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Much has been made over the past week about a protest by a handful of pro-Palestine activists during a presidential campaign rally in Detroit for US Vice President Kamala Harris.

Although President Joe Biden has withdrawn from the November presidential election and endorsed Harris to take his place, she will not officially become the Democratic nominee until the party convention in Chicago ends on Aug. 22.

Biden stepped down for many reasons, but the Democrats acknowledge only one — that his debate performance against Donald Trump on June 27 was so bad that he had no choice, with more and more party figures and donors urging him to withdraw. Insisting initially that he would remain as the official candidate, Biden relented 25 days later on July 21. 

But even had he not stepped down, Biden risked being defeated as a direct result of protests organized across the US by Arabs, Muslims, and progressives angered by his support for Israel’s war crimes in the Gaza Strip, where more than 40,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and almost half women and children, have been killed.

The #AbandonBiden movement in Minnesota, supported by several related protest campaigns, including “LeaveitBlank,” “VoteUncommitted” and “ListentoMichigan” in other states, significantly redirected votes Biden needed in order to defeat Trump.

Few in the US were willing to give the anti-Biden protesters any recognition, brushing off the movement, and relegating the Arab and Muslim vote as insignificant.

Some state government election boards declined to quantify the anti-Biden vote. Many mainstream media outlets marginalized the numbers. Biden’s  political allies, including those funded by Israel’s political lobby, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, ignored the demonstrators, or demonized them as “pro-Hamas protesters” in an effort to tie them to Hamas’ attack on Oct. 7, 2023 that took 1,200 Israeli lives.

There has been a campaign to pretend that Arabs and Muslims have no voice or influence in the upcoming presidential election.

But Harris should not believe the anti-Arab and anti-Muslim media, and political campaign of exclusion, and recognize that they will play a significant role in several states she must win to defeat Trump.

The Arab and Muslim vote in the November presidential election is Harris’ Achilles’ heel.

There has been a campaign to pretend that Arabs, Muslims have no voice

Ray Hanania

When a handful of protesters interrupted the vice president’s speech in Detroit, chanting: “Kamala, you need to call for a ceasefire in Gaza,” and, “Kamala, Kamala, you can’t hide, we won’t vote for genocide,” she responded angrily: “I am speaking now ... You know what? If you want Donald Trump to win, then say that. Otherwise, I’m speaking.”

Her response was a major political blunder that has sparked robust debate in many swing states where Arabs and Muslims showed during the Democratic primary elections during the past six months that they can deflect thousands of votes away from Biden, all but erasing his slim margin of victory in 2020 over Trump.

In Michigan, more than 130,000 Arab and Muslim Americans cast votes not for Trump, but against Biden in the Democratic primary. Biden only won the state by 154,000 votes in 2020. 

In Arizona, 47,800 Arab and Muslim Americans cast votes against Biden, who won the state by only 10,457 votes. In Minnesota, 45,914 people cast “uncommitted” votes. Biden won that state by 233,012 votes. It was a similar situation in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Georgia.

The Democrats are afraid to acknowledge the anti-Biden vote, and the likelihood that it will grow if Harris refuses to take the Arab and Muslim community seriously. 

Harris could have responded in a positive manner to the latest protest. In scorning them, as she did, she was scorning the entire Arab and Muslim American community, and all those American voters who support the demands that Israel stop the carnage in Gaza.

What the vice president should have done was acknowledge the pain that exists in the Arab and Muslim community.

But we understand why she was afraid to do that. Israel’s lobby has targeted and defeated 264 candidates who have supported Palestinian human rights or criticized Israeli government violence.

Two of those who were defeated by AIPAC, which poured millions into the coffers of their rivals, were African American congressman Jamaal Bowman in New York and congresswoman Cori Bush in Missouri.

African Americans have been strong advocates of justice for Palestinians, and certainly the Arab and Muslim American community must tread carefully in protesting against Harris.

But, more importantly, Harris needs to show that she is not a political hack who can be controlled by AIPAC money and pro-Israel lobbies that have a heavy hand in influencing American elections.

Harris should know that most Arab and Muslim Americans have expressed a willingness to work with her, like Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud, who said: “We believe the door is cracked open, that there’s now opportunity to have dialogue, for us to understand how Vice President Harris will differentiate herself from President Biden on the path for Gaza.”

Harris’ response to the protesters was a blunder. It shows that she may lack the strength to stand up to Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who not only faces three corruption charges in Israel, but has also been condemned by the International Criminal Court chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, who announced in May that he would seek arrest warrants against the Israeli leader and senior Hamas figures on charges of war crimes.

The International Court of Justice has ruled that Israeli occupation of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem is unlawful.

But, apparently, Harris is more afraid of what AIPAC and some pro-Israel Democrats can do to undermine her campaign.

And that makes her no better than Biden.

• Ray Hanania is an award-winning former Chicago City Hall political reporter and columnist. He can be reached on his personal website at www.Hanania.com. X: @RayHanania