There is disagreement among Palestinian activists over whether Biden or Trump poses a greater threat to Palestinian interests.
While Trump advisers like Kushner and Friedman have advocated extreme policies like expelling Palestinians from Gaza and annexing the West Bank, activists argue Biden has enabled Israeli actions through weapons sales and aid.
“The fear of a second Trump term no longer resonates,” said Abed Ayoub, the national executive director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.
“Gaza’s waterfront property could be very valuable,” Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner stated.
“It’s a little bit of an unfortunate situation there, but from Israel’s perspective I would do my best to move the people out and then clean it up,” Kushner said.
Some argue pressure on Democrats could force a policy rethink, but others counter that Trump’s rhetoric, though harsher, may not translate into worse outcomes.
Biden abstained from a UN vote calling for a Gaza ceasefire and has reaffirmed US support for Israel, failing to sway Palestinian organizers who want an end to military backing for Netanyahu.
They argue the election does not have to be a choice between Biden and Trump, and activists are under no obligation to support either candidate given Biden’s record in office.
This disagreement over strategy reflects the difficult position of Palestinian advocates dissatisfied with both major party options.
“She ‘studied the maps’ and concluded that the people in Rafah have no place to go,” former ambassador to Israel David Friedman wrote. “It must have been an awfully small map — obviously left out Egypt and other Arab countries.”
“It looks like you would prefer that they suffer so you can maintain your anti-Israel narrative,” Friedman said.
“President Biden shares the goal for an end to the violence and a just, lasting peace in the Middle East,” campaign spokesperson Lauren Hitt said.
“He fully supports Israel’s right to defend itself and eliminate the terrorist threat,” Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt stated. “He also believes that Israel’s interests will be best served by completing this mission as quickly, decisively and humanely as possible so that the region can return to peace and stability.”
“It’s noteworthy that even Trump, Netanyahu’s strongest ally in the world, believes Israel is losing global and American public opinion,” said activist Waleed Shahid. “On the electoral front, Biden faces more scrutiny from voters on Gaza because he was the president who supplied weapons to a horrific war, even if Trump would have done the same.”
“Just because his rhetoric is more extreme doesn’t mean he’d be worse,” he said. “What Trump has said is ugly, but Biden is the one enabling a genocide,” said Tarek Khalil, a Chicago board member of American Muslims for Palestine.
“You cannot use your opposition to diminish what you’ve done,” Khalil said.
“But at the same time,” he added, “they’re still sending weapons, they’re still providing funding, they’re still doing a lot of things that contribute.”
Trump and Biden are “not the only two choices,” Ayoub said, “and it doesn’t fall upon Palestinian-rights activists and peace activists to take one of those two choices. If the byproduct of our choice is another Trump administration, then Democrats need to look at what they did for the next election.”
Most Popular:
Hidden Camera Exposes Biden Official
Border Patrol Marksman Takes Matters Into His Own Hands
