Many will vote for the Democrat for president, just because Donald Trump is worse
▲ A Trump supporter walks around in his costume near the state voting center in Pennsylvania.Photo Ap
Jim Cason and David Brooks
Correspondents
La Jornada Newspaper
Friday, November 1, 2024, p. 18
Washington and New York. Bowing to internal pressure and leaks, the US State Department acknowledged that it is reasonable conclude that Israel is using weapons from that North American nation in violation of international law, but even with this confession, Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris refuses to condemn any military action by Israel and that, in four days, could cost her the election.
At almost every campaign event in the key states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and, yesterday, again in Arizona, Harris has been interrupted by protesters demanding that she commit to ending the genocide in Gaza and stop the shipment of American weapons to Tel Aviv.
In her prepared speeches, Harris does not mention that war, nor the civilian deaths, but yesterday and yesterday she was forced to respond to the pacifists: We all want the war in Gaza to end and the hostages out as soon as possible, and I will do everything in my power to make that clear, and everyone has the right to be heard, but now I am the one speaking..
The basic argument of the Democrats is that former President Donald Trump will be worse on this issue, since he is closer to the Israeli government and, therefore, more dangerous for the Palestinians – that is, the lesser of the two should be chosen. evils. But that narrative is increasingly difficult to maintain for some in Michigan, a state with 250,000 Arab-American voters. Last week, the Democratic mayor of the city of Dearborn in that state, and the city with the highest concentration of Arab-Americans in the country, refused to endorse his empathy with Harris and informed citizens that they should put vote your consciences.
News this week that the administration of Joe Biden and his Vice President Harris had received almost 500 official reports indicating that Israel used American weapons causing harm unnecessary to civilians in Gaza, could further complicate support for the Democrat. That Israel is killing thousands of civilians, especially minors and women, is not news, and State Department spokesman Matthew Miller acknowledged it on Wednesday: We believe it is reasonable to assess that there are incidents where Israel did not comply with all of its obligations under international humanitarian law..
Anger continues to grow over the United States’ recognition of war crimes by Israel, yet its refusal to take action against Tel Aviv. Washington Post quotes several officials who affirm that the evaluation process has become functionally irrelevant with more senior leaders at the State Department dismissing non-Israeli sources of that information. Months ago, the State Department acknowledged that Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, had rejected evaluations from his own team and other agencies that concluded that Israel was violating international and US laws that require the suspension of arms shipments to those who commit crimes. violations against the civilian population.
These official recognitions and other evidence of US complicity in possible violations of international law by Israel continue to complicate support for the Democratic candidate among voter bases that were previously considered loyal.
For leaders of the call uncommitted movementwho have pressured Harris for months to denounce Israel’s crimes, the candidate’s position creates an enormous dilemma. In the primaries, this movement convinced 110,000 Democratic voters in Michigan to write uncommitted on their ballots to express their anger at this government’s support for Israel’s genocide. Abbas Alaweih, who has been the main spokesperson for that movement, declared a month ago that they would not endorse their intention to vote for Harris, but recognized the great dilemma that this left. Trump is not only a promoter of white supremacy, he is also threatening to criminalize pro-Palestinian lawyers in this country, he declared in an interview with CNN this week. He indicated that the movement is now recommending that its ranks vote for Harris if they live in states considered key such as Michigan to avoid a Trump victory.
This week, democratic socialist federal senator Bernie Sanders released a video pointing out that he disagrees with Harris’ position on Gaza, but argues that voting for her is the only way to avoid the worst, which would be a triumph for Trump, not only on this issue, but on women’s rights and others.
The video has more than 3.5 million views, but it is not yet known if it will be enough.
Trump won Michigan in 2016 by only 10,000 votes; Biden obtained 150,000 votes in 2020. A CNN poll released yesterday recorded a tie between Trump and Harris, indicating that a very small number of defections in the Democratic base could have consequences.
Some Michigan residents have already decided. I do not vote for anyone who supports genocidedeclared to The Day, Mike Fleshman, Michigan citizen. In another interview, two Arab-American students at Wayne State University in Detroit indicated that they hope Harris loses in Michigan. She is supporting genocidethey accused.
Jewish-American activist and intellectual Peter Beinart, a firm critic of Israel’s war policy, argues against this logic. If I lived in Michigan, I would vote for Kamala Harrishe wrote in his popular Substack newsletter. And I say this as someone who believes that Joe Biden and some of his advisors should be brought before international tribunals as war criminals for their role in the total destruction of Gaza.. But Beinart argues that, especially in key states like Michigan that will define the final outcome of this very close election, it is in fact a vote for Trump, and that is unacceptable for any progressive.
