Kamala Harris has won the backing for her presidential bid of a key US Muslim organization that had declined to endorse Joe Biden before he withdrew from his re-election campaign.
The switch to Harris was a sign that those who voted “uncommitted” instead of actively voting for Biden in the primary, because of their objections to his response to Israel’s war on Gaza, may have found an ally in his vice-president.
The group is the political action arm of the non-profit organization the Black Muslim Leadership Council, which was created in March to put pressure on the Biden administration to call for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.
Salima Suswell, the founder and chief executive of the Black Muslim Leadership Council Fund, told NBC on Thursday: “[Harris] has shown more sympathy towards the people of Gaza then both President Biden and Former President Donald Trump.
“During Prime Minister Netanyahu’s address to Congress, she decided not to attend. She has repeatedly called for a ceasefire, and I believe she has also expressed empathy towards civilian life and has been very caring as it relates to getting aid to the people of Gaza.”
The move signals growing support for a Harris presidency from Democratic groups that were reluctant to support or were outright against another Biden term.
The Harris campaign said it was “grateful to BMLC for their support”.
“The vice-president is committed to combating Islamophobia wherever it exists and advancing opportunity for black Americans,” a Harris campaign spokesperson said in a statement. “We look forward to working with BMLC to win this November and defeat Donald Trump’s divisive, unpopular agenda.”
Although Muslim Americans make up a small percentage of the electorate, they can prove to be crucial in battleground states in which they represent a large swath of the population.
Muslims voted overwhelmingly for Biden in 2020, but many have since withdrawn their support due to the US’s strong support for Israel in its war in Gaza. Palestine, with a Muslim-majority population, and the rights of Palestinians, remain key issues for Muslim voters in the US.
Harris has repeatedly called for a ceasefire in Gaza and a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine as the way forward to achieve sustainable Middle East peace.
Harris has voiced support for Palestinians and said she “condemn[s] any individuals associating with the brutal terrorist organization Hamas”, but she has not explicitly broken with the Biden administration stance to condemn Israel for the killing and forced relocation of tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians in Gaza. Neither Biden nor the vice-president have called for an arms embargo on Israel – a point many Muslim, Arab American and progressive voters take issue with.
In a meeting with Netanyahu in Washington last week Harris said she told him she “will always ensure that Israel is able to defend itself, including from Iran and Iran-backed militias, such as Hamas and Hezbollah”.
But she added: “Israel has a right to defend itself, and how it does so matters.” She also said she would “not be silent” about civilian deaths and suffering in Gaza.
A movement to vote uncommitted in the Democratic presidential primaries took off in swing-state Michigan and spread, garnering more than 700,000 ballots for the uncommitted cause.
The Uncommitted National Movement is pushing for representation at the Democratic national convention later this month in Chicago.
Abbas Alawieh, an uncommitted delegate from Michigan, told the Guardian that Harris had “expressed a level of concern about the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza that perhaps we weren’t seeing from the president”.
Alawieh added: “We’re getting more engagement than we did under President Biden being at the top of the ticket, and so I’m hopeful that we can move in a direction that leads to her engaging directly.”
