Harris sends top aide to Michigan for meetings with Arab-American, Jewish leaders
WASHINGTON - Much as President Joe Biden's campaign did before, Vice President Kamala Harris — now the Democratic presidential nominee — is sending an official to Michigan to meet with Arab-American and Muslim leaders who continue to insist the U.S. government demand an Israeli cease-fire in Gaza.
Osama Siblani, publisher of the Arab American News in Dearborn, told the Detroit Free Press he was meeting Thursday with Julie Chavez Rodriguez, campaign manager for the Democratic ticket led by Harris and her vice presidential running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
Siblani did not say where the meeting was taking place or who else was involved. A Democratic source who spoke on condition of anonymity because the meeting was private, said Abbas Alawieh, who is an uncommitted delegate to the Democratic National Convention and one of the founders to the movement to use uncommitted delegates to push the Biden administration toward demanding a cease-fire, was expected to be a part of the meeting as well.
The Democratic source also said Rodriguez was expected to meet with some Jewish community leaders in metro Detroit. The Harris campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Free Press, a Paste BN Network partner.
The meetings come days ahead of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, which starts Monday, and where demonstrators are expected to march in support of calls for a cease-fire and U.S. arms embargo against Israel, which has been attacking Gaza, killing tens of thousands, since Hamas, which controlled Gaza, attacked southern Israel last October. Members of the Uncommitted National Movement, which has 30 delegates including two from Michigan to the convention, are asking for space to have pro-Palestinian programming and main stage speakers if they can get them. They also are planning to host a series of speakers outside the convention.
Harris and Walz also met briefly with Alawieh and Layla Elabed, another founder of the uncommitted movement in Dearborn, before a rally in metro Detroit a week ago and expressed an openness to future discussions.
Harris and Biden both have urged Israeli leaders to accept a cease-fire proposal, and for both sides to release prisoners. Biden administration officials, including Harris, so far have refused the idea of an arms embargo, however.
"We are frustrated that we're not hearing much from Harris herself," said Siblani, a leader in the Arab-American community who has met with Rodriguez before when the then-Biden campaign sent officials to meet with leaders in Dearborn as well as Black community leaders in Detroit. "There is a frustration that has been building."
Contact Todd Spangler: tspangler@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter@tsspangler.