Some Muslim Americans moving to Jill Stein in potential blow to Kamala

WASHINGTON: Some Arab American and Muslim voters angry at U.S. support for Israel’s offensive in Gaza are shunning Democrat Kamala Harris in the presidential race to back third-party candidate Jill Stein in numbers that could deny Harris victories in battleground states that will decide the Nov. 5 election.

A late August poll conducted by the Council on American-Islamic Relations advocacy group showed that in Michigan, home to a large Arab American community, 40% of Muslim voters backed the Green Party’s Stein. Republican candidate Donald Trump got 18%, with Harris, who is President Joe Biden’s vice president, trailing at 12%.

The poll, conducted by text message more than two weeks before the Harris-Trump Sept. 10 debate, showed Harris leading Trump 29.4% to 11.2%, with 34% favoring third-party candidates including Stein at 29.1%.

Harris was the leading pick of Muslim voters in Georgia and Pennsylvania, while Trump prevailed in Nevada with 27%, just ahead of Harris’ 26%, according to the CAIR poll of 1,155 Muslim voters nationwide. All are battleground states that have swung on narrow margins in recent elections.

Stein also leads Harris among Muslims in Arizona and Wisconsin, battleground states with sizable Muslim populations where Biden defeated Trump in 2020 by slim margins.

The Uncommitted National Movement said on Thursday it would not back Harris even though it opposes Trump and won’t recommend a third-party vote. It said Trump would accelerate the killing in Gaza if reelected but Harris had not responded to its request she meet with Palestinian Americans who lost loved ones in Gaza and had not agreed to discuss halting arms shipments to Israel.

The Uncommitted movement rallied over 750,000 voters to cast uncommitted ballots in the Democratic nominating contests early this year to protest Biden’s policy in support of Israel’s war. Biden left the race in July and endorsed Harris, who then launched her campaign.

About 3.5 million Americans reported being of Middle Eastern descent in the 2020 U.S. Census, the first year such data was recorded. Although they make up about 1% of the total U.S. population of 335 million, their voters may prove crucial in a race that opinion polls show Harris and Trump neck and neck.

Stein is aggressively campaigning on Gaza, while Trump representatives are meeting with Muslim groups and promising a swifter peace than Harris can deliver.

But her support for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, for an immediate U.S. arms embargo on Israel and for student movements to force universities to divest from weapons investments have made her popular in pro-Palestinian circles. Her running mate Butch Ware, a professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, is Muslim.