Muslim women group backs Harris after disbanding over DNC snub
After making headlines across national and international media outlets with its announcement to disband, a group that calls itself "Muslim Women for Harris" has reversed its decision to do so and is now doubling down on supporting the Democratic Party's presidential ticket.
The pivot for the voter outreach group comes amid mounting concerns among Democrats over the party's ability to retain Muslim and Arab voters as Vice President Kamala Harris refuses to signal a change regarding the party's policies towards Israel.
Last week, one of two Council for American Islamic Relations (Cair) polls found that the Muslim-American community was split in its support of Harris and Green Party candidate, Jill Stein.
Since her initial remarks on the ongoing Israeli war on Gaza, Harris has refused to make any commitment to an arms embargo as demanded by pro-Palestinian groups.
Muslim Women for Harris, which temporarily disbanded after the Democratic National Convention (DNC) refused in late August to give a platform to a Palestinian speaker, returned days later to clarify that supporting Harris was a priority for Muslim Americans.
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In a statement published last week, the group urged Muslim Americans "to vote for Vice President Harris and Governor Walz this November; with the stated caveat that we will continue to both pressure the Biden administration for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, and for real policy change from the Harris-Walz campaign".
"As a result of the November elections, we will either have Kamala Harris or Donald Trump as our next President - and we pray for the sake of all of us here and abroad, that it is Kamala Harris," the group said.
The statement, which the group said was intended to "set the record straight", neither made any mention of its previous post saying it could no longer continue support for Harris nor did it clarify how it decided to reverse course.
Last month, on the sidelines of the DNC, a group of pro-Palestinian Democratic delegates belonging to the Uncommitted Movement staged a protest outside the convention centre. The Uncommitted movement began by urging voters to choose "uncommitted" during the Democratic primary cycle as a protest vote against US President Joe Biden and his support for Israel.
The group demanded that the DNC allow a Palestinian American to be given the space and time to give an address on the main stage of the convention floor. The demand was dismissed by the DNC, leading to outrage from the delegates.
After the protest began, Muslim Women for Harris, which said that it supported the demand of the Uncommitted movement, said it could not continue to operate given what had transpired.
"We cannot in good conscience, continue Muslim Women for Harris-Walz, in light of this new information from the Uncommitted movement, that VP Harris' team declined their request to have a Palestinian American speaker take the stage at the DNC," the group said in an Instagram post published on 21 August.
The news of the group disbanding made headlines in prominent newspapers including The Guardian, The Hill, and USA Today.
Several reports claimed that during the DNC, Muslim Women for Harris also withdrew their support for the Democratic nominee. Middle East Eye could not independently verify this claim.
The US's support for Israel's war on Gaza, which has raged for nearly a year and killed more than 40,000 Palestinians, according to the Palestinian health ministry, has become a major issue among American voters.
In the Muslim community, another Cair poll found that support for the Democratic Party dropped by more than 40 percent since 2020, with many Muslims upset at the Biden administration's vigorous support of Israel's war efforts.
In the immediate aftermath of Biden announcing he was no longer seeking reelection in July, and Harris ascending to become the new Democratic nominee, Harris was viewed by some progressive groups as being more sympathetic towards Palestinians.
However, Harris on multiple occasions publicly said that she would make no changes to the US approach to Israel, and her team has denied that she would consider an arms embargo on Israel - a major demand of pro-Palestinian groups in the US.
Muslim Women for Harris did not respond to MEE's request for comment in time for publication.
Last week, another group and Instagram page launched with the name, "Muslim Women Against Harris-Walz".
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