Trump's victory, promises and hopes for Arabs, Muslims, and Kurds

Serwan Zangana | Exclusive to iKurd.net

The historical victory of elected President Donald Trump was a fresh air and a new start for his supporters and an earthquake that cracked the Democrats’ blue structure.

Trump has won both the popular and the electoral vote. The last Republican President who won the popular vote was George W. Bush in 2004, he won 50.7% of the popular vote and his Democrat opponent John Kerry received 48.3%.

However, the result of the 2024 Presidential Election has favored Trump as he won 50.9% and Vice President Kamala Harris won 48.16% of the Popular votes.

The minorities’ shift from voting Democrats to Trump, which was undermined by the Harris’ campaign prior to the election, had an impactful result. It was a major U-Turn at the Democratic intersection toward Trump, which shook the Party’s base.

The Democrats’ agenda and policy regarding economy, Southern border security and the influx of illegal immigrants, and handling the two wars of Ukraine and the Middle East were totally objected by most Americans, including the diverse ethnicities and minorities as they were traditional Democrats voters in the past.

President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have disappointed American people and misdefined the American dream. Obviously, Biden-Harris totally ignored American concerns and continued to believe that the minority groups will always vote Democrats!

Perhaps, Harris believed that the endorsement from some minority groups and Muslim organizations, such as EMGAGE which is a large Muslim organization, and Black Muslim Leadership Council Fund would place her on a safe side in the election.

But, Arabs and Muslims have abandoned Harris and spoke clearly against the current Administration’s policy about the Gaza war.

Harris in her debates and interviews was not able to form a convincing argument regarding the war in the Middle East to satisfy the Arab Americans. Apparently, Harris’ lack of understanding and listening to Arabs and Muslims have resulted in a downward trend, which appeared in the number of the votes she received.

However, According to Pew Research Center in September, 2024, some of the top issues for voters in the election were economy, immigration, and foreign policy. The voters in general had more confidence in Trump to make good decisions about those issues than in Harris.

The poll revealed that Trump was ahead by +10 point in economic policy, +7 point in immigration policy, and +6 point in foreign policy. Perhaps, Harris’ focus on abortion and reproductive rights and her advantage which was +11 point over Trump did not persuade the majority voters to ignore the other issues and support Harris in the election.

The Democratic Party has miscalculated the equation in pushing and nominating Harris, a Black female, for Presidency to influence the voters. Evidently, this time the majority of the voters did not embrace race and gender to make a decision.

Trump’s case in winning the Arab Muslims votes

With no doubt that Trump will continue to support Israel and stand with Netanyahu. The ideological connection between the U.S. and Israel has been rooted deep down, and its support to Israel is beyond the elected President.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) with army officials, August 29, 2024. Photo: Israeli PM’s Press Office/via iKurd.net

But the strategy of implementing the agenda of supporting Israel can change depending on the President. The Arabs and Muslim Americans’ vote for Trump were based on the promise that he made during the campaign to end the war in Gaza and stop the bloodshed.

But the Arabs and Muslims have missed the point which is that ending the Gaza war is not the end of the support to Israel by Trump. A group of Arab Muslims have already expressed their anger toward Trump for selecting Florida Senator Marco Rubio, a stalwart supporter of Israel, for Secretary of State.

Regardless of Trump’s avoidance of major conflicts in the Middle East during his first term of Presidency, it is no guarantee that the U.S. will bring peace to the region. However, the peace promise was the major factor that a large number of Arabs and Muslim voted for him.

Now, while celebrating his victory, Trump is facing a difficult test given by the voters. Between fear and hope, Arabs and Muslims are waiting for Trump’s peace agenda, as he promised, in Gaza to succeed while the Democrats are hoping for his failure.

After all, it should not be surprising if the game changes in Washington DC, and the red wave did not please the Arab Muslim Americans regarding the Middle East’s situation.

Despite many disappointment, Kurds have a soft spot in their heart for U.S.

Iraqi Kurds gesture in response to the U.S. military withdrawal from Syrian Kurdistan — Iraqi Kurds gesture to a U.S. military convoy as it pulls out of Syrian Kurdistan and enters Iraqi Kurdistan near Erbil, October 21, 2019.. Photo: SM/video/via iKurd.net

Throughout history, Kurds have been abandoned by the U.S. and suffered under some of American politicians’ policies. Trump has also contributed to Kurds’ suffering, perhaps, a little less than the main line of DC’s politicians.

Trump indeed in 2019, ordered the U.S. troops to withdraw from Kurdish controlled territory in Northern Syria, which cleared the path for Turkey to attack the Kurdish fighters in the region. It was another betrayal by the U.S. to Kurds.

But Kurds have always had a soft spot in their hearts for the U.S. and forgive, of course without a choice, Americans for the damage they caused in the past. Obviously, with every new elected U.S. President, Kurds are building up a new hope and wishing for a warm hug and support from America. Therefore, Trump is a new hope for Kurds but the disappointment should not be taken out of the picture.

Serwan Zangana, a contributing writer for iKurd.net, lives in Virginia, U.S. He serves as a correction officer.

The views expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of iKurd.net or its editorial team.