Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
The Mujahideen Movement: The two were killed along with dozens of others from their family in a cowardly Zionist assassination that targeted the Sabra neighborhood today
The Palestinian Mujahideen Movement mourns the martyrdom of its Secretary-General, Asaad Attiya Abu Sharia "Abu Al-Sheikh", along with his brother Ahmad
Abu Zaid: I believe that the Iranian operation was multi-layered, combining cyber and electronic attacks with coordinated on-the-ground infiltrations by agents
Abu Zaid: Usually, archives of such sensitivity are typically protected by a full-scale security system, but it appears that Iranian intelligence managed to make use of a gap in it
Strategic military expert Nidal Abu Zaid: Iran has stripped "Israel" of the superiority and deterrence long boasted by its security minister, chief of staff, and other top officials
Fallahpour: Iran may use these documents in its battle with the United States and Western countries over its nuclear program
Fallahpour: Iran may have obtained additional documents related to "Israel's" regional projects, not just its nuclear program
Fallahpour: The coming weeks will be full of surprises, as Iran has forced Israeli intelligence agencies into a state of psychological exhaustion
Al Mayadeen's correspondent in Tehran, Siavash Fallahpour: Iran has redefined the concept of deterrence, shifting it away from traditional military balance toward a new strategic framework
Sources to Al Mayadeen: Number of documents so great that merely studying them, along with accompanying images and footage will require a great deal of time.

What Are You Voting For: Genocide Or Genocide Light?

  • Robert Inlakesh Robert Inlakesh
  • Source: Al Mayadeen English
  • 31 Aug 2024 23:20
  • 2 Shares
9 Min Read

The US political system is most emphatically not run by the public and voters have little choice over which policies will be implemented.

Listen
  • x
What Are You Voting For: Genocide Or Genocide Light?
In Palestine, the difference between Trump and Harris is very minimal (Illustrated by Batoul Chamas to Al Mayadeen English)

Driven by a belief in the American culture war, comprising two diametrically opposing sets of identity politics, the debate now rages on whether Donald Trump or Kamala Harris would be a better candidate on the issue of Palestine and the ongoing Israeli genocide in Gaza. The short answer is neither, but understanding the reasons behind this is crucial.

As Aaron Bushnell stated before his self-immolation in February:

"Many of us like to ask ourselves, “What would I do if I was alive during slavery? Or the Jim Crow South? Or apartheid? What would I do if my country was committing genocide?” The answer is, you’re doing it. Right now."

Keeping in mind this powerful quote, what is communicated in this article has to be placed within the context that anyone voting for a supporter of the Gaza Genocide is either morally bankrupt or confused. For those who are simply so heartless that the atrocities in Gaza - which are committed with their tax dollars and permitted by officials they vote into office - do not factor into their decision on who to vote for, they are not worth even addressing. However, it is completely understandable why there is immense confusion on the part of many Americans and Westerners more generally.

Amerocentric Identity Politics

The US political system is most emphatically not run by the public and voters have little choice over which policies will be implemented. Although many will swear that their candidate is wonderful and committed to representing the will of the people, you can often predict  the stance of nearly any US elected official based on their sources of campaign donations.

Both the Republican and Democratic Parties have their own Overton Window, shaped by two primary factors - donors and their voter base - and dictated from the top down. The problem for both parties is that a disgruntled American public began to move beyond what was considered acceptable discourse and embraced policy positions deemed “too radical” by the Oligarchical system. a trend which really began to take form under the administration of former US President Barack Obama. This change in American public thinking stemmed from a wide range of reasons, with the steep economic decline being a primary factor, as it made building a sustainable future increasingly unlikely for those whose parents' generation had once had such opportunities.

The two-party system was losing faith and the donor class understood that it was time for a change, yet, they didn’t want to do anything that would prevent them from hoarding more money and assets. So, the orders were given. The Democratic Party would come to represent the identity politics of just about every minority group in the United States, whereas the Republican Party would also be transformed and assigned the role of representing White identity politics. Evidently, this isn’t to say that the Democrats don’t have a base of White supporters, or that the Republicans don’t have supporters from various minority groups; but ideologically speaking, these are the two identity camps. 

If you really think about it, this strategy that we see being implemented today is a stroke of genius on behalf of the Western elite. What they have succeeded at doing is taking the masses who are becoming ever more economically disadvantaged and as a result, are searching for real alternatives to improve their lives, feeding them back into the hands of their oppressors by playing to their emotional sensibilities, biases and theories. A classic divide and conquer tactic.

Related News

France Must Do More than Simply Recognize Palestinian Statehood

It’s Offical: UN Accuses 'Israel' of Genocide in Gaza

What we now call Western nations were built upon various forms of identity politics, whether through nationalism, racism, sexism, religious supremacy or a combination of all. However, each of these methods of sowing division has its own limitations and must adapt to changing economic and socio-political climates. The United States, in particular, is perhaps the most plagued nation in the world when it comes to its history related to identity politics, making it ironic that the Republican identitarians claim to oppose identity politics while Democratic Party identitarians view it as a force for equality.

When we look at Donald Trump and his rise to power, he cannot be reduced simply to the man standing on stage, but instead, the set of ideas he represents. If you examine the different issues he addresses, you’ll find that he often travels across the United States making various claims and promises that he never intends to follow up on. For example, in the lead up to the 2016 election, he said he would be investigating child sex trafficking, releasing the JFK assassination and 9/11 documents, while pledging to get America out of its endless wars, he even hinted at putting Hillary Clinton in jail, all of which he never actually followed up on. 

Supporters of Donald Trump can be ardent opponents of the Covid-19 vaccine for instance, some of whom went on anti-Lockdown protests hoisting up “Trump 2020” flags. This is despite Trump having initiated Operation Warp Speed to expedite vaccine distribution and encouraging people to get vaccinated. So, how could someone who felt so strongly about Covid-19 vaccines square that circle? Similarly, supporters of Kamala Harris today are justifying her actions as “Top Cop” who put Black Americans in jail for minor offenses by claiming she will apparently work for the best interests of African Americans.

Simply, many White working class and middle class people see Donald Trump as the embodiment of the “American Dream”. When they hear Trump speak, they are filled with nostalgia for “the good old days”. In a similar way, when liberals and many Americans from various minority communities see Kamala Harris, they see a Black Woman who is battling against a misogynistic racist. For both sides, the facts do not matter at all, the only consideration is rhetoric and appearance, that’s it.

For instance, there are many traditional Democratic Party voters who decided they would not vote for President Joe Biden in the November election, because of his support for the Genocide in Gaza, but are now die-hard supporters of Kamala Harris. How can this be? It is very simple, Joe Biden is an old White man and Kamala Harris is a Black woman.

It does not matter that there isn’t a single policy position that distinguishes Kamala Harris from Joe Biden, or that Harris has been a part of the administration enabling the Gaza genocide. Harris’ supporters often focus their responses on slogans like “we need to beat Trump”, “saving Democracy” and “joy” or “hope”, rather than specific policies. This is because they struggle to identify policies that actually deliver what they want, and the few policies which do make sense are the equivalent to giving a starving man crumbs. 

The American ruling class have now created a perfect distraction, by turning the bulk of White people against minority communities and having them fixate on whichever minority group they choose to hate the most. While on the other side those who oppose the White identity politics which have emerged from the alternative Right-Wing media and political establishment, believe that having a more diverse group or representatives that use the rhetoric of peace and love will be enough to save them from the Trump boogeyman.

Kamala Harris is almost exactly the same as Joe Biden, with the key difference being that she can actually put together a coherent sentence. She does not deviate from President Joe Biden’s policy position on Gaza, in fact her rhetoric is almost identical, despite attempts to portray her as somehow different. On the other hand, Donald Trump is overtly racist against Palestinians and appears to go even further in supporting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. It is possible, in the event of the ongoing genocide until early next year, that Trump could be even worse. The people of Gaza are already suffering through a hellish reality, unlike anything we have witnessed before.

Trump may be expressing his support for the genocide and his election campaign is being bankrolled by the richest Israeli billionaire, Miriam Adelson, who donated 100 million dollars to help him win the Presidency. Yet, in the case of Kamala Harris, from her AIPAC speeches praising Israel, to being part of US President Joe Biden’s fully fledged support for the ongoing genocide in Gaza, in addition to her acceptance of millions of dollars from pro-Israeli Lobby groups, she is unmistakably a pro-Zionist candidate through and through. 

In Palestine, the difference between Trump and Harris is very minimal. Even in the event that Donald Trump seeks to do worse, in such a hypothetical, what more could he possibly do to make the situation much different, besides completely cutting off all aid and causing the mass starvation of every Palestinian in Gaza. Even in this case, the people of Gaza are already going through a famine. 

At the end of the day, if you are a victim of genocide, you won’t really care whether the person enabling it is White or Black, or whether they use softer or harder language to justify the slaughter of your loved ones. Just as the people of Iraq didn’t care that America’s Secretary of State was Black when the Bush Jr. administration invaded their country, no oppressed people feel better about being bombed with munitions sent by a Black woman opposed to a White man. When a mother holds the headless body of her toddler, screaming in pain and disbelief, she doesn’t pause to consider whether the bomb that killed her child came from Donald Trump or someone else. 

The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect Al Mayadeen’s editorial stance.
  • genocide in Gaza
  • Palestine
  • US
  • US presidential elections
  • Gaza
Robert Inlakesh

Robert Inlakesh

Political Analyst, Journalist, and Documentary Filmmaker.

War on Gaza

War on Gaza

Most Read

All
It may well be due to the longstanding relationship between MI6 and HTS, via Inter Mediate, that Britain was the first Western country to recognise their assumption of government in Syria. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Zeinab El-Hajj)

How MI6 helped HTS seize Syria

  • Opinion
  • 31 May 2025
The two countries need to sit down and resolve the crisis with maturity, to consider carefully that they could be being manipulated to be easily dominated. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Batoul Chamas)

Algeria and Mali, divided and almost conquered

  • Opinion
  • 25 May 2025
Trump and Biden both pretended to be fighting Netanyahu

Trump and Biden both pretended to be fighting Netanyahu

  • Analysis
  • 28 May 2025
Why I hate Zionism and will never forgive its disciples

Why I hate Zionism and will never forgive its disciples

  • Blog
  • 5 Jun 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

More from this writer

All
A free Syria can’t exist without a free Palestine

A free Syria can’t exist without a free Palestine

Trump and Biden both pretended to be fighting Netanyahu

Trump and Biden both pretended to be fighting Netanyahu

It is clear that the Israeli project in Syria is not over and that Tel Aviv seeks to use what it sees as a historic opportunity to divide the country and achieve “Greater Israel”. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Zeinab El-Hajj)

The Israeli Syria Dilemma

Why the Israelis cannot win in Gaza or Yemen

Why the Israelis cannot win in Gaza or Yemen

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS