In a side room at a campaign rally Friday in Flint, Michigan, Arab American advocates asked Vice President Kamala Harris to break away from President Joe Biden’s Israel policy and push harder to end the war in Gaza.
The conversation, scheduled for 10 minutes, lasted for 20, according to Wa’el Alzayat, chief executive officer of MKAGE Action. Harris made no promises, but he said, “He also wants to stop the war and will do everything in his power to do so.”
“He promised to work with our community, to include our community, and he said he fully understands what we’re saying. If he wins, he’s confident that he can deliver all of these once he becomes president,” Alsayed told CNN.
The MKA Action leader said he and other Arab American leaders had been contacted and invited within the previous 48 hours. Their message to Harris was simple, he said. “We need to show the distance between how he would govern on this matter and the current administration policies that we disagree with.”
More context: The meeting comes amid frustration over Harris’ response to Israel’s recent escalation in Lebanon and concerns that his campaign is unwilling to listen to critical voices. Harris said, in part, because of his position that vice presidents do not set U.S. foreign policy.
But as the ongoing Israel-Hamas war expands into a multi-pronged conflict involving Iran, which fired missiles at Israel this week, and Iranian-backed groups in Lebanon and Yemen, key Arab American groups are making more efforts.
Read more about Arab American advocates meeting with Harris.
