Pro-Palestine activists have taken on a new target.
Influencers within the movement are arguing online that progressive voters should show solidarity and refuse to vote for Kamala Harris because of supposedly Zionist views. Some have specifically targeted black Americans for being complicit.
But some black voters are pushing back, and it’s all spilled over to TikTok.
“It’s f–ing insane, a black woman f–king presidency is not gonna save us,” TikTokker Rosol.s — who is “half Iraqi and half Palestinian,” and has “never been to the US and I never f–king will be” — said through tears in a video posted earlier this month.
While she was clearly addressing Americans in general, Rosol.s made a point of singling out black people.
“Every f–king race in f–king America has oppressed us,” she continued. “Black people also wear a uniform and get on a plane and come to our countries and kill us. You vote the same melanated fucking people to government that signed papers to kill us. I don’t want to hear it anymore.”
Videos like this have elicited blowback from some black content creators.
“These are people who feel that they are entitled to the support of black people no matter what, that they get to push us around and tell us who the hell we get to vote for if we support them, as if that means we’re just not supposed to give a damn about ourselves,” TikTokker Tori Grier said.
Jortyunofficial also shot back at Rosol.s on Tiktok: “Are you blaming black people for what’s going on?… How dare you blame me for something like that? F–k that rhetoric.”
Other black content creators felt especially betrayed by pro-Palestine activists who were supposedly “allies.”
“This is why black people do not believe in allyship,” another black content creator said in a video, responding to a Twitter user shaming black women for voting for Kamala. “Because as soon as we do something you don’t like, your anti-blackness comes out.”
For some, like user Tabitha Speaks, the rhetoric about Harris was a total dealbreaker with the pro-Palestine movement: “The Palestinians and their disrespectful and denigrating videos towards people like me — I’m done… The money that was coming out of my bank account every month to help Palestinians over in Gaza, yeah that’s going to stop.”
Harris’s nomination sparked the debate in the activist community over whether any candidate who isn’t staunchly pro-Palestine is worthy of a vote.
“I think, in a way, Harris is enabling this discourse by not being clear enough on her stance on Israel,” Mazzig said. “Tiptoeing around the topic and always giving vague answers has probably contributed to this assault from the Palestinian movement towards the black community for voting for her.”
Since receiving the nomination, Harris has condemned disruptive pro-Palestine protests that took over DC in July, and she shut down protesters at a Michigan rally by saying, “I’m speaking.” Anti-Zionist activists also attempted to disrupt the DNC in Chicago.
Harris has called out the Israeli government for “far too many” civilian deaths in Gaza this July. She was photographed with Benjamin Netanyahu after October 7 and pledged an “unwavering commitment to the existence of the State of Israel.”
Her nomination has caused splintering over the issue of Israel and sparked an exodus of some pro-Palestine voters, members of the Uncommitted National Movement told Reuters. The activist group has aimed to mobilize Democrats to vote “uncommitted” in the elections to protest the party’s stance on Israel.
“The movement has highlighted a clear disconnect between the Democratic party and key constituencies in their base,” the organization’s website says. “The Democratic Party must heed our call and come together ahead of the election to fight racism in November.”
After her nomination, British Muslim TikTokker @pistachiochaii accused Harris of being a “token ethnic” and called out “liberals weaponizing anti-blackness to defend the US empire all because they want a token ethnic president.” She later apologized for the video, after it inspired mass backlash.
“Guys, vote for whoever you want, but shut the f–k up about Donald Trump being worse on Palestine. Kamala Harris is 100% more culpable for this [genocide] than Donald Trump is,” pro-Palestinian activist @notyourlawyermd said on TikTok.
According to Mazzig, the whole debacle has woken up some casual Palestine protesters to the unforgiving nature of the movement.
“Now that many black Americans believe [Kamala Harris] represents their concerns and their priorities, I think some people are realizing the pro-Palestine movement is not the allies they thought they were,” Mazzig said.
“This movement is an absolutist movement, and they will not settle for anything but full subscription to all of their ideology.”
