Democrats Dismiss the Pain of Gaza at Their Moral—and Possibly Political—Peril

Protests over the last week at the Democratic National Convention, which saw thousands of antiwar demonstrators take to the streets (lined with scores of Chicago police) in and around the United Center, pose a critical question to the Harris/Waltz ticket: Can they bridge the yawning gulf that divides the street and the establishment on the matter of Israel’s war on Palestine?

The answer is, probably not.

On Thursday night during her own showcase speech in which she formally accepted her party's nomination, Harris appeared full-throated in favor of ending the war in Gaza. Here are her full (brief) remarks on the issue:

“With respect to the war in Gaza, President Biden and I are working around the clock, because now is the time to get a hostage deal and a ceasefire deal done. And let me be clear: I will always stand up for Israel's right to defend itself, and I will always ensure Israel has the ability to defend itself, because the people of Israel must never again face the war that a terrorist organization called Hamas caused on October 7, including unspeakable sexual violence and the massacre of young people at a music festival.

At the same time, what has happened in Gaza over the past 10 months is devastating so many innocent lives lost, desperate, hungry people fleeing for safety, over and over again, the scale of suffering is heartbreaking. President Biden and I are working to end this war, such that Israel is secure, the hostages are released, the suffering in Gaza ends, and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, security, freedom and self determination."

But are words more important than deeds and were the few words issued on the subject this week persuasive to Democrats who want to actually see an end to the war, and at the very least, the American contribution to it?

Up until Thursday night, Vermont’s serial-presidential-also-ran Senator Bernie Sanders was the only other progressive on the DNC stage to give this issue some of the attention protesters believed it deserved (though he didn't go so far to call for an arms embargo). Earlier in the week, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) threw out one line about Harris "working tirelessly to secure a ceasefire in Gaza and bringing the hostages home,” and was quickly admonished for it, even by her own squad members. "Working tirelessly for a ceasefire is really not a thing and they should be ashamed of themselves,” charged Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.).

As antiwar activist and author Norman Solomon has noted, Harris “has toed President Biden’s war line, while at times voicing sympathy for the victims of the Gaza war that’s made possible by policies that she supports. Her words of compassion have yet to translate into opposing the pipeline of weapons and ammunition to the Israeli military as it keeps slaughtering Palestinian civilians.”

Despite their best efforts, the protestors didn’t get much traction this week. For proof of this, look no further than the fact that they couldn't even get a Palestinian-American speaker on stage because, as the Washington Post reported, "many Democratic leaders were concerned that such a speech from the podium would threaten the unity that has been on vivid display at the convention."

Then there's the DNC platform, which recognizes America's “ironclad” commitment to Israel. The Harris/Walz ticket, reads the platform, is dedicated “to Israel’s security, its qualitative military edge, its right to defend itself.”

A press conference outside the DNC Wednesday morning featuring Reps. Omar, Cori Bush (D-Mo.), and two rather heroic members of Doctors Without Borders who witnessed firsthand the horror in Gaza, was sparsely attended. Generally speaking, the mood among the antiwar activists outside the United Center was resigned.

Irene, who travel from Long Island, New York, with Jewish Voices for Peace, told Responsible Statecraft (she did not want to use her last name) that in her view they had to do everything in their power to end the war but Biden was making it impossible given the billions in American money and weapons flowing to Israel today. “So, am I optimistic? I'm not optimistic. But silence is complicity.”

Despite the smears directed at them (guests on Fox News openly call demonstrators terrorists, Hamas sympathizers, and extremists) they are not giving up. And why should they? Their position is a popular one. A recent CBS News/YouGov poll in June showed 61 percent of Americans oppose sending “weapons and supplies to Israel.”

Asked about the accusation made last month by Avril Haines, the Director of National Intelligence, that Iran is encouraging the protests, a union organizer from Chicago responded thusly to RS: “The drone strike pioneer Avril Haines? She’s speaking out against protestors calling for an end to the slaughter of innocent civilians? At least she’s consistent.”

Ann, another member of Jewish Voices for Peace, told RS that Harris’s argument to the antiwar faction of the party that basically “it’s me or Donald Trump” isn’t going to fly. “I think it's a false argument and it's intentional and it's used to instill fear and uncertainty and to make progressives and people with a conscience to feel bad that we are going to put Trump in office,” she said.

The contrast with the mood among the delegates couldn’t be more stark. The Democrats in the convention hall this week were ebullient. At a DNC event Tuesday night, one came away with the impression that the election had already been won. Among the rank and file, Gaza is a mere afterthought. They might cheer on the idea of “ceasefire” as applause lines, and even support the policy, but are quick to move on, and certainly did not have patience for chanting or theater outside or inside.

The attitude, expressed to RS by numerous delegates over the course of the week is: win first, sort out the details later.

But meantime, the carnage in Gaza continues.