The recent presidential primary elections in Michigan, my hometown, have exposed a significant voice within the Arab American and Muslim communities when voters cast their ballots as ‘uncommitted.’ This has grown into a strong movement –and Joe Biden’s strongest challenger– of allies from across all communities and identities. Frustration over U.S. complicity in the ongoing genocide in Gaza has fueled the initiative, enabling a deadly confluence of humanitarian, environmental, and climate repercussions. I am just one voice amongst the larger Arab American and Muslim population, and through this united campaign, we have conveyed that we are not single-issue voters. The Palestinian people deserve to live in a dignified way, not as victims to the settler colonialism of Israel. Nor should they live as victims of the climate crisis Israel is guaranteeing, and that the Biden Administration is enabling.
The ongoing genocide and colonization in Palestine interconnect layers of climate issues, social justice, and public health crises; issues central to my demographic and expressed through our voting choices. My community has done and will continue to do everything to make sure we are heard in the elections.
Like many of my fellow Arabs, Muslims and allies, I am shattered by the active genocide of my people in Gaza. This feeling is especially intensified as we begin fasting for the holy month of Ramadan this week. With over 155 days of Israeli bombardment in Gaza, innocent Palestinians endure daily massacres and starvation, facilitated with help from the U.S. Hunger, climate oppression and environmental warfare are weapons of genocide actively being employed by Israel in Gaza.
Read More: Israeli Bombs Pushing Towards Climate Devastation
Despite a majority of Americans calling for a ceasefire, the Biden Administration has used its veto power in the UN Security Council to stop an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza. It has also failed to allow the safe delivery of humanitarian aid trucks into Gaza, all while supplying Israel with the weapons killing Palestinians, my people. These actions are not only directly enabling a genocide, but are also contributing heavily to the climate crisis.
The climate cost of the first 60 days of Israel’s military response was equivalent to burning at least 150,000 tonnes of coal. It is greater than the annual carbon footprint of more than 20 of the world’s most climate-vulnerable nations, this being a significant underestimate. This underscores the urgency for climate justice as historical and current polluters continue to exacerbate climate conditions for vulnerable front-line communities.
Following the significant ‘uncommitted’ votes, the U.S. rushed in to airdrop aid in Gaza, which not only has been criticized as hypocritical, but also reported to be costly, inefficient, and even deadly. Parachutes carrying the aid malfunctioned and killed Palestinians. Disaster relief experts have touted that these are not meaningful enough to make a dent in the humanitarian crisis caused by Israel and the U.S.
Another attempt at regaining trust with my demographic, and likely a direct response to the uncommitted campaign, manifested at Biden’s State of the Union address, where the President announced that the U.S. will build a temporary port on Gaza’s Mediterranean coast to receive humanitarian aid by sea. President Biden’s attempts are not nearly enough to stave off his blatant hypocrisy. Moreso, some experts have reported that this temporary port could potentially be an opportunity for the U.S. to extract natural gas from Gaza, amidst a climate emergency when countries are divesting from fossil fuels.
Extensive and unprecedented destruction has targeted agricultural lands housing perennial trees like olives and citrus fruits, as well as field crops like vegetables. A report by Lawfare said, “the legally proportionate collateral damage by lethal weapons used in civilian populated areas would be thoroughly immoral.” Israel has also dropped white phosphorus on Gaza and Lebanon, a chemical that is not only excruciatingly painful but also greatly harms the environment deep within the soil.
Read More: Israel’s Water Apartheid Policies in the Palestinian West Bank and Gaza Strip
Ongoing airstrikes and a lack of electricity or fuel are causing Gaza’s water and sewage management facility to remain untreated, releasing 130,000 cubic meters of untreated sewage into the Mediterranean Sea every day. However, climate change does not recognize borders and political arrangements, and environmental degradation in Palestine will make its way to Israeli settler territories.
Gaza also had one of the world’s highest densities of solar rooftop installations. However, the current war has destroyed these solar systems, with 17 of the 29 largest rooftop solar installations either completely destroyed or displaying significant external damage. By denying Palestinians the ability to employ climate mitigation and adaptation efforts, Israel is committing climate apartheid.
The Israeli Occupation Forces have not only blocked humanitarian aid from entering Gaza, but they have intentionally massacred Palestinian civilians as they tried to obtain food from the few trucks that were permitted to enter, inciting the “flour massacre.” Israeli settlers have protested and blocked humanitarian trucks from entering, with 72 percent of Israelis opposing providing humanitarian aid to Gaza according to a survey conducted for Israel’s Channel 12 television. Gaza is now facing famine with at least 800,000 Palestinians starving to death and more than a dozen children dead due to malnutrition.
Our vote is a protest demanding for the decision-makers of this country to hear us, especially as my fellow Muslims in Gaza continue to suffer during our holiest month. Ramadan has come at the most sensitive of times, and Biden has betrayed his supporters to enable the ongoing massacre of my people. The focus in Gaza this Ramadan, like the rest of the Muslim world, should have been on prayer and spirituality. Instead, they must prioritize survival as they become victims of famine and extreme living conditions worsened by a climate crisis exacerbated by Israel.
Come November, any candidate who wants to represent my demographic will need to earn our vote. This will only happen if U.S. stops the genocide, and urgently addresses the interlocking humanitarian, climate and public health crises. The U.S. must not only acknowledge but halt its policy to ethnically cleanse Palestinians to get our vote.
The colonization of a people and land isn’t a “single-issue.’ I reject any notion that my community and our allies are not clear-eyed about what is at stake this November. We are raising the alarms to stop the crises that are impacting all of us and we’re not being heard.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Muslim Climate Watch’s editorial stance.
