The Uncommitted Movement announced on Thursday that it is declining to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris after the Democratic Party has repeatedly refused to address the pro-Palestine caucus’s concerns over the party’s role in Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
In a statement, the group said that the Harris campaign has made it “impossible” for them to endorse the vice president. Most recently, the campaign declined a request to meet with Palestinian American families about Harris’s Gaza policy. It also refused to platform pro-Palestine advocates at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) last month; and, most importantly, it has continued to support providing Israel with the weapons it’s using to demolish Gaza.
The group, first organized in Michigan by voters wishing to protest the Biden administration’s participation in the genocide, encouraged voters to support anti-Donald Trump initiatives and candidates up and down the ballot, as it is opposed to a Trump presidency that promises to “intensif[y] the suppression of anti-war organizing.” It also said that it’s not recommending a third-party vote, which organizers said could help deliver a Trump win.
However, the group noted that, by ignoring the demands of the movement — and the over 700,000 voters who sent 30 pro-Palestine delegates to the convention — the campaign is failing to court a crucial portion of the Democratic base, at a time when polls are finding that backing an arms embargo to Israel could give Harris the edge she needs to secure a win in November.
In other words, while Uncommitted organizers emphasized that a Trump presidency would likely make organizing conditions worse for those opposing the genocide, they also said that the Harris campaign has done nothing to earn the votes of those advocates.
“For months, we have urged Vice President Harris to shift her Gaza policy so we could mobilize voters in key states to save lives and our democracy,” the Uncommitted campaign said.
Instead, organizers noted that the Harris campaign is garnering endorsements from conservatives, like former staff for Ronald Reagan, who have served in positions supporting some of the worst atrocities committed by the U.S. in history.
“The DNC and the Vice President’s campaign fumbled even a small gesture to unite our party ahead of November by rejecting the simple request for a Palestinian American speaker,” the statement continued. “Now, the Vice President’s campaign is courting Dick Cheney while sidelining disillusioned anti-war voices, pushing them to consider third-party options or to sit this important election out.”
The campaign also notes that it believes encouraging a third party vote would not be the most effective route to growing the anti-war movement, and that the movement would be “severely undermined” by Trump if he were elected.
“Our focus remains on building a broad anti-war coalition both inside and outside the Democratic Party. Pro-war forces like AIPAC may want to drive us out of the Democratic Party, but we’re here to stay,” the group said.
Some advocates for Palestinian rights had been hopeful that Harris would break from President Joe Biden in his unrepentant support for the genocide. However, Harris has only doubled down on that policy, saying that she is “unequivocal and unwavering” in her support of Israel.
As the Uncommitted movement announced that the Harris campaign refused to meet with Palestinian American families, meanwhile, reports emerged that Harris’s running mate, Tim Walz, met with American families of Israeli captives being held in Gaza.
Other pro-Palestine campaigns have worked to hold Harris and the Democrats accountable for their genocide by asking Americans to abstain from voting for Harris as a show that genocide is unacceptable and crosses a line for voters.
Tension between the Harris campaign and the Uncommitted movement rose to a fever pitch during the DNC, as the movement staged protests after Democrats refused to give a Palestinian speaker a spot on the convention’s main stage, despite the hours upon hours of programming on the main stage that happens otherwise.
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