Black and Pro-Palestinian Progressives Clash Over Kamala Harris

Within the last week, social media has been inundated with a debate between two communities that have been allied for decades: progressive Black Americans and Palestinian Americans.

Since Vice President Kamala Harris became the Democratic candidate for the 2024 presidential election, some Black Americans – who previously opposed President Joe Biden – have changed their minds about not voting for the Democratic party.

Tiktok creator Tori Grier told her followers that although she doesn’t fully support Harris, she would rather, as a Black woman, have her in office than Donald Trump.

An anonymous commenter responded that Grier should take the Palestine flag emoji out of her name if she was going to vote for Harris. Grier then removed the flag and said that she wouldn’t publicly support Palestine again.

The event that sparked the widespread “beef” was a TikTok live between Grier and Palestinian TikTokker Maya Abdallah, who had previously made a video criticising Grier for not taking the Palestinian issue seriously enough, and being quick to revoke her support after just one comment.

Abdallah argued in the live that it was wrong to pressure Palestinians into voting for a candidate who has played a role in the death of over 40,000 Palestinians abroad. Grier argued that Trump could facilitate even greater violence against Palestinians in Gaza, and Black Americans as well.

For many, the fact that Harris has even mentioned aiming for a ceasefire – which is usually followed by reiterating her support for Israel’s “right to defend itself” – could lead some pro-Palestinians to vote for her.

In the live, the two creators got into a heated debate that led to Abdallah muting Grier multiple times, and the debate got heated online.

Many Black social media users criticised Abdallah’s behaviour in the live.

Abdallah has taken to TikTok to apologise for any offensive actions or words, saying that she “handled this in the absolute worst way possible”.

“I saw myself acting in anger and frustration towards a Black woman when that wasn’t the conversation that needed to be had,” she said.

Grier has not accepted the apology.

Since then, many users have taken to their platforms to criticise the Palestinian movement itself in the United States.

“She’s made a lot of takes that were offensive and lacking consideration for Black people,” TikTok user @basicallybetsy2.0 said. ”I also think a lot of people don’t realize that in the pro-Palestinian liberation movement, a lof of Black people have been calling out the anti-Blackness within it. A lof of people don’t view Black genocide as serious.”

“The money that was coming out of my bank account every month to help Palestinians over in Gaza, that is going to stop. The money will be tripled for the people over in Congo,” another TikTok user, Tabitha Talks, said.

Over on X, many users have echoed the sentiments on TikTok and started to call Palestinians and their allies “the watermelon people”.

The condescending name – which alludes to the use of the watermelon instead of the Palestinian flag due to both algorithm censorship and Israel’s history of banning the flag for decades before the Oslo Accords – has angered many users online.

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Momodou Taal is a Cornell African Studies PhD student, and a graduate leader of the Coalition for Mutual Liberation on campus. He was temporarily suspended for his involvement in pro-Palestiniain organising and the university’s Gaza Solidarity encampment.

For him, the current tensions signify Americans’ misconception of the relationship between foreign and domestic policy, as well as an alarming worry that “liberals have hijacked what it means to be Black”.

“We have a tradition that is not liberal Blackness – that was internationalism,” Taal said. “Liberal Blackness is just American exceptionalism in blackface. We have to go back to Blackness, which is international, and not focus on North America.”

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In response to Black Americans who say they must focus on their oppression at home in the States before worrying about those oppressed in other countries, Taal argues that advocating for Palestine – and against Israel – is pertinent.

“What we’re saying is that in Palestine, so many of our issues converge. Let’s take material issues. Black Americans are worried about police brutality: the police brutality techniques technologies are often in bed with the IDF, and they share tactics and share with technology or surveillance.

“So my point is that even if you were selfish as a Black person, and you only cared about Black issues, you should still be concerned [about what’s happening internationally].”

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