AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): A coalition of Black Muslim leaders has urged voters to shun Vice President Kamala Harris in her bid for the 2024 U.S. presidency due to her support for the Israeli genocide in Gaza.
The group, consisting of approximately 50 leaders, called for backing candidates who endorse a ceasefire in Gaza and an arms embargo on the Israeli regime.
The statement, first reported by Middle East Eye, comes as tensions rise over the Biden-Harris administration’s response to the ongoing war. It states: “As Muslims obliged to uphold justice and as Black Americans whose ancestors experienced the worst of crimes, genocide must be our red line. We simply cannot support a candidate who participated in a genocide and now refuses to lay out any plan to end that genocide.”
This marks a growing split within the Muslim-American electorate, which has traditionally supported Democratic candidates.
The statement follows recent calls from Muslim organizations urging voters to back candidates who prioritize ending US military aid to Israel. Notably, a group of imams from across the country recently signed a letter advocating for a third-party vote, specifically in protest of the Democratic Party’s stance on the Gaza war.
The Black Muslim leaders’ statement also highlights their historical solidarity with Palestinian struggles, drawing parallels to the Black community’s fight for civil rights. "Black communities have fought tirelessly against slavery, against segregation, against racial violence, so it recognizes the Palestinian struggle as the same fight for freedom, for dignity, and the right to self-determination," said Ismahan Abdullahi, a Muslim leader in San Diego and one of the statement’s signatories.
The endorsement of third-party candidates, particularly Jill Stein of the Green Party, reflects a growing movement within Muslim communities to withhold support from the Democrats.
According to recent polling by the Yaqeen Institute, only 32% of Black Muslims intend to vote for Harris, while a larger percentage are considering alternative candidates.
“There’s a false narrative that the majority of Black Muslims support Kamala Harris,” said Imam Dawud Walid, a Michigan-based faith leader. “It’s sowing racial division amongst American Muslims during a genocide of our brothers and sisters in Gaza.”
This shift in voter allegiance comes as Muslim-American voters, especially in key swing states like Michigan, could play a decisive role in the upcoming election.
Polls show that Harris and former President Donald Trump are neck and neck, and both campaigns are actively courting Muslim and Arab-American voters.
Washington has voiced strong support for the Israeli regime’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip that started in October last year. The Israeli aggression has claimed lives of at least 42,718 people, mostly women and children, in Gaza while displacing almost all of the 2.3 million population.
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