Harris, Trump, and the Pomegranate Conundrum
A Symbolic Gesture or Political Planting?
London, folks! Oh, what a place brimming with history, culture, and the occasional pomegranate tree planted right in the Vice President’s residence! Yes, on October 7th, mark your calendars — not just for another day of existential dread but also for an event that involved Kamala Harris and her Jewish spouse, Doug Emhoff, planting a pomegranate tree. Now, don’t get too excited! This isn’t the start of a new season of The Office; it’s a remembrance of the horror inflicted by Hamas on Israel a year ago.
What does it all mean? Well, in Judaism, pomegranates are like the fancy cocktail of fruits — they stand for righteousness and hope. Packed with 613 seeds, each representing a commandment in the Torah, you could say the fruit practically screams “Do the right thing!” So, planting a tree on an anniversary of tragedy, with all its nuanced implications, is Harris’s way of saying, “Remember the past but also celebrate the future!” Talk about a dual-purpose gesture! Someone pass the horticultural therapy.
The Rivalry: Potent Symbolism or Political Pork?
And then we have Donald Trump, who addressed a crowd at the Israeli-American Council summit, saying that “anyone who’s Jewish and loves being Jewish is a fool if they vote for a Democrat.” ALARM! Fresh out of a particularly grumpy political debate, he went full-on bulldozer, blurring the lines between hyperbole and utter bewilderment. It’s as if he’s taken all the subtlety of a sledgehammer and decided to build a brand new political strategy around it. “Head examined,” you say? Well, if there’s a queue, I’d be first in line!
In the battleground states, both candidates are on a tightrope, trying not to fall into the abyss of public disapproval while managing the complex dynamics of Jewish and Arab voters. You see, Harris and Trump are trying to juggle figurative chainsaws here, with both of them seeking to charm voters on either side of the razor-sharp Middle Eastern debate. Imagine trying to engage a crowd that’s armed with opinions sharper than your average marble — it’s political circus at its finest!
Polling Puzzles: Who’s in the Lead?
Recent polling data adds a fun twist to this political tale, as an Arab News-YouGov survey found that both candidates had equal support among Arab Americans — precisely 38%. Who knew voting could feel like being at a buffet where you can’t decide between the lasagna and the tofu salad? But here’s the kicker: the Arab American Political Action Committee has decided to endorse neither! Talk about playing it safe — like wearing a life jacket while casually walking on a tightrope!
Trump’s Bluntness vs. Harris’s Nuance: A Clash of Styles
And now let’s dive into the electoral wisdom of Steven Cook, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. He fired a shot across the bow of both candidates, noting that their positions might not be all that different. The two-state solution? Oh yes, they’ve both formulated their caricatures of it. “One ballpark, two games,” or so it seems. And don’t get started on Iran; both seem eager to breathe new life into the idea of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, despite how they initially went about it like an angry toddler throwing a tantrum.
Will Either Candidate Really Make a Change?
So, with the election looming large, can any actual policy transformation stem from this upcoming showdown at the polls? The experts sound as befuddled as a cat in a dog park. Reportedly, Harris is a mixed bag of contradictions, promising support for Israel while also calling for compassion towards Palestinian civilians. It’s a political cocktail that’s probably best served with a little ice and a twist of irony.
A Final Thought: The Pomegranate Paradox
As we sit back and watch this political theater, one does have to wonder: are we witnessing an effort to plant new future policies, or simply another episode of “And the Winner Is?” Perhaps those seeds in the pomegranate tree symbolize something deeper – a hope for clarity amid the chaos, a yearning for peace, or maybe just an eternal struggle to figure out who likes their fruit sweet and who prefers it sour. Stay tuned; as history shows, this stage isn’t going anywhere anytime soon!
Ah! Politics! The only sport where no one gets a medal, and everyone gets a headache!
LONDON: On October 7, marking the first anniversary of the devastating Hamas-led attack on Israel, Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, accompanied by her Jewish husband Doug Emhoff, took part in a poignant ceremony by planting a symbolic pomegranate tree in the tranquil gardens of the vice president’s residence at the US Naval Observatory.
The occasion was imbued with deep symbolic significance, reflecting a moment of communal remembrance and resilience.
The pomegranate, a cherished fruit in Judaism, symbolizes righteousness and hope, and is traditionally enjoyed during Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. It is believed to contain 613 seeds, which correlates with the 613 commandments, or mitzvot, outlined in the Torah, the foundational texts of the Hebrew Bible.
During the ceremony, Harris expressed that the act of planting the tree served as a poignant reminder for future vice presidents of “not only the horror of October 7, but also the strength and endurance of the Jewish people.” She dedicated the tree “to the 1,200 innocent souls who, in an act of pure evil, were massacred by Hamas terrorists.”
In stark contrast, a few weeks earlier, her challenger Donald Trump presented a highly charged appeal for Jewish American voters. At an event held in Washington under the auspices of the Israeli-American Council, which also commemorated October 7, Trump claimed that “anybody who’s Jewish and loves being Jewish and loves Israel is a fool if they vote for a Democrat.” He further suggested that any Jew supporting Harris “should have your head examined.”
With precious votes at stake from both Jewish and Arab communities across seven pivotal battleground states — Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin — both candidates find themselves navigating an intricate political landscape that could dramatically influence a presidential election taking place almost 10,000 kilometers away.
The recent Arab News-YouGov poll revealed that Arab American voters are caught in a dilemma, facing challenges in determining which candidate aligns more closely with their interests regarding policy in the Middle East. Remarkably, both Harris and Trump garnered equal support from 38 percent of those polled.
As they navigate the election landscape with uncertainty surrounding both candidates’ true intentions and plans, there has been a notable shift among traditional party allegiances, with just days remaining until election day.
On October 14, the Arab American Political Action Committee, which has historically supported Democratic presidential candidates since its establishment in 1998, announced that it would neither endorse Harris nor Trump. Their statement condemned both candidates, saying, “Both candidates have endorsed genocide in Gaza and war in Lebanon,” reiterating their stance against what they consider the blind support of the “criminal Israeli government.”
Meanwhile, Trump’s assertive rhetoric at the Israeli American Council summit on September 20, where he billed himself as Israel’s protector and threatened that a Harris presidency would lead to “annihilation” for the state, appeared to misfire and attract criticism.
His comments drew rebuke from several organizations, including the Anti-Defamation League and the Jewish Council for Public Affairs.
Jonathon Greenblatt, CEO of the ADL, expressed concern over Trump’s rhetoric, stating that “preemptively blaming American Jews for your potential election loss does zero to help American Jews (and) increases their sense of alienation in a moment of vulnerability.”
In an intriguing twist, a poll commissioned by the Jewish Democratic Council of America at the beginning of October found that a significant 71 percent of Jewish voters in the seven battleground states intended to cast their ballots for Harris, with only 26 percent backing Trump.
Simultaneously, the findings from the Arab News-YouGov poll revealed a similar trend of divergence among Arab American voters, with a slim majority indicating their preference for Trump over Harris, despite the fact that 40 percent identified as natural Democrats and only 28 percent as Republicans.
This shift reflects a growing sense of disappointment within the Arab American community over the perceived inadequacies of the Biden-Harris administration in holding Israel accountable. In 2020, 43 percent of Arab Americans supported Biden, while only 34 percent favored Trump.
Firas Maksad, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute in Washington D.C., commented on this phenomenon during a recent edition of the Arab News podcast “Frankly Speaking.” He noted, “The fact that they are so evenly split is surprising, particularly given what’s been happening in Gaza and now Lebanon.”
The impending election poses significant uncertainties regarding which candidate would best address the complexities of the Middle East and the Israel-Palestine conflict.
Even political experts find it challenging to delineate clear differences in the Middle East policies that a Harris administration versus a Trump administration might adopt.
Steven Cook, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, remarked, “When you dig a little deeper into things beyond our headlines, beyond our polarized politics, President Trump’s and Vice President Harris’ positions on a variety of important issues in the Middle East — whether it’s the two-state solution, whether it’s US policy toward Iran, whether it’s regarding human rights and promotion of democratic reform in the region — are not all that different from each other.”
On the contentious issue of the two-state solution, while the two candidates presented differing visions influenced by Trump’s earlier “deal of the century,” both still appear supportive of efforts to achieve a peaceful resolution to the Israel-Palestine conflict.
In light of recent developments, it has become evident that both candidates share overlapping interests regarding the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the nuclear deal with Iran.
“President Trump was often bellicose about Iran,” Cook shared. “But his bellicosity hid the fact that what he was most interested in was putting pressure on the Iranians to bring them back to the negotiating table so that he can negotiate a better deal than the JCPOA.”
In contrast, the Biden administration has sought to re-engage Iran within the framework of the JCPOA to constrain its nuclear program, signalling a potential continuity in policy direction among the candidates despite differences in style.
Despite Harris’ backing of Israel’s right to self-defense, she has also voiced concerns about the humanitarian impact on Palestinian civilians amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.
As a result, her stance has occasionally appeared contradictory; she has previously called for a ceasefire before President Biden, condemned Israeli leadership regarding the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and advocated for a two-state solution ensuring Palestinian dignity and self-determination.
Additionally, Harris has labeled the actions of “extremist setters” responsible for violence against Palestinians as unacceptable while concurrently pledging unwavering support for Israel’s defense, including substantial U.S. military aid valued at over $12 billion since the outbreak of conflict on October 7, 2023.
Conversely, Trump’s ardent support for Israel has invited skepticism in some circles within the region.
Notably, he recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in 2017 and facilitated the relocation of the U.S. embassy there. Furthermore, he diverged from longstanding U.S. policy in 2019 by recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, territory annexed during armed conflict in 1967. Such actions prompted critiques of bias towards Israeli interests.
The 2020 Abraham Accords, widely viewed as favoring Israel and downplaying Palestinian rights, have often been met with skepticism by Arab leaders, who were concerned about Trump’s proposed territorial arrangements in another two-state peace plan he unveiled that year.
As the election approaches, Trump has taken on a more personal outreach strategy, even granting exclusive interviews with Middle Eastern media to bolster his position and align with regional stakeholders. His comments aimed to express confidence in achieving lasting peace in the Middle East upon his potential return to the presidency.
In a revealing moment during his campaign, Trump emphasized the relationships he cultivated with key Middle Eastern leaders, including Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, stating, “I was respected over there and (had) great relationships with so many including (Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman) and (if elected on Nov. 5) we’re going to get it done and it’s going to get done properly.”
The outcome of the impending election is poised to be a significant turning point, with implications that resonate far beyond U.S. borders.
