Washington, DC – Regardless of touting her unwavering assist for Israel because the nation wages warfare in Gaza and Lebanon, Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris is making an attempt to garner assist in Arab and Muslim communities in america earlier than elections subsequent month.
In current weeks, the US vp and her staff have held conferences with Arab and Muslim “neighborhood leaders” whereas receiving endorsements from Muslim people and teams aligned along with her Democratic Occasion.
However many advocates argue that so long as Harris maintains her pledge to proceed to arm Israel and refuses to distance herself from President Joe Biden’s unconditional assist for the US ally, nothing will assist her standing with Arab and Muslim voters.
Furthermore, critics have slammed the non-public conferences by Harris and her high nationwide safety adviser with handpicked attendees – whose identities are sometimes not made public – as not consultant of the communities her marketing campaign says it’s hoping to win over.
“Such teams and faceless people are mere tokens for the Democratic Occasion, paraded by Harris’s marketing campaign to test off a field advisable by an algorithm — a method she maintained campaigning on traits and memes quite than impactful coverage,” Laura Albast, a Palestinian American activist within the Washington, DC, space, instructed Al Jazeera.
She stated the notion that voters would approve US-backed atrocities in Gaza and Lebanon as a result of the particular person shaking Harris’s hand appeared like them was “madness”.
Conferences
Harris’s push to achieve out to Arab and Muslim voters comes as Israel’s army assaults on Gaza and Lebanon are escalating, heightening anger and nervousness in these communities simply weeks earlier than the November 5 elections.
For months, neighborhood members have urged the vp to interrupt from Biden and put circumstances on US army support to Israel to strain the nation to finish its onslaught on the Gaza Strip.
However Harris has rebuffed these calls. In August, her marketing campaign rejected pleas to permit a Palestinian American speaker on the Democratic Nationwide Conference in Chicago.
And this week, she joined Biden on a name with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during which the US administration expressed “ironclad” assist for Israel.
Harris met with Arab and Muslim advocates in Flint, north of Detroit, Michigan – a key battleground state with sizeable Arab communities – on Sunday. Days earlier, her high nationwide safety adviser held an identical assembly nearly.
Hussein Dabajeh, a Lebanese American political advisor within the Detroit space, decried the dearth of transparency round such conferences.
He stated the Harris marketing campaign is “afraid” to have an open dialogue with representatives of the neighborhood, so it’s reverting to behind-closed-doors discussions to look like it’s listening to Arab and Muslim People.
He pressured that the primary viewers for these conferences shouldn’t be Arabs and Muslims however the broader voters because the Democratic Occasion is making an attempt to painting its candidate as inclusive and caring.
“It’s a gathering simply to test off the headline. There’s no precise substance behind it,” Dabajeh instructed Al Jazeera.
“It’s unlucky that the folks assembly with them consider after one 12 months of our folks getting massacred that these pretend conferences are nonetheless going to do it.”
The Biden administration and marketing campaign – earlier than he dropped out of the presidential race – additionally held comparable conferences that failed to enhance his standing amongst Arab and Muslim People or quell the outrage over his assist for the warfare on Gaza.
The US gives Israel at the very least $3.8bn in army support yearly, and the Biden administration has authorised $14bn in additional help to its ally to assist fund the continuing warfare.
‘Vital occasions’
One group that did attend the Flint assembly is Emgage, a Muslim American political advocacy group.
“Emgage Motion referred to as on Vice President Harris to do every thing in her energy, ought to she win, to finish the warfare and reset US coverage within the area,” the group stated in an announcement.
“Emgage Motion additionally reiterated the group and the Muslim neighborhood’s disappointment within the dealing with of the disaster that has endangered the effectively being of our communities at house and is now widening to a broader regional warfare.”
Deputy Wayne County Government Assad Turfe, who misplaced members of the family throughout Israel’s 2006 warfare in Lebanon, additionally attended the assembly.
“I met with Vice President Harris and shared this deeply private loss. I emphasised that we’d like her management now to assist convey an finish to the violence,” he wrote in a social media put up. “I hope that her administration will take this name significantly and act swiftly to convey the much-needed aid and motion that all of us hope for.”
He stated he introduced up the problems of displaced folks in Lebanon, the necessity for evacuating US residents trapped within the nation and speedy humanitarian support.
“In these important occasions, we might not all agree on technique, however we should nonetheless work collectively and advocate to finish this warfare and supply aid to the folks of Lebanon and Gaza NOW! We should push for motion that not solely saves lives however restores hope and dignity to those that are struggling,” Turfe stated.
Harris endorsement
Emgage raised many eyebrows late final month when it introduced it was endorsing Harris’s bid for the White Home – days into Israel’s devastating bombing marketing campaign in Lebanon, which has already destroyed massive components of the nation.
The group, which nearly completely endorses Democrats and is led by figures who’ve labored in Democratic administrations, argued that the endorsement is rooted in stopping the Republican candidate, former President Donald Trump, from profitable.
“This endorsement shouldn’t be an settlement with Vice President Harris on all points, however quite, an sincere steerage to our voters concerning the troublesome selection they confront on the poll field,” it stated in a assertion.
Emgage additionally praised the Biden-Harris administration for appointing Muslim People to federal jobs.
However because the warfare rages in Gaza and folks flee southern Lebanon amid a relentless Israeli bombardment supported by the Biden-Harris administration, some advocates see the nod of assist for the vp not solely as misguided but additionally insulting.
Suehaila Amen, a neighborhood advocate in Michigan, had a scathing message for Emgage: “I’m disgusted by the truth that none of you’ve any dignity or honour, that the mass slaughter of Muslims on a world scale isn’t sufficient so that you can maintain your head up excessive.”
Michigan is house to a big Lebanese American inhabitants, tens of hundreds of whom hail from Lebanon’s southern villages and cities which have been largely depopulated and decimated by the Israeli offensive
Emgage and two of its representatives didn’t return Al Jazeera’s repeated requests for touch upon the criticism of the group’s place.
Amer Zahr, a Palestinian American activist and comic, referred to as the Emgage endorsement of Harris a “spit within the face of our neighborhood”.
“Emgage has introduced that, so far as they’re involved, no quantity of massacred Arab youngsters is sufficient to abandon the Biden-Harris administration,” Zahr instructed Al Jazeera.
“In keeping with Emgage, genocide is excusable with a view to keep loyal to the Democratic ticket. Their assertion overtly and proudly states that securing federal appointments trumps repeated vetoes of ceasefire resolutions, proud declarations of Zionism and tens of hundreds of Arab our bodies underneath the rubble.”
Harris’s place
Individually from the Emgage endorsement, 25 Muslim imams and neighborhood figures – largely from Georgia and the Washington, DC, space – penned a joint assertion final week backing the vp.
Within the endorsement – first reported by NBC Information – they credited Harris for talking out towards “the devastating lack of life in Gaza and the unfolding humanitarian disaster” . However the authors prevented any point out of the vp’s assist for the Israeli offensive, which they described as a “genocide”.
“When the warfare in Gaza started, she traveled and met with regional leaders and made clear that the US would pursue a two-state answer, and what reconstruction of Gaza would appear like, she additionally made clear that worldwide humanitarian legislation should be revered,” the assertion stated.
A number of Biden administration officers have decried the struggling in Gaza.
For instance, Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated he sees his “personal youngsters” within the eyes of Palestinian youngsters enduring displacement and bombardment.
Nonetheless, in response to current US media studies, Blinken defied assessments by varied US officers when he licensed that Israel was not blocking humanitarian support to Gaza – a choice that allowed the US to proceed to switch arms to its ally.
And like Blinken, when speaking about Palestinian ache, Harris makes use of passive voice in regards to the atrocities in Gaza and avoids assigning accountability to Israel.
Furthermore, Harris usually stresses that her assist for Israel is “unwavering”. She has been a part of an administration that has overseen unconditional assist for the brutal warfare on Gaza, and not too long ago, she welcomed Israeli escalation in Lebanon.
When requested not too long ago what she would have executed in another way from Biden, Harris stated “not a factor that involves thoughts”, stressing that she has been a part of the decision-making course of on the White Home on most essential points.
The Biden-Harris administration has vetoed three proposals on the United Nations Safety Council that might have referred to as for a ceasefire in Gaza.
This week, Harris described Iran – not Russia or China – as America’s “best adversary”, a place that additional aligns her with the Netanyahu authorities.
‘Political agenda’
Given Harris’s report and the equally staunch assist for Israel of her Republican rival, former President Donald Trump, in addition to his anti-immigrant rhetoric, many Arab and Muslim voters really feel pissed off with the two-party political system within the US.
On Monday, the Abandon Harris marketing campaign, a Michigan-based Muslim group that claims it goals to carry the Democratic administration “accountable for the Gaza genocide”, endorsed Inexperienced Occasion candidate Jill Stein for president.
“Our motion stays devoted to making sure that the American folks, particularly the Muslim-American neighborhood, acknowledge the accountability we share in standing up towards oppression and utilizing all our energy to cease genocide — wherever it might come up,” the group stated in an announcement.
“On the precipice of the election, we promote Jill Stein.”
Abandon Harris Marketing campaign Endorses Jill Stein and Butch Ware for 2024 Presidential Election
“The trail to justice is lengthy, painful, and troublesome, however it’s ours to pave and comply with.” pic.twitter.com/XgZv5OUB1m
— Abandon Harris (@Abandonbiden24) October 7, 2024
Stein has nearly no probability of profitable the presidency, however she has seen a surge of assist in Arab and Muslim communities, in response to current polls, partly on account of her advocacy for Palestinian rights.
Trump has additionally seen his numbers enhance in Arab and Muslim communities, and final month, he was endorsed by the Yemeni American mayor of Hamtramck, a Muslim-majority metropolis in southeast Michigan.
Because the election nears, current campaigning has sparked debates in regards to the illustration and priorities of Arab and Muslim communities within the US, whose members share comparable cultures and non secular practices however will not be a monolith.
“We unequivocally condemn these from our neighborhood who proceed to use the blood of Arab folks for his or her political agenda,” the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee stated in an announcement on Sunday.
“This contains people and organizations from our neighborhood which can be in lock-step with the Democratic and Republican events, placing get together over neighborhood, politics over justice, and overlooking a genocide for entry.”
