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DON’T SCAPEGOAT ARAB AMERICANS  
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Dr. James J. Zogby
February 10, 2025
Arab American Institute
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_ Instead of blaming the people they let down, the Harris campaign
needs to look in the mirror and find fault with itself. Arab Americans
and their concerns were given such short shrift by the campaign, it is
wrong to hold them responsible for the loss _

Photo: Ehimetalor Akhere Unuabona on Unsplash,

 

There’s an insidious blame game occurring on social media. Whenever
President Donald Trump takes one of his outrageous actions, Arab
Americans are subjected to a flood of abusive messages. The
“nicer” comments simply blame us for Mr. Trump’s victory, but
others are punctuated by obscenities, vulgarities, and threats. There
appears to be a concerted effort to absolve the Biden White House for
their failed policies and the Harris presidential campaign for their
bad political decisions and instead blame Arab Americans for Trump’s
victory. 

Being threatened or targeted for blame is nothing new for Arab
Americans. For decades now, we’ve had to fend off abusive comments
holding us responsible for everything from the 1973 Oil Embargo to
terrorist attacks, whether here in the US or in the Middle East. 

I have experienced this personally. In the last two decades there have
been four convictions for these kinds of threats directed against me,
my family, or my staff. During one two-year stretch, between 2015 and
2017, we received 772 outrageous email threats accusing me of
planning, training, and funding dozens of acts of violence. 

What’s happening today is different in two ways. Instead of being
accused of terrorism, we are being held responsible for Trump’s
victory. Some of those targeting us with abuse aren’t mentally
deranged individuals who hover about on the right-wing of US politics,
they are from the left. And while some of those blaming us for
Harris’ defeat are unbalanced hate-filled characters, other
accusations come from seasoned liberal political operatives or
mainstream pundits who ought to know better. 

To even suggest that Arab Americans are responsible for this
election’s outcome is false, foolish, and irresponsible. In the
first place, the Harris campaign didn’t need any help, they lost on
their own. They may continue to maintain that their campaign was
“flawless,” but if that’s the case, why did Democrats lose 45%
of the Latino vote, or a significant share of Black males, or get
wiped out among the white working-class? 

These failures can’t be pinned on Arab Americans. They were the
result of a failed campaign strategy designed and executed by
consultants who are unprincipled, out of touch with the changing
electorate, risk-averse and unimaginative. Instead of understanding
the changing contours and growing diversity of the Hispanic, Asian,
and Black communities, they either took them for granted or approached
them with decades-old “one-size-fits-all” messaging. Added to this
was their failure to address the economic insecurity of the working
class of all races, and the misguided attempt to replace voters they
were losing by winning moderate Republican-leaning, white
suburban women by campaigning with former Congressman Liz Cheney
(whose policies are neither moderate nor appealing to suburban
women). 

When tallying the “strategists’” failures, we must add
Vice-President Harris’ failure to meet with Arab American leaders,
demonstrate any distance from President Biden’s disastrous
blank-check support for Israel, and the campaign’s refusal to allow
a Palestinian woman, who had lost family in Gaza, to speak at the
Democratic convention. All of these failures took a toll on Arab
American support for the Democratic ticket. 

Having witnessed the traumatizing genocide that unfolded in Gaza and
the enabling role played by the Biden administration, Arab Americans
were in a bind. Although for the past two decades they’d voted for
Democrats by a two-to-one margin, many found it difficult to support
campaigns that ignored them and their pain. They asked for gestures of
support and got none. And so, in the end, instead of the 60-30 margin
won by Biden in 2020, Trump and Harris split the Arab American vote,
with a small percentage supporting a third-party candidate, and a
larger than average number not voting at all. 

Given the fact, that Arab Americans and their concerns were given such
short shrift by the Harris campaign, it is wrong to hold them
responsible for the loss in November. There’s a bit of racism at
work here. If the concerns of any other group (ethnic, religious, or
racial) had been so ignored, would they be scorned for abandoning the
party that offended them? And when Trump started mass deportations, I
haven’t seen Latino voters blamed or targeted with hate because 45%
of them didn’t vote for Harris. And of course, they should not be
because instead of blaming the people they let down, the campaign
needs to look in the mirror and find fault with itself. I would
simply have hoped the same courtesy could be extended to my
community. 

Early on, I warned the Biden/Harris campaigns that they were at risk
of losing Arab Americans. My concerns were shrugged off with “When
it comes down to a binary choice— us versus Trump—they’ll
support us.” I told them that was insensitive to my community’s
pain and politically stupid. They were wrong and I was right. 

Despite all of this, I was disturbed when some in my community
endorsed Donald Trump, or when others began beating the drums for an
unserious third-party candidate. I went to Michigan and joined several
Arab American leaders for a Harris endorsement event. While I too was
angry at Biden and deeply disappointed by the Harris campaign, I felt
strongly that the dangers to our community, our allies, and our
country’s democracy were too great to let Trump back into the White
House. I understood my community’s pain and anger, but felt that it
was important for us to rise above our hurt and consider how much
worse it would be if Trump won—worse not only for us, but also for
many other vulnerable communities here at home and abroad. As we can
see from the new outrages being enacted daily, these fears were
justified.  

But despite this debate internal to my community, when all is said and
done, I insist: Don’t blame Arab Americans. Blame the Biden
administration and the Harris campaign. Don’t make us scapegoats,
because even if Harris had carried the Arab American vote in
Michigan and won that state, she still would have lost the other six
battleground states and the election. And even if every Arab American
voter had turned the other cheek and cast a ballot for Harris, she
still would have lost the popular vote. 

_[DR. JAMES J. ZOGBY [[link removed]] is the
author of Arab Voices (2010) and the founder and president of the Arab
American Institute (AAI), a Washington, D.C.-based organization which
serves as the political and policy research arm of the Arab American
community. Since 1985, Dr. Zogby and AAI have led Arab American
efforts to secure political empowerment in the U.S. Through voter
registration, education and mobilization, AAI has moved Arab Americans
into the political mainstream. Dr. Zogby has also been personally
active in U.S. politics for many years; in 1984 and 1988 he served as
Deputy Campaign manager and Senior Advisor to the Jesse Jackson
Presidential campaign. In 1988, he led the first ever debate on
Palestinian statehood at that year's Democratic convention in Atlanta,
GA. In 2000, 2008, and 2016 he served as an advisor to the Gore,
Obama, and Sanders presidential campaigns.]_

_Reprinted with permission [[link removed]]._

* Arab Americans
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* Arab American voters
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* 2024 Elections
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* Kamala Harris
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* Harris campaign
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* Democratic Party
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* Democrats
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* Muslim voters
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* Palestinian Americans
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* Israel-Gaza War
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* Palestinian solidarity
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* Palestine solidarity
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* Biden Administration
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* Democratic coalition
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* Michigan
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* Dearborn
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