Rally-goers stream past a protestor holding a sign that calls for a ceasefire outside the Kamala Harris and Tim Walz presidential campaign event near Detroit.Adam J. Dewey/Anadolu/Getty

On Wednesday, Vice President Kamala Harris briefly met with Uncommitted movement leaders Layla Elabed and Abbas Alawieh before a public rally. It was the first time a group affiliated with the diverse and varied pro-Palestine movement had interacted face-to-face with Harris since her elevation to presumptive Democratic nominee.

The Uncommitted movement co-founders—who represent Michigan voters who chose not to pick Biden as a Democratic nominee because of his policies supporting Israel during its offensive on Gaza—were introduced to the vice president by one of her aides, they said.

In that short conversation, Elabed and Alawieh told Mother Jones, Harris expressed some empathy for Palestinians. “We were kind of holding onto each other as I was speaking, because I was so emotional,” Elabed said. But she, and the movement, were also clear with Harris: They wanted more than words and emotion. They want a formal, official meeting with Harris to talk policy.

“I told VP Harris through the tears that Michigan voters want to vote for her,” Elabed said, “but we need a policy change that is going to save lives.”

“We need Vice President Harris to embrace an affirmative message that stops the killing so that we can mobilize voters for whom Gaza is a top policy issue.”

An arms embargo has been the central request of the Uncommitted movement, who garnered 700,000 votes and will be sending 30 delegates to the Democratic National Convention. Elabed asked the vice president if she would formally meet with her and Alawieh to discuss an embargo. “She agreed, yes, we will meet,” Elabed recalled. And “she said ‘it’s horrific’” of the bombing of Gaza.

But, during........

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