Harris to meet Arab American leaders in Michigan today: Sources

Washington: Vice President Kamala Harris will meet with leaders from the Arab American community in Flint, Michigan, on Friday, as her presidential campaign seeks to win back voters angry at US support for Israel's wars in Gaza and Lebanon, two sources said.

Meeting participants include leaders from the Muslim advocacy group Emgage, which recently endorsed Harris, the American Task Force on Lebanon, and a long-standing friend of Harris, Hala Hijazi, who has lost dozens of family members in Gaza, said the sources, who did not wish to be named.

Other such as Jim Zogby, founder of the Arab American Institute and a longtime member of the Democratic National Committee, said he declined the invitation. Leaders from the Uncommitted National Movement protest campaign said they have not been invited to the meeting.

"I wish she would meet with leaders from the community who haven't endorsed her or support her," said one of the sources.

On Wednesday, Harris' national security adviser, Phil Gordon, virtually met leaders from the community and said the administration supports a ceasefire in Gaza, diplomacy in Lebanon and stability in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, the vice president's office said.

Harris, a Democrat, faces Republican former President Donald Trump on November 5 in what opinion polls show to be a tight presidential race. Michigan, a key swing state, has one of the largest Arab American populations in the country.

A poll published this week by the Arab American Institute found Harris and Trump, at roughly even levels of support among Arab Americans. In recent years, the group had favored Democrats by large margins.

President Joe Biden won most of the 2020 Muslim and Arab votes, but their backing of Democrats has fallen sharply during nearly a year that Israel has been fighting Hamas in Gaza.

Activists say Biden and Harris have done too little to stop Israel's military campaign in the Palestinian enclave.

The Israeli military offensive in Gaza has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians, Palestinian health authorities say.

Israel responded to an October 7, 2023, incursion by Hamas gunmen, who Israel says killed around 1,200 people and abducted about 250 hostages. Gaza has suffered a humanitarian crisis with nearly all its 2 million people displaced and widespread hunger in the enclave.

In Lebanon more than 1,900 people have been killed and 9,000 wounded during almost a year of cross-border fighting between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah, with most of the deaths in the past two weeks, according to Lebanese government statistics.