Read also
Today, according to various statistics, there are already four to five million American Muslims, and they are also concentrated in those uncertain states that are now so often mentioned, such as Michigan. This gives the American Muslim community a unique chance to influence the outcome of the presidential election.
What may play a big role is the war in Gaza, the belief among Muslim voters that the Democrats are too accommodating to Israel, as well as the perception that there is a genocide of Palestinians for which Biden and his successor must be punished.
Stand still
Even at the price that some Muslim voters will not go to the polls at all, they will vote for the anti-Israel candidate Jill Stein for the American Green party, or that some of them will directly vote for the Republican Trump. However, even non-participation or a protest vote for Stein, which will naturally be lost, have the same effect – the weakening of <a href="http://www.world-today-news.com/donald-trump-whats-behind-the-us-presidents-baltimore-attack/" title="Donald Trump: What's behind the US President's Baltimore attack”>Kamala Harris.
Read also
Gaza will undoubtedly play a role in the spillover of some of the Muslim vote from Harris to Trump, but that is not the whole truth. First, it appears that the original expectation that all minorities will vote Democrat forever is no longer valid. Hispanics, African-Americans, or even Muslims will continue to be largely automatic Democrats, but certainly not overwhelmingly so.
One of the reasons is the fact that the Muslims who have settled in America are immigrants who came not for welfare, but for their chance at the American dream, and they often took advantage of it with their diligence. They are entrepreneurs and people in the liberal professions, to whom the republican ethos of independence and initiative can suit.
Furthermore, many of those Muslims who retain their faith are culturally and socially conservative people.
Read also
They may have a problem with electing a woman to the highest office, or at least they have accepted the interpretation according to which Donald Trump is a representative of traditional morality and an opponent of changes such as same-sex marriage, transgender surgeries or universal access to abortion.
This can be illustrated by the case of Amer Ghalib, the mayor of Hamtramck, a predominantly Muslim city, where even the entire city council is in the hands of Muslims. This city voted for its own boycott of Israel as well as a ban on rainbow flags. The mayor recently publicly endorsed Donald Trump for not supporting cultural changes that conservative Muslims also disapprove of.
Trump the non-warrior
Trump also got the attention of Muslims by promising to end wars, not only in Ukraine but also in the Middle East. It is true that he has long presented himself as a strong leader who wants a strong army, but also as an opponent of direct military involvement abroad.
Read also
Muslims see this as a departure from American interventionism, including the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. In this version of the world, it doesn’t matter that it was Trump who moved the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem and encouraged four Arab countries to make peace with Israel.
There was one more shift. Trump began meeting with Muslim community leaders and Muslim sponsors. These meetings are organized for him by American-Lebanese businessman Massad Boulos.
It’s a bit of a family event, as Trump’s daughter Tiffany from her second marriage recently married Boulos’ son Michael. Now there is speculation about how all this will affect Trump’s possible steps in the presidency.
Muslims voted for Joe Biden en masse four years ago, if only because Trump, as president, approved the ban on citizens of several Muslim countries from entering the US and became famous for a number of anti-Muslim statements. Now many of them may deserve his return. Even in politics, you don’t step into the same river twice.
The author is a commentator on Czech Radio
