The Delicate Dance Between Kamala Harris And Pro-Palestinian Activists

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