An anti-Israel group that scorned Joe Biden’s reelection bid over the president's response to the Jewish state's war on Hamas is now embracing Vice President Kamala Harris, saying she is more likely to push for a permanent ceasefire that would embolden Hamas.
The Black Muslim Leadership Council Fund endorsed Harris on Thursday, according to NBC News, making it the first Muslim group to back Harris that previously declared itself "uncommitted" toward Biden.
Harris, the group's founder Salima Suswell said, received the group's support because she skipped Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's congressional address and has otherwise "shown more sympathy towards the people of Gaza." As a result, the group is hopeful that Harris will help it achieve its policy goals, which include an end to Israel's war on Hamas that would establish the "rebuilding of Gaza as a Palestinian region, with no Israeli oversight."
The Black Muslim Leadership Council Fund's endorsement comes as anti-Israel radicals express hope that Harris will adopt more hardline policies toward the Jewish state. Activists who resigned their government posts over Biden's support for Israel, for example, are optimistic that Harris will "do the right thing" by "halting offensive weapons transfers" and pushing for "a lasting ceasefire."
Harris's campaign, which did not return a request for comment, touted the endorsement Thursday. "We look forward to working with BMLC to win this November and defeat Donald Trump's divisive, unpopular agenda," it said in a statement.
Suswell was one of six Muslim American community leaders to attend a closed-door White House meeting with Biden and Harris in April. Harris delivered remarks aimed at softening Biden's stated support for Israel, insisting that the death toll in Gaza is "weighing on" the octogenarian president.
During Netanyahu’s speech in Congress last week, which Harris skipped, thousands of anti-Israel protesters descended on the nation’s capital to wave terrorist flags, clash with law enforcement, and call for armed resistance. Harris defended such protesters in July.
"They are showing exactly what the human emotion should be, as a response to Gaza," Harris said. "There are things some of the protesters are saying that I absolutely reject, so I don’t mean to wholesale endorse their points. But we have to navigate it. I understand the emotion behind it."