Article by Raja Abdulhaq

As soon as early election results pointed to a clear victory for former President Donald Trump, liberals took to social media to criticize American Muslims, Arabs and Latinos for not fully supporting Vice President Kamala Harris.

Social media posts ranged from calls to deport Muslims and Latinos to wishing for Trump to unleash more destruction on Gaza.

This backlash tactlessly showed the dynamics of how white liberals view the role of minorities, especially Muslims and Arabs, in American politics. In a classic display of the white savior complex, these communities were blamed for “not knowing what’s best for them”, as though Harris was running altruistically to protect them from the dangers of a second Trump presidency.

The fact that Harris’ presidential campaign centered on countering Trumpism showed a lack of genuine interest in tackling issues important to minority groups.

Democrats actually benefitted from Trump’s rise, which presented an opportunity for them to win votes freely by positioning themselves as the only alternative to outright fascism.

Yet, instead of looking inwards for answers on why Harris lost to a candidate as problematic as Trump, these liberal Democrats chose to reprimand minorities. Signaling a sense of superiority, they could not hide their racism, implying that it was incumbent upon these minority communities to vote within the guidelines provided by their liberal saviors.

By this logic, Arabs, Muslims and Latinos must vote for a Democrat no matter what. This viewpoint strips minority communities of their rights as equal citizens who can partake in the democratic process independently.

While the days of barring Black people and women from voting are behind us, this backlash brings to mind the same white supremacist logic: that non-whites are incapable of voting on their own and require guidance from their liberal saviors.

Arrogant disregard

In the months leading up to election day, Democrats ignored the cries of Muslims, Arabs and their allies to at least recognize the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza. They arrogantly disregarded warnings about potentially losing the Arab vote in Michigan due to Israel’s war on Gaza despite desperately needing to win the swing state to have any hope of beating Trump.

To make matters worse, former President Bill Clinton was sent to Michigan to patronize the Arab community, justifying Israeli crimes in Gaza by saying Israel had to kill civilians in order to defend itself.

This attitude towards voters in Michigan stemmed from a racist and orientalist notion that Arabs and Muslims would eventually fall in line, fearing Trump’s presidency.

Blaming Arabs, Muslims and Latinos for Harris’ humiliating defeat highlights the Democrats’ sense of entitlement to the votes of these communities. The rage-filled, racist attacks on social media marked the resulting tantrum of these liberal saviors.

Ignoring the real issues that enabled Trump’s victory, Democrats instead chose to blame those desperately trying to stop the ongoing mass murder of their loved ones in Gaza and Lebanon. Giving nothing in return, these Democrats wanted the grieving masses to forget about the US-enabled genocide overseas in order to defeat Trump domestically.

Both Republicans and Democrats view Israel as a strategic partner in maintaining American interests and hegemony in the Middle East. Opposing their unconditional US support for Israel is therefore portrayed as a betrayal of American national interests that cannot be tolerated in the political discourse.

Despite the lack of major Arab and Muslim endorsements for Harris, the Democratic Party did not entertain any demands of ending the Gaza genocide, asserting instead that the reward for helping Harris get elected would be to prevent another Trump presidency – thus placing the burden of “saving” democracy on to suffering communities.

The Uncommitted National Movement provided a golden opportunity for the Democratic establishment to acknowledge the grievances of Arabs and Muslims without requiring any policy concessions on Israel, especially given how naively loyal the movement proved to be.

But the compromises of the Uncommitted movement, which lowered its demands from an arms embargo on Israel to simply allowing a Palestinian-American speaker at the Democratic National Convention (DNC), were met with rude dismissals.

Calculated strategy

The Democratic Party’s refusal to negotiate with the communities affected by the Gaza genocide was not an oversight. It was a calculated decision based on prioritizing other potential voters, particularly white anti-Trump Republicans, as represented by Harris’ decision to campaign alongside politician Liz Cheney.

If Democrats truly valued Arabs and Muslims, rather than seeing them as secured votes in the bag, they would have, at the very least, found a more empathic way to dismiss their protests instead of shouting over them, as Harris infamously did: “I’m speaking.”

There is no doubt that the collective rage among liberals over losing the election to Trump comes from a place of cognitive dissonance influenced by American exceptionalism. How could the US – a beacon of liberal values and justice – elect a racist, misogynistic, xenophobic, convicted felon as its president?

Yet, rather than taking this opportunity to examine the many issues within American democracy and society – ranging from structural racism to economic inequality, monstrous foreign policies, and the malign influence of money and multinational corporations on politics – liberals are taking their frustrations out on disenfranchised communities.

Comments across social media following Trump’s victory showcase a serious resentment towards Arab and Muslim causes, especially the genocide in Gaza, displaying how superficial liberals’ past “support” for such causes actually was. Liberals are simply refusing to admit the Biden administration’s role in losing the Arab and Muslim vote.

This fallout puts Arab and Muslim communities at a critical juncture in terms of how they see themselves in relation to the US as a state and as an empire. The Gaza genocide has brought back discussions about the role of the US in destroying Arab and Muslim nations and the ethical responsibility of holding it accountable for these crimes.

Ultimately, the racism, orientalism and feeling of expendability that minority communities are experiencing after this election challenge the assumption that they can be integrated and included within American society and its supposed democracy. Is it even possible for Arabs and Muslims to be seen as equal citizens without compromising their social and political principles?

Source: Middle East Eye

After apologizing for a rant where he said Palestinians belong to an ‘inferior culture,’ the popular streamer will no longer hold a leadership position at the streamer-owned publisher he helped create.

Streamer-affiliated publisher Mad Mushroom has announced that cofounder “Asmongold” (real name: “Zack,” last name withheld) will be stepping away from the company following an anti-Muslim rant this week that led to him being temporarily banned on streaming platform Twitch.

The company shared the news in a statement posted on X (formerly Twitter). “As an indie game publisher, we exist to empower developers from all cultures and backgrounds to share their stories and passions through their art,” it wrote.

“The viewpoints shared by Asmongold are antithetical to our mission. Zack will be stepping away from his leadership role in Mad Mushroom to work on himself and hold himself accountable.”

The comments in question concerned the fate of Palestinian people in Gaza who are dying by the thousands as Israel expands its invasion in response to the October 7 attack by Hamas in 2023. Some human rights organizations have described the invasion as a genocide. In response to a viewer question about the invasion, Asmongold stated that he “did not care” if Gazans were being “genocided,” claiming that Islamic Sharia Law itself is a foundation for genocide.

“If you want to consider a genocide as a systematic killing of a group of people they have genocide built into Sharia law right now, so no I’m not going to cry a fucking river when people who have genocide that’s baked into their laws are getting genocided,” he said, going on to call Gazans “terrible people.”

His comments refer to an interpretation of Islamic Sharia law wielded by right-wing groups that push hatred of Muslims. According to groups like the Council for Foreign Relations, Sharia law is a religious and legal framework used by some nations and communities to guide their laws, but its stricter interpretations are not universally representative of the faith.

Asmongold apologized for his rant in a video on YouTube. “I was making a criticism of religious extremism and I almost made an effort not to draw a distinction between the two things…whenever I categorize everybody in the area as this like group then I’m the asshole and I was the asshole.”

Mad Mushroom’s post quoted a statement made by streaming organization OTK, whose various cofounders and streaming personalities make up Mad Mushroom’s founding group. OTK said that it “denounces all forms of discrimination and violence, and that sort of behavior cannot be tolerated.”

It said that Asmongold will also be “stepping away” from OTK’s other affiliate companies Starforge and Mythic Talent. A spokesperson for Mad Mushroom declined to answer if the streamer was divesting his ownership stake in these companies, only repeating that he would be “stepping away” from leadership.

Asmongold’s behavior highlights risks of streaming-based businesses
Asmongold’s tirade is the latest in a string of hateful videos posted by the popular content creator. In February, he platformed the ongoing hate campaign targeting narrative consultancy studio Sweet Baby Inc in an interview with Karbrutus, the creator of the Steam Group named “Sweet Baby Inc. Detected.”

He would spend the following months railing against “diversity, equity, and inclusion” efforts, lashing out at reporting on the alleged culture of sexism at Black Myth: Wukong developer Game Science and casting diversity and inclusion initiatives as being cover for “predatory” monetization mechanics. He would regularly promote his work at Mad Mushroom and games he was publishing alongside these videos (he properly disclosed his ownership of the company when doing so).

The sharp contrast between these two types of videos spotlights the risks of “authenticity” that Mad Mushroom pitched to developers, as his authentically-held views about topics like inclusion or Israel’s invasion of Gaza and Lebanon lived side-by-side with promoting games at the company.

Asmongold’s apology video appears to indicate a desire to reshape that authenticity and turn over a new leaf. “For the last two years I think I’ve been slowly devolving into the most mean-spirited…rude, nasty, callous, psychopathic version of myself,” he said.

“Maybe this is too far, maybe I need a course correction,” he added later on. “I [hope] getting suspended is one of the best things that ever happened to me. I don’t know whether that’s going to be true but I’m going to try and do things differently and make sure to live up to that reality.”

Developers suspicious of the streamer’s overtures toward reform likely won’t be comforted by follow-up comments to the video he posted on Reddit. “If you think that means my first stream back is going to be playing Dustborn and promoting Sweet Baby, I think you’ll be very disappointed,” he wrote, seemingly taking a swipe at Red Thread Games’ latest title (which he slammed on his channel) and Sweet Baby Inc.

“I’m not changing anything other than trying to be more positive and less mean-spirited.”

Source: Game Developer