#uncommitted movement

[petasos]

Anyways donate to the ACLU since y'all have no problems with donating to people across the world.

[hussyknee]

Link to video

Link to linktree in Polly's bio

There's SO much great stuff in her linktree, especially for USAmericans.

Link to GFMs hosted on Polly's bio: Rawan, Abedalrahman, Abood and Fatima,

Link to Uncommitted Movement: TikTok, Web

Link to Operation Olive Branch: TikTok, Linktree

Link to GFMs vetted by OOB

Edit 1: alt text enabled in images.

Edit 2: Video transcript provided by @alltheverses

[Transcript and description: Tiktok by @thepocketreport shows a person with a denim jackets, nose ring, and chin-length hair talking.) If you're feeling hopeless of helpless about the genocide happening in Gaza or conflicted about the election and the Harris campaign, I have two, actually three tangible things you can do right now.

First is to follow, interact with and familiarize yourself with the Uncommitted Movement. They're tagged below and explain everything so much better on their page. But they're a very effective movement leveraging anti war electoral power and Democrats' own governing systems to try and influence the Biden administration's Gaza policies and hopefully the Harris campaign's as well.

Which brings me to the second thing, which is going to their profile and watching their video about the Not Another Bomb movement. Going to their bio and getting involved. This is the Uncommitted Movement page. (Displays @uncommitedmvmnt profile with several videos. Speaker's head circles around the video for "The Not Another Bomb Campaign".) And this is the Not Another Bomb Campaign video. (Returns to regular view of the speaker.) The Not Another Bomb Campaign is similarly utilizing the electoral power of the anti war movement in order to push through an arms embargo. Theory being that we are not gonna to get a ceasefire until the US stops sending bombs to Isreal. Pretty straightforward.

And third, if you are able to, is to keep donating to Palestinian families trying to leave or get resources. I don't know what's happening with the algorithm but we're seeing a lot less of them, but that doesn’t mean they don't exist. There are two families in my bio who are still trying to get out and get medical help. And if you go to Operation Olive Branch there are hundreds.

We've all heard the thing about looking for the helpers when things are hopeless and you don't know what to do, and in this situation, those helpers are organizers. /end transcript.]

[heydocverdant]

the voice of our generation (and also John Oliver) provides one last reminder about the US election, covering the dangers of a second Trump administration, the unfair treatment of pro-Palestinian voices this election, and a plea from himself as an immigrant to take care of the United States

[directactionforhope]

'Uncommitted' movement doesn't endorse Harris, but asks supporters to vote against Trump

The Uncommitted National Movement announces it will not endorse Vice President Harris but does not want supporters to vote for former Presid

"The leaders of the "uncommitted" movement, which grew out of Democratic opposition to President Biden's policy toward Israel and Gaza, will not endorse Vice President Harris for president, but urged supporters to "vote against" former President Donald Trump and "avoid" third-party candidates...

"At this time, our movement 1) cannot endorse Vice President Harris; 2) opposes a Donald Trump presidency, whose agenda includes plans to accelerate the killing in Gaza while intensifying the suppression of anti-war organizing; and 3) is not recommending a third-party vote in the Presidential election, especially as third party votes in key swing states could help inadvertently deliver a Trump presidency given our country’s broken electoral college system," the statement continued.

The uncommitted movement grew out of the “Listen to Michigan” campaign ahead of that state’s February presidential primary. Its goal was to send a message to Biden that he needed to do more to prevent civilian deaths in Gaza. Hundreds of thousands of voters eventually cast uncommitted ballots throughout the Democratic primary in several states...

In a press conference after the announcement, leaders stressed that they are urging voters to "block" a second Trump term. But telling voters who have lost loved ones in Gaza to support Harris, Alawieh said, would be "inappropriate."

Alawieh called the non-endorsement "something we have to do."

"We know how dangerous Donald Trump is," he said. "There was no way, ever, that our movement ... would recommend a vote that would specifically help Donald Trump.""

-via NPR, September 19, 2024

[fuckyeahmarxismleninism]

'Palestinian Speakers Not Allowed' by Carlos Latuff

Voters have continually been told that Democrats want an end to the bloodshed and feel bad about dead Palestinians, but on Wednesday the Uncommitted National Movement was told they wouldn’t be granted a speaking slot at the convention. DNC has shut out Palestinians.

[uboat53]

Dude, the more I read about the movement to "punish Democrats" over their support for Israel in Gaza, the more it just reads like an exercise in mass delusion. SHORT RANT (TM)?

First of all, the amount of people who claim that Harris wasn't willing to call for a cease-fire... when she actually did. Numerous times. You can look it up, that's a thing she actually did.

Secondly, the people who are upset that Harris and Biden didn't push for an arms embargo against Israel or declare Israel to be in violation of US or international law... they realize that Congress has a veto-proof majority in favor of Israel, right? Don't get me wrong, I also think that Israel violated US and international law, but if Biden/Harris had tried to cut off the supply of weapons the most likely outcome would have been for Congress to override his decision and his veto, supply the weapons anyways, and destroy any leverage that the president may have had over the leaders of Israel.

Finally, the people who genuinely think that Trump's policy would be more positive for Gazans than Biden/Harris's... I mean, I have no idea how you reach this level of delusion. This is a man who openly declared that his policy was to "let Israel finish the job". This is a man who is appointing (as he promised during the campaign!) Evangelical Christians who believe in Israel's right to control the entirety of the Levant and expel or otherwise eliminate the "other" population to key positions. This is a man whose calls to "end the war", which were apparently taken as commitments to peace by some in this movement, were clearly calls to finish the genocide.

Yes, the father-in-law of one of his children is a Lebanese Christian and has been appointed to a minor advisory position and some of his surrogates definitely went to the Islamic communities of Midwest/rust-belt states and made promises to those communities that were at odds with what the candidate actually said, but it beggars belief to think that any reasonable person would believe such a thing. When someone tells you a candidate thinks one thing and the candidate themselves says they think another thing, one of those people is definitely lying and I think it's reasonable to say that the candidate probably has a better handle on what they actually think and, ultimately, will more likely be held to what they actually said.

And look, I get it, the pro-Palestinian movement was/is desperate, tens of thousands have died already and millions more are still in mortal danger, but retreating into fantasies and delusions is only going to make a bad situation even worse. Biden/Harris may not have been making a particularly public push for peace, but Trump is going to stop even the behind-the-scenes pressure that was happening. Biden/Harris may not have called for a ban on weapons transfers to Israel, but Trump will push for more weapons. Harris DID publicly and repeatedly call for a cease-fire, Trump will not.

Ultimately, though, the reason why Harris didn't do what they demanded is that (a) her opponent was (much) more extreme but also (b) the American public is overwhelmingly pro-Israel. Yes, Americans have approved of Israel's conduct in this conflict less than in previous conflicts, but the amount of Americans saying Israel is taking the right approach or even hasn't gone far enough is still roughly equal to the number saying it's gone too far. Yes, Americans overwhelmingly don't have faith in Netanyahu and are concerned about the war expanding, but only about a quarter of Americans want the US to take a major role in diplomacy and two-thirds see a last peace as unlikely. No matter how much pressure small groups brought to bear, they were never going to force Harris to take positions that were so far outside the mainstream of American politics.

Unfortunately, the pro-Palestinian movement was trying to fight against decades and hundreds of billions of dollars worth of pro-Israeli influence on public opinion in the space of only a few months; frankly the level of success they've had is amazing. Equally unfortunately, though, the inability to change American politics in such a short time has made them retreat to magical thinking which will ultimately hurt the people they are trying to help.

This is an object lesson in effective activism here, people. Pressure is most effective when it's directed at someone you support and sustained over a long time. Note that "someone you support" part in there, you'll be much more effective at influencing someone's policy AFTER you vote for them than before. In fact, the most effective way of pursuing activism is to get sympathetic politicians into office and then push them to go further in your direction by offering even greater support if they do.

Voting against your own interests is a quick path to irrelevance. Democratic strategists are not sitting around today wishing they'd gone further in opposing Israeli actions, they're writing off Arab-Americans as a voting group that they need to focus appeals on and strategizing to appeal to other groups instead, and Republican strategists have figured out they can get Arab-American votes (or at least get them to sit out the election) without having to give them anything at all. Meanwhile, Gazans will pay the price as Netanyahu continues a campaign that can only be referred to as genocide while also instigating conflict after conflict in the greater region, all with the full support and even encouragement of the US administration.

Normally this is the point where I'd say of Trump voters that they deserve to get what he's going to bring them, but ultimately it won't be them that are directly hurt by Trump's actions, it will be the people of Gaza and the broader Middle East. Given that I can't wish that upon an innocent population but that I have very little if any ability to stop what is coming, I hope that, at least, those who voted for Trump out of frustration with Harris/Democrats are able to pause, take a deep breath, and study how American politics actually works.

Arab-Americans are a fast-growing group in the United States, and particularly so in key swing states. They deserve to have their ideas and policy preferences reflected in American politics and heard in the national debate. Hopefully, though, they can figure out how to wield their influence effectively before those who want to silence their views are able to sideline them completely.

Anyways, if you're interested in the piece that got me thinking about this, here you go. Those three delusions at the beginning aren't exaggerations by the way, they're actual statements quoted in the piece from leaders of the larger movement.

Leaders of 'Uncommitted' and 'Abandon Harris' movements reflect on Trump's victory and early moves

"Uncommitted" leaders say they felt Harris didn’t do enough to distance herself from Biden or outline how she’d handle the war differently.

[northstarfan]

Movement also wants face time with more receptive Kamala Harris to talk Gaza concerns to bolster party’s power

The Uncommitted National Movement has announced a number of demands in the run-up to the Democratic national convention (DNC) later this month, part of an effort to use its voting power to influence Kamala Harris and the Democratic party’s stance on Israel’s war in Gaza.

In a press call on Thursday, movement leaders demanded that the DNC allow Dr Tanya Haj-Hassan, an American physician who’s worked in Gaza, to speak at the convention about the humanitarian crisis that she witnessed first-hand. They have also requested that an uncommitted delegate be given five minutes to speak at the convention, and for Kamala Harris to meet with movement leaders about their concerns.

Uncommitted leaders say that hearing from Haj-Hassan will help the Democratic party and Harris make informed policy decisions on Gaza, where more than 39,000 Palestinians have been killed since the 7 October attack on Israel by Hamas, according to health officials.

More than 700,000 Americans voted “uncommitted” or its equivalent in the Democratic party primaries this year in a message to Joe Biden that he could not count on their support if he did not change his approach to the war. The movement has particular influence in Michigan, where more than 100,000 people cast “uncommitted” ballots in the primary. It will send 30 delegates to the DNC in Chicago.

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

Democrats’ Support for Israel ‘Absolutely’ Contributed to US Presidential Election Loss, NC Party Chair Claims

Anderson Clayton, chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party, speaks after Democrat Josh Stein won the North Carolina governor’s race, …

by Corey Walker

Anderson Clayton, chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party, said in a new interview that Democrats’ general support for Israel’s defensive military operations against Hamas in Gaza contributed to their poor performance in last month’s elections.

Clayton made the remarks while appearing on the media outlet Zeteo this week to explain why she believes her party lost big across the US, most notably in the presidential election. Speaking with Mehdi Hasan, a journalist and outspoken critic of Israel, Clayton argued that the Democratic Party “abandoned” wide swaths of its voter base, adding that the party’s support for Israel likely alienated many younger voters.

When asked by Hasan whether the Israel-Hamas war resonated with the electorate in North Carolina, Clayton argued that the ongoing military conflict in Gaza “absolutely” eroded the Democrats’ standing with young voters.

As The Algemeiner reported, a survey of swing voters by Blueprint, a Democrat-leaning research firm, found the issue of Israel and the Palestinians barely registered as motivation for choosing Republican Donald Trump over Democrat Kamala Harris in the presidential race. Voters were more worried about inflation, immigration, and certain cultural issues. Among those voters for whom it was a factor, the survey found more people concerned that Harris was too “pro-Palestine” than those upset she was too “pro-Israel.”

Nonetheless, Hasan, citing anti-Israel protests at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, suggested that Democrats’ support for Israel disillusioned and enraged many young voters. 

Clayton defended the “Uncommitted Movement” — an effort launched by anti-Israel activists to persuade the Democratic Party to officially endorse an arms embargo against the Jewish state and not support outgoing US President Joe Biden — as “using political power in the right way.”

She added that Democrats should be “embracing” anti-Israel efforts like the Uncommitted Movement, saying “that is something that we want so see more of in our party.”

The North Carolina Democratic Party has been plagued with accusations of antisemitism in the year following Hamas’s invasion of southern Israel last Oct. 7. Members of the state party refused to support a resolution condemning the terrorist attacks in Israel, sparking outrage among Jews within the state.