Uncommitted delegates at DNC aim to put pressure on Harris’ Gaza policy

The Uncommitted National Movement’s organizers are attending the Democratic National Convention in Chicago this week, hoping to change policy toward Israel during the ongoing war in Gaza.

Abbas Alawieh is one of the leaders of the uncommitted movement and one of two uncommitted delegates from Michigan attending the DNC.

“We have a mandate to represent the hundreds of 1,000s of uncommitted pro peace voters who showed up in the Democratic primary to ensure that Gaza is a part of the discussion,” he said.

The uncommitted campaign continues to put pressure on the Democratic Party to listen to the multi-ethnic, multi-faith, and anti-war movement to stop U.S. money from going to Israel in its conflict with Gaza.

More than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in the past 10 months, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The war began after the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas which killed 1,200 people.

The uncommitted campaign recently launched an effort aimed at getting Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris to commit to an arms embargo.

Listen: Uncommitted delegates at DNC to put pressure on Harris’ Gaza policy

Ronald Stockton, professor Emeritus of political science at the University of Michigan -Dearborn, says it’s unlikely that Harris will take a stronger stance.

“Harris is not going to come out and renounce Israel. She’s not going to call for an arms embargo,” he said. “That’s not realistic.”

Stockton says privately Harris’ national security advisor is saying more to support a permanent ceasefire in exchange for Israeli hostages and Palestinian detainees.

The Uncommitted National Movement began as the Listen to Michigan organization in February ahead of the primaries to get 10,000 uncommitted Democratic votes in protest of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.

They garnered more than 100,000 uncommitted votes – birthing the Uncommitted National Movement across the U.S., with more than 700,000 uncommitted voters and now 30 uncommitted delegates.

Earlier this month hundreds of people gathered for a rally to support the Harris campaign at Detroit Metro Airport.

Just before the event, Alawieh and Uncommitted National Movement co-founder Layla Elabed asked Harris to set up a formal meeting to discuss the situation in Gaza. They say Harris seemed receptive to the idea, but a meeting has not yet been confirmed.

Alawieh says the uncommitted movement will endorse Harris if she chooses an arms embargo, one of the recent asks by the organization along with the “not another bomb” campaign to stop funding bombs in the conflict.

“We will drop everything we’re doing, endorse Vice President Harris and make sure that we proactively encourage the voters who have believed in this movement to vote for Vice President Harris,” he said.

Some uncommitted voters, like Saleema Nawab — who voted uncommitted in the February primary — say that’s not enough to get their vote, however.

Nawab says before the conflict in Gaza she wasn’t very involved in politics but typically voted Democratic. She hopes the Democratic Party realizes that voters should not be taken for granted and they will no longer vote “for the lesser of two evils.”

“I understand that the threat of Trump is going to have, you know, consequences for not only my community but other communities. But I think that this two-party system needs to be shaken up, and our voices — that are beyond the Muslim and Arab voice — need to be heard in a serious way,” she said.

Nawab is considering voting for a third-party candidate, Green Party’s Jill Stein.

Critics say that uncommitted voters will likely have to decide between the two-party system in the end.

Wayne State University Professor Saeed Khan says uncommitted voters are engaged.

“If they were not interested in considering the Democratic Party in November, then one could say that they would be completely disengaged and put all of their efforts into third party candidates or just simply staying home,” Khan said. “But the fact that we’re seeing this level of engagement and interaction then suggests that they are possibly moving toward making a decision of voting for what is now the Harris-Walz ticket.”

Like many voters, Janae Wilson of Detroit says she’s waiting to see if Harris makes any strides in Gaza policy.

“Putting pressure on Kamala is not equal to electing Trump, in my opinion,” she said.

She hopes Harris addresses the arms embargo and addresses the Islamophobia in the U.S.

Alawieh says the uncommitted movement isn’t going anywhere.

“I hope that the Democratic Party doesn’t inadvertently help Donald Trump by failing to unite the base of our party around a more humane approach to Gaza policy,” he said.

The Uncommitted National Movement is speaking at the DNC this week about Gaza while tens of thousands of Pro-Palestinian protestors are also protesting the DNC over the Biden administration’s funding of the war in Gaza.