‘Uncommitted’ Group Won’t Endorse Kamala Harris, Muslim Voters Also Look Elsewhere Over Gaza Despite Overtures

A prominent anti-Israel political group announced that it will not endorse Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris in the 2024 US election despite Harris’s extensive outreach to the Arab American community.

In a statement released on Thursday, the “Uncommitted National Movement” criticized the Harris campaign for not agreeing to meet with Palestinian American families to discuss the possibility of implementing an arms blockade on Israel and a permanent ceasefire in Gaza if elected to office in November. The group claimed that its decision not to issue an endorsement of Harris came after months of pleading with the Democratic nominee and current US vice president to adopt anti-Israel positions on her policy platform. 

“For months, we have urged Vice President Harris to shift her Gaza policy so we could mobilize voters in key states to save lives and our democracy,” the group wrote. 

The group also griped about the Democratic National Convention’s (DNC) refusal in August to allow a Palestinian American to speak from the event main stage. 

“The DNC and the vice president’s campaign fumbled even a small gesture to unite our party ahead of November by rejecting the simple request for a Palestinian American speaker. Now, the vice president’s campaign is courting Dick Cheney while sidelining disillusioned anti-war voices,” Uncommitted wrote. 

Despite refusing to throw its support behind the Democratic nominee, the group also warned about the dangers of electing former US President Donald Trump, the 2024 Republican nominee, back into the White House, suggesting that he will intensify the so-called “genocide” against Palestinians in Gaza. The organization also asserted that Trump will persecute “pro-Palestinian activism in the US.” The movement also urged its supporters to refrain from voting for a third party candidate, arguing that it would assist  Trump in his quest to regain the Oval Office. 

“We must block Donald Trump, which is why we urge Uncommitted voters to vote against him and avoid third-party candidates that could inadvertently boost his chances, as Trump openly boasts that third parties will help his candidacy,” the group wrote. 

The Uncommitted movement’s decision to formally withhold support from Harris came on the heels of US Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), the only Palestinian American woman in Congress, publicly refusing to endorse the Democratic nominee while speaking to a crowd at the Congressional Black Caucus annual convention last week. During the event, Tlaib claimed that her constituents “don’t want blood on my hands” and believe Harris will continue the policies that have allowed the war in Gaza to persist. 

Recent polling suggests that Muslim American voters are increasingly flirting with the possibility of casting a ballot for Green Party candidate Jill Stein over Harris, in part due to frustration over US policy toward Israel and Gaza. A new poll from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) revealed that 40 percent of Muslim voters in Michigan plan on voting for Stein. Harris trailed Trump with Muslim voters in Michigan, 18 percent to 12 percent, the poll found. 

Stein, a far-left political figure, has aggressively courted the Arab American vote since launching her campaign. During public appearances, she frequently dons the keffiyeh — a traditional Arab headdress that, since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war in October, has become a sign of support for the Palestinian cause — and refers to the conflict as a “genocide.” Stein has also claimed that Hamas’s Oct. 7 slaughter of 1,200 people throughout southern Israel was justified as an act of so-called “self defense.”

In lieu of supporting a candidate for the upcoming presidential election, the Uncommitted movement encouraged the public to engage in “anti-war organizing.”

The refusal of the prominent pro-Palestinian group to endorse Harris was the latest blow to the Democratic nominee’s efforts to court Arab American voters. On Tuesday, the Harris campaign unveiled a set of new digital ads targeting the heavily Arab American city of Dearborn, Michigan. The ads included clips of Harris expressing sympathy for civilians in Gaza and vowing to “not be silent.”

The DNC, where Harris officially became the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee, hosted a panel on “Palestinian Human Rights” for the first time in history, in which activists accused Israel of committing a “genocide” in Hamas-ruled Gaza. 

Though Harris has voiced support for the Jewish state’s right to existence and self defense, she has also expressed sympathy for far-left narratives that brand Israel as “genocidal.” The vice president has additionally often criticized Israel’s war effort against the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in Gaza.

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