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‘Uncommitted’ Group Won’t Endorse Kamala Harris, Muslim Voters Also Look Elsewhere Over Gaza Despite Overtures
US Vice President Kamala Harris. Photo: Erin Schaff/Pool via REUTERS
A prominent anti-Israel political group announced that it will not endorse Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris in the 2024 US election despite Harris’s extensive outreach to the Arab American community.
In a statement released on Thursday, the “Uncommitted National Movement” criticized the Harris campaign for not agreeing to meet with Palestinian American families to discuss the possibility of implementing an arms blockade on Israel and a permanent ceasefire in Gaza if elected to office in November. The group claimed that its decision not to issue an endorsement of Harris came after months of pleading with the Democratic nominee and current US vice president to adopt anti-Israel positions on her policy platform.
“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 group wrote.
The group also griped about the Democratic National Convention’s (DNC) refusal in August to allow a Palestinian American to speak from the event main stage.
“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. Now, the vice president’s campaign is courting Dick Cheney while sidelining disillusioned anti-war voices,” Uncommitted wrote.
Despite refusing to throw its support behind the Democratic nominee, the group also warned about the dangers of electing former US President Donald Trump, the 2024 Republican nominee, back into the White House, suggesting that he will intensify the so-called “genocide” against Palestinians in Gaza. The organization also asserted that Trump will persecute “pro-Palestinian activism in the US.” The movement also urged its supporters to refrain from voting for a third party candidate, arguing that it would assist Trump in his quest to regain the Oval Office.
“We must block Donald Trump, which is why we urge Uncommitted voters to vote against him and avoid third-party candidates that could inadvertently boost his chances, as Trump openly boasts that third parties will help his candidacy,” the group wrote.
The Uncommitted movement’s decision to formally withhold support from Harris came on the heels of US Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), the only Palestinian American woman in Congress, publicly refusing to endorse the Democratic nominee while speaking to a crowd at the Congressional Black Caucus annual convention last week. During the event, Tlaib claimed that her constituents “don’t want blood on my hands” and believe Harris will continue the policies that have allowed the war in Gaza to persist.
Recent polling suggests that Muslim American voters are increasingly flirting with the possibility of casting a ballot for Green Party candidate Jill Stein over Harris, in part due to frustration over US policy toward Israel and Gaza. A new poll from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) revealed that 40 percent of Muslim voters in Michigan plan on voting for Stein. Harris trailed Trump with Muslim voters in Michigan, 18 percent to 12 percent, the poll found.
Stein, a far-left political figure, has aggressively courted the Arab American vote since launching her campaign. During public appearances, she frequently dons the keffiyeh — a traditional Arab headdress that, since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war in October, has become a sign of support for the Palestinian cause — and refers to the conflict as a “genocide.” Stein has also claimed that Hamas’s Oct. 7 slaughter of 1,200 people throughout southern Israel was justified as an act of so-called “self defense.”
In lieu of supporting a candidate for the upcoming presidential election, the Uncommitted movement encouraged the public to engage in “anti-war organizing.”
The refusal of the prominent pro-Palestinian group to endorse Harris was the latest blow to the Democratic nominee’s efforts to court Arab American voters. On Tuesday, the Harris campaign unveiled a set of new digital ads targeting the heavily Arab American town of Dearborn, Michigan. The ads included clips of Harris expressing sympathy with the suffering civilians in Gaza and vowing to “not be silent.”
The DNC, where Harris officially became the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee, hosted a panel on “Palestinian Human Rights” for the first time in history, in which activists accused Israel of committing a “genocide” in Hamas-ruled Gaza.
Though Harris has voiced support for the Jewish state’s right to existence and self defense, she has also expressed sympathy for far-left narratives that brand Israel as “genocidal.” The vice president has additionally often criticized Israel’s war effort against the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in Gaza.
The post ‘Uncommitted’ Group Won’t Endorse Kamala Harris, Muslim Voters Also Look Elsewhere Over Gaza Despite Overtures first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel to Send Delegation to Qatar for Gaza Ceasefire Talks
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a news conference in Jerusalem, Sept. 2, 2024. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS
Israel has decided to send a delegation to Qatar for talks on a possible Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal, an Israeli official said, reviving hopes of a breakthrough in negotiations to end the almost 21-month war.
Palestinian group Hamas said on Friday it had responded to a US-backed Gaza ceasefire proposal in a “positive spirit,” a few days after US President Donald Trump said Israel had agreed “to the necessary conditions to finalize” a 60-day truce.
The Israeli negotiation delegation will fly to Qatar on Sunday, the Israeli official, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter, told Reuters.
But in a sign of the potential challenges still facing the two sides, a Palestinian official from a militant group allied with Hamas said concerns remained over humanitarian aid, passage through the Rafah crossing in southern Israel to Egypt and clarity over a timetable for Israeli troop withdrawals.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is due to meet Trump in Washington on Monday, has yet to comment on Trump’s announcement, and in their public statements Hamas and Israel remain far apart.
Netanyahu has repeatedly said Hamas must be disarmed, a position the terrorist group, which is thought to be holding 20 living hostages, has so far refused to discuss.
Israeli media said on Friday that Israel had received and was reviewing Hamas’ response to the ceasefire proposal.
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Tucker Carlson Says to Air Interview with President of Iran
Tucker Carlson speaks on July 18, 2024 during the final day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Photo: Jasper Colt-USA TODAY via Reuters Connect
US conservative talk show host Tucker Carlson said in an online post on Saturday that he had conducted an interview with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, which would air in the next day or two.
Carlson said the interview was conducted remotely through a translator, and would be published as soon as it was edited, which “should be in a day or two.”
Carlson said he had stuck to simple questions in the interview, such as, “What is your goal? Do you seek war with the United States? Do you seek war with Israel?”
“There are all kinds of questions that I didn’t ask the president of Iran, particularly questions to which I knew I could get an not get an honest answer, such as, ‘was your nuclear program totally disabled by the bombing campaign by the US government a week and a half ago?’” he said.
Carlson also said he had made a third request in the past several months to interview Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who will be visiting Washington next week for talks with US President Donald Trump.
Trump said on Friday he would discuss Iran with Netanyahu at the White House on Monday.
Trump said he believed Tehran’s nuclear program had been set back permanently by recent US strikes that followed Israel’s attacks on the country last month, although Iran could restart it at a different location.
Trump also said Iran had not agreed to inspections of its nuclear program or to give up enriching uranium. He said he would not allow Tehran to resume its nuclear program, adding that Iran did want to meet with him.
Pezeshkian said last month Iran does not intend to develop nuclear weapons but will pursue its right to nuclear energy and research.
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Hostage Families Reject Partial Gaza Seal, Demand Release of All Hostages
Demonstrators hold signs and pictures of hostages, as relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages kidnapped during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas protest demanding the release of all hostages in Tel Aviv, Israel, Feb. 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Itai Ron
i24 News – As Israeli leaders weigh the contours of a possible partial ceasefire deal with Hamas, the families of the 50 hostages still held in Gaza issued an impassioned public statement this weekend, condemning any agreement that would return only some of the abductees.
In a powerful message released Saturday, the Families Forum for the Return of Hostages denounced what they call the “beating system” and “cruel selection process,” which, they say, has left families trapped in unbearable uncertainty for 638 days—not knowing whether to hope for reunion or prepare for mourning.
The group warned that a phased or selective deal—rumored to be under discussion—would deepen their suffering and perpetuate injustice. Among the 50 hostages, 22 are believed to be alive, and 28 are presumed dead.
“Every family deserves answers and closure,” the Forum said. “Whether it is a return to embrace or a grave to mourn over—each is sacred.”
They accused the Israeli government of allowing political considerations to prevent a full agreement that could have brought all hostages—living and fallen—home long ago. “It is forbidden to conform to the dictates of Schindler-style lists,” the statement read, invoking a painful historical parallel.
“All of the abductees could have returned for rehabilitation or burial months ago, had the government chosen to act with courage.”
The call for a comprehensive deal comes just as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepares for high-stakes talks in Washington and as indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas are expected to resume in Doha within the next 24 hours, according to regional media reports.
Hamas, for its part, issued a statement Friday confirming its readiness to begin immediate negotiations on the implementation of a ceasefire and hostage release framework.
The Forum emphasized that every day in captivity poses a mortal risk to the living hostages, and for the deceased, a danger of being lost forever. “The horror of selection does not spare any of us,” the statement said. “Enough with the separation and categories that deepen the pain of the families.”
In a planned public address near Begin Gate in Tel Aviv, families are gathering Saturday evening to demand that the Israeli government accept a full-release deal—what they describe as the only “moral and Zionist” path forward.
“We will return. We will avenge,” the Forum concluded. “This is the time to complete the mission.”
As of now, the Israeli government has not formally responded to Hamas’s latest statement.
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