Loading ...How Arab Americans Could Revolutionize U.S. Politics
By: Sam Husseini / Arab America Contributing Writer
By working together, Arab Americans from across the political spectrum can take their votes in pairs from pro-Israel Biden and Trump and support pro-peace candidates like the Green Party and the Libertarians Party.
Biden has armed Israel to the teeth and given it diplomatic support to continue its slaughter in Gaza. While the administration keeps quietly claiming Biden is frustrated with Netanyahu, the weapons keep flowing. And so do the lies. Biden falsely claimed Palestinians beheaded Israeli babies — which helped Israel slaughter Palestinian babies.
In the recent CNN debate, Biden falsely claimed that Hamas was the only one stopping peace. Trump accurately said that in fact, it was Israel, but then said that that was a good thing. “Let them finish the job,” Trump said.
So, why should any Arab American — or any human being who doesn’t want to see a genocide — vote for either Trump or Biden?
Some people feel trapped. They fear and hate Biden or Trump so much that they are thinking of voting for the other even though they think their positions are horrible.
Others, disgusted with all this will not vote, which is understandable. But will that help Palestinians in Gaza? Others will continue to write “Uncommitted” or such. Ok, but does that stand a chance of really changing things?
Instead, people can pair up: One would-be Trump voter and one would-be Biden voter could pair up and both vote for other candidates who better reflect their beliefs. That’s what I recommend with my VotePact strategy.
Jill Stein is the presumptive Green Party candidate. While the Greens are most known for focusing on the environment, Stein has said: “Israel is using snipers to kill children. Israel is using SNIPERS to kill CHILDREN. These barbaric war crimes must stop NOW. Demand an independent investigation into Biden, Blinken, and other US backers of Israel’s genocide in Gaza.” In April Stein was even assaulted by police at a protest.
Chase Oliver is the Libertarian Party nominee. They are most known for working for individual liberty and free-market solutions. He has said he wants to “end the genocide.” During the CNN debate, he said: “Neither of these men will speak up for the tens of thousands of innocent Palestinians who have been killed in airstrikes funded by US taxpayers. The U.S. has sent $6.5 billion in military assistance to Israel since October.”
Arab American Justin Amash has been a hero to the Libertarians, though he is now running for the Republican nomination to be Senator in Michigan.
(Robert Kennedy, Jr. is also running for president, but he has continuously spouted Israeli propaganda and Dennis Kucinich, a former Congressman who has spoken up for years for Palestinian rights was his campaign manager. But after Kennedy backed Israel’s genocide, Kucinich quit the campaign.)
A few Arab Americans could spark a wave of people pairing up and siphoning support from both Biden and Trump. It could spread through the Arab American community. Local political and community leaders — one Democrat and one Republican — can hold joint news conferences announcing that they together will vote for candidates besides Trump and Biden.
This could set off a snowball effect, with more and more people pairing up with someone else — a neighbor, a relative, a co-worker, a debating partner. Instead of arguing online, Democrats and Republicans can cooperate to try to stop the genocide.
This is more effective than bowing out because it gives the dissent and grief somewhere to go.
As it builds, you could have celebrities pair up. This would generate more and more media attention, with more and more people pairing up.
In 2020, these smaller parties got a tiny percent of the vote, but with the VotePact strategy, they could break out. The public could start to assess candidates based on who they agree with more instead of who has the best chance of winning. (The VotePact strategy was actually used by a group supporting the 2016 Libertarian candidate, Gary Johnson who was not the most inspiring candidate and didn’t have a galvanizing issue. Still, with the help of the VotePact strategy, he got the most votes of any third party candidate since Ross Perot; more than Arab American Ralph Nader ever got.)
And even if Biden or Trump wins, a movement like this would exert political pressure on them. It could be built upon in future elections to get stronger independent candidates.
The Arab American community has the power to build on Uncommitted and use the VotePact strategy. This could revolutionize US politics, making anti-establishment forces work together. People from the left and right often agree with each other on issues like civil liberties and on helping Main Street instead of Wall Street.
But now, such a coming together could especially help save Palestine.
And it just might help save the USA as well.
Sam Husseini is founder of VotePact.org. He regularly writes at husseini.substack.com. Stein and Oliver are scheduled to participate in the Free and Equal debate on July 12.
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