Harris targets digital ads highlighting her remarks on ‘human suffering in Gaza’

Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign is releasing new digital spots targeting voters in neighborhoods with large Muslim populations in the Detroit area, highlighting Harris’s statement that she “will not remain silent on the human suffering in Gaza.”

The ads began running Tuesday on Snapchat and Google, according to recordings made available by the companies, and include clips of Harris sympathizing with the people of Gaza. They mark another step in a microtargeted back-and-forth in the region over the Biden administration’s handling of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, with a GOP-aligned group running digital ads in similar areas highlighting Harris’ support for Israel in an apparent attempt to turn voters away from her constituency.

The super PAC, Future Coalition PAC, has also run other ads highlighting the Jewish faith of Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff, including ads that relied on anti-Semitic “dual loyalty” stereotypes about American Jews.

The ads appear to be the first Gaza-related paid advertising from the Harris camp, showing how her campaign is trying to reach out to administration critics on the issue.

The first two clips in Harris’ new ad are from remarks Harris made after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in July, four days after President Joe Biden announced he would not seek reelection. The ad features a statement from Harris saying, “I will not be silent,” followed by a quick cut to a second clip from that speech, in which she says, “About the magnitude of human suffering in Gaza, including the deaths of far too many innocent civilians.” Harris also said in those and other remarks that she supports Israel’s right to defend itself, but those comments are not included in these digital ads.

In another excerpt from a speech Harris gave in March, she addresses the situation in Gaza, saying: “Our common humanity compels us to act.”

A second ad strikes a similar tone, quoting Harris from her July speech: “What has happened in Gaza over the last nine months is devastating,” adding: “We cannot afford to become numb to the suffering and I will not remain silent.”

The ads target nine ZIP codes around Detroit, including Dearborn, a city with a high concentration of people of Middle Eastern and North African descent where Muslim and Arab-American political leaders have criticized Israel’s handling of the war. Earlier this year, Biden officials met with leaders there amid criticism, and frustrated critics led a campaign to urge Democrats to vote “noncommittal” in the presidential primaries to express their disapproval of the administration’s handling of the war between Israel and Hamas and its military funding for Israel.

The majority of the nine ZIP codes in Harris’ campaign ad are represented by Democratic Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib. Tlaib, who is Palestinian-American, supported that protest vote in February, and she has not specifically endorsed or said she would oppose Harris in the general election.

More recently, the handful of delegates to the Democratic National Convention won by supporters of this “uncommitted” movement pushed the party, unsuccessfully, to have a Palestinian speak at its convention in Chicago.

Harris’ campaign has not commented on its advertising strategy.

While both Biden and Harris have repeatedly stressed their support for Israel’s right to defend itself after the attack, there appears to be some distance between the two on Israel and Gaza. NBC News reported in March that members of the White House National Security Council toned down portions of a speech by Harris on the need for a hostage deal and a ceasefire between the two sides, and that she publicly raised concerns about civilian deaths in Gaza during speeches referenced in the ads.

Harris addressed this issue during a discussion with the National Association of Black Journalists on Tuesday.

“I absolutely believe that this war has to end, and it has to end as soon as possible, and the way to do that is to reach an agreement on hostages and a cease-fire, and we’re working around the clock to do that,” Harris said.