It is time for Kamala Harris to shine as the Democratic National Convention entered its fourth day on Thursday. Closely watching her every word are delegates and voters of the “uncommitted movement”, a small but influential group who are fervently critical of US support for Israel in its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Delegates at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Tuesday symbolically cast their votes in favour of crowning Vice President Kamala Harris as their party’s candidate in the US presidential elections in November.
Standing before a clamorous crowd in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Harris accepted the challenge of facing Donald Trump in the race to the White House, with Minnesota Governor Tim Walz – her running mate – by her side.
But enthusiasm from inside the United Center arena, where the convention is being held, was at times significantly more measured. Some delegates covered their mouths on Monday night as President Joe Biden gave his speech to signify their disapproval of his response to the war in Gaza.
Banding together as part of the “uncommitted movement”, some 36 delegates from eight different states are pushing for discussions on the conflict to take centre stage. This small group demanding the end of US weapons sales to Israel’s far-right government claims to represent 700,000 voters.
Their demands have yielded mixed results. The movement pushed for Tanya Haj-Hassan, an emergency paediatric doctor in Gaza, to speak during the convention, but she was only given the chance to address a panel at the nearby McCormick Center outside of the main venue. And calls for a Palestinian-American voice to address the convention have so far gone unheeded. In response, a handful of “uncommitted movement” allies began a sit-in outside the convention centre late on Wednesday, saying they would not move unless they were granted a speaking slot.
Anger was evident a few miles away from the venue too, as pro-Palestinian demonstrations flared up next to the Israeli consulate on Tuesday. Confrontations with police erupted shortly after some protesters charged a line of officers who had stopped the group from marching. The Chicago National Lawyers Guild reported the arrest of at least 72 people on Tuesday. Another 13 people were arrested as the convention got under way on Monday at demonstrations outside the convention venue.
Organisers hoped there would be up to 40,000 protesters as the DNC got under way on Monday, but at a press briefing on Tuesday police estimated only 3,500 had shown up. On Wednesday some 2,000 took part in a pro-Palestinian march.
Growing frustration
But there is little doubt the conflict between Israel and Hamas has become an issue for some voters this election cycle, many of them in swing states such as Michigan. And the pressure is mounting on Harris to vocalise whether and how her stance on the Gaza war differs from the Biden administration’s.
The US may be 10,000 kilometres away from the ongoing war in Gaza, but it plays a key role in the conflict as Israel’s most essential ally. It is by far the biggest supplier of arms to Israel, followed by other Western countries including Germany and the UK.
Israel’s response to the October 7 attacks carried out by Hamas has so far cost the lives of more than 40,000 Palestinians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run enclave. Criticism of longstanding US support for Israel has become more commonplace, and voters angered by the Biden administration’s reaction to the war in Gaza feel a sense of indignation at the atrocities they see on their screens.
“Those voters want us to stop sending weapons to Israel. And be more critical of Israel's actions against civilians in Gaza,” said Mark Tessler, collegiate professor of political science at the University of Michigan who specialises in the Middle East.
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The concern is that the Harris-Walz ticket is at risk of losing a portion of the electorate as a result, namely Arab-American voters who have historically voted Democrat. Associated Press exit polls from the last presidential election in 2020 showed that 64 percent voted for Biden.
But earlier this year, some 200,000 voters in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin voted “uncommitted” to supporting Biden as part of a protest against Gaza policy in the Democratic primaries, which Biden nevertheless won handily.
And though Harris has shifted the tone by making strong comments on Palestinian human rights, many voters are eyeing her takeover with caution, waiting for her to express a substantial policy revision.
“I don't think [Harris] would move the US from very pro-Israel position to very pro-Palestinians position,” Tessler remarked. “I think she would be more balanced, whatever that means.”
Some Arab-Americans remain sceptical.
“You can’t expect us to vote for you when your values, your policies, your principles don’t align with ours,” a member of the activist group US Palestinian Community Network, Souzan Naser, told AFP. Raised in the Chicago suburb of Bridgeview, she explained that many residents worked hard to elect Biden in 2020 “and now feel betrayed”. Nicknamed Little Palestine, the Chicago suburb is home to the largest Palestinian community in the United States.
Among Arab and Muslim voters who didn’t support Biden, some 70 percent cited foreign policy or the war in Gaza as the most important issue influencing their vote.
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While some are turning to Trump, others may express their disavowal to the Democratic camp by abstaining.
“They won’t be having our votes this year … And we don’t want them in office,” Ali Ibrahim, manager of a Palestinian bakery in Bridgeview, told AFP on Monday.
“I think many [Arab-Americans] are struggling with the decision about whether or not to vote uncommitted. They are waiting to hear more about Harris's views and intentions on the subject,” Tessler said.
Some 3.5 million Americans identified themselves as being of Middle Eastern or North African descent in the 2020 US census, making up only 1 percent of the total population. But in a close election, they could make a difference.
Arab-Americans are a small but mighty electorate. The swing state of Michigan holds the largest concentration of Arab-Americans in the country with more than 310,000 residents of Middle Eastern or North African ancestry. More than 101,000 voters cast ballots for “uncommitted” in February, securing two delegates in the state’s Democratic primary.
Trump won the state in 2016 by just over 10,000 votes, but Biden retook it in 2020 by a roughly 154,000-vote margin.
“The chances for a Democratic victory in Michigan look good. But it's going to be close," Tessler predicted.
Focus on swing states
Harris met with Abdullah Hammoud, mayor of the Detroit suburb of Dearborn, earlier this month in an effort to respond to criticism by Arab-Americans from swing states. Hammoud had made headlines in January when he refused to meet with Biden’s campaign manager, stating it was not a “moment that calls for electoral politics” and that “Palestinian lives should not be measured in polls”.
“Harris is obviously courting the Muslim vote … and is trying to quietly reach out to that community and understand what their demands are,” said Sara Yael Hirschhorn, a US historian and professor at the University of Haifa in Israel.
When Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu addressed the US Congress on July 26, Harris promised not to remain “silent” about the ongoing suffering in Gaza and said it was time to lock down a ceasefire deal. The Biden administration has been working on securing a ceasefire for the past several months, so far without success.
But so far Harris has not supported an arms embargo against Israel – a key demand from the “uncommitted movement” she is trying to woo.
Just how much Harris is willing to shift the gears on the Gaza policy she inherits from Biden in case of a win this November remains unknown.
“They will do whatever it takes to win,” said Hirschhorn. “If [that means] adopting more pro-Palestine positions and even … an arms embargo in addition to a ceasefire … I think they’re going to do it.”
“But we’ll have to see whether that is required or not for them to be able to [win the election],” she added.
This article has been adapted from the original version in French.
