Harris and Walz face backlash over Israel support, risk losing swing voters

Democratic presidential hopeful Kamala Harris doubled down on her support of Israel amid its brutal war on Gaza this week, potentially costing her valuable American voters who have been on the fence since her campaign began last month.

Meanwhile, Palestinian Americans from Minnesota are expressing disappointment with Harris' running mate Governor Tim Walz, who recently cancelled a meeting with them at the last minute.

Harris and Walz both appeared in Michigan Wednesday night, a crucial swing state with the largest Arab American population in the United States. While speaking at a rally in Detroit, Harris was interrupted by Palestine solidarity protesters.

"Kamala, Kamala, you can’t hide," they chanted. "We won’t vote for genocide."

Harris initially brushed off the protesters, but she eventually appeared to grow exasperated with them, saying, "If you want Donald Trump to win, then say that. Otherwise, I am speaking."

The audience of more than 15,000 people erupted into cheers at her words, and footage showed solidarity protesters being jeered and told to shut up by the crowd as they were escorted away.

Online reaction to Harris' rebuke was swift, with many voters expressing disappointment and calling the incident a missed opportunity for Harris to change the US tone on Gaza.

Amid the furore, Harris' national security advisor Phil Gordon tweeted on Thursday, "VP has been clear: she will always ensure Israel is able to defend itself against Iran and Iran-backed terrorist groups. She does not support an arms embargo on Israel. She will continue to work to protect civilians in Gaza and to uphold international humanitarian law."

Criticism of Walz

Meanwhile, scrutiny over running mate Tim Walz' position on Israel is growing. As governor of Minnesota, Walz has had a warm relationship with Congresswoman Ilham Omar and Attorney General Keith Ellison, elected Muslim Americans who have both expressed support for him in recent days.

But community organisers say Walz has not been supportive of the Palestinians in his state. Within days of the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel, Walz attended a vigil and expressed solidarity with the Jewish community in Minnesota.

Speaking to TRT World, Sana Wazwaz, chapter lead of American Muslims for Palestine, said she would like to see Walz reach out to her community as well.

"He has not shown up to a single mosque, a single funeral service for the folks in our community that have lost family members," she said.

After almost 10 months of lobbying for a meeting with him, Walz agreed to a sit-down with Palestinian Americans whose families are in Gaza. But Wazwaz said the meeting was cancelled at the last minute when the families made clear to staffers that they wanted to talk about policy changes.

"The excuse that they used, I'm not even joking, they straight up said the governor was prepared to listen to us and families tell their stories, but we weren't prepared for a discussion about divestment. In other words, we want your tears, not your policy demands. We want your trauma and not how to rectify it."

Divestment double standard

Minnesota's state pension fund is no stranger to divestment. It sold off holdings in South Africa and Namibia in the 1980s, Sudan in 2007 and Iran in 2009.

More recently, the state's legislature voted in 2022 to stop investing in Russia and Belarus, passing a divestment bill at Walz' urging.

But amid a push for divestment by Palestine supporters, officials said they "can’t use investments to make a symbolic statement" and that they have a fiduciary duty to maximise the state's returns.

To Wazwaz, Walz' inability to stand up for Gaza makes him a "genocide ally." She advises voters to think carefully when heading to the polls in November.

"How am I planning on voting? I'm not 1,000 percent decided, but for now, I am sticking to the principle that not just 'no cease fire, no vote,' (but also) 'no arms embargo, no vote.'

I am very adamant and in support of the idea of voting third party as a way to protest and as a way to challenge and leverage accountability against the Democratic Party's unconditional decades-long support for Israel."

Wazwaz added that she knows people find her perspective to be idealistic, but she's already seen results.

"Especially after the primaries, after one in five Minnesota Democrats voted uncommitted. That's like 20 percent of Minnesota Democrats, 46,000 voters. Governor Walz, for the very first time, got up on TV, and just started saying, 'the situation of Gaza is intolerable.'

That is the first time he's uttered the G-word, by the way, Gaza, the situation of Gaza is intolerable. The voters spoke. We have to win them (officials) back."

Prior to the rally, Harris also met with organisers of the Uncommitted National Movement. They called for an arms embargo on Israel and a speaking role at the upcoming Democratic National Convention.

"I appreciate her leadership, and I know the Uncommitted voters want to support her, uncommitted delegates want to support her," the movement's co-founder Abbas Alawieh told the New York Times. "But our voters need to see her turn a new page on Gaza policy."