I've been seeing some posts on social media from people who are genuinely enraged and anguished about the situation in Gaza and Palestine, and now Lebanon. And so am I. Sometimes this gets framed as “If you're voting for Harris, you're voting for genocide, and you don't care about the Palestinian people”. I just want to say that I do care about the Palestinian people. I have been an activist for justice for Palestine for decades. I've been to the West Bank, to Gaza; I've literally been under fire there supporting the nonviolent resistance against the Occupation. There are many of us who are voting and supporting Harris and Walz because we care about the Palestinian people, and we recognize that hard as this choice is, a Trump victory would be the absolutely most devastating thing that could happen for the cause of Palestinian justice. Trump has said very clearly that he'll give Netanyahu a green light to do whatever he wants, which opens the door to the complete annexation of Gaza, of the West Bank, of a potential all-out war with Iran, which will erase any potential chance for some kind of solution that allows self-determination for Palestine. We also care about Muslims in this country, as well as other immigrants, people of color, trans folks, women and all others whose civil rights and very existence will be under attack if Trump wins. Remember his Muslim ban, child separation at the border, notice dehumanizing, fascist rhetoric he's using today! His victory would inflame every racist in the country, and unleash a tidal wave of violence against targeted groups, including activists and even his Democratic opponents whom he calls “the enemy within”.

So please, if you've feel that you cannot bring yourself to vote for Harris and Walz, I understand that. I hope that you will turn some of your energy to supporting Rashida Tlaib and some of the Democrats who do support justice in Palestine, because we've already lost two of them: Jamaal Bowman and Cori Bush, and we cannot afford to lose any more.

But I also ask that you respect those of us who are making a different strategic choice. We need to be in an alliance of all of those who care about justice for Palestine and who also care about the life and safety of Israelis and the return of the hostages. The only possible foundation for security and peace in that region is justice, and a Trump victory would be the death of hope for any just solution for a long, long time.