Loading ...America Needs a New Policy
By: Tariq Habash and Josh Paul / Arab America Contributing Writers
In the wake of yesterday’s Presidential election, it is time to look forward and ask how change can come to American politics and policies when it comes to Palestine and Israel. As the news and images from Gaza have grown grimmer week after week, and as conflict continues to spread to the West Bank, Lebanon, and across the region, the past year has seen unprecedented energy and momentum across the movement to shift U.S. policy. From college campuses to the streets of every major American city, Americans of all races, ethnicities, and creeds have raised their voices in increasing numbers to demand change.
We must ask ourselves why, in our democratic system, change has been so slow to come, and why this election campaign was fought between two major candidates, neither of whom was willing to represent the views of the majority of Americans who support the suspension of lethal arms transfers to Israel for its use against the Palestinian civilians living in Gaza, and unwilling to represent American voices who oppose the crackdown against free speech here at home.
The answer is not hard to find. Politicians are driven by their desire to win elections. While support for Palestine has been a winning formula in some specific House races, for the major party establishments, the clearest path to election victory is that which relies on money to fuel their campaigns and to support the advertising and outreach that drives votes.
This is a calculation that organizations backing Prime Minister Netanyahu’s vision of an extremist Israel bereft of its Palestinian population have played very well and for a very long. Led by the America Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and Christians United for Israel (CUFI), vast amounts of money have been channeled into American politics and strategically applied to create pressure on candidates for elected office across the country to tow their line on the U.S.-Israel relationship.
These organizations and their resources may seem daunting, but it is important not to overstate their advantage. In the face of a significant shift in U.S. public opinion in the past year, it is clear that they are very much on the defensive, diving into Congressional races that they had previously taken for granted. Meanwhile, what we have seen in the pro-Palestinian movement in the past year is not a problem of resources – millions of Americans have stood up to donate tens of millions of dollars to candidates and campaigns that support Palestine, human rights, humanitarian needs, and justice. What is missing is not the money but the strategy.
Into this gap comes A New Policy, a lobbying organization and Political Action Committee (PAC) founded last month by Palestinian-American Tariq Habash and Josh Paul, both of whom resigned from the Biden Administration over its inhumane policies towards Palestine and consequent repression of civil rights here in the U.S.
Hardline lobbies have spent decades setting up political-incentive structures that have skewed American politics against our country’s own interests. A New Policy is historic because Americans who care about Palestinian human rights and American values are building the institutions to connect those ideals with the necessary political infrastructure—in a system in which success means combining money, advocacy, and strategic vision.
In the wake of a profoundly disappointing election cycle, whatever way you turn it, it’s time to apply ourselves strategically, systematically, and enduringly to shift the window of American political debate. A New Policy is committed to doing so and is a welcome addition to the effort, alongside the Arab American community and many diverse American communities, to drive change. With the divisiveness of November 5th behind us, now is our time to build political power. It will take time, but through organizations like A New Policy, it will be possible to build a broad coalition to efficiently channel political and financial resources and strategically apply them in a way that will fundamentally reshape American politics and policies towards Israel and Palestine.
Visit www.anewpolicy.org to join the effort today.
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