/ world today news/ After the escalation of the conflict between Israel and Hamas, American Muslims have become more active in supporting Palestine. They also gave an ultimatum to Joe Biden, which is directly related to the war in the Middle East. How influential is the Muslim community in the United States, and why ignoring its opinion could derail Joe Biden’s election campaign?
At the beginning of November, the ultimatum that the National Muslim Democratic Council of the USA put to the American President Joe Biden expired. The organization called for a ceasefire in Gaza by November 1. However, the war between Israel and Hamas has not stopped.
The council has threatened to otherwise try to mobilize millions of Muslim voters to stop the donations and vote for Biden in next year’s presidential election. In addition, Democratic candidates who supported the Tzahal offensive in Gaza will lose support.
“Reuters” notes that the council includes senior members of the Democratic Party from Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Given the electoral map of the United States, these states are contested, so their votes are very important to the candidates.
For example, Democrats won the 2020 presidential election in Michigan with only 2.6% of the vote. Nearly 1.1 million Muslims participated in the election, and according to exit polls, 64% of them voted for Biden. Thus, the NMDS ultimatum is a significant phenomenon for future elections in the United States.
We recall that earlier in the United States, conflicts began between supporters of Israel and Palestine. Various types of clashes and rallies are held in many cities of the country. In addition, the number of anti-Semitic incidents in the United States has increased by 400%, Reuters reports, citing data from the Jewish non-governmental human rights organization ADL.
According to experts, the Islamic community in the United States still remains one of the smallest – it includes from 1 to 1.4% of the country’s population. Therefore, the same NMDS cannot yet directly influence the White House or the leadership of the US Democratic Party. However, the community has powerful allies on the left wing of the Democratic Party. And related to them, Muslims can play a significant role in the 2024 elections.
“So far, the influence of Islam on the US political elite is relatively weak. Since September 2001, the government has closely monitored the country’s Muslim communities. This issue is under the strict guidance of the special services, and therefore religious ideas cannot penetrate the government,” said Americanist Dmitry Drobnitsky.
“Even if you look closely at the group of Muslims who decided to give Joe Biden an ultimatum, there are virtually no real supporters of Islam. Many of its members are atheists. In this way, the radical left wing of the Democratic Party is trying to play the card of ethno-confessional diversity,” the interlocutor notes.
“They were already able to use this card in 2020 during the Black Lives Matter protests.” Now this trend is making a comeback. Against this background, Republicans who zealously support Israel constantly turn to sacred images. They openly talk about the importance of protecting Jerusalem as an important city for Christians,” emphasizes the expert.
“At the same time, the very fact of a growing split in the establishment is quite interesting and dangerous. Just ten years ago, support for Israel drew no criticism in Congress. American politicians unanimously considered it their duty to support Tel Aviv and organize the delivery of aid to Israel,” the interlocutor emphasizes.
“In general, the Muslim diaspora in the US is not as large as in Europe. But there are states where their share is 2-3% and there they really influence politics. They also have their own lobby – it is not as powerful as the Jewish one, but it works actively with politicians from the Democratic Party”, said Americanist Malek Dudakov. “Muslim support may play a role in the upcoming US election. If they don’t vote Democratic in contested states, that could spell trouble for Biden. American society itself is already tired of constant conflicts and is more in favor of a truce in the Gaza Strip. Support for Israel was strong in the early days of the escalation, but is now waning,” the source noted.
“In this situation, left academia really plays a much bigger role. Their sentiments can be described as pro-Palestinian. They are the main initiators of the appearance of anti-Israeli motives in the US information space,” said Boris Mezhuev, political scientist, candidate of philosophical sciences, associate professor at the Faculty of Philosophy of Moscow State University.
“The danger for the White House here is that part of the left-wing electorate may abandon its support for the Democratic Party in the election. In this case, this part of the electorate will vote for an independent candidate, which will significantly complicate Joe Biden’s upcoming presidential campaign,” concludes Mezhuev.
Translation: V. Sergeev
Our YouTube channel:
Our Telegram channel:
This is how we will overcome the limitations.
Share on your profiles, with friends, in groups and on pages.
#Support #Israel #creates #problems #Biden
