Shadee Elmasry – Does the US Election REALLY Affect What Happens in Gaza

Shadee Elmasry
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AI: Summary ©

The speaker discusses the political climate in the United States and the potential consequences of not wanting to vote for the current president. They criticize the current president for his disregard for Muslims and his presentation of conservative parties as an "arson partner" instead of a "arson fan." The speaker also mentions the recent election of a Republican candidate and the recent election of a Democratic candidate in Michigan. The removal of liberal leaders, including Mehdi Hassan and Kamala Harris, is a result of political and political events, and there is a need for consistency in politics. The success of Islamophobic groups like the Nationalists and the centers, but political events and religion are not the only reasons for the removal of these leaders. There is a large number of conversions happening in Islam, which is affecting the political climate in the United States.

AI: Summary ©

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			Does it really, does the war on Gaza
		
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			even matter who's president in the United States?
		
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			That's a fair question to ask, right?
		
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			That's basically it.
		
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			That's, that's why I don't agree with how
		
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			Mehdi Hassan has conducted himself.
		
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			This idea that, oh, if you don't vote
		
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			Democrat and you vote Republican, then you're some
		
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			kind of idiot or you've got it completely
		
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			wrong.
		
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			Ultimately, backing the Democrats is surely the most
		
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			deplorable position that anyone can take at this
		
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			juncture.
		
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			Arguably, it's way worse than anyone wanting to
		
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			back Trump.
		
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			Again, I'm not sitting here saying that I'm
		
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			a Trump supporter from Britain.
		
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			I recognize that he is a rabid supporter
		
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			of Israel and that he has pushed the
		
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			Zionist agenda under his presidency as well.
		
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			But if you're talking about the genocide and
		
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			punishment for, political punishment for allowing that genocide
		
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			to happen, then surely the Democrats have to
		
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			be the target.
		
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			And I think as Muslims, like you say,
		
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			we're a minority.
		
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			It's limited how much, how much we can
		
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			achieve with our votes, power.
		
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			We have to pick our targets selectively and
		
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			intelligently.
		
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			That's why in the UK, despite the fact
		
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			that the Conservatives were the ones in power
		
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			prior to the election, despite the fact that
		
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			Labour is the traditional home of Muslims and
		
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			that Muslims in Britain tend to lean to
		
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			the left if they are political, the Labour
		
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			Party were the ones that we could punish
		
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			significantly more so than the Conservatives because the
		
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			Labour Party relies on Muslims much more than
		
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			the Conservatives ever does.
		
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			So pushing a boycott of the Conservative Party
		
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			in Britain would have been a waste of
		
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			time, quite frankly.
		
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			I don't think they would have cared either
		
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			way.
		
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			But pushing a boycott of the Labour Party
		
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			was and did have a significant impact and
		
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			really rattled cages and showed that British Muslims
		
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			are not going to be treated like a
		
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			doormat when it comes to the issue of
		
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			Gaza.
		
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			In fact, it actually sent major shockwaves right
		
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			up to number 10 and to Westminster.
		
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			We actually succeeded in achieving some.
		
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			There are five pro-Gaza independent MPs that
		
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			were elected in key seats that the Labour
		
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			Party was hoping to win in order to
		
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			further their majority hold on government.
		
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			So, again, that's an example arguably of a
		
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			targeted campaign which achieved some successes and sent
		
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			the right message to the British establishment.
		
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			And that's what I urge American Muslims to
		
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			try to do.
		
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			But I really just do not accept the
		
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			Mehdi Hassan position because it was similar to
		
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			the position of British Muslims who remained loyal
		
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			to the Labour Party, even though the leader
		
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			of the Labour Party is a notorious supporter
		
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			of Israel as well.
		
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			And they were going against the community's efforts
		
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			to push a boycott campaign.
		
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			So I think whatever you decide to do,
		
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			hopefully that is the bottom line here is
		
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			punishing the Democrats is a simple goal.
		
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			It's a realistic goal.
		
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			It's one that can be achieved.
		
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			But obviously not with the likes of Mehdi
		
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			Hassan if he's going to lead the way.
		
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			You know, what set me off is when
		
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			he responded to Imam Tom, the arrogance of
		
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			these liberal Democrat, Democratic leaning people, whether they're
		
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			from journalism or academia, they are just so
		
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			arrogant.
		
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			Right.
		
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			It sets you off.
		
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			And that's really what set me off on
		
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			everything up to that point that he said
		
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			on Gaza and Palestine was great.
		
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			I loved it.
		
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			I see his shorts coming up every night
		
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			when I get home and I turn the
		
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			TV on.
		
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			I see his shorts coming up.
		
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			He's great.
		
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			But the arrogance, right.
		
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			Talking down on everybody like that.
		
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			So but that's the that's the quality.
		
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			And that's what set me off from these
		
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			liberal types from 15 years ago.
		
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			Like I cannot even stand coming near them
		
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			or listening to a word that comes out
		
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			of their arrogant mouths.
		
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			That's number one.
		
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			Number two.
		
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			We all have been saying the right doesn't
		
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			care about Muslims.
		
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			There's no point in interacting with them.
		
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			Right.
		
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			Then you got Donald Trump going into Michigan.
		
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			Three, four times.
		
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			And we know his father, his daughter's father
		
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			in law is now a Lebanese Christian, and
		
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			he helped facilitate these things.
		
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			Right.
		
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			A lot of Lebanese in Michigan.
		
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			But he had, I guess you could say
		
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			the gall to go there after all of
		
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			what he said about Muslims.
		
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			I'm telling you, the guy relies upon the
		
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			short term memory of people and the gullibility
		
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			of some community leaders.
		
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			And he goes in there and one guy
		
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			says, I don't know if you saw this,
		
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			but one of the guys says, what do
		
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			you have to say to the Muslim community?
		
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			We love you.
		
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			Right.
		
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			What are you going to do about this
		
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			war?
		
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			We're going to end it.
		
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			Right.
		
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			We want peace.
		
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			Why didn't the Democrats do this?
		
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			Why didn't Kamala go there?
		
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			And it's almost like they're trying to be
		
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			consistent where Trump is almost like this postmodern
		
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			type where nothing matters except this feelings at
		
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			this moment in time.
		
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			No consistency matters.
		
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			Right.
		
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			And he was able to get these people
		
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			to stand up there and be pro and
		
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			give a pro Trump rally basically in Michigan.
		
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			So he went three, four times, according to
		
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			what I know.
		
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			Some of it was publicized and some of
		
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			it wasn't.
		
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			But he went three, four times and he
		
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			had his guy working, his whatever, new family
		
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			member.
		
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			Why did Democrats completely drop the ball on
		
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			this?
		
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			Why didn't they go number one?
		
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			And then when they did send in Clinton,
		
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			oh, my gosh, they're where are they?
		
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			He totally basically shot them in the foot.
		
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			But at the end of the day, not
		
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			going to affect Gaza in my personal opinion.
		
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			Nothing's going to change on that front.
		
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			And we're going to go back to life
		
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			as is.
		
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			I just think that the only other thing
		
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			I've noticed here, I've just noticed that there
		
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			is a significant number of conversions to Islam
		
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			taking place.
		
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			This is something which we talk about a
		
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			lot in the UK because it's a phenomenon
		
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			which we've seen spike after Gaza.
		
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			Yeah, I don't know if that same phenomenon
		
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			is happening here.
		
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			But I was in an Uber yesterday and
		
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			I met a Mexican who converted to Islam.
		
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			I visited a store where there was some
		
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			pro-Palestine activists handing out leaflets and there
		
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			were two converts there.
		
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			So this seems to me like a phenomenon
		
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			that is happening in the States as well.
		
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			And if we can't achieve anything politically, if
		
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			we can't change anything on the ground for
		
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			the people of Gaza, then perhaps one of
		
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			our greatest weapons is to fall on our
		
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			religion, you know, and to rely on our
		
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			religion and to keep pushing that message.
		
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			That's something which I firmly believe now, especially
		
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			from someone who comes from a very politically
		
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			active background.
		
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			Perhaps the most effective thing we can do
		
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			is remain patient, pray, do our duty as
		
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			Muslims and just invite people to Islam.
		
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			Maybe it's a long term strategy, but it
		
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			looks like it's bearing fruit already with the
		
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			sheer number of conversions that's taking place.
		
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			And it's something which really worries not just
		
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			the establishment, but the Islamophobes, the right wingers,
		
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			the nationalists.
		
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			You know, they can't understand.
		
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			They kill Muslims in large numbers.
		
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			They're at war with the Muslim world.
		
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			They invade and occupy Muslim countries, yet the
		
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			religion continues to grow no matter what they
		
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			do, even though they have a media pumping
		
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			out Islamophobic narratives.
		
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			They have politicians treating Muslims like second class
		
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			citizens.
		
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			They don't platform genuine Muslim speech in the
		
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			mainstream.
		
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			We're still growing as a community.
		
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			And subhanAllah, I think that's a miracle in
		
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			itself.
		
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			Perhaps that's our most effective strategy, if nothing
		
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			else.
		
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			That's my philosophy, and that's why we got
		
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			the soup kitchen going.
		
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			Go down to the low hanging fruit, the
		
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			people whose hearts are open, the people who
		
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			are genuine, where there's no BS.
		
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			Politics is 99.9999% lies and BS
		
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			and nonsense.
		
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			And win or lose that game, whatever happens,
		
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			happens.
		
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			I'm not against people being involved in it.
		
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			Muslims should be involved in everything, but really
		
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			where the low hanging fruit is.
		
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			Go there, Allah is sending you a message.
		
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			That's why we film out of a soup
		
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			kitchen and we're attached to the soup kitchen
		
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			and we want this to run seven days
		
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			a week, right?
		
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			Seven days a week, soup kitchen open.
		
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			Now we're now open one day a week.
		
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			But that's really what I personally believe in,
		
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			the low hanging fruit.
		
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			Go where people's hearts are open to talk
		
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			to you, where there's no nonsense.
		
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			There's no lies.
		
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			There's no BS, right?
		
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			That's where you're going to go because those
		
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			people, from them will come future governors, future
		
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			politicians, future millionaires.
		
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			If you deal with them, if, uh, if
		
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			you deal with a million, my second million
		
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			poor people in your lifetime from them will
		
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			come very influential people just by percentages, right?
		
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			And those influential people have a, you touch
		
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			their heart, you touch their lives.
		
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			They know you a hundred percent.
		
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			So it's more of a long-term cultural,
		
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			uh, result that you're going to get.
		
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			And that's what I'm comfortable doing.
		
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			That's what I do.
		
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			And I wish everyone the best, regardless of
		
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			what they're, um, all the Muslims, regardless of
		
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			what they're, uh, how they're trying to help,
		
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			you know, as long as it's within a
		
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			fundamentals of Islam, I'll give them support.
		
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			I pray that they benefit, um, the people
		
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			and they're successful.
		
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			So I like to take that optimistic and
		
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			clean hearted approach towards all the Muslims trying
		
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			to do different things, even in politics.
		
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			Inshallah.
		
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			Inshallah.
		
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			No, I wish you all the best.
		
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			And I wish, uh, I wish everyone here
		
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			in America all the best.
		
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			Uh, and I hope that however the vote
		
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			falls, uh, it will send the right message
		
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			to the people of Gaza, Inshallah.