Vice President Kamala Harris indicated Wednesday that she would be open to discussing an arms embargo against Israel in exchange for the support of the so-called “uncommitted” movement of Muslim and Arab voters in Michigan.
The New York Times reported:
Before her rally in Detroit, Vice President Kamala Harris spoke briefly with the co-founders of the Uncommitted National Movement, which mobilized tens of thousands of voters in Michigan to withhold their votes from President Biden in the primary earlier this year over his support for Israel’s war in Gaza. Abbas Alawieh and Layla Elabed said they were in the welcoming line for Harris and Governor Walz, and communicated to Harris that they wanted to support her but that voters wanted her to consider an arms embargo to immediately stop the carnage in the besieged enclave.
Harris listened to stories of people in Michigan who have had dozens of family members killed in Gaza. The leaders asked to meet with her about the embargo request, and she indicated she was open to it, and introduced the two leaders to her staff.
Later, Harris was heckled by pro-Palestinian protesters during her speech.
US Vice President Kamala Harris during a campaign event in Detroit, Michigan, US, on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024. The Harris campaign said they had raised more than $20 million since the Walz announcement on Tuesday, which they hailed as one of their best fundraising days. Photographer: Emily Elconin/Bloomberg via Getty Images
The protesters, some wearing Muslim hijabs, chanted: “Kamala, Kamala, you can’t hide. We won’t vote for genocide.”
Protesters chant “Kamala, Kamala, you can’t hide. We won’t vote for genocide.”
They get escorted out
Others try to drown it out
Harris also said: “if you want Trump to win, say that otherwise I’m speaking” pic.twitter.com/1C54Vw9srj— Selina Wang (@selinawangtv) August 8, 2024
Harris responded twice — first by trying to appease the hecklers, saying their voices were welcome in “democracy”; then by scolding them, telling them they were going to help Trump win.
In Detroit, after protestors for the Palestinian cause disrupted her speech for a second time, Vice-President Kamala Harris says:
“You know what? If you want Donald Trump to win, then say that, otherwise I’m speaking.”
When the protestors had disrupted her speech moments… pic.twitter.com/d25rr6iWSk
— Yashar Ali (@yashar) August 8, 2024
Harris had attempted to keep the anti-Israel — and antisemitic — wing of her party on board by declining to pick Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro as her running mate, choosing Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) instead.
Not only is Shapiro Jewish, but he also had a history of past strident pro-Israel commentary — which he belatedly tried to disavow.
Walz, on the other hand, while supportive of Israel, has also backed anti-Israel and antisemitic Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN).
In 2019, according to the Washington Free Beacon, he also attended a conference organized by the radical Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) with the antisemitic founder of Students for Justice in Palestine:
Democratic vice-presidential nominee Tim Walz spoke at an event for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in 2019, where he rubbed shoulders with an anti-Semitic scholar behind much of the Hamas propaganda on college campuses in the wake of Oct. 7, according to photos from the event.
…
Photos of the conference show Walz posed with Hatem Bazian, an anti-Semitic scholar who has for years defended anti-Israel terrorist activity. Bazian is the founder of Students for Justice in Palestine, the group behind many of the pro-Hamas and anti-Semitic rallies across college campuses in the wake of the Oct. 7 attacks. The group’s George Washington University chapter projected the slogan “Glory to Our Martyrs” days after the attack. Bazian also founded Students for Justice in Palestine’s parent group American Muslims for Palestine, an influential anti-Israel organization under investigation in Virginia for allegedly financing terrorist activity.
…
Federal prosecutors labeled CAIR an unindicted co-conspirator of Hamas in a 2008 terrorism finance case. In 2017, Bazian apologized for posting an anti-Semitic meme of a Jewish man with the caption “Mom look! I is chosen! I can now kill, rape, smuggle organs & steal the land of Palestinians Yay #Ashke-Nazi.”
As Breitbart News has noted:
In 2007-8, CAIR was named an unindicted co-conspirator in the terror financing trial of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development. That case, in turn, led the FBI to discontinue its work with the organization. In 2009, a federal judge ruled that the government “produced ample evidence to establish” the ties of CAIR with Hamas, the Palestinian terror organization. The United Arab Emirates labeled CAIR a terrorist organization in 2014 (a decision that the Obama administration opposed).
While some anti-Israel members of the party pronounced themselves satisfied with the Walz pick, that was evidently not good enough for some activists, who believe Harris and Walz are still insufficiently anti-Israel for their liking.
CAIR Action Welcomes Vice President Harris’ Choice of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as Running Mate, Encourages Ticket to Chart New Course on Gaza
1/2 pic.twitter.com/caKuxfc4Kc
— CAIRAction (@CAIRAction) August 6, 2024
The “uncommitted” movement evidently sees an opportunity to achieve an arms embargo against Israel — and Harris is entertaining the idea, with Michigan still a key swing state that could make the difference in November.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of “”The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days,” available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of “The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency,” now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.