During a September 13, 2024 panel on "election strategy" at the National Arab American Convention ArabCon in Dearborn, Michigan, American businessman and former Senate candidate for the Democratic Party Nasser Beydoun said that "before you end the occupation in Palestine, you have to end the occupation of Congress." He said that the pro-Israel lobby has its tentacles in every aspect of government. Beydoun said: "America's future depends on us." He continued to say that the top of the ticket isn't going to change anything, and used an expletive towards both Kamala Harris and Joe Biden.
Dr. Manal Fakhoury, chairwoman of the National Board of CAIR – Council on American-Islamic Relations said that asking a Palestinian if Israel has a right to exist is almost like asking a Jewish person if it is okay for the Holocaust to happen.
It is worth noting that another participant in the panel was activist Linda Sarsour.
Nasser Beydoun: "Before you end the occupation in Palestine, you have to end the occupation of Congress, so just remember what we are up against. We are up against an entrenched organization, a pro-Israel lobby that has its tentacles in every aspect of government on the federal, state, and local level.
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"America's future depends on us. We have got to retake our sovereignty from making sure that foreign policy is set in Tel Aviv, and return it to Washington.
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"Regardless of what he says, you have to remember that when Donald Trump was President, we didn't have a genocide and we didn't have wars. Kamala Harris... What I find ironic in how the system works is that before she was the candidate, every newspaper, every pundit, was calling her an idiot, a bumbling idiot. She couldn't do anything right. Allah be praised, as soon as she became the candidate, she became the next best thing to George Washington.
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"The top of the ticket isn't going to change anything. Whoever comes to power is not going to stop the genocide, because they are bought and paid for.
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"Kamala Harris isn't going to do anything for us. She is a Zionist, just like Joe Biden. I posted something the other day on social media, and I'm going to get a little vulgar. I said: 'F*** them both.'
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"We have allies now. This is the first time in history, when you can get up and attack AIPAC and the pro-Israel lobby and not worry about being accused of being antisemitic."
Man: "And the ADL."
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Manal Fakhoury: "There is a really nuanced way to understand how to answer that question about Israel's right to exist – especially when you ask a Palestinian – it is almost like asking a Jewish person: 'Was it okay for the Holocaust to happen?'"