DEBATE: Why Muslims should Vote Stein over Harris

There is a lot of debate within American Muslim circles these past few months which have only intensified as the election of the US President nears on Nov. 5th.

We now seem to be at a historic cross roads.  Similar to the late 90’s when Muslims, mostly those who were immigrants, had a major switch in political allegiances from the Republican party of “Family Values” to the more “Anti-War”  and peacful Democrats due to the first Gulf War, now we are again facing a similar situation.

This time it is the Democrats who have become the war mongers, and have given not only the green light to Israel, but all the money, weapons and even US military personnel and intelligence to assist Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and now Iran.

The American Muslim community has been frantically trying anything in their limited political power in the US, to try to push for a ceasefire in the Middle East, with some Arab Muslim leaders in Michigan even calling for an endorsement of former President Trump.

To me, that reminds me of the viral meme of a herd of sheep cheering on their candidate, the wolf, who is at the podium yelling to the crowd that he will become vegetarian after he wins the election!

 It’s not going to happen.  They are living in a fantasy land of broken campaign promises and one only needs to hear Trump speak for himself when he stated that Netanyahu needs to “finish the job” and he would not stop Israel from killing as many Palestinians as they want. Incorrectly giving the impression that the Biden/ Harris presidency is actually doing anything to stop Bibi at all.

So what should the Muslims in America do then?  Those who are in the democratic party, or who have been leaning to the left for the past 20+ years believe that we Muslims will just be throwing away our vote if we go 3rd party and will give the presidency to Trump who will be much worse for Muslims both in the Middle East, especially in Gaza and of course here at home.  He did ban Muslims, albeit for only a short period of time, from entering America after all!

Here is my take: We need to stand up for ourselves and stick to our principles.  The democrats have to earn our vote and they cannot assume that we will vote for them just because the other side (Trump) may be worse for Palestine, the Middle East or even for our freedoms here at home.

Everyone knows that the American Muslim community is politically weak, we do not have major lobby groups which pour in millions of dollars to political campaigns all over the country, nor do we actively volunteer for campaigns or even run in local elections, except for the past 4 years when we have seen some growth in that sector.

But in the end the only real leverage and power that our community has at the moment is to block vote in swing states which will ensure that the current party in power, who is enabling and no doubt complicit in this modern day holocaust in Gaza, will lose!

If Harris loses in the swing states like Michigan which has the largest population of Arab and Muslim voters in the country, then she will most likely lose the presidential election.

This will send a clear and strong message to the democrats, and others that they cannot just brush aside an active genocide as a small “one issue” item which they assume no one, except Muslims cares about.

When over 60% of Americans are calling for an immediate ceasefire, then it should be a major issue which both parties discuss.  Instead both Democrats and Republicans are on the same page of giving Israel unconditional support of money and weapons without any red lines or conditions.

That cannot go unanswered and in 10 and 20 years everyone will look back at this time and say, what did American Muslims do?  They voted to keep the pro-genocide party in, because they were afraid of what Trump will do?

Nah, bro I can’t go out like that! I’m going to vote 3rd party. Im voting Green. I’m voting for the pro-peace candidate Jill Stein.

I know that she has no chance to win the overall election, but I’m looking at the long game.  If Stein gets 5% of the vote, then the Green Party will get federal funding in the next election.  That can open the door for a real viable 3rd party and perhaps more parties to participate in US elections in the future.  We cannot keep going back and forth and keep voting for the lesser of two evils.  Muslims, as well as others have tried that in the past, and it hasnt worked.

Fool me once and I voted Republican. Fool me twice and I voted Democrat. I’m tried of being fooled! We need to start thinking outside the box and voting 3rd party is the first step of many steps. to do that just that.

Stand up for your self and vote your conscience. Vote for Jill Stein.

I am proudly voting for Kamala Harris. There is a positive case to be made for this on policy alone, and I think absent the issue of Gaza, there would be little need for debate. However, given that the Gaza genocide will be 13 months ongoing by Election Day, there is an obligation to debate. But this is a time of great emotion, which is not conducive to debate. We are angry, afraid, and anxious. The negative case against Harris is founded on these emotions, at precisely the time when we as a community of Muslim Americans are considering whether we have any influence and if so, how best to use it.

The case against Harris is simple. Her major sin is that she has not committed to a policy position of refusing arms to Israel. This is a monumentally unreasonable expectation that we, Muslims, have never held for any other candidate for President: not Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, or Barack Obama. It would be instant political suicide, because denying Israel’s Orwellian-named “right to self-defense” is the one thing that no candidate can do.

The Gaza genocide is worse than everything that came before. Harris and Biden should have used the leverage of arms sales against Israel months ago, at least rhetorically. However, it is not as simple as waving their hands. U.S. law since 2008 requires supplying Israel to maintain a “qualitative military edge” against all its armed enemies (state and non-state alike). The weapons lobby is not to be underestimated. And AIPAC has been greasing the wheels for decades.

Read the rest of Aziz’s post on his blog here: Stop Trump. There’s only one way.