In less than nine months before the US presidential elections in November, recent national polls indicate a deadlock between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. Despite Biden\u2019s age, memory lapses, and controversial stance on the Gaza war, he may weather the storm, challenged by a Republican onslaught led by Trump himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tuesday\u2019s Michigan primaries hold significant weight, especially considering the state\u2019s largest Arab-American community. While the majority supported Biden in 2020, a grassroots movement now urges Arab-American voters to mark \u201cuncommitted\u201d on their ballots, sending a powerful message to the White House about their uncertain support in November.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Biden\u2019s unwavering endorsement of Israel\u2019s actions in Gaza risks alienating key demographics, including young Democrats, Generation Z, millennials, and progressives, who played a crucial role in his 2020 victory. As he gears up for the November elections, Democratic hopes rely on his economic record and anti-Trump sentiment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The article delves into the intricacies of Biden\u2019s stance on the Israel-Gaza conflict, noting the delicate balancing act he faces in an election year. Despite acknowledging excessive force in Gaza, Biden continues to support Israel, creating challenges for his campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump, a potential nominee for the Republicans, has focused on issues more aligned with his base, with Israel\u2019s actions in Gaza not being the central point of his attacks on Biden. The article contrasts the two candidates\u2019 positions and outlines potential scenarios depending on the election outcome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As the Gaza conflict unfolds, the article questions whether a second term for Biden would prompt a shift in his approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It explores the factors influencing such a change and speculates on Trump\u2019s potential actions if he secures victory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The conclusion emphasizes the challenges both candidates face and calls for Middle Eastern leaders to chart their own course amid the political chaos in the United States. The necessity of a just and lasting solution to the Palestine issue is underscored to prevent future catastrophes akin to Gaza. It is less than nine months before the US presidential elections in November and, according to recent national polls, it is a dead heat between Joe Biden and Donald Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite his age, memory lapses, and controversial position on the Gaza war, Biden may yet survive despite a dismal approval rate of less than 40 percent and a vicious attack by the Republicans led by none other than Trump himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tuesday\u2019s Michigan primaries will be crucial in many ways. The state is home to the largest Arab-American community in the country. The majority voted for Biden in 2020, but now a grassroots movement is calling on Arab-American voters to vote \u201cuncommitted\u201d on their ballot papers to send a strong message to the White House that come November, he cannot count on their vote. Even if Trump wins the presidency, they say, it is not on them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Biden\u2019s unequivocal support of Israel\u2019s war on Gaza will be a factor in deciding his chances of winning a second term. According to polls, around 60 percent of Americans want a ceasefire in Gaza. Biden risks losing the support of young Democrats; including Generation Z, millennial voters, and progressives. They helped him defeat Trump in 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Barring an unexpected event, Biden will contest the November elections as the Democratic nominee. The Arab- and Muslim-American vote will be key in helping him close the gap that separates him from Trump in national polls. Democratic pundits hope that his economic record and Trump-phobia will come to his rescue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But he needs to address his record on Israel and its gross violation of human rights, the laws of war, international humanitarian law, the Geneva Conventions, and others concerning its belligerent conduct in Gaza.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The American people have no stomach for another month of genocidal war in Gaza, especially if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu goes ahead with an all-out ground offensive on Rafah, home to more than 1 million people, against US and international warnings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Biden\u2019s unequivocal support of Israel\u2019s war on Gaza will be a factor in deciding his chances of winning a second term<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Osama Al-Sharif<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Biden White House has been trying to adjust its policy on the war. It is now admitting that far too many Palestinians have been killed and that Israel\u2019s response so far has been, in Biden\u2019s own words, \u201cover the top.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Still, his administration continues to arm Israel and fund the war, and Netanyahu has ignored Biden\u2019s advice and pleas to bring the military operation to a swift end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It also revived talk about the need for a Palestinian state through the two-state solution without specifying what that solution would look like or how it would be implemented when Netanyahu and his far-right partners adamantly rejected it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Biden\u2019s hands are tied because it is an election year where he faces an uphill struggle to get re-elected. He is avoiding a public quarrel with Netanyahu for fear that the Republicans and Trump will accuse him of abandoning Israel to its radical Islamist enemies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But such a clash will come sooner rather than later: Over Netanyahu\u2019s declaration that Israel will never withdraw from Gaza, settler rampage in the West Bank, approving building permits for new Jewish settlements, and even waging total war on Lebanon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the other hand, Trump appears to be close to clinching his party\u2019s nomination as soon as early next month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Israel\u2019s war on Gaza has not been a centerpiece of the former American president\u2019s attacks on Biden. He has focused on issues that matter most to his constituency \u2014 borders and illegal immigration, abortion, gender issues, and drugs, among others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Republican pundits and conservative media have also focused on this while siding blindly with Israel and its decimation of the people of Gaza. When Trump was asked where he stood and what he would do if he were in charge, he offered incoherent and vague answers. Yes, he was behind Israel and would not have let Hamas launch the Oct. 7 attack. He suggested that the Israel-Hamas war would have to take its course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSo, you have a war that\u2019s going on, and you\u2019re probably going to have to let this play out,\u201d Trump recently told Univision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump would go after Iran and its proxies and would argue that he would have secured the release of American hostages held by Hamas. He said he would reject refugees from Gaza from entering the US, and he has called for ideological screenings for those entering the country. And once again, he vowed to bar immigrants who supported Hamas from entering the US, and would send officers to pro-Hamas protests to arrest and deport immigrants who publicly supported it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He avoided any reference to a Palestinian state or to his 2018 peace plan, which the Palestinians rejected and got tepid attention from Netanyahu back then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The fact of the matter is that while Trump cannot but declare his support for Israel, he has yet to deal with a divided America on the issue of Palestinian self-determination and Israeli atrocities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Will a second term for Biden change his approach to the conflict as he pushes to make the two-state solution happen?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One argument is that Biden would be free of pressure from Congress and lobbies and may want to repair his policy following the devastation incurred on the Palestinians, especially in Gaza.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That depends on several factors, including how soon the war will end, what happens on the day after, the pressure from the international community and Arab allies to deliver a balanced approach to bring some justice to the Palestinians, and what happens in Israel itself after the war and whether Netanyahu and his extremist partners will prevail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the other hand, if Trump wins in November, he is unlikely to do anything quickly unless a regional war has erupted in the Middle East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One should expect the unexpected from Trump. He may learn from Biden\u2019s foreign policy faults or opt to be the maverick that he is and decide that America has had enough of the Middle East and should focus on its real rival, China, instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite what \u201cGenocide Joe,\u201d as Arab-Americans and young Democratic voters are now calling him, does from now until November, his chances of winning will not be easy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The courts may decide Trump\u2019s fate, and if he is convicted, his fight to stay in will depend on his ability to finance his campaigns, and legal precedents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The lesser of two evils will be Biden and a Democratic administration. Still, in all cases, the political chaos ripping America apart should come as a wake-up call to the leaders of the Middle East to chart their own course. No one in the region, apart from a handful of zealots and bigots in Israel, wants to see a regional war flare up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And no matter how the war on Gaza ends, the world is coming to realize that a just and lasting solution to the Palestine issue must be reached to avoid another Gaza-like catastrophe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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