The re-election of Donald Trump opens a dangerous new period for the planet and all those who believe in the universal values of justice and equality around the world. His policy programme and the movement that he leads, threatens to reverse attempts to tackle climate change and undermine the rights of migrants, women, and LGBTQ communities amongst others. The threat is especially acute for the Palestinian people. During his previous period in office, Trump was an active supporter of Israel’s apartheid regime, even by the shameful standard of US administrations. He moved the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, formally recognised Israel’s illegal annexation of the occupied Golan Heights in Syria and cut all US funding to UNRWA – all at the request of Israel’s own far-right government and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to whom he is both personally and politically close. In the course of the recent campaign, Trump promised to end all talk of restraining Israel’s actions and to set the movement for Palestinian rights ‘back by 25 or 30 years.’
Much of the responsibility for Trump’s victory rests with his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, who failed to offer or mobilise a progressive alternative. Although the reasons for this failure are various, they undoubtedly include the loss of support among many voters repulsed by the outgoing administration’s unstinting support for Israel’s genocide in Gaza. While this was most evident in the crucial swing state of Michigan with its large Arab population, millions of Americans were profoundly alienated by Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’s ongoing military and diplomatic facilitation of Israel’s barbaric war crimes. It was simply not plausible for Harris to claim to be defending rights, equality and the rule of law, or present herself as standing up to ‘fascism,’ while simultaneously enabling the mass slaughter and forced displacement of Palestinian people for over a year. In the end, Harris secured more than 10 million fewer votes than Joe Biden did in 2020, resulting in her defeat.
Everyone must take seriously the statements from figures such as Israel’s far-right National Security Minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, that Trump’s return presents Israel with an opportunity to formally assert its sovereignty over the whole of historic Palestine, and the risk that the Palestinian people in the West Bank could soon be subjected to a genocidal military assault that mirrors what is already happening in Gaza. For many months, Western governments, including in Britain, have flatly refused to diverge from adherence to US foreign policy and have instead tried to hide their own inaction and complicity behind Joe Biden’s empty calls for restraint. Even that fig leaf has now been removed. They must decide whether they stand with Trump and Netanyahu – united in their explicit contempt for international norms and institutions – or break with the incoming US administration, stand with the overwhelming majority of countries and people around the world, and stop arming Israel now.
For all those confronting the resurgent far-right internationally, the lessons of this election outcome should be clear. There can be no such thing as ‘progressive except Palestine’ and it is not possible to defeat the far-right threat without confronting the politics of domination and division upon which it rests. Defeating Trumpism and adjacent political forces, currently gaining ground in other countries, requires a movement that is consistent in its anti-racism and support for equal human rights. That means having the Palestinian struggle for justice and equality at its core. We call on all people of conscience to join with us as we continue to build mass support for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaigns and mobilise to overcome injustice and oppression.
Palestine Solidarity Campaign