By Jon Mroz
Despair drives communities to become more conservative. People are tribal and suffering typically contracts, rather than expands political acumen. Many young left leaning white Americans are shaking their heads wondering how it’s possible that Trump managed to win, and by a margin illustrating the paradox of disillusionment. It’s this same group that didn’t vote in large numbers for Harris. In fact, many young people voted for Trump.
Trump won over Latino, White and Black men because his campaign tapped into people’s economic pain (namely inflation) in a way that was relatable and real. But he also tapped into the dark underbelly of the American political landscape and with it, the inherent belief that misogyny, Christian nationalism and white supremacy could keep America safe.
Trump is safe?
Yes, safe. The reality-TV star that ran casinos in Atlantic City is archetypical and therefore, safe. He’s a card-carrying capitalist with a corporatist, dystopian vision for the future. He’s terrifyingly lucid and doesn’t speak out of both sides of his mouth. He makes no secret of who or what he is, and this radical authenticity is what placed him, yet again, in office. But why safe?
He’s safe because he’s predictable. He’s a convicted felon steeped in Calvinism. Elon knows it, the world knows it and working-class America know it too. He’s the self-styled savior of white privilege who time-and-time again, has defied government accountability while simultaneously perpetuating the notion that sufficient sums of money equal an exemption from any moral obligation to humanity outside of one’s inner circle. In doing so, he offers capitalism as a spiritual indulgence. All sins will be forgiven as long as you “drill baby drill”.
What it means for Palestinians
For Palestinians, this means more of the same. The accepted calculus here and expected “best case scenario” in America is that Netanyahu will do what he can to “finish the job” in Gaza followed by four years of erosion of Palestinian sovereignty in the West Bank. Trump will do what he can to obstruct all out war with Iran if the price is right. The façade of stability in the region will ultimately rest on lucratively designed policies that serve to line the pockets of the world’s wealthy elite.
The Trump policy team will likely attempt to resurrect the Abraham Accords, which will be disastrous for Palestine and the PA will reject it and rightfully so. It is yet to be seen how this policy agenda will faire against the backdrop of genocide in Gaza, the encroachment of Israelis on Lebanese sovereignty in southern Lebanon and a possible Syrian campaign on the horizon to cut Iranian supply lines.
One thing is certain, Palestinians are in no mood to leave and will only do so at gunpoint, or worse. And it may come to that. Trump will not even attempt to cloak himself in humanitarian values. Forced evacuations to Jordan and Egypt are forecasted by those paying close attention to indications in the US of a willingness to allow Israel to annex the West Bank and Gaza.
The Palestinian nation is here to stay
There will be no erasure of Palestinian national identity. Palestinians will continue to be a people. There is currently a lack of clear vision in Palestinian leadership, but the immediate and lasting priority must be, at this critical moment, to keep Palestinians in Palestine.
Nothing will happen without the blessing of this new administration so the choice must be made clear and the calculus must be made known. Israel is blinded by its own power differential so there is no use in making the case to them. To annex the territory without the people offers two options. The first is compensation, the second is annihilating 5 million people. It’s up to us to demonstrate how expensive those options really are in financial and political capital.
It’s up to us to show Trump exactly how these maniacal and messianic agendas don’t serve the self-interest of his administration. Trump’s risk tolerance will dictate anything the Israelis do. We do not have the financial capital to sway him, but the power to rate risk is in our hands. Meanwhile coalitions centering Palestinian sovereignty, human, civil and political rights must be built and fostered in the opposition. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, we need to counter the narrative that sufficient sums of money place anyone above the law both locally and internationally.
Let’s get to work…
