Amjad Iraqi | Editor
When news broke on Saturday that Joe Biden had defeated Donald Trump in the U.S. presidential election, the +972 team — like millions of others worldwide — were swept by relief. Though Biden is hardly a candidate for progressives to be ecstatic about, his ousting of a man who has brazenly enabled the legitimization of white supremacy, mainstreaming of all forms of racism, and upending of fact-based discourse to unprecedented levels is a victory worth celebrating.
The approaching end of Trump’s presidency is more than just a political change. For four years, the narcissist who is currently refusing to concede the Oval Office has invaded and warped our global culture. Hardly a day went by in which our news cycles, our social media feeds, even our entertainment programs did not feature Trump’s words or image. Hopefully, the election can begin the process of extricating Trump from our personal and political lives — even though the devastating legacies of his tenure will be felt for years to come.
For those fighting for justice in Israel-Palestine, Biden’s victory is bittersweet. While his administration may offer some respite to the Israeli right’s worst impulses — which the Trump administration was only too happy to indulge — Biden is no ally to the Palestinian rights movement. If anything, he threatens a reversion to the old ways of Middle East policy, in which rhetoric favoring Palestinian rights is often little more than quotes in the newspapers, with no meaningful action.
This does not mean our struggle is trapped by the past. Unlike Trump’s authoritarianism, a Biden administration is susceptible to the pressure rising from the progressive wing of the Democratic Party and grassroots movements like Black Lives Matter, which have placed Palestinian rights at the forefront of their agendas. The taboos that have long silenced Palestine activists in the United States are slowly cracking, while Israel’s footing in Washington slips under the weight of its own rightward trajectory.
In the end, however, the fight to rebuild U.S. politics cannot be centered around Palestinians or Israelis. It is, first and foremost, about the millions of Americans who are confronting the pandemics of COVID-19, racism, capitalism, and oppression of all kinds. It is about centering the voices of Native and Black Americans, poor and working class families, the ill and uninsured, and many more who deserve equality and social justice — just as Palestinians do.
In the same way that we call for support in ending apartheid here, so too must we offer the same in ending oppression in the United States and elsewhere. As of Saturday, that arduous fight became just a little bit easier.
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