AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): Nazita Lajevardi, a professor of political science at the University of Michigan, says the phenomenon of Islamophobia has consistently been present in the calculations of American electoral campaigns over the past few decades. According to her, this phenomenon traditionally becomes an influential factor in political campaigns whenever it is politically expedient.
She added that politicians in the American Republican Party have found the use of Islamophobia to be a tested and guaranteed strategy, one that has previously demonstrated its effectiveness.
This analysis by the American professor comes as the US midterm congressional elections, scheduled for next November, approach. She believes that Islamophobia was an active force in motivating voters to turn out in the 2016 US elections, and today it is once again being used as a message to encourage a segment of American voters to participate in the upcoming elections.
Islamophobia refers to unwarranted fear and hostility toward Islam and Muslims, which can lead to the formation of discriminatory positions, discourses, and policies. This is not the first time this issue has been used for electoral purposes. The Donald Trump administration had previously tested this approach in the 2016 elections, when the proposal to ban Muslims from entering America became one of the main pillars of his campaign platform.
Reproducing an Old Context
Lajevardi, to explain how this strategy took shape, goes back to the atmosphere of the 2016 elections in an interview with Al Jazeera Net. She explains that the widespread use of Islamophobia at that time occurred after what she calls the Syrian refugee crisis, as well as following a wave of attacks inside America. These attacks, according to her, were carried out by bad actors hiding behind the mask of being Muslim, putting many people at risk.
The university professor acknowledges that the moment was very powerful and suitable for use as a political message. But on the other hand, this approach really distorted the image of American Muslims.
However, according to this political science professor, such a message not only helps mobilize the Republican base. It is also heard by those who are the targets of these attacks.
In this context, she uses a term from political science known as racial appeals, meaning explicit racist statements made by some politicians. According to her, these messages are still heard by the very people these campaigns target.
Here, Lajevardi raises other central questions: To what extent will a counter-mobilization form? How will American Muslims, or what she calls people with close or adjacent identities, react to these messages, and might they themselves become a force motivated by confronting what they see as political discrimination?
Abdulrahman El-Sayed; An Influential Force in Michigan
Lajevardi, to illustrate this struggle, cites the Senate election race in Michigan and describes it as a truly important contest.
She points to the role of Abdulrahman El-Sayed (Abdul), an Egyptian-American doctor in the state. Someone who, contrary to many predictions, managed to defeat his rival in the Democratic primary and may become the official Democratic Party nominee to compete with Mike Rogers, the Republican candidate.
However, Lajevardi says the attacks against him have become very explicitly anti-Islamic and highly racist.
She reveals that just days before her remarks, an ad was released that replayed the September 11, 2001 attacks, which claimed the lives of 3,000 innocent people, but at the same time linked Abdulrahman El-Sayed to the perpetrators of those attacks.
According to her, this ad creates the impression that America today faces the possibility of someone entering the Senate who may not have the country's interests at heart.
This ad is part of the gradual escalation of attacks against Abdulrahman El-Sayed after his primary victory. Previously, JD Vance, the US Vice President, warned about the possibility of him becoming president in the future and said God forbid. Vance also directly accused him of sympathizing with those he described as killers.
Donald Trump also described El-Sayed as out of touch with reality and a real danger to America.
The American professor describes the manner of attacks against Abdulrahman El-Sayed as highly racist and even unbelievably anti-Islamic. According to her, these attacks rely on implicit associations in people's minds between the words Islam, terrorist, Muslim, and extremist, and those who launched this campaign directly attribute these associations to Abdulrahman El-Sayed.
Islamophobia; A Strong and Effective Drug
Lajevardi, in an interview with Al Jazeera Net, likens the phenomenon of Islamophobia to a strong and effective drug and emphasizes that this phenomenon was intensely and unbelievably decisive in shaping support for Donald Trump in 2016.
Citing research, she says that regardless of party affiliation, Islamophobia has been one of the most powerful predictors—if not the most powerful predictor—of voting Republican.
However, she immediately places this conclusion within the framework of today's conditions and asks whether it will have the same effect today.
With academic clarity, she responds, "I think that's what we still don't know, because the conditions today are definitely different."
According to her, we are not in the conditions of 2015 and 2016, and the political situation has changed. Also, Muslim candidates today are competing in states and electoral districts in America where large numbers of people of color, as well as progressive and forward-thinking individuals, live. People who share common values with these candidates.
Therefore, in her view, before any definitive judgment, we must wait and observe the conditions.
This caution takes on deeper meaning when we consider the unprecedented expansion of Muslim political influence in America in the contemporary era.
New York City has elected its first Muslim mayor, Zohran Mamdani. Also, Ghazala Hashmi has become the first Muslim woman to serve at the state level in America as Lieutenant Governor of Virginia. In addition, Abdulrahman El-Sayed, if he wins the upcoming November election, could become the first Muslim member of the US Senate.
According to Pew Research Center data, the number of Muslims in America is currently about 5.5 million, equivalent to 1.6 percent of the total population. This figure was only 2.4 million in 2007.
Nevertheless, Lajevardi once again emphasizes that Islamophobia still carries tangible electoral weight.
According to her, when examining the polls conducted during the primary elections last August, it is clear that Islamophobia has been very important in determining a person's readiness to vote for a Muslim official for public office.
The political science professor concludes her remarks by stating that Islamophobia will be a powerful motivator in the upcoming race, but acknowledges that she does not know whether this factor will be sufficient or not.
She says American Republicans will try to broadcast very explicit and direct advertisements as much as they can, but to what extent these advertisements will ultimately be effective remains to be seen.
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