While enthusiasm and unity were headliners within the walls of Chicago’s United Center, where the Democratic National Convention has been held this week, those emotions, especially the last one, were not felt by Mirvette Judeh.
Judeh, a central committee member of the Democratic Party of Orange County, said she felt dissonance on the ground in the Windy City. While the DNC seemed laser-focused on defeating former President Donald Trump, almost “throwing the threat of another Trump presidency” in her face, she said, nothing concrete was done to reestablish trust with Arab, Muslim and communities in solidarity with Palestine, including the thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters in Chicago.
“As a Palestinian, a Muslim and a Democrat, the fear of a Trump presidency isn’t enough of a reason anymore to scare my community into voting for (Harris) since it is under (Joe) Biden’s presidency I witnessed the genocide and ethnic cleansing of my people,” she said. “While it would be a great honor to witness the first woman president, not at the cost of my people.”
Judeh traveled to the DNC in her role as the southern vice chair of the Arab American Caucus of the state Democratic Party. But she also participated in protests Monday, where signs carried the messages: “We’re trying to help you Kamala” and “Abandon Harris ’24” and “Democrats fund the genocide of Palestinians.” On Tuesday, multiple protesters clashed with police and an estimated 72 were arrested during a demonstration that started outside the Israeli consulate.
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Local communities across the U.S. have been roiled by the Israel-Hamas war, which started when Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel on Oct. 7, killing civilians and taking hostages. The death toll in Gaza since Oct. 7, after Israel launched a counter-offensive, has surpassed 40,000, according to officials in Gaza.
Judeh counts herself as part of the camp that is “cautiously optimistic” about Harris.
She said she was happy to see President Joe Biden drop out of the race in July — on her birthday, no less — and even happier when Harris didn’t show up to a joint meeting of Congress in July for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address. Harris, however, privately met with Netanyahu the following day.
Judeh has supported Harris in past elections, including during her campaign for U.S. Senate. Judeh said this November, when it comes to the presidential contest, her vote will either go toward Harris or a third-party candidate.
She’s devastated by the Biden administration’s recent approval of more than $20 billion in weapons sales to Israel, Judeh said, and wants to see an arms embargo on Israel. The Democratic Party platform, adopted Monday, doesn’t include such an arms embargo.
Judeh isn’t alone in imploring the administration to end the war and stop sending military aid to Israel. According to some national surveys, most U.S. Muslims say Biden is favoring Israel too much, and that the Israel-Hamas war is the No. 1 issue across the board for Muslim voters in three swing states, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Michigan.
That sentiment is also playing out in Orange County, where a large Muslim community resides. Here, Muslim voters appear somewhat appreciative of Harris’ background but are troubled about her stance on the situation in Gaza. While Harris has called for a cease-fire, she has not signaled support for an arms embargo on Israel.
Take Irvine Mayor Farrah Khan. She said she recognizes the significance of Harris’ presidential bid and what it means for many voters of color and women. In 2020, Khan made history when she became the first woman of color elected Irvine’s mayor and the first Muslim woman to helm a large U.S. city.
“It’s exciting to see a Black and South Asian woman running for president,” Khan, a Pakistani American, said. “I’m at the point where I’m excited that we’ve got this amazing opportunity.”
But unless Harris commits to stop funding weapons to Israel and other foreign countries, Khan said she won’t support her in November.
“Palestinian bodies are being delivered in bags. That’s unimaginable and has to stop,” she said.
“It’s not about denying Israel as a state. I want Israel to exist; I want them to live in peace,” Khan added. “But we’ve got to provide the Palestinians with a safe living area as well.”
Harris’ candidacy is a “double-edged sword,” said Fullerton resident Urooj Naveed, who is still unsure whether she’ll vote for Harris or leave the ballot blank in November.
“On the one hand, I want to be happy that a woman from California who is half-Indian and Black is on this platform,” said the 23-year-old Pakistani American. “But the issue of Palestine doesn’t really let me do that.”
“Her heritage, her historic election as first female, first Black and first Asian vice president — that’s important to me. I can’t simply throw all that out the window, right? But I also think that representation shouldn’t come at the cost of Palestinian lives,” she said.
Views among Arabs and Muslims — both secular and religious — in the U.S. are clear and tortured, said Nubar Hovsepian, an associate professor emeritus at Chapman University and expert on Middle Eastern politics.
While it’s still too early to predict how these communities will vote, Hovsepian — who’s personally undecided if he will vote this year — said if they all lived in California, they could simply not vote and still not risk a second Trump presidency, as California is safe Democratic territory in the presidential contest.
Hasan Mirza, a Fullerton resident who graduated from UCLA in June, said he intends to do just that.
Mirza, a Pakistani American who served as president of the Muslim Student Association at UCLA, said calling for a cease-fire is a step in the right direction, but Harris is not making enough of an effort to “separate herself from the institutions that are backing policies perpetuating violence.”
“It’s deeply frustrating to not have your vote have any value or impact,” he said. “But I think it also does bring some comfort because I don’t envy the position of anti-war, anti-genocide voters in other states that are even more conflicted because they still understand that their vote has a lot more weight.”
Similarly, Irvine resident and no party preference voter Arbazz Mohammed said he’s “uncommitted to any candidate.”
He said he has yet to hear policy specifics from Harris on how she plans to bring peace to the Middle East. That poses the question, “If she’s elected, will the administration really change between (Harris and Biden)?”
“I think the good thing is that in California, we can really put the pressure on without perhaps having to make a very difficult decision,” said Mohammed, a 32-year-old Indian American. “For me, I don’t think I’m going to find myself at the ballot box voting for a major party candidate.”
Some who were undecided prior to the DNC, however, have been nudged into Harris’ camp.
For Faisal Qazi, who’s watched the convention from his home in Fullerton, it wasn’t Harris but former first lady Michelle Obama who convinced him.
Harris, Obama said Tuesday night at the convention, “understands that most of us will never be afforded the grace of failing forward. We will never benefit from the affirmative action of generational wealth.”
“I think this very quote was the clincher because there’s a deep historical reality embedded in it that emanates from America’s social fabric and truly informs our current dilemmas,” said Qazi, a 50-year-old registered Democrat who said his feelings for Harris hovered around “cautious optimism” prior to the convention.
Qazi, who’s Pakistani American, said he’s “extremely hesitatingly coming around but with a significant dose of pessimism.”
Also taking caution about supporting Harris is Azizah Cha, a registered Democrat and active member of the Fullerton Muslim Community Center, a predominantly Cham- and Vietnamese-led mosque.
“I hope she can change policy and be better than Biden,” said Cha, 51. “I’m hopeful because compared to Trump or Biden, she seems better, more sympathetic to the Palestinian cause.”
She added she’s still undecided, though, and may vote third-party.
Even across the party line, some Orange County Muslims’ sentiments over the war in Gaza are much the same. Buena Park resident Fareed Farukhi, a registered Republican who bills himself as a fiscally conservative moderate, said he’s not dismissing the possibility of voting for Harris in November.
“We need someone who’s on the right side of history and against causing destruction and pain to people,” he said.
Farukhi, who’s Indian American, said he was excited when Harris was nominated.
“Finally a person of color and of a different background and ethnicity stepping up,” said Farukhi, 67. “Also, women can do amazing work, better than men.”
“If she can address issues both domestic and abroad, it’s a possibility,” he said. “But she has to earn it.”
