Palestine Is a Core Election Issue, and We Won’t Let Our Politicians Ignore It

Part of the Series

Struggle and Solidarity: Writing Toward Palestinian Liberation

In the days after October 7, 2023, the U.S. mainstream media and political establishment — both the Republicans and Democrats — launched once again into anti-Palestinian and Islamophobic rhetoric. Ignoring the conditions of siege, occupation and settler colonialism under which Palestinians in Gaza already lived, Joe Biden’s administration offered full diplomatic, military and financial backing to Israel. Meanwhile politicians smeared Palestine solidarity protests, as university administrators, congressmembers and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis all attempted to ban Students for Justice in Palestine chapters on U.S. college campuses. Nonetheless, the Palestine solidarity movement pushed forward.

As election season heats up, we can expect both parties to reiterate their full support for Israel, as well as exert major pressure for activists to collapse their solidarity work and movement activity into a narrow focus on the election and a push for lesser-evilism, undermining the demands of the Palestine solidarity movement since October.

In this exclusive interview for Truthout, Shireen Akram-Boshar speaks with Sa’ed Atshan — Palestinian American professor and anthropologist at Swarthmore College, and author of the book Queer Palestine and the Empire of Critique (2020) — about the demonization of Palestinians, election season and what the coming months could mean for the Palestine solidarity movement.

Shireen Akram-Boshar: Since October 7, we’ve seen an increase in anti-Palestinian racism — overlapping with Islamophobia — that has included demonizing Palestinians in the media, the repression and silencing of student activists, and numerous physical attacks on Palestinians by right-wing individuals. What accounts for this?

Sa’ed Atshan: We are absolutely witnessing an uptick in anti-Arab racism and Islamophobia in the United States, and this is deeply disturbing. It has led to violence against Palestinian Americans, such as a Palestinian boy who was stabbed to death in Illinois, three Palestinian students shot and injured in Vermont, and a Palestinian American girl who was close to being drowned in Texas. These hate crimes stoke fear among Arab and Muslim communities and are linked to spillovers from Israel’s horrific violence in Gaza. It’s important to resist the demonization of Palestinians and to further cultivate solidarity across lines of difference with other communities, including our Jewish brothers and sisters, who also fear the resurgence of the far right in this country. And we must prioritize attention to and action for the people of Palestine.

Election season has already played into this disturbing trend. For example, in their presidential debate, Donald Trump referred to Biden as “a very bad Palestinian” and declared that he, unlike Biden, would enable Israel to “get the job done” in Gaza. Could you say more about how this anti-Palestinian racism has taken shape in U.S. political discourse and in the lead-up to the election? And what are the repercussions of this discourse?

Listening to Trump invoke Palestinian identity in such a derogatory manner was very painful for many of us to endure. It is also disheartening that neither Biden nor the moderators responded to that comment at the presidential debate in real time. Trump then repeated that refrain later at a campaign rally. While referring to another one of his political opponents, Chuck Schumer, Trump stated, “Schumer has become a Palestinian. He’s Jewish but he’s become a Palestinian.” Tens of millions of Americans follow Trump’s words and actions, and this trickles down at all levels of society.

This is an alarming development in American political rhetoric, normalizing the use of “Palestinian” as a slur and further entrenching anti-Palestinian racism at the highest levels of power. To argue that it is dehumanizing would be an understatement. It helps lay a foundation for Trump’s pledge to crack down on the Palestinian solidarity movement in the U.S. if he is reelected.

At the same time, I am unfortunately not surprised. Trump’s legacy in Palestine was detrimental, from withdrawing U.S. funds to UNRWA (the UN agency providing humanitarian aid to Palestinian refugees), to cutting other U.S. aid to Palestinians under Israeli military occupation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, to moving the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, to shutting down the Palestinian mission office in Washington, D.C., and more. The Trump administration was and remains deeply hostile to the Palestinian people.

Since October, Palestinians and the broader Palestine solidarity movement in the U.S. have expressed anger and frustration at Biden for his role in green-lighting the genocide in Gaza. This culminated, in part, in the “uncommitted” campaign, which brought out hundreds of thousands of people to partake in a protest vote demonstrating their disapproval of Biden’s complicity in the genocide in Gaza. How do you think the “uncommitted” campaign affected the solidarity movement, and the relationship to Biden and the Democratic Party? Might it lead to more of a protest vote or more of a rejection of the Democrats in the future?

The frustration at the Biden administration is understandable. It’s shocking that on top of this green-lighting, Biden has attempted to gaslight us with comments such as the following from an interview last week:

I’m the guy that did more for the Palestinian community than anybody. I’m the guy that opened up all the assets. I’m the guy that made sure that I got the Egyptians to open the border.… I’m the guy that’s been able to pull together the Arab states to agree to help the Palestinians with food and shelter. I mean, I’ve been very supportive of the Palestinians.

The reality is that the Biden administration has been deeply complicit in the genocidal violence unfolding in Gaza. This complicity comes in many forms: military, financial, political and ideological. As of May 31, 2024, the U.S. provided Israel with at least $12.5 billion for the war in Gaza, according to the Council on Foreign Relations.

Israel shut down the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, and the U.S. has not acted after this devastating development, which remains the reality in the present. Furthermore, many Palestinians in Gaza are facing starvation, with Israel impeding the flow of humanitarian aid and social services. This would not be possible without support to the Netanyahu regime, and unconditional support to Israel as a whole, from the U.S. After all, people in Gaza understand when the weapons falling on them are often American.

While referring to another one of his political opponents, Chuck Schumer, Trump stated, “Schumer has become a Palestinian. He’s Jewish but he’s become a Palestinian.”

Thus, “uncommitted” voters during the Democratic primaries in states such as Michigan and Minnesota were effective in making their voices and concerns heard. The Biden campaign took notice of this and made some attempts to engage Arab American and Muslim American communities on these issues. Yet that has not ultimately led to a noticeable shift in the U.S. approach to the Gaza crisis. As a result, more of these voters have been pushed away from the Democratic Party, which has repercussions for the party’s ability to attract more voters from younger backgrounds, people of color and progressives, many of whom are deeply critical of U.S. unconditional support for Israel and its role in the slaughter of Palestinian civilians. Additionally, more and more Americans are realizing how problematic it is to conflate all Palestinians with Hamas, which represents just one strain in a diverse range of Palestinian politics.

As Truthout recently reported, following Biden’s decision to discontinue his presidential campaign, the Uncommitted National Movement released a statement urging Kamala Harris to “take a clear stance against weapons for Israel’s war and occupation against Palestinians,” adding “President Harris can start the process to earn back trust by turning the page from Biden’s horrific policies in Gaza.” We have yet to see what decisions Harris will make and how this will play out.

Nine months after October 7, the solidarity movement for Palestine is facing the grim reality that the U.S. establishment has refused to budge an inch, and has only doubled down on its repression of activists and its support for Israel’s genocide. Biden recently resumed sending 500-pound bombs to Israel, and the Israeli massacres on Gaza continue. Kamala Harris, meanwhile, has remained largely silent about the genocide and has not thus far shown any meaningful indication that she plans to change course. How might this affect how Palestinians and the solidarity movement engage with the two-party system, or think about the way forward for the movement in the U.S.?

Although third-party candidates do not stand a chance in the current U.S. political system, I’m grateful that both Cornel West and Jill Stein have been clear on the need for a new U.S. policy that treats Palestinian and Israeli lives as of equal worth. This leaves the Palestinian solidarity movement with difficult decisions ahead, with many individuals expressing that their consciences cannot allow them to vote for Trump or other mainstream candidates, including Democrats, and a wish that there could be a viable alternative. The U.S. political system is in clear need of substantial structural changes in the future, which could include the empowerment of a third party, reimagining of the Democratic Party, as well as campaign finance reform to prevent special interest groups and lobbies such as the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) from wielding the power they do over Democratic and Republican politicians alike. A lot of AIPAC’s support stems from fundamentalist evangelical Christian Zionists while significant numbers of Jewish Americans are increasingly expressing opposition to AIPAC. At the same time, it’s important to contextualize the role of AIPAC within the broader U.S.-Israel relationship, where both states have incentives to maintain this “special relationship.” We must listen deeply to the voices of marginalized communities in the U.S., including Black, LGBTQ, disabled and vulnerable folks. Many are terrified of the prospects of a second Trump presidency and its potential links to the Project 2025 blueprint.

Polls show that Biden stumbled badly with the youth vote — especially among Arab, Latino and Black communities. And yet, instead of attempting to reach these voters, the Democrats continue trying to reach the “moderate” voter they see as central to their strategy. This ignores the fact that polarization in the U.S., as well as the Palestine solidarity movement, has pushed millions to the left who have continuously been alienated by Biden and his policies. On the one hand, failure to consider these legitimate grievances could widen that gap further. On the other hand, we are likely to see the usual shaming and blaming of activists and anyone disillusioned with the Democratic establishment, and an outpouring of pressure to whitewash Biden’s legacy of overseeing the genocide in Gaza. How can we respond to these pressures? What should we expect over the coming months?

This is an alarming development in American political rhetoric, normalizing the use of “Palestinian” as a slur.

It is going to be an uphill battle for the Palestinian solidarity movement to get these messages across in a large-scale manner during election season. The public crises around Biden’s cognitive decline, followed by the assassination attempt against Trump, have been the primary preoccupations of much of the media, policy makers and civil society, and the question of Palestine is on the back burner. Many supporters of Trump are blaming Democrats and the left for rhetoric that the former see as contributing to the violence directed at Trump. This is only exacerbating the polarization of the American public and the political divides in this country. Folks in the Palestinian solidarity movement must continue to persist nonetheless in reaching out to fellow Americans and sharing how unconditional support to the Israeli state is harmful — primarily to Palestinians, but also to Americans and Israelis as well. Hundreds of thousands of Israelis are calling on Benjamin Netanyahu to resign as we speak. And millions of Americans have been calling on the U.S. government to redirect its aid from the Israeli military to Americans desperately in need of health care, education, and other benefits. If Kamala Harris advances with the Democratic ticket, which seems likely, our Palestinian solidarity movement must press her campaign on the need for a ceasefire in Gaza and significant change to U.S. blank-check support for Israel.

Along with the youth and Arab demographic in the U.S., there is also the fact that today, queer and trans folks, on the whole, support Palestine more than ever. Your 2020 book, Queer Palestine and the Empire of Critique, has been an important resource for that intersection. Could you speak about the solidarity with Palestine among the LGBTQ+ community over the past nine months? How are queer people responding to anti-Palestinian racism and the presidential election?

Solidarity with Palestine emanating from LGBTQ communities has only increased as queer activists bear witness to the death and destruction in Palestine that our U.S. tax dollars are funding. Many queer folks understand queer liberation through an intersectional lens, reject Israeli pinkwashing and uplift the voices of queer Palestinians in their struggles against homophobia and settler colonialism. At most Palestinian solidarity protests in any major American city, one can inevitably find a “queer bloc” — a contingency of LGBTQ folks proudly displaying rainbow and Palestinian flags and embodying the best of queer values and resistance. Over the past nine months, queer members of the Palestinian solidarity movement have been disproportionately represented and visible, writing to their local media outlets on the urgent need for a ceasefire in Gaza, lobbying their elected and soon-to-be elected officials to support an end to the genocide, and growing coalitions with other progressive movements in the U.S. and beyond. That momentum gives me hope.