Washington, DC – Regardless of touting her unwavering assist for Israel because the nation wages struggle 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 latest weeks, the US vp and her workforce have held conferences with Arab and Muslim “neighborhood leaders” whereas receiving endorsements from Muslim people and teams aligned together 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 personal conferences by Harris and her prime 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 examine off a field beneficial by an algorithm — a technique she maintained campaigning on developments and memes somewhat than impactful coverage,” Laura Albast, a Palestinian American activist within the Washington, DC, space, instructed Al Jazeera.
She mentioned 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 navy 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 situations on US navy support to Israel to stress 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 by 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 prime nationwide safety adviser held an identical assembly just about.
Hussein Dabajeh, a Lebanese American political marketing consultant within the Detroit space, decried the dearth of transparency round such conferences.
He mentioned 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 seem like it’s listening to Arab and Muslim Individuals.
He burdened that the primary viewers for these conferences will not 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 examine off the headline. There’s no precise substance behind it,” Dabajeh instructed Al Jazeera.
“It’s unlucky that the individuals assembly with them imagine after one 12 months of our individuals getting massacred that these faux conferences are nonetheless going to do it.”
The Biden administration and marketing campaign – earlier than he dropped out of the presidential race – additionally held related conferences that failed to enhance his standing amongst Arab and Muslim Individuals or quell the outrage over his assist for the struggle on Gaza.
The US gives Israel not less than $3.8bn in navy support yearly, and the Biden administration has authorised $14bn in additional help to its ally to assist fund the continuing struggle.
‘Crucial 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 little thing in her energy, ought to she win, to finish the struggle and reset US coverage within the area,” the group mentioned 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 properly being of our communities at residence and is now widening to a broader regional struggle.”
Deputy Wayne County Govt Assad Turfe, who misplaced relations throughout Israel’s 2006 struggle in Lebanon, additionally attended the assembly.
“I met with Vice President Harris and shared this deeply private loss. I emphasised that we want her management now to assist deliver an finish to the violence,” he wrote in a social media submit. “I hope that her administration will take this name critically and act swiftly to deliver the much-needed aid and motion that all of us hope for.”
He mentioned he introduced up the problems of displaced individuals in Lebanon, the necessity for evacuating US residents trapped within the nation and speedy humanitarian support.
“In these crucial occasions, we might not all agree on technique, however we should nonetheless work collectively and advocate to finish this struggle and supply aid to the individuals 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 mentioned.
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 elements of the nation.
The group, which just about 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 will not be an settlement with Vice President Harris on all points, however somewhat, an sincere steerage to our voters relating to the troublesome selection they confront on the poll field,” it mentioned in a assertion.
Emgage additionally praised the Biden-Harris administration for appointing Muslim Individuals to federal jobs.
However because the struggle rages in Gaza and other people 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 in addition 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 worldwide scale isn’t sufficient so that you can maintain your head up excessive.”
Michigan is residence 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 kids is sufficient to abandon the Biden-Harris administration,” Zahr instructed Al Jazeera.
“In response to Emgage, genocide is excusable so as 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 beneath 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 averted any point out of the vp’s assist for the Israeli offensive, which they described as a “genocide”.
“When the struggle in Gaza started, she traveled and met with regional leaders and made clear that the US would pursue a two-state resolution, and what reconstruction of Gaza would appear to be, she additionally made clear that worldwide humanitarian legislation should be revered,” the assertion mentioned.
A number of Biden administration officers have decried the struggling in Gaza.
For instance, Secretary of State Antony Blinken mentioned he sees his “personal kids” within the eyes of Palestinian kids enduring displacement and bombardment.
Nonetheless, in line with latest US media studies, Blinken defied assessments by numerous US officers when he licensed that Israel was not blocking humanitarian support to Gaza – a call 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 typically stresses that her assist for Israel is “unwavering”. She has been a part of an administration that has overseen unconditional assist for the brutal struggle on Gaza, and just lately, she welcomed Israeli escalation in Lebanon.
When requested just lately what she would have executed otherwise from Biden, Harris mentioned “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 necessary points.
The Biden-Harris administration has vetoed three proposals on the United Nations Safety Council that may 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 file 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 annoyed 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 individuals, 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 could come up,” the group mentioned in an announcement.
“On the precipice of the election, we recommend 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 observe.” pic.twitter.com/XgZv5OUB1m
— Abandon Harris (@Abandonbiden24) October 7, 2024
Stein has just about no probability of profitable the presidency, however she has seen a surge of assist in Arab and Muslim communities, in line with latest polls, partly because 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, latest campaigning has sparked debates in regards to the illustration and priorities of Arab and Muslim communities within the US, whose members share related cultures and spiritual practices however should not a monolith.
“We unequivocally condemn these from our neighborhood who proceed to take advantage of the blood of Arab individuals for his or her political agenda,” the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee mentioned in an announcement on Sunday.
“This consists of people and organizations from our neighborhood which can be in lock-step with the Democratic and Republican events, placing occasion over neighborhood, politics over justice, and overlooking a genocide for entry.”
