The first national Muslim organization that had declared itself "uncommitted" on President Joe Biden's re-election bid is endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris' candidacy.
Salima Suswell, the founder and chief executive of the Black Muslim Leadership Council Fund, first shared the group's decision with NBC News on Thursday.
“She has shown more sympathy towards the people of Gaza then both President Biden and former President Donald Trump,” Suswell said of Harris. “During Prime Minister Netanyahu’s address to Congress, she decided not to attend. She has repeatedly called for a cease-fire, and I believe she has also expressed empathy towards civilian life and has been very caring as it relates to getting aid to the people of Gaza."
The fund is the political action arm of the nonprofit Black Muslim Leadership Council. Both organizations were started in March with the hope of pressuring elected officials, including Biden, to call for a permanent cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war.
The group’s endorsement is significant given the backlash the Biden administration has faced from the Muslim community over its handling of the war. Many Muslim groups pushed for an effort they dubbed “abandon Biden,” which called for voters not to support him at the ballot box in uncompetitive primaries and potentially in the fall election.
Since Biden's decision to drop his re-election bid, some other Muslim groups have said they remain uncommitted to Harris' candidacy while saying she has a chance to earn their support by differentiating herself from Biden on Middle East policy.
In March, Suswell made it clear that many of her group’s members were focused on U.S. domestic challenges and did not support abandoning Biden. “At the present, I have not abandoned Biden,” she said at the time. “But I am uncommitted.”
The same month, Harris made headlines in a speechcommemorating Bloody Sunday in Selma, Alabama, where she called for a six-week cease-fire and described the situation in Gaza as a “humanitarian catastrophe.”
“Given the immense scale of suffering in Gaza, there must be an immediate cease-fire — for at least the next six weeks, which is what is currently on the table,” Harris said. “This will get the hostages out and get a significant amount of aid in.”
Then, last week, just days after she launched her presidential campaign, Harris met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House after he spoke with Biden. Following the meeting, she said Israel had her “unwavering commitment” and a “right to defend itself” while also calling attention to the plight of the Palestinian people.
“What has happened in Gaza over the past nine months is devastating — the images of dead children and desperate, hungry people fleeing for safety, sometimes displaced for the second, third or fourth time,” she said. “We cannot look away in the face of these tragedies. We cannot allow ourselves to become numb to the suffering. And I will not be silent.”
Full article: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/muslim-group-endorse...
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