Reason not emotion with Trump can save Palestine
Many Muslims and Arabs have made the mistake of approaching the 2016 Presidential election with their emotions rather than common sense, reason and an understanding of the American political system. Instead of attacking President-elect Donald Trump, Muslims and Arabs should be working to meet with him, work with him, educate him and get him to do the right thing. Palestinians especially should be doing this. The Israelis are.
By Ray Hanania
President-elect Donald J. Trump defied all predictions Tuesday night and soundly defeated his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, causing many who opposed him to wonder what policies he will pursue.
Most shocked were American Muslims who took his campaign rhetoric at face value rather than recognizing it as being typical of the polemic debate that characterizes heated American elections.
Muslims may have made a crucial political mistake, pursuing an emotional response to Trump’s rhetoric rather than recognizing the flexibility of election rhetoric to achieve their goals.
But they overreacted over his comments on fighting terrorism and Muslims, and that debate engulfed all of Trump’s views on the Middle East, including the issue of Palestine.
The trouble between Trump and Muslims began on Dec. 2, 2015 when Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik stormed a San Bernardino County Health Department Christmas party. The Muslim married couple murdered 14 people who had nothing to do with the Middle East conflict. They seriously injured 22others.
Americans and Trump reacted with horror. Although the terrorist attack was roundly denounced by Arabs and Muslims, many Americans were looking for a response to the terrorism.
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Ray Hanania is an award winning political and humor columnist who analyzes American and Middle East politics, and life in general. He is an author of several books.
Hanania covered Chicago Politics and Chicago City Hall from 1976 through 1992 at the Daily Southtown and the Chicago Sun-Times. He began writing in 1975 publishing The Middle Eastern Voice newspaper in Chicago (1975-1977). He later published “The National Arab American Times” newspaper (2004-2007).
Hanania writes weekly columns on Middle East and American Arab issues as Special US Correspondent for the Arab News ArabNews.com, at TheArabDailyNews.com, and at SuburbanChicagoland.com. He has published weekly columns in the Jerusalem Post newspaper, YNetNews.com, Newsday, the Orlando Sentinel, Houston Chronical, and Arlington Heights Daily Herald.
Hanania is the recipient of four (4) Chicago Headline Club “Peter Lisagor Awards” for Column writing. In November 2006, he was named “Best Ethnic American Columnist” by the New American Media. In 2009, Hanania received the prestigious Sigma Delta Chi Award for Writing from the Society of Professional Journalists. He is the recipient of the MT Mehdi Courage in Journalism Award. He was honored for his writing skills with two (2) Chicago Stick-o-Type awards from the Chicago Newspaper Guild. In 1990, Hanania was nominated by the Chicago Sun-Times editors for a Pulitzer Prize for his four-part series on the Palestinian Intifada.
His writings have also been honored by two national Awards from ADC for his writing, and from the National Arab American Journalists Association.
Hanania is the US Special Correspondent for the Arab News Newspaper, covering Middle East and Arab American issues. He writes for the Southwest News newspaper group writing on mainstream American issues.
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