Dearborn, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Over the weekend, while Dearborn, Michigan buzzed with ArabCon, the nation’s largest Arab-American convention, Vice President Kamala Harris missed a crucial deadline to meet with anti-Israel “Uncommitted” Democrats and Palestinian families. These voters have been urging Harris to pledge an end to U.S. arms shipments to Israel – a commitment she has yet to make.

ArabCon highlights anti-administration grievances.

The four-day event dubbed ArabCon was held September 12th-15th and was a festival of Arab- American culture, unity, and empowerment. Typically held in Washington, D.C., this year’s event took place in Dearborn. Organized by the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), the convention featured speakers and panels who didn’t shy away from slamming the Biden-Harris administration’s record on Israel. While long-shot presidential candidates like Jill Stein and Cornel West made appearances, both Harris and Trump were absent.

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One notable session, “Insights from the Inside: Dissenters of the Biden-Harris Administration,” featured ex-administration officials who quit their jobs due to what they called the White House’s overly Zionist stance. Some of the dissenters also criticized Biden-Harris for using them as diversity “props” while ignoring their views.

Other panelists in a discussion about the upcoming elections declared that the 2024 presidential choice was a lose-lose scenario between Trump and Harris saying regardless of who wins, they will need to keep the pressure on the presidency until their voices are head and their demands are met.

Those demands, according to the Uncommitted National Movement’s website include three things: an immediate arms embargo; an end to the long-term siege of Gaza and ensuring an immediate and permanent ceasefire.

Harris faces uncertain future with Arab-American voters.

Despite her role as the sitting Vice President, Harris has struggled to win over Michigan’s Arab- American community. Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud, a prominent figure at the convention, has not endorsed her, and many delegates the “Uncommitted” movement remain hesitant to do so as well.

An ADC survey from July found that 45% of respondents support Stein, while only 27.5% back Harris, with a significant chunk still undecided. A CAIR survey with Arab-Americans in Michigan mirrored these results pertaining to support for Harris and Stein, painting a murky picture for a Harris’s victory in Michigan.

The Uncommitted National Movement, a group of anti-Israel Democrats who refused to endorse Biden during the primaries, set a September 15th deadline for Harris to meet with them to discuss the ongoing conflict in Gaza. As of now, there’s no indication such a meeting took place, and Harris’s campaign has shown little sign of conceding to their demands. This lack of engagement only fuels the growing frustration within this critical voting bloc, who have not been shy about expressing their disappointment.

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In Michigan alone, over 100,000 Democratic voters chose to vote “Uncommitted” in the primaries as a protest against Biden’s policies, signaling the depth of discontent that Harris must contend with. Harris’s inability to court this group as well as additional Arab-American voters could spell trouble for her presidential aspirations.

Uncommitted leaders demand action, not words.

Osama Siblani, publisher of the Dearborn-based Arab American News has not endorsed Harris for president and summed up his mood about the issue saying, “Arab Americans must wait and not reveal their choice for president while continuing to demand an immediate and permanent ceasefire, an end to military aid to the occupying Israeli army, and urgent humanitarian assistance to Palestinians in Gaza.”

The Uncommitted National Movement co-chair, Layla Elabed, who is also the sister of Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib, expressed mixed emotions about her brief interaction with Harris in August. “I was very emotional in that brief exchange. I did feel like her sympathy and empathy towards me was very genuine, but Palestinian children cannot eat words. We need action,” she told Democracy Now. This sentiment echoes across the Uncommitted voters, who see Harris’s rhetoric on Palestinian dignity as empty promises without concrete policy changes.

Abbas Alawieh, co-founder of the Uncommitted National Movement, recently voiced his concerns in an interview with Jacobin, a leading voice of the American left, emphasizing the group’s persistent attempts to engage with Harris. “We’re still trying to engage with the Harris campaign… because it’s immoral and illegal for her to continue supporting a policy that sends weapons to kill civilians and harm people we love,” he said, underscoring the emotional weight carried by these voters.

Alawieh noted that repeated follow-ups with Harris’s campaign have gone largely ignored, and he made it clear that while the movement’s patience is wearing thin, their determination to change U.S. policy remains steadfast. “Even if she and her campaign fails to take the opportunity to engage with us and try and rebuild trust with voters for whom Gaza is a top policy issue, we’re not going anywhere. We’re going to continue insisting that the policy changes so that we can save lives.”

Is “Abandon Biden” now “Abandon Harris”?

The once vocal “Abandon Biden” campaign has now rebranded as an “Abandon Harris” movement, urging Muslim American voters in Michigan to withhold support from the Vice President. Led by co- founder Hassan Abdel Salam, the campaign argues that Harris, like Biden, has ignored calls for a ceasefire in Gaza. While the group hasn’t endorsed Trump, they suggest that disillusioned voters should either cast their ballot for a third-party candidate or abstain altogether.

During a recent protest during President Joe Biden’s visit in Ann Arbor, University of Michigan student Salma Hamamy, past president of the group “Students Allied for Freedom and Equality,” made it clear

that the movement’s discontent isn’t just about Biden; it’s about the Democratic Party as a whole. She told the Michigan Daily, This not only shows that we’re abandoning Biden but also that we’re abandoning the Democratic Party as a whole so long as they’ve abandoned their conscience.”

As the 2024 election looms, the question remains: Will Kamala Harris’s failure to engage with anti- Israel voters be her undoing in Michigan and the rest of the country? Only time will tell if her missed deadline becomes a missed opportunity she can’t afford.