By Andrea Shalal
GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan (Reuters) -Some prominent Lebanese Americans on Friday endorsed Democrat Kamala Harris for president, saying in a letter that the U.S. had been "unrelenting" in its support for Lebanon under the Biden administration and they expect additional backing if Harris wins in November.
The endorsement came amid ongoing Israeli attacks on Lebanon that have killed at least 2,350 people over the last year, according to the Lebanese health ministry, with more than 1.2 million people displaced. Militant group Hezbollah has also fired on Israel and about 50 Israeli soldiers and civilians have been killed.
Signatories include former members of Congress Donna Shalala and Toby Moffett, former President Barack Obama's onetime transportation secretary Ray LaHood, academics, CEOs and investors.
A number of Arab Americans and Muslims are abandoning the Democratic Party over the Biden administration's support for Israel in its war with Hamas.
More than 42,000 Palestinians have died in Israel's assault on the Gaza Strip, health officials in the enclave say. The war began when Hamas militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and abducting some 250 others.
Some Arab Americans and Muslims have declined to endorse Harris, while others are backing her Republican rival, former President Donald Trump, or third-party candidate Jill Stein of the Green Party.
The letter was organized by Ed Gabriel, president of the American Task Force on Lebanon, a Washington policy group, in his personal capacity. Gabriel is one of several Arab American and Muslim leaders who met with Harris when she visited Flint, Michigan, on Oct. 4.
The signers wrote they had been reassured that their concerns about the violence in Lebanon and the need for economic and political reforms would be supported if Harris wins the Nov. 5 election. Her views stood in "stark" contrast to Trump, they wrote, without elaboration.
Trump's campaign had no immediate comment, but a source close to the campaign said it planned more outreach events in Michigan next week. Trump also stopped by a campaign headquarters in Hamtramck, a suburb of Detroit, on Friday.
Trump has called Israel's attacks on Lebanon "unacceptable," but has not laid out any strategy. His affiliates are trying to win Arab American votes, with the help of Lebanese American businessman Massad Boulos, whose son is married to Trump's daughter Tiffany.
"The Lebanese people have suffered terribly from the loss of innocent lives and massive displacement of families and one of the worst economic disasters in the world caused by wide-spread corruption. They cannot afford another long drawn out war that further destroys Lebanon," the letter said, as it called for a ceasefire.
(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Rod Nickel and Leslie Adler)
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