Pro-Palestinian “uncommitted” movement declines to endorse Harris, but won’t back other candidates

The “uncommitted” movement, a group of pro-Palestinian, anti-war Democrats who led the push to cast protest votes against President Biden during the primaries, declined to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris for the White House, but also said they would not encourage supporters to stay home or vote for third-party candidates.

In a statement Thursday, the group of 30 delegates emphasized they want to block former President Donald Trump from winning, saying his agenda “includes plans to accelerate the killing in Gaza while intensifying the suppression of anti-war organizing.”

But they warned that votes for third-party candidates, such as longshot Green Party candidate Jill Stein, could “inadvertently deliver a Trump presidency given our country’s broken electoral college system.” Stein has been courting Muslim American voters who disagree with Harris’ stance on Gaza.

Organizers have been pushing Harris to support an embargo on U.S. weapons being sent to Israel, a longtime American ally. They have also called for a permanent cease-fire in Gaza, where more than 41,000 people have been killed in Israeli military strikes since the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas across Israel. For months, Harris has said she and the Biden administration are working towards an agreement between Israel and Hamas to stop the fighting.

The uncommitted delegation held an overnight sit-in at the Democratic National Convention in August to protest the lack of a Palestinian-American speaker. After the convention, they requested a meeting with Harris by Sept. 15. While organizers said they had been in contact with the Harris campaign, their request for a meeting was not granted. 

In their statement Thursday, they encouraged their supporters to register “anti-Trump votes” up and down the ballot. While the group expressed frustrations with the lack of direct engagement with Harris, they said their decision is not a call for supporters to skip the top of the ticket.

“Even leaders within our movement will be voting different ways,” said Abbas Alawieh, an uncommitted delegate from Michigan. “Our guidance is clear that even though Vice President Harris made it impossible for us to endorse her campaign, we still recognize very clearly that there’s a need to oppose Donald Trump.” 

“Voters in some ways will have to vote their conscience, and we are laying out on the table what is at stake if we do not block Trump,” said Layla Elabed, the sister of Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib. Elabed said she does not plan to vote for Harris. 

During an interview with the National Association of Black Journalists this week, Harris reiterated her support for a cease-fire, as well as her position that Israel must be able “to defend itself.” Pressed if she’d change anything about American weapons being sent to Israel, Harris expressed support for a one-time pause in May on a shipment of 2,000-pound bombs, but did not say whether she would alter U.S. policy going forward.

In response to the uncommitted movement’s decision, a Harris campaign spokesperson said the vice president “is committed to work to earn every vote.” In August, the Harris campaign sent campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez to meet with Arab American and Jewish American communities in Michigan.

“She will continue working to bring the war in Gaza to an end in a way where Israel is secure, the hostages are released, the suffering in Gaza ends, and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, security, freedom and self-determination,” the campaign added. 

The uncommitted movement started in Michigan, a battleground state with a heavy Arab-American population. The number of Michigan primary voters who chose “uncommitted” (101,623) was more than Trump’s margin when he won the state in 2016, and close to Mr. Biden’s margin of victory in 2020 (154,181).