washington — Vice President Kamala Harris met briefly with a group of Arab Americans in Flint, Michigan, on Friday, as her campaign aims to build support with communities outraged by the administration's response to the war in Gaza and the expanding conflict in Lebanon.
"The vice president heard directly their perspectives on the election and the conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon," her campaign said in a statement.
Harris "expressed her concern over the scale of suffering in Gaza" and discussed "her efforts to end the war" and to prevent regional war, the campaign statement said.
On Lebanon, Harris expressed "concern about civilian casualties and displacement" and reiterated the administration's position that "a diplomatic solution is the best path to achieve stability and protect civilians."
Michigan, a key battleground state, is home to almost 400,000 Arab Americans, the highest in the country by percentage, according to the Arab American Institute.
Neither the Harris campaign nor the vice president's office provided the list of participants. However, Edward Gabriel, president of the American Task Force on Lebanon, said he took part in the meeting.
"We discussed the need for a cease-fire and the support needed from the United States and its allies to address the humanitarian crisis, the presidential leadership void in Lebanon, and the important role of the Lebanese armed forces," he told VOA. "This was a valuable two-sided exchange, and we made important progress in our relationship."
Also participating were representatives from Emgage, a Muslim American advocacy group that endorsed Harris in September, citing the danger of "Trump's brand of authoritarianism" for "Muslim Americans, America and the world."
In its endorsement, the group noted its support did not equal "an agreement with Vice President Harris on all issues, but rather, an honest guidance to our voters regarding the difficult choice they confront at the ballot box."
Pro-Palestinian groups excluded
Harris' meeting did not include the Uncommitted National Movement and Abandon Harris, two pro-Palestinian activist groups that have been pushing for change in the administration's policies on Gaza.
"We weren't invited," said Layla Elabed, a spokesperson for Uncommitted National Movement, the group that helped organize more than 100,000 Michiganders to vote "uncommitted" in the Democratic primary election to protest the Biden administration's support of Israel's military campaign.
Hudhayfah Ahmad, a spokesperson for the Abandon Harris campaign, a group that is actively working to defeat Harris in Michigan and other battleground states in protest of U.S. Gaza policies, said the only path forward is to hold the administration and the Harris campaign accountable.
"We've remained firm in our position that we will not meet with the vice president or anyone from her campaign team, as that opportunity has passed," he told VOA.
The Flint meeting showed the group's pressure on the Harris campaign is working, Elabed told VOA. However, she added, the campaign should heed the group's request for Harris to meet "everyday Americans whose loved ones are being impacted by this administration's policy to continue supplying the bombs and weapons to Israel that are killing Palestinians and now Lebanese people, including Americans in Gaza and Lebanon."
In the past two weeks, Israel's military campaign targeting Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon has killed hundreds, including Kamel Ahmad Jawad, an American from the nearby city of Dearborn, Michigan.
Earlier this week, Harris' running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, spoke to a Muslim group focused on activities to increase voter turnout. Harris' national security adviser, Phil Gordon, also met virtually with Muslim and Arab community leaders Wednesday.
With the exception of the Arab American Institute and the American Task Force on Lebanon, Gordon's engagements did not include major Muslim and Arab groups.
James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute, who participated in the eight-person engagement with Gordon, told VOA it did not include representatives of the community.
The vice president's office did not respond to queries on why these groups were excluded from the Flint meeting.
A campaign spokesperson, however, said Harris was "committed to work to earn every vote, unite our country, and to be a president for all Americans."
"Throughout her career, Vice President Harris has been steadfast in her support of our country's diverse Muslim community, ensuring first and foremost that they can live free from the hateful policies of the Trump administration," the spokesperson told VOA.
"She will continue working to bring the war in Gaza to an end in a way where Israel is secure, the hostages are released, the suffering in Gaza ends, and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, security, freedom and self-determination."
Harris' outreach efforts come as a new poll indicates Arab American support for the Democratic presidential nominee is virtually tied with that for the Republican nominee, former President Donald Trump.
Vote evenly split
On Wednesday, the Arab American Institute released a nationwide poll of 500 Arab American registered voters that indicated support for Trump stood at 42%. For Harris, it was 41%.
Among those who said they were very likely to vote, Trump led Harris 46% to 42%.
The poll suggested the administration's handling of the crisis in Gaza has eroded the community's support for Democrats, whom they traditionally back. Arab Americans now are evenly divided between the two parties: 38% for each.
Trump has also been courting Arab and Muslim voters. He has won the support of Amer Ghalib, the Yemeni American mayor of Hamtramck, Michigan. The city is home to about 30,000 people, almost half of them Muslim, and it is the only city in the U.S. to have an all-Muslim city council.
"Endorsing President Trump was a combination of disappointment and hope," Ghalib told VOA. "Disappointed at the current administration's policies domestically and internationally, and in hope that President Trump will come to fix things up, end the chaos in the Middle East and restore peace everywhere, as well as preventing our economy from further deterioration."
Ghalib's endorsement came last month following his meeting with Trump, also in Flint, Michigan.
