The first flaw of your argument is assuming that people who are voting for Harris in this election are doing so because they like and support her and the Democratic Party. For many of us the decision to vote for Harris is not at all because we like her or the Dems. I for one hate both parties and normally I don’t vote. This election however is different because Donald Trump poses a very real and different sort of threat. If Trump wins it will be worse for not only the Palestinians but also for Muslims in the US and globally. Have we forgotten that Trump is the one who moved the US embassy in the Zionist entity to Jerusalem making it their de facto capital? Have we forgotten the Muslim ban and the devastation it caused for so many Muslim families. You have addressed Mehdi Hassan’s comments equating the situation in Yemen with Palestine and dismissed the idea that it is the same but does that matter? Do the deaths in Yemen not matter because they don’t fall within the parameters of some official definition of genocide? The answer must be a resounding no because all human life should be protected regardless of legalistic terminology. While voting for a third party candidate like Stein might make people feel good for having done what they believe is the moral thing it will not help the Palestinians. Stein and any other third party candidate have zero chance of winning because the US political system is made up of two parties and voting third party will not break that in this election. What voting for Stein will do is take votes from the Dems which will then bolster Trumps chances of winning. Another Trump presidency will put the entire world and all vulnerable communities including the Palestinians at greater risk. Trump has already said he thinks the Israelis are “doing a great job” and that they just need to “do it faster.” What does that mean exactly? That once in office he will intensify the bombings to help the Israelis “do it faster?” Trump has also said if he wins a second term he will reinstate the Muslim ban which we have already seen the impacts of last time. A Trump presidency also means that Trumps abortion ban could very well go national effectively reducing women’s bodies to objects owned by the state. The suffering this ban has caused for so many women is unimaginable and will only get worse. The LGBTQ community will undoubtedly be under further attack leaving this already vulnerable community even more vulnerable. As a Muslim I may disagree with the way a person lives but that doesn’t mean they should be attacked for it. Another Trump presidency also means that the concentration camps of migrants coming across the border that we saw in his first term will undoubtedly be back. Did we forget that Trump not only separated children from their parents but then went on to lose those children, thousands of whom have still not been reunited with their parents. Trump has stated that if he wins a second term there will be the bloodiest mass deportation in history. Is that what we want? Some of the most vulnerable people in society to be further brutalized? As Muslims our answer has to be no. In Trumps first term we saw laws banning the discussion of race in schools in some parts of this country. We also saw the rewriting of history in textbooks which claim enslaved Black people were “workers” that gained “skills” under the odious system of slavery. Is that what we want? The complete erasure of history? I would hope not. Trump has stated that if he wins a second term he will ban learning about race in schools, which will effectively ban learning about the true history of this country which will have devastating effects for generations to come. Perhaps the most dangerous part of another Trump presidency will be that it will turn into a dictatorship with no election ever happening again. If that becomes the case there will be no ability in the future to put efforts towards building a viable third party in this country. Even if all of this were true but voting for Stein or not voting would actually help the Palestinians I would do it in a heartbeat. But the reality is neither voting for Stein nor abstaining from voting will do anything to alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people. American empire operating through its proxy Zionist state cannot be voted away nor will it disappear because we decided to sit this one out. American empire is interested only in its own economic and political interests. There is no way to “punish” US empire for genocide. If you think there is then you seriously misunderstand US empire. All an abstention or third party vote will do is open the door for a dictatorship of a megalomaniac who will increase the suffering of every vulnerable group including the Palestinians. As a Muslim I cannot allow for that to happen just so I can take symbolic action that will do nothing except make me feel good about my moral choices. Elections are not about appeasing your ego they are about strategy and in this election unfortunately the strategy has to be about not making the situation worse than it already is.
This article is not about everyone voting for Harris, but about a good number who are. If you do not fit into the "blue no matter what" contingent, then the criticisms do not apply to you (I don't presume to think every Harris voter is just an indoctrinated leftist).
As for everything else you have stated, we can quibble over it. I don't think Trump is good, and I made that clear in the piece. But I also don't think moving an embassy is the same as GENOCIDE. Nor do I think restrictions on immigration or other discriminatory policies fit in the same moral universe as GENOCIDE.
The point about Yemen could be applied to dozens of theaters of conflict. We are not judging between human lives but making qualitative distinctions between the nature of those crimes. Many lives were lost in World War 1, for example, but that was a global war with armies and navies and so on. Half a million Tutsis being killed in Rwanda is more tragic than WWI because it was, in fact, a genocide carried out against them by Hutu militias. If you do not see the mass slaughter of civilians during a genocide as something categorically distinct in the scale of human suffering and evil, then we will have to agree to disagree.
In any event, the rest of your note includes many points I differ with strongly, some that I'm sympathetic to, etc. -- you can vote how you wish, I would simply encourage you to consider the final point I made which I consider the most important: "In one of the single most important statements ever made, the Prophet ﷺ is reported to have said that deeds are rewarded according to their intention. Every believer must examine his heart with brutal honesty in the coming weeks and decide what he will do on November 5th. In that vein, ensure that your choice prioritizes Allah’s pleasure above all else."
If you believe that choice to be Harris, then that is your prerogative, I don't hold that against you or anyone else (even if it is not mine). Allah Knows Best.
You haven’t engaged with the crux of my argument. As Muslims do throw other communities under the bus for actions that will not do anything to help our ummah? Just so we can feel like good moral beings? There are serious consequences of another Trump election. We have a responsibility to all of Allah’s (SWT) creations.
You have written a wall of text with many claims that would take far more time than I have to engage them piecemeal. I don't disagree with all of them, but believe too many are grounded in a sort of anti-Trump hysteria that presupposes highly unlikely outcomes under a Trump administration and is blissfully unaware of what Biden/Harris have wrought on all of those same peoples. Moreover, it diminishes genocide, which you seem to be willing to overlook or set aside rather than meaningfully negotiate as part of some reasoned weighing of goods (which I don't preclude as possibly suggesting Harris as a preferable candidate for an individual). I find such reasoning morally unconscionable, but it is your choice of course.
I’m fully aware of what the Biden/harris admin has done which why I said I’m repulsed by them. I’m also fully aware of the weight of genocide but unlike you I’m not blissfully ignorant of what a Trump presidency means for all parties including Palestinians. Good luck to u and may Allah guide us all.
The first flaw of your argument is assuming that people who are voting for Harris in this election are doing so because they like and support her and the Democratic Party. For many of us the decision to vote for Harris is not at all because we like her or the Dems. I for one hate both parties and normally I don’t vote. This election however is different because Donald Trump poses a very real and different sort of threat. If Trump wins it will be worse for not only the Palestinians but also for Muslims in the US and globally. Have we forgotten that Trump is the one who moved the US embassy in the Zionist entity to Jerusalem making it their de facto capital? Have we forgotten the Muslim ban and the devastation it caused for so many Muslim families. You have addressed Mehdi Hassan’s comments equating the situation in Yemen with Palestine and dismissed the idea that it is the same but does that matter? Do the deaths in Yemen not matter because they don’t fall within the parameters of some official definition of genocide? The answer must be a resounding no because all human life should be protected regardless of legalistic terminology. While voting for a third party candidate like Stein might make people feel good for having done what they believe is the moral thing it will not help the Palestinians. Stein and any other third party candidate have zero chance of winning because the US political system is made up of two parties and voting third party will not break that in this election. What voting for Stein will do is take votes from the Dems which will then bolster Trumps chances of winning. Another Trump presidency will put the entire world and all vulnerable communities including the Palestinians at greater risk. Trump has already said he thinks the Israelis are “doing a great job” and that they just need to “do it faster.” What does that mean exactly? That once in office he will intensify the bombings to help the Israelis “do it faster?” Trump has also said if he wins a second term he will reinstate the Muslim ban which we have already seen the impacts of last time. A Trump presidency also means that Trumps abortion ban could very well go national effectively reducing women’s bodies to objects owned by the state. The suffering this ban has caused for so many women is unimaginable and will only get worse. The LGBTQ community will undoubtedly be under further attack leaving this already vulnerable community even more vulnerable. As a Muslim I may disagree with the way a person lives but that doesn’t mean they should be attacked for it. Another Trump presidency also means that the concentration camps of migrants coming across the border that we saw in his first term will undoubtedly be back. Did we forget that Trump not only separated children from their parents but then went on to lose those children, thousands of whom have still not been reunited with their parents. Trump has stated that if he wins a second term there will be the bloodiest mass deportation in history. Is that what we want? Some of the most vulnerable people in society to be further brutalized? As Muslims our answer has to be no. In Trumps first term we saw laws banning the discussion of race in schools in some parts of this country. We also saw the rewriting of history in textbooks which claim enslaved Black people were “workers” that gained “skills” under the odious system of slavery. Is that what we want? The complete erasure of history? I would hope not. Trump has stated that if he wins a second term he will ban learning about race in schools, which will effectively ban learning about the true history of this country which will have devastating effects for generations to come. Perhaps the most dangerous part of another Trump presidency will be that it will turn into a dictatorship with no election ever happening again. If that becomes the case there will be no ability in the future to put efforts towards building a viable third party in this country. Even if all of this were true but voting for Stein or not voting would actually help the Palestinians I would do it in a heartbeat. But the reality is neither voting for Stein nor abstaining from voting will do anything to alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people. American empire operating through its proxy Zionist state cannot be voted away nor will it disappear because we decided to sit this one out. American empire is interested only in its own economic and political interests. There is no way to “punish” US empire for genocide. If you think there is then you seriously misunderstand US empire. All an abstention or third party vote will do is open the door for a dictatorship of a megalomaniac who will increase the suffering of every vulnerable group including the Palestinians. As a Muslim I cannot allow for that to happen just so I can take symbolic action that will do nothing except make me feel good about my moral choices. Elections are not about appeasing your ego they are about strategy and in this election unfortunately the strategy has to be about not making the situation worse than it already is.
This article is not about everyone voting for Harris, but about a good number who are. If you do not fit into the "blue no matter what" contingent, then the criticisms do not apply to you (I don't presume to think every Harris voter is just an indoctrinated leftist).
As for everything else you have stated, we can quibble over it. I don't think Trump is good, and I made that clear in the piece. But I also don't think moving an embassy is the same as GENOCIDE. Nor do I think restrictions on immigration or other discriminatory policies fit in the same moral universe as GENOCIDE.
The point about Yemen could be applied to dozens of theaters of conflict. We are not judging between human lives but making qualitative distinctions between the nature of those crimes. Many lives were lost in World War 1, for example, but that was a global war with armies and navies and so on. Half a million Tutsis being killed in Rwanda is more tragic than WWI because it was, in fact, a genocide carried out against them by Hutu militias. If you do not see the mass slaughter of civilians during a genocide as something categorically distinct in the scale of human suffering and evil, then we will have to agree to disagree.
In any event, the rest of your note includes many points I differ with strongly, some that I'm sympathetic to, etc. -- you can vote how you wish, I would simply encourage you to consider the final point I made which I consider the most important: "In one of the single most important statements ever made, the Prophet ﷺ is reported to have said that deeds are rewarded according to their intention. Every believer must examine his heart with brutal honesty in the coming weeks and decide what he will do on November 5th. In that vein, ensure that your choice prioritizes Allah’s pleasure above all else."
If you believe that choice to be Harris, then that is your prerogative, I don't hold that against you or anyone else (even if it is not mine). Allah Knows Best.
You haven’t engaged with the crux of my argument. As Muslims do throw other communities under the bus for actions that will not do anything to help our ummah? Just so we can feel like good moral beings? There are serious consequences of another Trump election. We have a responsibility to all of Allah’s (SWT) creations.
You have written a wall of text with many claims that would take far more time than I have to engage them piecemeal. I don't disagree with all of them, but believe too many are grounded in a sort of anti-Trump hysteria that presupposes highly unlikely outcomes under a Trump administration and is blissfully unaware of what Biden/Harris have wrought on all of those same peoples. Moreover, it diminishes genocide, which you seem to be willing to overlook or set aside rather than meaningfully negotiate as part of some reasoned weighing of goods (which I don't preclude as possibly suggesting Harris as a preferable candidate for an individual). I find such reasoning morally unconscionable, but it is your choice of course.
I’m fully aware of what the Biden/harris admin has done which why I said I’m repulsed by them. I’m also fully aware of the weight of genocide but unlike you I’m not blissfully ignorant of what a Trump presidency means for all parties including Palestinians. Good luck to u and may Allah guide us all.
who this