The Delicate Dance Between Kamala Harris And Pro-Palestinian Activists

Why the Uncommitted movement did not get any policy concessions and chose not to endorse the vice president.

Not long after Kamala Harris took over the Democratic campaign from President Joe Biden, she made her first stop in Michigan at the top of the ticket and began a one-step-forward, two-steps-back dance with the Uncommitted movement. The dance seemingly ended Thursday, when the group announced it would not be endorsing Harris’ presidential run.

Before a rally Aug. 7 in Detroit, the campaign included two leaders from the pro-Palestinian Uncommitted movement in a photo line with Harris. It was a big opportunity for the group, which convinced hundreds of thousands of Democratic primary voters to vote “uncommitted” rather than support Biden earlier in the year.

Like other critics of Israel’s U.S.-backed offensive in Gaza, Uncommitted wanted the Democratic Party to use American leverage over right-wing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to push him to end the conflict, which has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians, more than 1,700 Israelis and risked a broader war. Unlike Biden, a self-proclaimed Zionist with a history of sending and expanding U.S. military support for Israel largely regardless of its conduct, Harris might agree with them that a change in U.S. policy was the only way to end the war, they hoped.

“I’m a DNC delegate and I appreciate your leadership,” Abbas Alawieh, the group’s co-founder and a former chief of staff to Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.), said he told her. “We want to support you, Vice President Harris, and our voters need to see you turn a new page on Gaza policy that includes embracing an arms embargo to save lives. Can we meet to discuss this urgent need for an arms embargo?”

In the same news release, the group said Harris “shared her sympathies and expressed an openness to a meeting with Uncommitted leaders to discuss an arms embargo.” Harris’ campaign had a different version of events, one where Harris simply “reaffirmed that her campaign will continue to engage” Muslim and Arab leaders.

Ardent pro-Israel voices quickly challenged Harris’ purported consideration of the idea — hinting at the firestorm it could create for her nascent candidacy among Israel backers, from voters to donors.

The next morning, Harris’ national security adviser Phil Gordon denied the suggestion she would consider halting American weapons for Israel. The statement put her in direct opposition to the rallying cry of Uncommitted and its allies: “Not Another Bomb.”

In the interim, a different group of pro-Palestinian protesters interrupted her rally speech. “Kamala, Kamala, you can’t hide! We won’t vote for genocide,” they chanted. As the protests continued, Harris rebuked the demonstrators: “You know what? If you want Donald Trump to win, then say that. Otherwise, I’m speaking.”

The events of those 24 hours encapsulated a monthslong process in which the Democratic campaign and the movement seemingly tried to get to a place of mutual understanding, but mistrust and misaligned goals prevented a full alliance.

“We have done everything in our power to try and empower the vice president’s campaign to mobilize voters, especially in Michigan. … That offer to mobilize voters has been rejected by the vice president’s team.”

– Abbas Alawieh, Uncommitted movement

Uncommitted’s statement on Thursday, however, warned supporters not to back former president Trump nor Green Party nominee Jill Stein, who has labored to win over antiwar voters. That, at least, was a victory for the Harris campaign and a practical result of the difficult position the Uncommitted movement is in: trying to find a president who would openly take on the Israeli government.

Starting seven months ago, the possibility of pro-Palestinian votes endangering a Democratic victory in November became a major topic of political discourse.

Opponents of U.S. support for the Israeli invasion of Gaza secured especially strong showings during primaries in Michigan and Minnesota, two closely watched and competitive states. The Biden administration failed to clinch a ceasefire deal that would end the bombing and displacement of Palestinians and bring home hostages captured in the Oct. 7 attack by the Gaza-based militant group Hamas. That made criticism of its strategy even stronger.

Concerns grew among Democrats that groups of voters especially alarmed by U.S. policy, like Arab and Muslim Americans and younger voters, could sit out the election. Biden, then the nominee, was wholly reliant on winning Michigan to have any chance of reelection. And anything to get him extra votes in the state seemingly had to be on the table.

Harris’ ascent in July gave pro-Palestinian activists particular hope for change, given her past expressions of sympathy for Gaza’s suffering and the simple fact of no longer having to contend with Biden.

But while she and her team engaged with Uncommitted activists and their allies, they did not budge on policy — specifically the administration’s commitment to providing military supplies for Israel with lenient oversight. The pro-Palestinian movement and a range of foreign policy experts maintain that without leveraging at least some U.S. aid, a timely ceasefire is impossible.

Harris and her team also chose not to meaningfully acknowledge the Uncommitted movement, a loose coalition of organizers and political operatives focused on advocacy among Democratic-leaning voters. Despite weeks of increasingly intense advocacy by Uncommitted and partners in broader Democratic circles, the Democratic National Convention last month declined to provide speaking time to a Palestinian American. Following the convention, Uncommitted wrote to the campaign asking Harris and senior staff to set up meetings with voters with personal ties to the conflict and sent along policy requests.

The Harris campaign did not accept, Alawieh said at a Thursday news conference.

“We have done everything in our power to try and empower the vice president’s campaign to mobilize voters, especially in Michigan, who feel deeply betrayed by the Democratic Party’s continued support of weapons to the Israeli military that’s using them to harm and kill civilians. That offer to mobilize voters has been rejected by the vice president’s team.”

A Harris campaign spokesperson said Harris had met with Palestinian Americans, if not the Uncommitted movement itself: “She has met with Palestinian Americans who have lost family in Gaza and met with faith leaders and doctors returning from Gaza to hear firsthand experiences,” the spokesperson wrote in an email.

The Harris campaign’s choice amounts to a bet that it can minimize progressive dissent in a way it could not minimize the blowback if Harris became more confrontational toward Netanyahu.