections is ideal, but I don’t see that as a possibility anytime soon. I also think Israel needs to give up more than the West Bank and Gaza; having two non-attached pieces of land seems unrealistic to me.