On Tuesday, Middle East Eye (MEE) reported that the “Uncommitted Movement” received more than $400,000 from a well-financed Democratic Party-aligned political action committee that exists to elect Democrats and explicitly rejects any support for third-party candidates, opposed to the Israeli genocide in Gaza.

A review of Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings by MEE found that the Uncommitted National Movement received hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Movement Voter Project in the months after its inception in March 2024. Movement Voter Project (MVP) has contributed over $15 million to campaigns and political committees in the 2024 election cycle according to OpenSecrets.org.

MVP’s website makes clear that the goal of the PAC is a “A Blue Wave” with the number one objective being to “Win the Presidency” by mobilizing “youth, voters of color, immigrant voters, LBGTQ+ voters, and other pivotal constituencies to carry the Harris-Walz ticket over the finish line.”

On MVP’s website under the FAQ, the group makes clears that it does not support third-party presidential candidates, “No. We do not, and we will not. We don’t expect any of our partners to endorse third-party candidates. And we would not support groups to get out the vote for such candidates.”

The Uncommitted Movement was formed earlier this year by Democratic Party operatives in response to massive anger over the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Terrified that millions of people politically radicalized by the ongoing genocide will permanently split not only from President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, but from the Democratic Party that has supported the Zionist state of Israel since its inception, Uncommitted sought to channel that anger back into the dead-end of the Democratic Party and electoral politics.

Leaders of Uncommitted, seeking to prevent such a break, promoted the fiction that if enough people voted “uncommitted” during the primaries the Biden administration would be obligated to cease its support for genocide. This diversion from building an independent movement in the working class in opposition to both parties of genocide and the capitalist system completely ignores not only the historical support Israel has received from both parties, but the critical role Israel plays as a militarized outpost for US imperialism.

For months, the mainstream press and pseudo-left outlets like Jacobin magazine—the unofficial press organ of the Democratic Socialists of America—promoted the Uncommitted Movement as an independent, organic and “grassroots” movement. In reality, the Uncommitted trap was seeded with hundreds of thousands of dollars, and given out-sized media attention and promotion because of its pernicious role.

From the beginning and through the Democratic National Convention, Uncommitted was heavily backed not only by the DSA but by Rep. Rashida Tlaib (Democrat-Michigan).

Notably, of the 69 recipients of MVP’s largesse, Listen to Us, also known as Listen to Michigan, received $464,100, the 10th most MVP has doled out to a single group this election cycle. The treasurer of Listen to Us, according to OpenSecrets.org is Layla Elabed.

In addition to being one of the main leaders of the Uncommitted Movement, Elabed is Rep. Tlaib’s sister. This past May, both Elabed and Tlaib spoke at the “People’s Conference for Palestine,” a multi-day conference organized and led by leaders of Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) and trade union officials. At the Detroit conference, neither Elabed or Tlaib called for a break from the Democratic Party, with Elabed calling on conference attendees to get out and vote for “our ceasefire candidates ... and our pro-peace anti-war folks…”

Speaking with The New Arab in August at the Democratic National Convention, which refused to allow a Palestinian speaker on the platform throughout the four-day event, Elabed continued to promote illusions in the Democratic Party.

“We think the DNC is listening a little bit more to the demands of our movement, especially in the political moment that we are in, watching a genocide unfold on Palestinians in 2024,” she said.

In a blatant lie, Elabed declared, “All we have is our voices. We don’t have a multi million-dollar super PAC to advocate on our behalf. All we have is our voices and our votes” (emphasis added).”

In reality, it was just such a political slush fund that was financing this phony gesture, while preparing the way for turning students, workers and others opposed to the Gaza genocide back into the Democratic Party, the graveyard for movements of social and anti-war protest.