We’re one week away from the election and virtually every poll shows a close race.
At a recent campaign event in Michigan Vice President Kamala Harris was met with waves of protests and boos from Palestine protesters.
The protests came just days after Dr. Ahmed Ghanim, a Muslim community leader in the state, was removed from a Harris event without explanation.
From CBS News:
Dr. Ahmed Ghanim attended the invitation-only event in Royal Oak on Monday, excited to hear from Harris and former Sen. Liz Cheney. Ghanim said he went through the security checkpoints, sat down in his seat, and was answering emails while he waited for them to begin. Ten minutes later, he said staffers for the Harris campaign came to his seat and asked him to step to the back.
Ghanim said he was asked to leave the venue and told by authorities that if he didn’t leave, he would be arrested.
“The transition was so sharp. I was sitting there waiting to listen to the vice president then being threatened with arrest,” he said. “I told him I would leave, but I just need to know why they are removing me. He said it is not us, it is the venue.”
The Harris campaign released the following statement in response to the story:
“The campaign was swiftly informed by Emgage Action of yesterday’s incident and looked into it. Our campaign regrets this action and its impact on Dr. Ghanim and the community, and he is welcome at future events. We value our relationship with the Muslim American community and are committed to ensuring all community and political spaces are welcoming and respectful to every American.”
Michigan remains a potential election-day problem for Harris, as a result of its large Arab American population. The Democratic nominee has taken no discernible steps to separate her campaign from the Biden administration’s Gaza policy and she has vowed to keep sending Israel weapons.
“Could Kamala Harris Lose Due to Muslim Voters in Michigan?” asks an article at Newsweek:
Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, appears to be facing significant opposition from Muslim voters as she continues facing a toss-up race in Michigan in the weeks leading up to this year’s presidential election.
Michigan is the swing state with the largest concentration of Muslim voters, a group that overwhelmingly backed Democrats in recent presidential races. However, large swaths of those voters have been alienated by the Biden-Harris administration’s handling of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, which comes amid a wider conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Trump Campaign
The Trump campaign is clearly taking steps to capitalize on the frustration among Arab American voters.
While Harris was getting booed, Trump was also in Michigan making a play to Arab and Muslim voters. A number of Muslim leaders joined him onstage at a campaign rally.
“Give them a big hand because they’re going to vote for us and help us win,” he told the crowd.
Ahmed Ghanim, the aforementioned doctor who got booted from a Harris event, was approached by the Trump campaign to star in an ad but declined.
On Sunday Trump held a rally at Madison Square Garden, which has generated vast backlash over a number of racist and sexist statements and jokes. Targets included Palestinians and Muslims.
Former NYC Mayor and disbarred lawyer Rudy Giuliani told attendees that “the Palestinians are taught to kill us at two years old” and accused Harris of wanting to “bring them to you.”
The Trump campaign’s transition team co-chair Howard Lutnick told the crowd that we must elect the GOP nominee in order to “crush jihad.”
“Lutnick’s use of the word ‘jihad’ in this context is an allusion to bigoted views about Islam,” notes The New Republic. “The term is widely mistranslated as “holy war,” when the literal Arabic translation is ‘to strive’ or ‘to struggle.’ In a religious context, the word is used to describe a person’s internal or external struggle to do good deeds.”
Some Odds & Ends
A couple election pieces at the site you might have missed:
It is not too late for the Uncommitted Movement to hold Democrats accountable for genocide
The Nation endorsed Kamala Harris and the magazine’s Fall 2024 interns wrote an Op-Ed disagreeing with the decision.
An important piece from Responsible Statecraft: Why aren’t Harris and Trump talking about nuclear weapons?
At The Intercept Akela Lacy has a must-read investigation tracking every dollar that AIPAC has spent this election season. The pro-Israel lobbying organization has spent money in more than 80% of the 469 seats up for reelection.
Note Newsweek’s weaselly framing of the conflict. As if the “humanitarian crises” was a natural occurrence and not the a result of a deliberate Israeli policy fully supported by Biden’s team of Palestinian-hating neocons.
The media’s focus on Muslims is misplaced. There are plenty of Christians and non-Arabs/Palestinians who are sickened by the genocide. Consider that the Democrats would not give a single Palestinian academic 5 minutes to speak at the convention. Why?
“Rudy Giuliani told attendees that “the Palestinians are taught to kill us at two years old”
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On what basis would one conclude PR work is unnecessary?
The elected President, will ask for condemnation of killing of civilians, a rethinking of “pay for slay.”