Arizona Palestine supporters urge vote for Harris as best option, if imperfect, to keep up fight for ceasefire

In a statement casting Harris as the imperfect, but better choice on the presidential ticket, signees say backing the Democrat is the “best possible option to continue fighting for an end to the genocide.” 

A group of more than 100 Palestinian, Arab, Muslim, and progressive Democrats and community leaders in Arizona are making the case that Kamala Harris is the best candidate in the 2024 presidential election.

“Allowing the fascist Donald Trump to become President again would be the worst possible outcome for the Palestinian people,” the leaders wrote in a statement Thursday.

The signees also forgo support for a third party, even though many in the community see this as a better option than Harris, because a “vote for them [a third party] could make Trump president.”

NEW: A coalition of Arizona Palestinian, Arab, Muslim, and progressive community leaders issue statement on the presidential election.

“In our view… allowing the fascist Donald Trump to become President again would be the worst possible outcome for the Palestinian people.” pic.twitter.com/pOgo2mfPbE

— Kai Newkirk (@kai_newkirk) October 25, 2024

“If our communities ally with the Green Party to defeat Harris, we risk marginalizing ourselves as they did by alienating the tens of millions of voters who support the cause of Palestinian freedom and are fighting to defeat Trump by electing her.” 

The group of signees include leaders of the Palestinian, Lebanese, Syrian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Iraqi, and other Arab and Muslim communities; Jewish leaders working for a ceasefire; founders and current or former leaders of multiple Palestinian, Arab, Muslim, and Palestinian freedom advocacy organizations; the president of Phoenix’s largest mosque; and several elected officials.

The statement calls the decision a “horrible situation” and note that many people in their community are “resistant to vote for Kamala Harris because of the Biden administration’s complicity in the genocide,” and that many “feel they simply can’t vote for a member of the administration that sent the bombs that may have killed their loved ones.”

“With over 42,000 Palestinians killed by Israel using American-supplied weapons and no end in sight despite all our struggle for a ceasefire, we approach the presidential election heartbroken and outraged,” the statement reads. 

But, it still points to Kamala Harris as the best option for the Palestinian cause in a situation where the only two available options are “flawed.”

Though the signers of the statement view Harris to be a flawed choice, they call former President Donald Trump “the worst possible outcome for the Palestinian people.” 

The statement points to Trump’s support for Israel and his relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s as the dividing line between him and Harris, saying that if he is in power again “even a genocide can get much worse.”

Although the signees disagree with Harris’ decision not to break with Biden, they still believe positive policy change can happen under a Harris administration and a Democratic Congress – which they say will shape her decisions as president. 

“Voting for Harris is not a personal endorsement of her or of the policy decisions of the

administration in which she served,” the statement reads. “It’s an assessment of the best possible option to continue fighting for an end to the genocide, a free Palestine, and all else that we hold dear.”

The signees are choosing to elect Harris due to the support she has received from a number of national unions, civil rights groups, and progressive organizations that have all called for a halt to military aid to Israel – among the number of Democratic Congressmembers who have called  for a ceasefire in Gaza or for an arms embargo.

They criticize the Republican Party for their lack of opposition to the war in Gaza, unconditional support for Israel, and lack of support for the human rights of Palestinian people. 

The signees view support for Harris as a deal for her to uphold American values, defend democracy, and end the genocide on Palestinians. 

If Harris and Democrats in Congress are elected, the signers of the statement vow to hold them accountable “through every nonviolent tool of democracy, including protests, resignations, civil disobedience, primary election challenges, and even potential mass noncooperation.”

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