Jalal's Take: Can the Green Party Deliver for US Muslims?
I know that not all Americans value what I have to say on the US elections. However, I do receive many emails and messages daily asking for advice, and my podcast, The Thinking Muslim, has been fairly instrumental in setting the correct intellectual parameters in parts of the US Muslim community when forming a conscious electoral decision on November 5th. My original position was to echo the views of many leaders within the US Muslim community who have said Muslim voters must disavow the two parties and opt for a third-party option, whoever that may be. But upon reflection, I think that advice, although in the right direction, will not procure the intended result – simply because it will diffuse the messaging of our vote. And thus diffuse its ability to make a statement. That’s why I have concluded that Muslims must vote for the Green Party on November 5th, even if they disagree, as I do, with some parts of their policy platform and public positions.
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Transcript - This is an automated transcript and some of the language may not reflect the actual conversation
0:00
I know that not all Americans value what I have to say on the US elections however I do receive
0:05
many emails and messages daily for advice and my podcast of thinking Muslim has been fully
0:10
instrumental in setting the correct intellectual parameters in parts of the US Muslim Community
0:17
when forming a conscious electoral decision on November the 5th my original position was to
0:22
Echo the views of many leaders within the US Muslim Community who have said muslim voters
0:28
must disavow the two parties op for a third party option whoever that may be but upon reflection I
0:34
think that advice although in the right direction will not procure the intended result simply
0:40
because it would diffuse the messaging of our vote and thus diffuse its ability to make a statement
0:47
that's why I have concluded that Muslims must vote for the green party on November the 5th even if
0:53
they disagree as I do with some parts of their policy platform and public positions now let me
0:59
explain the of having one party that receives the anti-genocide vote I think the best articulation
1:05
of this came from Imam Tom fakini who in his usual Brilliance pointed out that we need to tally our
1:12
anti-genocide vote you cannot achieve this if your vote is dispersed or you stay at home in this case
1:18
the green party becomes a vessel to contain our anger it is a container to house our tears of
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this past year it enables commentators to locate what went wrong with the genocidal Democrats they
1:33
will observe the Electoral Spike of the greens especially in all important swing States and Gaza
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will take Center Stage as the cause for their loss now the green party has come out the strongest
1:46
against genocide when I sat down to interview its leader Dr Jill Stein I found someone who
1:52
was thoroughly genuine and committed to advocating the Gaza cause she was clear that her party would
2:00
not win the presidency but what the electorate had to build up was the capacity to Dent the
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two-party nightmare now this is music to my ears this is precisely what I argued in the
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context of the UK elections she was also very cognizant of the power of Muslim mobilization
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unprecedented in recent months she saw within the Muslim Community a group who had firsthand
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experience of the brutality of the US Empire through familiar ties and a Matic Consciousness
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the intention as I have argued before is clear we want the genocidal Democrats to
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lose for presidency this is not a Slaughter that happened at arms length as some like Med Hassan
2:46
sadly a Democratic party cheerleader would lead us to conclude this genocide was commissioned
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in Washington it was funded armed and given logistic assistance and diplomatic cover by a
3:00
Biden Harris Administration and even if a future Trump Administration the only plausible outcome
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if Harris is humiliated on November the 5th is equally as culpable we would have sent the
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message that supporting genocide comes at a cost the frankly ludicrous position on medy is that
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you can reward mass murder at any cost it cheapens our vote and undercuts any leverage We believe We
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may have it keeps our community weak and needy and 's ambivalence indeed support of Harris is
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truly scarless this does not mean that the green party is our natural ideological home far from it
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on a host of other foreign policy and domestic issues the party remains somewhat vague if not
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evasive about its positions I did question Dr Stein about Syria a subject of some controversy
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and she was clear that she nor the green party had ever supported Assad she is a little bit more
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ambivalent I think about the Wagers acknowledging that the Chinese government like all great Powers
4:05
will have persecuted its minorities still her focus and study are more on the US Imperium so
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she cannot verify the claims about the intensity of this persecution this claim of ignorance is
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convincing to a point the overwhelming evidence shows that the Wagers are being persecuted on
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an industrial scale with concentration camps and force ible marriage and removal of children I have
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interviewed eyewitnesses who attest to the Daily Horrors on my channel you cannot brush this off
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as a lack of research it reinforces my complaint against some within the Anti-Imperialist left that
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they are willing to overlook the atrocities of those who stand against America principled
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politics requires us to always be on the side of the oppressed I do not for a second believe that
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Jill Stein is deaf to rights abuses still she is well aware that many on her base have political
5:03
and ideological sympathies with Russia and China which is producing confusing and mixed messaging
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none of this should take away from our original aim as a community we need a receptacle for our
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anti-genocide vote and the greens are better place to carry this vote now then there's a Vex issue of
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progressive or socially liberal attitudes to sexual matters and drugs the Muslim Community
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in many of the blue states have railed against an unfair imposition of attitudes that we do not find
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religiously compatible especially when it comes to our children and education again to her credit in
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our interview Dr Stein implied that her Newfound conversations with the Muslim Community had made
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her more empathetic to our concerns which is a good thing however more has to be done to give the
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Muslim Community confidence that the relationship can be widened and deepened after the election in
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a way compatible with our sacred commitments I point out these because we must mature as a
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community our political alliances whether to the left or right must come with a coherent commitment
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to what Imam D wed calls sacred activism if you haven't watched my interview with the Imam yet
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it's a refresh in take this is a kind of sober realism our political activism requires one where
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a blind schizophrenic commitment to a single party or political persuasion is replaced with a more
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profound meaningful reflection of what our faith places as higher order objectives so us voters who
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care about Gaza must vote green on November the 5th and we have to commit ourselves to punishing
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this genocidal Administration then the hard work of rebuilding our political capacity starts