By Andrea Shalal
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Kamala Harris’ campaign for U.S. president has hired an Egyptian American lawyer and former Department of Homeland Security official to help lead outreach to Arab American voters who hold sway in some states that could help decide the Nov. 5 election, two sources told Reuters.
Brenda Abdelall would be tasked with shoring up support from a community frustrated with U.S. support for Israel’s war in Gaza. Harris, a Democrat, has already hired Afghan American lawyer Nasrina Bargzie for outreach to Muslim Americans.
Harris’ campaign had no immediate comment on Abdelall’s hiring. Abdelall did not respond to a request for comment.
Harris is in a tight race with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. Votes from Muslim and Arab Americans could help decide the outcome in battleground states like Michigan, which has seen street protests over the Israel-Gaza war.
U.S. President Joe Biden won a large share of the Arab and Muslim vote in 2020, but his support for Israel despite the huge death toll in Gaza has frustrated many community members. They launched an “uncommitted” campaign against him in the Democratic nominating contests.
Michigan, where Harris is due to visit next week, is home to one of the largest Muslim and Arab American populations in the U.S. More than 100,000 voters cast their ballot “uncommitted” instead of Biden in the state’s primary.
Some activists say they hold Harris responsible for the Biden administration’s Israel policy and the crisis in Gaza. Following last week’s Democratic convention, pro-Palestinian activists said Harris had failed to demonstrate any break from the status quo.
Abdelall, Harris’ pick for Arab American outreach, most recently served as senior counselor to the Department of Homeland Security’s secretary. She joined the agency in January, 2021, shortly after Trump left office, to be chief of staff for the department’s civil rights office.
Abdelall, who grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan, previously ran a food blog and website focused on Middle Eastern cuisine. She has taught Middle Eastern cooking classes at a culinary school in northern Virginia.
The war in Gaza began after on Oct. 7 after Hamas militants stormed from the enclave into southern Israel, killing 1,200 and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli figures.
Israel’s Gaza campaign has since demolished swaths of the enclave, displaced nearly all its 2.3 million people multiple times, given rise to deadly hunger and disease and killed more than 40,500 people, Palestinian health officials say.
(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; writing by Kanishka Singh; editing by Rami Ayyub and Jonathan Oatis)
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