Uncommitted National Movement

The Uncommitted National Movement is a protest campaign aimed mainly to pressure Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to achieve a ceasefire in the Israel–Hamas war and impose an arms embargo on Israel. The group received some support in the 2024 Democratic presidential primaries.

Uncommitted National Movement

Predecessor	Listen to Michigan
Formation	2024 (2024)
Founder	Abbas Alawieh, Layla Elabed
Founded at	Michigan, United States
Type	Protest campaign
Purpose	Pressure the Democratic Party to meet its demands Secure a ceasefire in the Israel–Hamas war Impose arms embargo on Israel
Website	www.uncommittedmovement.com

"Uncommitted" and other voting options that don’t express support for any candidate were utilized by the campaign. The movement started in February, when the “Listen to Michigan” campaign attracted a large amount of support from Arab-Americans and progressives. The success in Michigan inspired similar campaigns in other states, with a national umbrella organization being founded in March. The campaign ultimately received over 700,000 votes and 30 delegates.

The movement has had several interactions with the Harris campaign, pushing for an arms embargo. At the Democratic National Convention, it advocated for, and was denied, a Palestinian-American to be allowed to speak.

Background

Israel-Hamas war

Main articles: Israel-Hamas war and Israel–Hamas war protests in the United States

March on Washington for Gaza in January 2024

On October 7 2023, Hamas and allied militants invaded and attacked southern Israel, killing almost 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking more than 250 hostages. Following this, Israel retaliated by imposing a total blockade on Gaza, heavily bombing it, invading it. The response resulted in the deaths of more than 40,000 people and displacement of almost two million, as of August 2024. Israel and President Joe Biden's support of it drew criticism from pro-Palestinian protestors in the United States, and led to the disillusionment of some voters.

Uncommitted voting options

This section is an excerpt from Uncommitted (voting option).[edit]

"Uncommitted" is a voting option in some United States presidential primaries. This option is listed along with the names of individuals running for the position and is often described as "none of the above". Depending on state and party thresholds, voting uncommitted may allow states to send uncommitted delegates to a party's nominating convention.

Other voting options similar to uncommitted include "None of These Candidates", "noncommitted delegate", "no preference", and others.

History

Michigan primary

Main article: 2024 Michigan Democratic presidential primary

A "Listen to Michigan" campaign graphic

The movement initially started as a campaign called "Listen to Michigan". Michigan has the highest amount of Arab-Americans in the United States, many of whom were sympathetic to Palestinians, and activists were seeking to protest Biden's handling of the war in the 2024 Michigan Democratic presidential primary. At the time, the campaign aimed to receive 10,000 votes and pressure Biden to call for a ceasefire and end arms to Israel.

Waleed Shahid, a Democratic strategist, had previously written a memo saying that if anti-war activists utilized protest votes, it could "politicize and electoralize discontent", gaining them greater attention and funding. Co-founders Layla Elabed and Abbas Alawieh, Shahid, and others used "a shoestring budget and a few weeks of intense on-the-ground work" to spread awareness about the vote. Progressive groups such as Democratic Socialists of America and Our Revolution helped the campaign canvass and email voters. Elabed's sister, Palestinian-American Representative Rashida Tlaib, endorsed the campaign, along with former representative Andy Levin and local officials.

The campaign received over 100,000 votes and two delegates in the primary. It had it's most support with young Arab-American voters, as well as progressives.

National spread

Main article: Israel–Hamas war protest vote movements

See also: Uncommitted (voting option) § 2024

Infographic calling for national Uncommitted votes

The movement spread nationally, with individual campaigns inspired by Listen to Michigan being started in other states.

In Super Tuesday states, Uncommitted campaigns were quickly organized, most notably in Minnesota, North Carolina, Colorado and Massachusetts. In Minnesota specifically, activists had $20,000 to spend and were organizing to reach voters, and saw success with Arab-American voters in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul area. Uncommitted in Minnesota received about 45,000 votes and 11 delegates. Additionally, Uncommitted campaigns received 12.7% of the vote in North Carolina, 9.4% in Massachusetts, 8.1% in Colorado, 7.9% in Tennessee, 6% in Alabama, and 3.9% in Iowa. "No preference" received one delegate in Massachusetts. One day after Super Tuesday, Uncommitted received 29% of the vote and seven delegates in Hawaii.

On March 18, Listen to Michigan announced it would launch the "Uncommitted National Movement", an umbrella campaign for Uncommitted movements that advocated for a ceasefire. The movement began to focus on the Wisconsin primary and the Democratic National Convention.

Uncommitted received 13.2% in the Democrats Abroad primary.

In Washington State, the "Uncommitted WA" campaign advocated for an Uncommitted vote early in March, in collaboration with Listen to Michigan activists. The campaign was endorsed by the largest union in the state, United Food and Commercial Workers 3000, and the Seattle chapters of the American Federation of Teachers and Jewish Voice for Peace. Uncommitted ultimately received almost 90,000 votes, 9.81% of the vote, and two delegates from the Seattle area.

Uncommitted received 10.3% of the vote in Kansas, 11.7% in Missouri, winning three delegates from the St. Louis area, 11.5% in Connecticut, and 14.5% in Rhode Island, winning one delegate.

Listen to Wisconsin, a campaign supported by the national movement, garnered nearly 50,000 votes for "uninstructed", more than the margin Biden won the state by in 2020. The amount of votes was double the amount activists were trying to acquire.

The "Listen to Maryland" campaign for Uncommitted received more than 56,000 votes, 17.9% of the vote. When initial results came in, a campaign organizer called for a ceasefire, an end to the war, and an arms embargo on Israel.

Uncommitted received 17.9% of the vote in Kentucky, and eight delegates.

The "Uncommitted NJ" campaign was founded early in 2024 after a meeting between members of three Democratic Socialists of America chapters, inspired by the result in Michigan, and enlisted the material support of the Council on American–Islamic Relations, Action NJ, and Jewish Voice for Peace. The campaign was able to collect 3,500 signatures, at least 100 in each district, to comply with election laws. It also received advice from Michigan and Wisconsin Uncommitted activists. Uncommitted ultimately received 9% of the vote and one delegate.

Some campaigns in southern states likely succeeded due to "Democrats in Name Only", registered Democrats that vote for Republicans.

By the start of the Democratic National Convention, Uncommitted had received over 700,000 votes and 30 delegates nationwide.

Impact and relations with Democrats

Further information: 2024 Kamala Harris presidential campaign and 2024 Democratic National Convention

Some analysts argued that because of the movement, Harris began calling for a ceasefire in the war.

When Biden halted a weapons shipment to Israel over the Rafah offensive, the movement said it was a step forward, and said that the anti-war movement had "propelled" such actions. It also called for an embargo on Israel.

When Harris became the nominee after Biden withdrew from the race, the movement became "cautiously optimistic" that she would change policy on Israel due to her sympathetic rhetoric. Harris briefly met with Elabed and Alawieh at a rally in Michigan, in which they told her the movement would like to support her, but that they want an embargo on Israel first. They requested a meeting on an embargo, and Harris seemingly accepted. However, Phil Gordon, one of Harris' national security advisors, said that she did not support an embargo.

In early August, it was reported that the Harris campaign had met with Uncommitted leaders and allies in Michigan. Harris' campaign manager Julie Chávez Rodriguez met individually with Uncommitted and Arab-American leaders in Metro Detroit, including Osama Siblani, publisher of The Arab American News. Chávez Rodriguez agreed with Siblani that "the killing has to stop", but Siblani questioned how, saying there was no plan. Harris herself met with the mayor of Dearborn, the city with the largest Arab-American population in the United States, Abdullah Hammoud, to discuss the war and her policy.

On the first day of the DNC, the Uncommitted delegates were allowed to hold a Palestinian human rights panel, where they and others discussed the war and Harris' position on it.

On the third day, the DNC officially rejected the movement's request for a speaker of Palestinian descent. The delegates then staged a sit-in outside the convention, which progressive Congressional bloc "The Squad" and the United Auto Workers union supported. Congresswomen Ilhan Omar and Summer Lee visited the sit-in, while Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez interacted with the delegates via FaceTime. All are members of the informal group of progressive congressional democrats known as The Squad. Some activists stayed in the sit-in overnight and into day four. A group called "Muslim Women for Harris-Walz" disbanded after the announcement. The DNC did not meet the movement’s deadline of 6pm CST to allow a speaker. It claimed the movement requested the slot too late, and that the day had to be about Harris’ speech and nomination. The movement then demanded that Harris or a senior campaign official have an in-person conversation with its leaders by September 15, and said that it rejected other meetings the campaign had offered them with Congressional officials. The movement also said that Harris’ speech didn’t shift policy from Biden, with one delegate saying her call for Palestinian self-determination was incompatible with continued arms to Israel.

See also

• Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party
• 1968 Democratic National Convention