By james art The activists kept them exactly where they wanted. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris had done everything they could think of to quell growing public outrage over their administration’s complicity in the genocide in Palestine, but hundreds of thousands of potential Democratic voters did not budge. Led by the National Non-Aligned Movement, they refused to pull the lever for Biden in the primaries and now threaten to withdraw their support for Harris in November unless she and her current boss impose an embargo on US arms shipments to Israel before the US presidential election. in 2024. Then, with the race likely headed for a photo finish, the protesters – well-intentioned as they undoubtedly are – pulled the rug from under them.
Although Harris has consistently echoed Biden’s unwavering support for Israel’s genocidal regime, Uncommitted released a statement on Sept. 19 that can only be interpreted as a thinly veiled endorsement of the Democratic nominee — urging its members to vote against her opponent, Donald Trump, but no for a third party. On October 8, they doubled down on their ill-fated decision, all but guaranteeing that the genocide would continue unabated, as there was no reason to believe that Harris would suddenly commit hypocrisy and impose an arms embargo after the election.
Until they gave away their leverage, odds were Harris would become increasingly concerned about Americans, many of them in key states, planning to write her off if she didn’t meet Uncommitted’s requirements.
Until they gave away their leverage, odds were Harris would have grown increasingly anxious heading into the final days of her campaign with more than a million Americans, many of them in key states, planning to write her off if she didn’t meet their demands. . She would then face a choice: try to win the election without their support, or improve her chances of victory by ending the flow of arms to Israel before November 5.
Yet instead of forcing Harris to face his moment of truth, Uncommitted succumbed to the drumbeat of fear surrounding the Republican nominee’s potential return to the Oval Office and decided to prioritize his defeat instead of going all-in, for to try to prevent countless casualties in Palestine. Lost in the equation was the fact that they didn’t have to choose between the two. Staying true to their original mission – levers in hand – would give them both the best chance to end the genocide and foiled Trump.
Yet instead of forcing Harris to face his moment of truth, Uncommitted prioritized defeating Trump instead of going all-in to try to prevent untold numbers of casualties in Palestine.
Experts from the United Nations, the University of Edinburgh and The lancet medical journal estimates that nearly 200,000 Palestinians have already been killed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s forces since last fall—five times the low figure usually cited by the mainstream media. At the current rate of approximately 20,000 deaths per month, the death toll is expected to rise to over 300,000 by the end of the year with no end in sight.
With the general election less than three weeks away, the Uncommitted movement still has little time to right the ship. A press release announcing their intention to join activists who have unequivocally embraced the “No Embargo, No Vote” position would garner at least as much media coverage as their surrender announcement a few weeks ago, and shift the pressure back on Harris. However, there is no sign that the organizers are headed in that direction.
By withdrawing their demand for a US arms embargo on Israel before the election, Uncommitted can help oust Harris—who is by all accounts complicit in a crime so heinous that a word had to be invented to describe it— in the winner’s circle. But it will come at the expense of the Palestinian people. If that happens, it would be an outcome the movement’s leaders will live to regret.
The National Non-Aligned Movement has one last chance to correct course.
They desperately need to get it.