‘Crocodile tears and genocide’: How the Gaza war is threatening Kamala Harris’s White House chances

Vice-president has struggled with difficult balancing act between traditional support for Israel and retaining vote of Muslim Americans

As Kamala Harris was walking on stage to rapturous applause at the Democratic National Convention in August, outside, protesters in keffiyehs chanted “free Palestine!”
They held up placards which called on her to “end genocide” and “free Palestine”. Some simply read: “Abandon Harris ‘24.”
The war in Gaza has enraged swathes of progressive voters who could normally be relied upon to support a Democratic candidate.
Ms Harris’s support for Israel has the potential to cost her dearly in Tuesday’s election.
Addressing that crowd of supporters in Chicago, Ms Harris described the “devastating” toll that the war had taken on Palestinian civilians, and declared her support for “their right to dignity, security, freedom and self-determination”.
The speech was designed to be a subtle indication that she cared more for Palestinians than Joe Biden, who is a lifelong friend of Israel and has supplied the country with munitions and diplomatic cover.
But more than two months on, it is clear that some pro-Palestinian voters have still not been won over.
As polling day approaches, the Harris campaign has serious concerns about two groups of voters: Arab-Americans and young liberals.
Many in those demographics argue that Ms Harris should immediately impose an arms embargo on Israel, ending more than a year of “ironclad” support by the US, and call for the immediate recognition of a Palestinian state.
Some insist that without a change in Ms Harris’s policy on the Middle East, they will abstain in the election or support Donald Trump.
Ms Harris has met neither of their demands, and has pledged to continue support for Israel if she wins the election, while working for a ceasefire.
On Oct 9 this year, two days after the anniversary of Hamas’s deadly terror attack on Israel, she further angered pro-Palestinian voters by describing that event as the “most tragic” story of the war.
Many of the frustrated voters gathered at ArabCon, an event organised by the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) and held in Dearborn, Michigan in September.
Maryam Hassanein, who was among more than a dozen Biden administration staff to quit their jobs over the conflict, said the US should make a ceasefire in Gaza the condition of US support for Israel.
“In order to really take back disillusioned voters, [Ms Harris] needs to be far, far more willing to say: ‘Okay, this is the way we’ve approached the issue for the past few months. It does not necessarily seem to be working’,” she said.
Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, has said he will continue the war until all Hamas fighters have been eliminated, with or without the support of Washington.
But he is now more reliant on the US than ever before, after a ballistic missile attack by Iran on October 1 that pierced Israel’s “Iron Dome” defences. In response, Mr Biden has sent additional air defences that will be operated by US personnel from the ground.
Some feel that Ms Harris’s call for a ceasefire is insincere.
Omar Aburmishan, a 28-year-old TikTok creator, speaking from ArabCon, told The Telegraph that he believed she supported the continuation of the war.
“She might say she was working to get a ceasefire in Gaza, but…what evidence is there of that?” he said.
Sayed Saleh Qazwini, a Muslim faith leader in Michigan, said Ms Harris had not done enough to convince American Muslims to support her.
“I see that both candidates are competing on who could support this genocide and who could support Israel more,” he said.
“Maybe the Democrats are speaking about it a little bit more, but they’re really not doing anything. They’re enabling this genocide.”
The inflammatory accusation that the Biden administration supports genocide in Gaza has become a common refrain on the campaign trail, and is often issued by activists who say they previously voted for Democrats.
When Ms Harris avoided Mr Netanyahu’s speech to Congress in July – in what was interpreted as an attempt to distance herself from Israel – protesters took to the streets and burned an effigy of him. Hundreds were arrested, with many accused of promoting anti-Semitic chants and imagery.
Gaza has also become a major topic of debate on US college campuses, where students staged sit-in demonstrations before the summer break and clashed violently with police.
Frustrated Harris campaigners in swing states have implored voters to choose her over Trump, who has described himself as Israel’s “protector” and suggested he would like to see Gaza turned into a strip of luxury waterfront real estate.
But Abed Ayoub, the national director of the ADC, told The Telegraph that there “wasn’t much of a difference” between the two candidates.
“If Donald Trump was president while the genocide was going on, you’d have a lot more Democrats with a backbone willing to call Donald Trump a war criminal for allowing it to happen,” he said.
“Our votes have to be earned. It can’t be taken for granted. We don’t owe it to either party to vote for them.”
In trying to find a delicate balance between continuing the US government’s support for Israel and appeasing her own supporters, Ms Harris has lost a significant proportion of her vote in some areas.
Polling suggests that concern about Gaza could make a serious dent in Ms Harris’s vote share in Michigan, which could go either way in the presidential race and may decide the overall balance of power between the two candidates in the Electoral College.
Some pro-Palestine voters have set up an “uncommitted” campaign, which was first used against Mr Biden during the Democratic primary earlier this year.
In Michigan, the proportion of write-ins for “uncommitted” was equivalent to 13 per cent of the vote, which could be enough to swing the election away from Ms Harris if the numbers are replicated on Tuesday.
There is also a threat to Ms Harris from third-party candidates on the Left, including the Green Party candidate Jill Stein.
Ms Stein, who has criticised Ms Harris for her stance on the war, is polling at around 1 per cent of the popular vote in Michigan, North Carolina and Arizona, according to a Redfield & Wilton Strategies poll for The Telegraph earlier this week.
Rania Masri, a liberal organiser in North Carolina, said she had been telling Democrats to vote for Trump if they would not support Ms Stein.
“[Ms Harris] really represents the Democratic Party, in the sense that this is a party that is best known for crying crocodile tears while continuing to fund and send weapons,” she said.
“I find her policies to be worse…in terms of what she wants to do, than the Republican Party, when it comes to domestic and foreign policy.
“I’ve been openly saying, if you don’t want to vote for Jill, vote for Donald Trump, but do not give a vote to Kamala Harris and expect to be welcomed by my community.”