US Muslim advocacy group endorses Harris, warning Trump greater threat
Emgage Action cites GOP candidate’s vow to reinstate a Muslim travel ban; says it mobilized 1 million voters in 2020 election
US Muslim advocacy group Emgage Action on Wednesday endorsed Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, saying former president Donald Trump posed a greater danger to the community with his promise to reinstate a travel ban affecting majority-Muslim countries.
The group, which endorsed US President Joe Biden in 2020 after first backing Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, says it mobilized 1 million Muslim voters in that election.
Harris already won the endorsement of smaller Muslim groups, including the Black Muslim Leadership Council Fund and the American Muslim Democratic Caucus ahead of the November 5 election.
Trump’s campaign had no immediate comment.
He says he will reinstate the so-called travel ban that restricts entry into the United States of people from a list of largely Muslim-dominant countries. Biden rolled back the ban shortly after taking office in 2021.
The Biden administration, where Harris serves as vice president, has faced calls from both fellow Democrats and international allies throughout Israel’s campaign in Gaza to press Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to ease the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian enclave.
The ongoing war began on October 7 when Hamas-led terrorists rampaged through southern communities, slaughtering some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages to Gaza.
Israel launched its military operation, which has stretched for over 11 months, aiming to eliminate Hamas and bring back those kidnapped. In recent days, the military’s focus has shifted north to Lebanon as Israel began a sustained offensive against Hezbollah’s missile capabilities.
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 41,000 people in the Strip have been killed or are presumed dead in the fighting so far, though the toll cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and fighters. Israel says it has killed some 17,000 combatants in battle and another 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7.
Israel has said it seeks to minimize civilian fatalities and stresses that Hamas uses Gaza’s civilians as human shields, fighting from civilian areas including homes, hospitals, schools, and mosques.
Israel’s toll in the ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza and in military operations along the border with the Strip stands at 348.
