“I Will Not Be Silent:” Democratic Strategist on Harris’ Israel-Gaza Stance

>> NOW THE ISRAEL-GAZA WAR IS OF COURSE A U.S. CAMPAIGN ISSUE.

VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS MET WITH PRIME MINISTER NETANYAHU JUST LAST WEEK IN WASHINGTON.

BUT FOR MANY VOTERS, HOW THE VP WOULD MANAGE THE CONFLICT IF ELECTED IS NOT YET CLEAR.

HARI SREENIVASAN SPEAKS TO WALEED SHAHID, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST AND CO-FOUNDER OF THE UNCOMMITTED NATIONAL MOVEMENT TO DISCUSS HARRIS' RECENT ACTIONS AND HOW SHE COULD TRY TO WIN OVER UNDECIDED VOTERS.

>> BIANNA, THANKS.

WALEED SHAHID, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR JOINING US.

JUST RECENTLY AFTER PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU ADDRESSED CONGRESS, VICE PRESIDENT HARRIS MET WITH HIM, AND SHE SAID THAT SHE HAD EXPRESSED AND PRESSED HIM ON THE HUMANITARIAN CRISIS IN GAZA.

SHE PUBLICLY EMPHASIZED THE NEED FOR A CEASEFIRE AND THE PROTECTION OF PALESTINIAN CIVILIANS.

DO YOU THINK THAT THIS IS GOING TO TRANSLATE IN A TANGIBLE POLICY DIFFERENCE AS SHE RUNS FOR PRESIDENT?

>> WE DON'T KNOW YET.

I THINK THAT MANY OF THE UNCOMMITTED VOTERS, MANY PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN OPPOSED TO NETANYAHU'S WAR IN GAZA WERE WELCOME, THE STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION FROM VICE PRESIDENT HARRIS IN TERMS OF USING RHETORIC THAT EMPATHIZED WITH PALESTINIAN FAMILIES IN GAZA, THAT SHOWED SOME HUMANITY.

BUT ON THE POLICY SUBSTANCE LEVEL, WE'RE NOT SURE WHAT HER GOVERNING VISION IS FOR FOREIGN POLICY AND FOR THE WAR IN GAZA.

AND WE'RE STILL WAITING TO HEAR WHAT THAT MIGHT BE.

WE'RE EXCITED.

WE'RE EXCITED THAT SHE MIGHT TURN THE PAGE ON BIDEN'S -- WHAT'S BEEN BIDEN'S DISASTROUS POLICY ON GAZA AS IT'S FRACTURED THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY AND THE COALITION.

AND WE'RE LOOKING FORWARD TO VICE PRESIDENT HARRIS COMING OUT AGAINST MORE AMERICAN WEAPONS FOR NETANYAHU'S WAR, FOR THE ISRAELI GOVERNMENT'S WAR.

BUT RIGHT NOW WE DON'T KNOW WHAT HER FOREIGN POLICY VISION IS.

>> YOU'RE ONE OF THE CO-FOUNDERS OF THE UNCOMMITTED MOVEMENT.

AND THAT'S 700,000 AMERICANS WHO VOTED UNCOMMITTED DURING THE PRIMARIES.

TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE ORIGINS, HOW IT CAME ABOUT, WHAT THE GELS ARE.

>> IT CAME ABOUT BECAUSE DURING THE FALL, AFTER THE WAR IN GAZA STARTED, MANY VOTERS IN ARAB AND MUSLIM COMMUNITIES ACROSS THE COUNTRY, MANY YOUNG PROGRESSIVE DEMOCRATIC PARTY VOTERS FELT EXTREMELY ANGRY THAT THE PRIMARIES WERE STARTING AND THERE WASN'T AN OPTION FOR THEM ON THE BALLOT TO SUGGEST THAT THEY WERE AGAINST BIDEN'S POLICIES AS IT PERTAINED TO FUNDING ISRAEL'S WAR AND OCCUPATION AGAINST PALESTINIANS.

MY OWN FATHER, A LIFE-LONG DEMOCRAT, HAS VOTED DEMOCRAT HIS WHOLE LIFE, TOLD ME OVER THANKSGIVING HOLIDAYS THAT HE COULDN'T BRING HIMSELF TO VOTE FOR BIDEN, BECAUSE BIDEN HAD JUST CROSS ADELINE FOR HIM.

THOSE VOTERS WERE BEING INVISIBLIZED IN OUR DEMOCRATIC PROCESS.

AND THE UNCOMMITTED MOVEMENT STARTED IN MICHIGAN IN ORDER TO GIVE ALL OF THOSE DEMOCRATIC VOTERS A VEHICLE TO EXPRESS THEIR DEEP DISSATISFACTION WITH JOE BIDEN'S POLICY ON GAZA WHILE REMAINING IN THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY CAMP.

WE WANTED TO SHOW THAT THESE VOTERS WERE SERIOUS, THAT THE PARTY WAS LEAVING THEM.

THE PARTY WAS BETRAYING THEIR VALUE, AND THE PARTY WASN'T STANDING UP FOR ITS OWN VALUES OF PEACE AND HUMAN RIGHTS AND JUSTICE.

AND NOW WE HAVE 30 DELEGATES WHO WILL BE AT THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION AT THE END OF AUGUST IN CHICAGO.

WE'LL BE BRINGING THOSE COMMUNITIES AND THOSE DEMANDS FOR AN END TO THE WAR, FOR A CEASEFIRE AND FOR AN END TO U.S.

WEAPONS TO ISRAEL, ALL TO THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY AND HOPING TO BE EMBRACED.

>> WHAT ARE THE STEPS THAT VICE PRESIDENT HARRIS WOULD HAVE TO TAKE IN ORDER TO GAIN THOSE 30 DELEGATES AND, REALLY, MOTHER THAN 30 DELEGATES, THE SUPPORT OF THE UNCOMMITTED MOVEMENT?

>> SO THE UNCOMMITTED NATIONAL MOVEMENT, THOSE 30 DELEGATES ARE REQUESTING A MEETING WITH VICE PRESIDENT HARRIS AND HER CAMPAIGN TO TALK ABOUT THE PAIN AND ANGER OF THE COMMUNITIES THAT WE ALL REPRESENT, THAT PEOPLE HAVE FELT IN TERMS OF BIDEN'S FOREIGN POLICY DECISIONS WITH RESPECT TO PALESTINIAN HUMAN RIGHTS.

WE WANT TO SEE VICE PRESIDENT HARRIS COME OUT AGAINST U.S.

WEAPONS FOR NETANYAHU'S WAR.

WE WANT TO SEE AN END TO THIS WAR, AN EXCHANGE OF HOSTAGES AND CAPTIVES, ISRAELIS AND PALESTINIANS, AND A JUST SOLUTION FOR ALL ISRAELIS AND PALESTINIANS THAT WE CAN MOVE TOWARD.

>> LET ME REFERENCE A COUPLE OF THE THINGS THAT SHE SAID.

SHE SAID AFTER THE MEETING WITH NETANYAHU, WHAT'S HAPPENED IN GAZA OVER THE PAST NINE MONTHS IS DEVASTATING.

THE IMAGES OF DEAD CHILDREN AND PEOPLE DESPERATELY FLEEING FOR SAFETY, SOMETIMES DISPLACED FOR THE SECOND, THIRD, OR FOURTH TIME.

WELL CANNOT LOOK AWAY IN THE FACE OF THESE TRAGEDIES.

WE CANNOT ALLOW OURSELVES TO BECOME NUMB TO THE SUFFERING.

I WILL NOT BE SILENCED.

VICE PRESIDENT HARRIS SAYS THIS.

HOW MUCH OF THIS DO YOU THINK IS KIND OF POLITICAL POSITIONING AND WHAT SHE NEEDS TO DO RIGHT NOW AS THE CANDIDATE FOR THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY?

AND HOW MUCH OF IT DO YOU THINK IS SINCERE?

>> VICE PRESIDENT HARRIS IS FROM A DIFFERENT GENERATION OF DEMOCRATS THAN PRESIDENT BIDEN, AND I THINK SHE IS RESPONDING TO THE GENUINE SHIFT IN THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY AND IN THE AMERICAN ELECTORATE THAT A MAJORITY OF AMERICANS, A MAJORITY OF DEMOCRATS ARE NOT SUPPORTIVE OF ISRAEL'S WAR AND OCCUPATION OF PALESTINIANS AND ARE DEFINITELY NOT SUPPORTIVE OF AMERICAN BOMBS OR AMERICAN TAXPAYER MONEY GOING TO NETANYAHU'S FAR-RIGHT EXTREME GOVERNMENT.

I THINK SHE RECOGNIZES THAT THE PARTY HAS CHANGED, AND SHE IS TRYING TO BALANCE HOW TO ADDRESS THAT WHILE STILL BEING THE VICE PRESIDENT TO PRESIDENT BIDEN.

>> STAYING WITH THE AFTEREFFECTS OF THE SPEECH, YOU SENT OUT A TWEET SAYING "THE MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU SHOULD KNOW, IN 2015, ABOUT 50 DEMOCRATS IN CONGRESS BOYCOTTED NETANYAHU'S SPEECH TO CONGRESS.

TODAY IT WAS 136 DEMOCRATS.

NETANYAHU AND AIPAC ARE LOSING THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY.

EXPLAIN.

>> SO ONE MAJOR THING THAT THE UNCOMMITTED DELEGATION WANTS TO DO AT THE CONVENTION IS TO ENSURE THAT PRESIDENT BIDEN IS THE LAST AIPAC-ALIGNED DEMOCRATIC NOMINEE FOR PRESIDENT.

AIPAC IS A LOBBYING GROUP IN THE UNITED STATES THAT TRIES TO ENSURE THERE IS NO DAYDAY LIGHT BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT AND THE ISRAELI GOVERNMENT, NO MATTER HOW EXTREME OR FAR RIGHT THE ISRAELI GOVERNMENTS UNDER NETANYAHU HAVE BECOME.

THE DOUBLING OF THE AMOUNT OF DEMOCRATS WHO DID NOT ATTEND NETANYAHU'S SPEECH FROM 2015 TO A WEEK AGO IS A HUGE STEP FORWARD IN TERMS OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY REJECTING AIPAC'S INFLUENCE IN A PARTY THAT'S DEDICATED TO FREEDOM AND JUSTICE AND HUMAN RIGHTS FOR ALL.

SENATOR SCHUMER, HAKEEM JEFFRIES ALLOWING NETANYAHU TO SPEAK MADE A MOCKERY OF OUR PARTY'S CLAIM TO BE AGAINST MAGA EXTREMISM, TO BE AGAINST FAR-RIGHT POLITICS.

BECAUSE WHAT NETANYAHU HAS DONE TO DEMOCRACY FOR ISRAELIS AND PALESTINIANS IS LIKE MAGA ON STEROIDS.

SO WE THINK IT'S A MAJOR STEP FORWARD AND A REASON VICE PRESIDENT HARRIS' RHETORIC HAS SHIFTED, IS BECAUSE THE PARTY BELOW HER, THE PARTY BENEATH HER HAS ALSO SHIFTED THAT SPEECH WAS A PROPAGANDISTIC PRO VIOLENCE HATEFUL RACIST SPEECH DIRECT:00 ALL SORTS OF BIGOTRY TOWARDS PALESTINIANS AND VIOLENCE AGAINST PALESTINIANS.

SO I WAS ASHAMED AS A DEMOCRAT MYSELF THAT DEMOCRATS ALLOWED NETANYAHU TO SPEAK.

BUT I WAS VERY OPTIMISTIC THAT SO MANY IN OUR PARTY DID NOT ATTEND.

>> IS IT FAIR TO EQUATE THE POLICIES THAT THE PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL IS CARRYING OUT WITH THE VIEWPOINTS OF AIPAC, WHICH HAS FOR A LONG TIME HAD THE SUPPORT OF AND GIVEN SUPPORT TO THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY?

>> AIPAC HAS SPENT HISTORIC AMOUNTS OF MONEY THIS ELECTION CYCLE TO KEEP PROGRESSIVE DEMOCRATS IN LINE AND BY CHALLENGING PEOPLE LIKE JAMAAL BOWMAN AND CORI BUSH, SPENDING AD MONEY AGAINST PEOPLE LIKE SUMMER LEE AND TLAIB FROM QUESTIONING UNRESTRICTED WEAPONS AID, A BLANK CHECK TO THE ISRAELI GOVERNMENT THAT IS THE NUMBER ONE THING THEY CARE ABOUT BECAUSE IT'S SYMBOLIC FOR THEM.

ONCE THE UNITED STATES STARTS PUTTING RESTRICTIONS OR CONDITIONS ON WEAPONS WE PROVIDE THE ISRAELI GOVERNMENT, JUST LIKE WE DO FOR ANY OTHER COUNTRY, THAT BECOMES A SLIPPERY SLOPE IS FOR THEM.

AND IN MANY WAYS, AIPAC CAN BE COMPARED TO THE NRA.

THE NRA WAS A PART OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY TWO DECADES AGO.

THERE ARE MANY DEMOCRATS WHO EMBRACED THE NRA HAD ENDORSEMENTS FROM THE NRA.

BUT SLOWLY OVER TIME, THE NRA'S BRAND AND FORM OF POLITICS BECAME TOXIC WITHIN THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY ELECTORATE.

SO NOW THERE IS MAYBE ONLY ONE OR TWO DEMOCRATS IN ALL OF CONGRESS WHO HAVE THE ENDORSEMENT OF THE NRA.

I THINK AIPAC OVER TIME WILL SLOWLY GO THE WAY OF THE NRA AND BECOME A REPUBLICAN PARTY ORGANIZATION.

MOST OF THEIR DONORS ARE REPUBLICANS.

MOST OF THEIR DONORS HAVE BACKED DONALD TRUMP.

AND I THINK THAT THAT SLOWLY WHAT WE'RE GOING TO SEE IS THAT THE FOREIGN POLICY HAWKS WHO ARE WANTING TO SEND UNRESTRICTED WEAPONS AID TO ISRAEL WILL SLOWLY DRIFT INTO THE REPUBLICAN PARTY OVER TIME.

>> TELL ME, WHAT ABOUT THE VP PICK.

HOW DOES THAT FACTOR IN TO THE UNCOMMITTED VOTERS?

>> I THINK A LOT OF UNCOMMITTED VOTERS ARE WATCHING THE VP PICK.

THEY WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT THE VP PICK ALIGNS WITH THEIR VIEWS ON FOREIGN POLICY, ON HUMAN RIGHTS.

YOU KNOW, THERE ARE MANY PICKS OUT THERE THAT COULD BE BENEFICIAL AND BALANCE THE TICKET.

I THINK SOME VOTERS ARE CONCERNED ABOUT GOVERNOR JOSH SHAPIRO, NOT ONLY BECAUSE OF GAZA.

I MEAN, HE IS A SUPPORTER OF CHARTER SCHOOLS, WHICH TEACHERS UNIONS TEND TO OPPOSE.

HE IS ALLEGED TO HAVE MISHANDLED A SEXUAL HARASSMENT CASE.

HE WENT TO BATTLE WITH A PROGRESSIVE DISTRICT ATTORNEY, LARRY KRASNER, DIVIDING THE JUSTICE REFORM COMMUNITY AND THE CIVIL RIGHTS COMMUNITY IN PENNSYLVANIA.

AND ON TOP OF ALL OF THAT, HE HAS USED VERY ESCALATED RHETORIC TO COMPARE STUDENT PROTESTERS TO THE KU KLUX KLAN, EXTREME VIOLENT WHITE SUPREMACIST GROUPS, WHEREAS GOVERNOR BRASHEAR, TIM WALZ, THEY'RE A LITTLE BIT MORE OF A BLANK SLATE I THINK AND HAVE TAKEN LESS CONTROVERSIAL POSITIONS IN THE LAST FEW YEARS THAT DIVIDE THE ELECTORATE DEEPLY.

>> AMERICANS ARE ONLY ABOUT 1% OF THE POPULATION, BUT THEY'VE BEEN VERY INFLUENTIAL IN THIS SPECIFIC GROUP, THE UNCOMMITTED.

I WONDER, ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU LOOK AT A POPULATION LIKE IN DEARBORN, IN MICHIGAN, WHICH IS AS IMPORTANT AS ANY OTHER COMMUNITY, MAYBE MORE SO BECAUSE IT'S A BATTLEGROUND STATE, WHAT DO YOU THINK THE OUTCOMES ARE HERE?

IS THIS GOING TO COME DOWN TO THIS SINGLE ISSUE FOR MICHIGAN?

>> SO IN RECENT POLLING OF BOTH ARAB AMERICANS AND MUSLIM AMERICANS, BEFORE VICE PRESIDENT HARRIS TOOK OVER THE TICKET, A PLURALITY OF ARAB AND MUSLIM AMERICANS WERE NOT GOING TO VOTE FOR JOE BIDEN THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN THE FIRST TIME THAT ARAB AND MUSLIM AMERICANS DIDN'T VOTE FOR THE DRARK PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE SINCE THE YEAR 2000.

I THINK PEOPLE PEOPLE BECAUSE OF DONALD TRUMP HAVE THIS KIND OF MISGUIDED VIEW OF THE ARAB-AMERICAN AND MUSLIM AMERICAN VOTE, THAT IT'S DEMOCRATIC.

BUT, YOU KNOW, I THINK THERE WAS A BIG INCLUSION OF MUSLIM AMERICANS AND ARAB AMERICANS BECAUSE OF DONALD TRUMP'S RACIST AND ISLAMOPHOBIC RHETORIC AND ADVOCACY FOR THE MUSLIM BAN.

BUT LOYALTY TO THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY IS PRETTY THIN.

PEOPLE WANT SOME SORT OF RECOGNITION OF THEIR HUMANITY AND THEIR POLICY DEMANDS IN EXCHANGE FOR THEIR VOTES.

I WILL ALSO SAY THAT IN TERMS OF THE UNCOMMITTED VOTES, WE'VE SEEN DATA FROM MINNESOTA AND MICHIGAN THAT MOST OF THE UNCOMMITTED VOTES CAME FROM PRECINCTS THAT WERE DOMINATED BY VOTERS UNDER 40, NOT JUST NECESSARILY ARAB AND MUSLIM COMMUNITIES.

I THINK THIS IS A VERY DIVERSE BIG TENT COALITION THAT OBVIOUSLY INCLUDES MUSLIM AND ARAB DEMOCRATS, BUT ALSO JUST YOUNG DEMOCRATS OF ALL BACKGROUNDS.

>> I SHOULD REMIND THE AUDIENCE, ARAB IS NOT NECESSARILY SYNONYMOUS WITH MUSLIM.

THE MAJORITY OF ARAB-AMERICANS ARE IN FACT CHRISTIAN.

AND SEVERAL OF THOSE VOTE REPUBLICAN AND HAVE VOTED REPUBLICAN.

IT'S ALSO SOMETHING THAT THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN IS TRYING TO REACH OUT TO THIS AUDIENCE AS WELL.

HIS DAUGHTER TIFFANY, HER FATHER-IN-LAW IS AN ARAB-AMERICAN.

AND HE IS TRYING TO GET OUT ON THE STUMP.

DO YOU ANY THAT THOSE INROADS ARE WORKING FROM THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN, SEEING THAT THERE IS THIS OPPORTUNITY AND THIS POSSIBLE WEAKNESS OF IF THIS CONSTITUENCY IS NOT GOING TO AUTOMATICALLY ALIGN WITH THE DEMOCRATS, CAN WE PEEL OFF A SMALL PERCENTAGE HERE, A SMALL PERCENTAGE THERE.

>> THE REPUBLICAN PARTY AND DONALD TRUMP CAMPAIGN ARE DEFINITELY TRYING TO MAKE INROADS INTO THE ARAB AND MUSLIM AMERICAN COMMUNITY.

I THINK THAT DONALD TRUMP THRIVES IN AN ENVIRONMENT OF CYNICISM.

SO WHAT DONALD TRUMP'S CAMPAIGN IS DOING IS TRYING TO BREED CYNICISM IN OUR COMMUNITIES BY SHOWING THAT DEMOCRATS AND JOE BIDEN AND KAMALA HARRIS DON'T CARE ABOUT PEOPLE LIKE YOU.

AND THAT'S A LOT EASIER WHEN YOU'RE NOT THE INCUMBENT TO JUST MAKE A CASE THAT YOU NEED TO PUNISH THE OTHER SIDE, THAT YOU NEED TO GET RID OF THE OTHER SIDE, AND TRUST SOMEONE NEW.

TRUST SOMEONE A LITTLE MORE CHAOTIC, A LITTLE BIT MORE DIFFERENT THAT MIGHT BE ABLE TO GIVE YOU WHAT YOU WANT.

I'VE ALSO SEEN A LOT OF MISINFORMATION AND DISINFORMATION PEDDLED BY REPUBLICAN PARTY ORGANIZATIONS AND TRUMP AFFILIATED SOCIAL MEDIA NETWORKS THAT USE CLIPS OF DONALD TRUMP IN INTERVIEWS WHERE HE SIGNALS THAT HE'S AGAINST NETANYAHU'S WAR, OR HE IS, YOU KNOW, HE IS NO LONGER FOR A MUSLIM BAN, THESE KINDS OF THINGS, WHICH I THINK ARE DELIBERATELY TRYING TO MISLEAD PEOPLE OF TRUMP'S VIEWS.

DONALD TRUMP, HIS FORMER AMBASSADOR TO ISRAEL DAVID FREEDMAN, HIS SON-IN-LAW JARED KUSHNER, THEY HAVE SAID VERY CLEARLY THAT THEIR POLICIES ON PALESTINE ARE TO TURN GAZA INTO REAL ESTATE FOR AND EXPEL PALESTINIANS FROM GAZA TO INCREASE SETTLEMENT EXPANSIONS SO THAT ISRAEL CAN FINALLY ANNEX THE WEST BANK.

AND J.D.

VANCE IN PARTICULAR HAS TALKED ABOUT CRACKING DOWN ON PALESTINIAN AMERICAN, MUSLIM AMERICAN PROGRESSIVE CIVIL SOCIETY IN THE UNITED STATES IN ORDER TO TAKE AWAY FUNDING STATUS, LEGAL STATUS.

THIS IS PART OF PROJECT 2025.

IF YOU READ PRODUCT 2025, THEY'VE INCLUDED THEIR PLAN FOR PALESTINIAN CIVIL SOCIETY ADVOCACY.

AND I THINK PEOPLE SHOULD BE VERY WELL AWARE OF WHAT A TRUMP IS NO FRIEND TO THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE, THE MUSLIM PEOPLE, ARAB AMERICANS, OR ANTI-WAR PROGRESSIVES.

>> A QUESTION THAT I WOULD ASK ALMOST ANY SINGLE ISSUE VOTER, WHETHER IT'S ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE OR IT'S ABOUT REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS OR ABOUT ISRAEL AND PALESTINE IS SURE, IN A VACUUM, YOU SHOULD ABSOLUTELY VOTE WITH THAT INTEREST AND ONLY THAT INTEREST IN MIND.

THAT SAID, WHEN ARE SO MANY PEOPLE THAT ARE CONCERNED ABOUT A WHOLE HOST OF ISSUES THAT THEY THINK MIGHT SLIP THROUGH THE CRACKS AND HAVE A DEVASTATING CONSEQUENCE.

HOW DO YOU TELL THOSE VOTERS WHO SAY OKAY, YOU REALLY SHOULD BE CONCERNED MOST ABOUT PALESTINE AND MAYBE WITHHOLD YOUR VOTE, EVEN IF DONALD TRUMP BECOMES PRESIDENT?

>> I THINK WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO COMMUNICATE TO THOSE VOTERS IS WE'RE TAKING TO IT THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY CONVENTION TO GET A SHIFT IN POLICY, AND THAT IT'S INCUMBENT ON VICE PRESIDENT HARRIS TO LISTEN TO THESE VOTERS AND EARN THEIR SUPPORT.

WE HAVE 700,000 VOTERS WHO VOTED UNCOMMITTED WHO WANT TO SEE SOMETHING.

AND THAT THEIR TEN MONTHS OF ACTIVISM, THEIR TEN MONTHS OF ORGANIZING, THEIR TEN MONTHS OF PROTESTING THIS WAR HAS BEEN RECOGNIZED BY THIS DEMOCRATIC PARTY.

IT'S BEEN RECOGNIZED BY THE CANDIDATE THAT SEES THESE VOTERS AS PART OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY AND NOT ANTITHETICAL TO IT.

I THINK MANY PEOPLE FEEL VERY ALIENATED FROM PRESIDENT BIDEN.

I THINK ELECTIONS ARE ESSENTIALLY ABOUT CHOOSING WHAT ORGANIZING TRAIN YOU WANT TO BE INVOLVED IN.

OBVIOUSLY NO ONE EXPECTS THE PRESIDENT TO ALIGN COMPLETELY WITH THEIR VIEWS ON EVERY SINGLE TOPIC.

BUT I DO THINK THAT IT'S ABOUT WHO YOUR -- WHO YOU'RE ADVOCATING AGAINST, WHO YOU'RE PRESSURING.

AND I THINK VICE PRESIDENT HARRIS WOULD BE MORE OPEN TO THAT PRESSURE THAN DONALD TRUMP AND J.D.

VANCE.

THE LAST THING I'LL SAY IS WHEN PEOPLE -- THE AMOUNT OF HUMAN SUFFERING THAT YOUNG PEOPLE HAVE SEEN ON THEIR SOCIAL MEDIA FOR THE PAST TEN MONTHS, WHEN MUSLIM AND ARAB AMERICANS SEE PEOPLE WITH FACES AND NAMES LIKE THEIRS COMPLETELY DEHUMANIZED, CHILDREN WITH LIMBS FALLING APART, WOMEN WAILING FOR THEIR HUSBANDS AND CHILDREN, I THINK PEOPLE'S SPIRITS ARE VERY, VERY IN NEED OF SOME HEALING AND REPAIR, AND I HOPE THAT VICE PRESIDENT HARRIS CAN UNITE PEOPLE AROUND A VISION FOR THE COUNTRY AND FOR THE WORLD THAT SPEAKS TO THAT PAIN THAT PEOPLE ARE FEELING.

>> WHAT IF SHE SAYS BACK TO YOU, OKAY, I HEAR WHAT YOU'RE SAYING, BUT YOU KNOW WHAT?

I'M STILL NOT THE PRESIDENT.

WHAT WOULD YOU ALSO LIKE JOE BIDEN TO DO BETWEEN NOW AND THEN?

AND WHAT IF KAMALA HARRIS SAYS I WILL TRY TO MAKE THIS A PRIORITY ONCE I GET INTO OFFICE, RIGHT, VERSUS SOMEBODY WHO CAN SAY LET ME DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS RIGHT NOW?

>> I THINK PEOPLE ARE WILLING TO HEAR WHAT THE VICE PRESIDENT HAS TO SAY.

I THINK PEOPLE ARE WILLING TO HAVE AN EXCHANGE OF IDEAS AND THOUGHT PROCESS.

BUT WHAT I WOULD SAY BACK TO HER IS LOOK, AFTER THE CONVENTION, THIS DELEGATION AND THE 700,000 VOTERS IT'S ACCOUNTABLE TO COULD TELL PEOPLE THAT WE HAD A MEETING AND WHILE WE OPPOSE TRUMP, VICE PRESIDENT HARRIS DIDN'T MEET THE THINGS THAT WE WANTED HER TO MEET.

OR THEY COULD GO OUT TO THEIR COMMUNITIES AND SAY VICE PRESIDENT HARRIS HEARD US, AND I THINK SHE WOULD DO A LOT TO CHANGE THE CONDITIONS FOR PALESTINIANS ON THE GROUND AND PALESTINIAN AMERICANS IN THE UNITED STATES.

AND SHE WILL MOVE TOWARD HAVING A BALANCED APPROACH TOWARD ISRAEL IN WHICH WE DON'T SEND UNRESTRICTED WEAPONS AID.

JUST THIS WEEK KEIR STARMER'S GOVERNMENT, THE TIMES OF ISRAEL REPORTED THIS, IN THE UNITED KINGDOM, THE NEW LABOUR GOVERNMENT SAID THEY'RE MOVING TOWARDS AN ARMS EMBARGO ITSELF.

THIS IS THE UNITED STATES' BIGGEST ALLY.

I DON'T THINK IT'S FAR-FETCHED FOR THE UNITED STATES TO FOLLOW WHAT THE UNITED KINGDOM IS EXPECTED TO DO IN THE COMING WEEKS.

SO I WOULD TELL VICE PRESIDENT HARRIS SHE HAS A CHANCE TO EXCITE PEOPLE, TO GIVE ENTHUSIASM TO VOTERS THAT OTHERWISE WEREN'T ENTHUSIASTIC ABOUT VOTING FOR DEMOCRATS IN THIS ELECTION, OR PEOPLE WILL, YOU KNOW, MAYBE BE SILENT, MAYBE SIT ON THEIR HANDS A LITTLE BIT.

THEY WON'T VOTE FOR TRUMP, BUT THEY WON'T GO OUT THERE AND KNOCK DOORS IN THEIR COMMUNITIES IN STATES LIKE MICHIGAN OR GEORGIA.

>> WALEED SHAHID, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST AND CO-FOUNDER OF THE NATIONAL UNCOMMITTED MOVEMENT.

>> THANK YOU.