Some Muslim Americans moving to Jill Stein in potential blow to Kamala Harris

Some Muslim Americans moving to Jill Stein in potential blow to Kamala Harris
Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein (AFP)
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Updated 20 September 2024
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Some Muslim Americans moving to Jill Stein in potential blow to Kamala Harris

Some Muslim Americans moving to Jill Stein in potential blow to Kamala Harris
  • 40 percent of Muslims back Stein in Michigan, 12 percent back Harris, poll shows
  • Muslim voters may prove crucial in close White House race

WASHINGTON: Some Arab American and Muslim voters angry at US support for Israel’s offensive in Gaza are shunning Democrat Kamala Harris in the presidential race to back third-party candidate Jill Stein in numbers that could deny Harris victories in battleground states that will decide the Nov. 5 election.
A late August poll conducted by the Council on American-Islamic Relations advocacy group showed that in Michigan, home to a large Arab American community, 40 percent of Muslim voters backed the Green Party’s Stein. Republican candidate Donald Trump got 18 percent, with Harris, who is President Joe Biden’s vice president, trailing at 12 percent.
The poll, conducted by text message more than two weeks before the Harris-Trump Sept. 10 debate, showed Harris leading Trump 29.4 percent to 11.2 percent, with 34 percent favoring third-party candidates including Stein at 29.1 percent.
Harris was the leading pick of Muslim voters in Georgia and Pennsylvania, while Trump prevailed in Nevada with 27 percent, just ahead of Harris’ 26 percent, according to the CAIR poll of 1,155 Muslim voters nationwide. All are battleground states that have swung on narrow margins in recent elections.
The Green Party is on most state ballots, including all battleground states that could decide the election, except for Georgia and Nevada, where the party is suing to be included.
Stein also leads Harris among Muslims in Arizona and Wisconsin, battleground states with sizable Muslim populations where Biden defeated Trump in 2020 by slim margins.
Biden won the 2020 Muslim vote, credited in various exit polls with from 64 percent to 84 percent of their support, but Muslim backing of Democrats has fallen sharply since Israel’s nearly year-long action in Gaza.
The Uncommitted National Movement said on Thursday it would not back Harris even though it opposes Trump and won’t recommend a third-party vote. It said Trump would accelerate the killing in Gaza if reelected but Harris had not responded to its request she meet with Palestinian Americans who lost loved ones in Gaza and had not agreed to discuss halting arms shipments to Israel.
A campaign spokesperson said Harris was committed to earning every vote and uniting the country, while continuing to work to end the war in Gaza. The campaign earlier declined to comment on the shifting dynamics; officials tasked with Muslim outreach were not available for interviews.
The Uncommitted movement rallied over 750,000 voters to cast uncommitted ballots in the Democratic nominating contests early this year to protest Biden’s policy in support of Israel’s war. Biden left the race in July and endorsed Harris, who then launched her campaign.
Harris has gone further than other Biden administration officials to voice sympathy with the Palestinians and has forcefully criticized Israel’s conduct while adhering to Biden administration policy, disappointing Arab American and Muslim voters.
About 3.5 million Americans reported being of Middle Eastern descent in the 2020 US Census, the first year such data was recorded. Although they make up about 1 percent of the total US population of 335 million, their voters may prove crucial in a race that opinion polls show Harris and Trump neck and neck.
On Tuesday, Harris called for an end to the Israel-Gaza war and the return of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. She also said Israel must not reoccupy the Palestinian enclave and backed a two-state solution.
But at closed-door meetings in Michigan and elsewhere, Harris campaign officials have rebuffed appeals to halt or limit US arms shipments to Israel, community leaders say.
“Decades of community organizing and civic engagement and mobilizing have not manifested into any benefit,” said Faye Nemer, founder of the Michigan-based MENA American Chamber of Commerce to promote US trade with the Middle East.
“We’re part of the fabric of this country, but our concerns are not taken into consideration,” she said.
Stein is aggressively campaigning on Gaza, while Trump representatives are meeting with Muslim groups and promising a swifter peace than Harris can deliver.
Stein’s 2016 run ended with just over 1 percent of the popular vote, but some Democrats blamed her and the Green Party for taking votes away from Democrat Hillary Clinton. Pollsters give Stein no chance of winning in 2024.
But her support for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, for an immediate US arms embargo on Israel and for student movements to force universities to divest from weapons investments have made her popular in pro-Palestinian circles. Her running mate Butch Ware, a professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, is Muslim.
This month Stein spoke at ArabCon in Dearborn, Michigan, an annual gathering of Arab Americans, and was featured on the cover of The Arab American News under the headline “The Choice 2024.” Last week in an interview with The Breakfast Club, a New York radio program, she said, “Every vote cast for our campaign is a vote against genocide,” a charge that Israel denies.

Trump team campaigns for Arab American votes
At the same time, the Trump team has hosted dozens of in-person and virtual events with Arab Americans and Muslims in Michigan and Arizona, said Richard Grenell, Trump’s former acting Director of National Intelligence.
“Arab American leaders in Detroit know this is their moment to send a powerful message to the Democrat party that they shouldn’t be taken for granted,” Grenell said. Trump has said he would secure more Arab-Israeli peace deals.
Biden defeated Trump in 2020 by just thousands of votes in some states, thanks in part to the support of Arab and Muslim voters in states where they are concentrated, including Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Biden won Michigan by 154,000 votes in 2020, but Trump defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton there by fewer than 11,000 votes in 2016. The state is home to overlapping groups of more than 200,000 registered voters who are Muslim and 300,000 who report ancestry from the Middle East and North Africa.
In Philadelphia, which has a large Black Muslim population, activists have joined a national “Abandon Harris” campaign. They helped organize protests during her debate with Trump last week.
Philadelphia CAIR co-chair Rabiul Chowdhury said, “We have options. If Trump pledges to end the war and bring home all hostages, it’s game over for Harris.” Trump has said the war would never have erupted if he were president. It’s unclear how he would end it. Trump is a firm supporter of Israel.
In Georgia, where Biden won in 2020 by 11,779 votes, activists are rallying 12,000 voters to commit to withhold votes from Harris unless the Biden administration acts by Oct. 10 to halt all arms shipments to Israel, demands a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and the West Bank, and pledges to uphold a US law that imposes an arms embargo on nations engaged in war crimes.
Thousands have already signed similar pledges in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
US Representative Dan Kildee, a Michigan Democrat, said he worries about the impact the Gaza war will have in November. He said not only Arab Americans and Muslims, but a much broader group of younger voters and others are also upset.
“You can’t unring a bell,” he said, adding Harris still had “the space and grace” to shift gears, but time was running out.


Tesla warns it could face retaliatory tariffs

Tesla warns it could face retaliatory tariffs
Updated 14 March 2025
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Tesla warns it could face retaliatory tariffs

Tesla warns it could face retaliatory tariffs
  • Tesla says it is important to ensure that the Trump administration’s efforts to address trade issues “do not inadvertently harm US companies.”

WASHINGTON: US automaker Tesla has warned that it and other major American exporters are exposed to retaliatory tariffs that could be leveled in response to President Donald Trump’s aggressive use of tariffs.
The Tesla comments reflect those of many US businesses concerned by Trump’s tariffs, but is notable because it is from Tesla.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk, a close ally of Trump, has been leading the White House effort to shrink the size of the federal government. The billionaire heads up the so-called Department of Government Efficiency.
The comments were made in a letter to the US Trade Representative’s Office and available on the office’s web site. Dated Tuesday, it is among hundreds sent by companies to the office about US trade policy.
It is not clear who at Tesla wrote the letter, which is unsigned but is on a company letterhead. Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for a comment.
Tesla says it is important to ensure that the Trump administration’s efforts to address trade issues “do not inadvertently harm US companies.”
It says it is eager to avoid retaliation of the type it faced in prior trade disputes, which resulted in increased tariffs on electric vehicles imported into countries subject to US tariffs.
“US exporters are inherently exposed to disproportionate impacts when other countries respond to US trade actions,” Tesla said in the letter. “For example, past trade actions by the United States have resulted in immediate reactions by the targeted countries, including increased tariffs on EVs imported into those countries.”
Trump is considering imposing significant tariffs on vehicles and parts made around the world in early April.
Tesla warns that even with aggressive localization of the supply chain, “certain parts and components are difficult or impossible to source within the United States.”
The automaker adds that companies will “benefit from a phased approach that enables them to prepare accordingly and ensure appropriate supply chain and compliance measures are taken.”
“As a US manufacturer and exporter, Tesla encourages USTR to consider the downstream impacts of certain proposed actions taken to address unfair trade practices,” the EV maker says.
Autos Drive America, a trade group representing major foreign automakers including Toyota, Volkswagen , BMW, Honda and Hyundai , warned USTR in separate comments that imposing “broad-based tariffs will disrupt production at US assembly plants.”
The group added, “automakers cannot shift their supply chains overnight, and cost increases will inevitably lead to some combination of higher consumer prices, fewer models offered to consumers and shut-down US production lines, leading to potential job losses across the supply chain.”


More shots fired at Oregon Tesla dealership in ongoing vandalism since Musk began advising Trump

More shots fired at Oregon Tesla dealership in ongoing vandalism since Musk began advising Trump
Updated 14 March 2025
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More shots fired at Oregon Tesla dealership in ongoing vandalism since Musk began advising Trump

More shots fired at Oregon Tesla dealership in ongoing vandalism since Musk began advising Trump
  • The shooting caused extensive damage to cars and showroom windows, police said
  • Tesla has been a target for demonstrations and vandalism in the US and elsewhere this year

TIGARD, Oregon: Gunshots were fired at a Tesla dealership in Oregon on Thursday for the second time in a week in ongoing vandalism and protests around the country since CEO Elon Musk became a key figure in the Trump administration.
Around 4:15 a.m., more than a dozen shots were fired around the electric vehicle dealership in the Portland suburb of Tigard, according to the Tigard Police Department. The shooting caused extensive damage to cars and showroom windows, police said. No one was hurt.

A member of the Seattle Fire Department inspects a burned Tesla Cybertruck at a Tesla lot in Seattle on March 10, 2025. (AP Photo)

A similar shooting happened on March 6 at the same location. Police said they continue to work with federal partners at the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives to thoroughly investigate. An ATF explosive detection dog has been used after both shootings to help search for shell casings, police said.
Tesla has been a target for demonstrations and vandalism in the US and elsewhere this year. People have protested Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, which has been moving to slash the size of the federal government.
Police said over the weekend that six Tesla Cybertrucks at a dealership in the Seattle suburb of Lynnwood were spray painted with swastikas and profanity directed at Musk, KING-TV reported.

Protesters demonstrate outside of a Tesla dealership in West Bloomfield, Michigan, on March 13, 2025, to protest Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s mass firing of federal government employees to advance President Trump’s “Make America Great Again” program. (AFP)

On Sunday, four Cybertrucks were destroyed in a blaze in Seattle, but investigators have not said if the fire, or fires, were intentionally set. On Tuesday, the Seattle Police Department said it was working with federal partners to investigate the incident.
President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he was buying a new Tesla to show his support for Musk as the billionaire’s company struggles with sagging sales and declining stock prices.


All eyes on Democrats as US barrels toward shutdown deadline

All eyes on Democrats as US barrels toward shutdown deadline
Updated 14 March 2025
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All eyes on Democrats as US barrels toward shutdown deadline

All eyes on Democrats as US barrels toward shutdown deadline

WASHINGTON: The US government, already shaken by Donald Trump’s radical reforms, could begin shutting down entirely this weekend as Democrats grapple with the option of opposing the president’s federal funding plans — at the risk this blows up in their faces.
With a Friday night deadline to fund the government or allow it to start winding down its operations, the Senate is set for a crunch vote ahead of the midnight cut-off on a Trump-backed bill passed by the House of Representatives.
The package would keep the lights on through September, but Democrats are under immense pressure from their own grassroots to defy Trump and reject a text they say is full of harmful spending cuts.
“If it shuts down, it’s not the Republicans’ fault. We passed a bill... If there’s a shutdown, even the Democrats admit it will be their fault,” Trump told reporters on Thursday.
A handful of Democrats in Trump-supporting states — worried that they would be blamed over a stoppage with no obvious exit ramp — appear ready to incur the wrath of their own supporters by backing down.
But the vote remains on a knife edge, with many Democrats yet to reveal their decision.
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, who voted against a bill to avert a shutdown as recently as 18 months ago, urged the minority party to “put partisan politics aside and do the right thing.”
“When the government shuts down, you have government employees who are no longer paid, you have services that begin to lag. It brings great harm on the economy and the people,” he told Fox News.
The funding fight is focused on opposition to Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), unofficially spearheaded by tech mega-billionaire and Trump adviser Elon Musk, which is working to dramatically reduce the size of the government.
DOGE aims to cut federal spending by $1 trillion this year and claims to have made savings so far of $115 billion through lease terminations, contract cancelations and firing federal workers.
Its online “wall of receipts” accounts for a tiny portion of that total, however, and US media outlets have found its website to be riddled with errors, misleading math and exaggerations.
Grassroots Democrats, infuriated by what they see as the SpaceX and Tesla CEO’s lawless rampage through the federal bureaucracy, want their leaders to stand up to DOGE and Trump.
The funding bill is likely to need support from at least eight Democrats in the Senate, but its Republican authors ignored the minority party’s demands to protect Congress’s authority over the government’s purse strings and rein in Musk.
Washington progressive representative Pramila Jayapal told CNN there would be a “huge backlash” against Senate Democrats supporting the bill.
Several top Democrats have warned, however, that a shutdown could play into Musk’s hands, making further lay-offs easier and distracting from DOGE’s most unpopular actions, which just this week has included firing half the Education Department’s workforce.
“Now it’s a (bill) that we all agree we don’t like — but for me we can’t ever allow the government to shut down,” Pennsylvania’s Democratic Senator John Fetterman told CNN, warning that a recession could follow.
Republicans control 53 seats in the 100-member Senate.
Legislation in the upper chamber requires a preliminary ballot with a 60-vote threshold — designed to encourage bipartisanship — before final passage, which only needs a simple majority.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told his members privately on Thursday he will vote yes at the preliminary stage, according to congressional media outlet Punchbowl News.
He and Fetterman are the only Democrats committed to allowing the bill to move forward, and Schumer has not ordered his members to follow suit.
But others could cross the aisle if Republicans allow amendment votes on their legislative priorities.
Each would fail, but it is a face-saving exercise that would allow Democrats to tell their activists at home that they fought for their principles.
It is not clear however that this would shield them from the criticism that they bent the knee to Trump and Musk.


Duterte’s first ICC appearance set for Friday

Duterte’s first ICC appearance set for Friday
Updated 14 March 2025
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Duterte’s first ICC appearance set for Friday

Duterte’s first ICC appearance set for Friday
  • Former Philippines president faces crimes against humanity charges over his deadly war on drugs
  • The 79-year-old will appear before judges for a hearing where he will be informed of the crimes he is alleged to have committed.

THE HAGUE: Rodrigo Duterte’s first appearance at the International Criminal Court has been set for Friday, the court said, as the former Philippines president faces crimes against humanity charges over his deadly war on drugs.
“The Chamber considers it appropriate for the first appearance of Mr.Duterte to take place on Friday, 14 March 2025 at 14:00 hours (1300 GMT),” the court said in a statement late on Thursday.
The 79-year-old will appear before judges for a hearing where he will be informed of the crimes he is alleged to have committed, as well as his rights as a defendant.
Duterte stands accused of the crime against humanity of murder over his years-long campaign against drug users and dealers that rights groups said killed tens of thousands of people.
As he landed in The Hague, the former leader appeared to accept responsibility for his actions, saying in a Facebook video: “I have been telling the police, the military, that it was my job and I am responsible.”
Duterte’s stunning arrest in Manila came amid a spectacular meltdown in relations between his family and the Marcos family, who had previously joined forces to run the Philippines.
Current President Ferdinand Marcos and Vice President Sara Duterte — Rodrigo’s daughter — are at loggerheads, with the latter facing an impeachment trial over charges including an alleged assassination plot against Marcos.
Sara Duterte is in The Netherlands to support her father, after labelling his arrest “oppression and persecution,” with the Duterte family having sought an emergency injunction from the Supreme Court to stop his transfer.
But victims of the “war on drugs” hope that Duterte will finally face justice for his alleged crimes.
Gilbert Andres, a lawyer representing victims of the drug war, told AFP: “My clients are very thankful to God because their prayers have been answered.”
“The arrest of Rodrigo Duterte is a great signal for international criminal justice. It means that no one is above the law,” Andres added.
The high-profile Duterte case also comes at a critical moment for the ICC, as it faces unprecedented pressure from all sides, including US sanctions.
Last month, US President Donald Trump imposed sanctions on the court over what he said were “illegitimate and baseless actions targeting America and our close ally Israel.”
The ICC has issued an arrest warrant for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity during the Gaza war.
Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan hailed Duterte’s arrest as a key moment for victims and international justice as a whole.
“Many say that international law is not as strong as we want, and I agree with that. But as I also repeatedly emphasize, international law is not as weak as some may think,” Khan said in a statement following Duterte’s arrival in ICC custody.
“When we come together... when we build partnerships, the rule of law can prevail. Warrants can be executed,” he said.
At the initial hearing, a suspect can request interim release pending a trial, according to ICC rules.
Following that first hearing, the next phase is a session to confirm the charges, at which point a suspect can challenge the prosecutor’s evidence.
Only after that hearing will the court decide whether to press ahead with a trial, a process that could take several months or even years.
“It’s important to underline, as we now start a new stage of proceedings, that Mr. Duterte is presumed innocent,” said Khan.


Southern African bloc ends military mission in DR Congo

Southern African bloc ends military mission in DR Congo
Updated 14 March 2025
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Southern African bloc ends military mission in DR Congo

Southern African bloc ends military mission in DR Congo

JOHANNESBURG: The southern African regional bloc decided on Thursday to end its military deployment to the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where it lost more than a dozen soldiers in conflict in January.

The 16-nation Southern African Development Community, or SADC, decided at a virtual summit on the conflict in the area that has seen some three decades of unrest and claimed millions of lives.

The “summit terminated the mandate of SAMIDRC and directed the commencement of a phased withdrawal of SAMIDRC troops from the DRC,” it said in a statement at the end of the meeting.

The SADC Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, or SAMIDRC, — made up of soldiers from Malawi, Tanzania, and South Africa — was sent to the region in December 2023 to help the government of the DRC, also SADC member, restore peace and security. South Africa lost 14 soldiers in the eastern DRC conflict in January. 

Most were from the SAMIDRC mission, but at least two were deployed as part of a separate UN peacekeeping mission.

Three Malawian troops in the SADC deployment were also killed, while Tanzania said two of its soldiers died in clashes.

Calls have been mounting in South Africa for the soldiers still in the DRC to be withdrawn, with reports that they are confined to their base by M23 fighters. Malawi in February, ordered its military to prepare for a withdrawal.