Michael Arria
Mondoweiss / November 6, 2024
Donald Trump’s victory over Kamala Harris points to a deepening frustration with the Biden administration, which includes his support for Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza.
Donald Trump is heading back to The White House after defeating Vice President Kamala Harris. The most recent tabulations show Trump at 277 electoral votes and Harris at 224.
Trump’s victory points to a deepening frustration with the Biden administration, which includes his support for Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza. The GOP nominee prevailed in Dearborn, Michigan, the largest majority Arab-American city in the United States.
Exit polls show that just 4 out of every 10 voters approve of Biden’s job performance.
Harris repeatedly said she would not deviate from Biden’s policy in the region and she refused to back an arms embargo, despite pressure from activists.
“The Trump campaign’s research found that up-for-grabs voters were about six times as likely as other battleground-state voters to be motivated by their views of Israel’s war in Gaza,” reported The New York Times. “The campaign also found that undecided voters were less likely to be white than those in the battlegrounds overall and more likely to be Black. About 25 percent of undecided voters are Black, according to the Trump team.”
“The truth is, a Trump presidency didn’t have to be inevitable. Democrats had every opportunity to win this election with ease,” said the group Abandon Harris in a statement.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was one of the first world leaders to congratulate Trump on his victory.
“Your historic return to the White House offers a new beginning for America and a powerful recommitment to the great alliance between Israel and America,” he wrote on Twitter. In true friendship. Yours, Benjamin and Sara Netanyahu.”
On the campaign trail, Trump told voters that the October 7 attack would not have occurred if he had been president. He also has said that the fighting must end, but has ominously called on Netanyahu to “finish the job” in Gaza.
Israel received unfettered support while Trump was in power. The administration negotiated the Abraham Accords, moved the Israeli embassy to Jerusalem, cut off funding to UNRWA, and recognized Israel’s authority over the occupied Golan Heights.
Trump vowed to crack down on the domestic Palestine movement if he was elected again. During a meeting with pro-Israel, GOP donors in May he said that he would “set the movement back 25 or 30 years” while in office.
On the left, many are pointing to the Democrats’s missteps during the campaign.
“The campaign, once it hitched its wagon to Biden’s policy of unqualified support for genocide in Gaza, really had no other choice,” writes Adam Johnson at The Real News Network. “In 2020, the Biden campaign tentatively rode the progressive wave of the George Floyd protests, anger about Trump’s racist border policies, COVID activism, and anti-war protests against Saudi Arabia’s destruction of Yemen to energize the Democratic Party base to defeat Trump. It was, in retrospect, mostly lip service, and certainly no one at the time thought Biden a firebrand progressive. But the broader theme of the campaign was that everyone would have a seat at the table, even if the plate would most likely end up being empty.”
Many highlighted the need to immediately fight back against the incoming administration.
“There’s no one way to plug in to today’s interconnected struggles. The Palestine solidarity movement, which also challenges U.S. hegemony and colonial power structures, is a rich terrain for culture workers, researchers, and workers of all trades — not only students and professors,” wrote Natasha Lennard at The Intercept. “Those on the front lines ensuring continued access to abortions and trans health care are always in need of greater support. If you’re a tenant, you could join or organize a tenants union; if you’re a worker, even precariously employed, there’s always room to join or build upon unionization and organizing efforts. Mutual aid groups abound in every city. Local governments nationwide are building cop cities in need of fierce opposition.”
“We have a genocide to end and communities to defend,” tweeted Adalah Justice Project. “Let’s get to work.”
Michael Arria is Mondoweiss’ U.S. correspondents
