Vice President Harris sought to address the suffering in Gaza during her Democratic National Convention acceptance speech, but many pro-Palestinian activists remained angered after her speech in Chicago.
Gaza war protesters assumed they wouldn’t hear calls for an unconditional halt to the fighting or an arms embargo on Israel, but they were looking for a more direct condemnation of the conflict from Harris and a more nuanced view than Biden has offered.
“There’s no change in Biden. The communicator has changed, but the message has not changed,” Daniel Engelhardt, an independent delegate from Minnesota, told The Hill. “Obviously, there’s no change in policy or a change in direction.”
Undecided delegates and their pro-Palestinian allies are deeply upset at the refusal to allow Palestinian Americans to speak at the convention, and the controversy is likely to keep Democrats on a difficult path on the Gaza war until Election Day.
After about 700,000 Americans voted against Biden in the primary elections and Biden withdrew in favor of his vice president, the National Independent Movement selected 30 independent delegates for the convention.
In her speech, Harris vowed to always protect Israel from terrorist attacks and condemned Hamas for the deadly attacks on October 7 in southern Israel that left some 1,200 people dead and 250 taken hostage. She also expressed concern about the toll in the Gaza Strip, where more than 40,000 people have died.
“What has happened in Gaza over the past 10 months has been devastating,” she said to applause. “The scale of suffering is heartbreaking. President Biden and I are working to end this war so that Israel is safe, the hostages are free, the suffering in Gaza ends, and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, security, and freedom of self-determination.”
Engelhardt pushed back against Harris’ suggestion that the administration was working toward self-determination for the Gaza Strip, given its continued support for the Israeli military.
“The attacks have to stop so that people have rights and have some sort of self-determination,” he said. “The ceasefire has to have meaning. It has become a meaningless phrase.”
Leila Elavet, co-leader of the Uncommitted National Movement, told The Hill that Harris’ speech did not reflect “the majority of her core supporters” and would hurt her in the election.
“She needs to convince a large part of her core base that she needs to mobilize to get them to vote in November that her current policies are not in line with them,” Elavet said. “That’s one of the reasons President Biden had to drop out of the presidential race, because of his unpopular and immoral policies, and I don’t see anything different at this point.”
Still, many Democrats supported Harris’ handling of the war, with Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-Ill.) saying she “struck the right balance” on Gaza in her speech.
“She made some very important statements about support for Israel and Israel’s right to self-defense, about Hamas terrorism and the horrific events of October 7th,” she told CNN on Friday.
“But then she changed course and spoke about the need for a ceasefire and for the Palestinian people to get the support they need and ultimately have the right to self-determination.”
Leaders of the movement had been negotiating with Ms Harris and the Democratic National Committee to allow a Palestinian-American to speak during the convention, but Ms Harris refused, leading disinterested organizers to launch a sit-in.
More than her speech, Palestinian advocates said the refusal to allow a Palestinian-American on stage demonstrated a political resistance to openly defending Palestine.
Khaled Elgindy, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute who leads the think tank’s research on Palestinian issues, said it was “shocking” that there are “people in Democratic leadership who think that expressions of humanity are politically charged.”
“That’s really hit people hard,” he said, adding that “people who were cautiously optimistic about Kamala Harris are now feeling demoralized and faded.”
Jim Zogby, director of the Arab American Institute, which organized the first Democratic National Committee on Palestinian human rights at its Chicago convention, called the decision a “foolish move” and a “self-defeating mistake.”
“I think it was a mistake not to have a Palestinian speaker,” he said. “Not having a Palestinian speaker might make it harder for some people to vote.”
Gaza remains one of the most divisive issues within the Democratic Party, and the conflict stood in stark contrast to the wave of support for Harris that swept across the Democratic National Convention. Thousands of protesters gathered in Chicago to protest the Democratic Party’s support for Israel’s war on Gaza.
Harris’ speech was particularly closely watched among those hoping she would continue to take a tougher stance than Biden after vowing to “not be silent” after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last month.
Hudhaifa Ahmad, spokesman and media director for the Abandon Biden campaign, a pro-Palestinian group that had urged voters not to support Biden unless he dropped support for Israel, said the group would now move to abandon Harris.
“She ultimately proved right in her allegations that she was abandoning Biden and is no different to Joe Biden,” he said. “It’s time for us to commit to holding Democrats accountable for genocide. The carrot hasn’t worked. Now it’s time for the stick.”
Harris on Thursday pushed through a ceasefire and hostage release agreement that the Biden administration has been working on for months. But the deal appears to have fallen apart as Israel and Hamas remain at odds over how to establish a ceasefire and exchange hostages and prisoners. Biden has been criticized by pro-Palestinian allies for not using his influence with Israel to secure a deal, such as by withholding weapons.
Edward Mitchell Abraham, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, saw a difference between the current president and his would-be successor. He said Harris has “done an admirable job of speaking about the suffering of the Palestinian people in a much more human way than other officials in the Biden administration.”
But Harris said more must be done and slammed the Democratic National Convention for not allowing Palestinians to speak.
“The Democratic National Convention’s refusal to allow a single Palestinian-American to speak has caused great concern and anger among voters who want to support her candidacy,” Abrahams told The Hill. “Her campaign’s failure to demonstrate that she will enforce U.S. laws banning arms transfers to the Israeli government and other human rights violators has also caused great concern and anger. Concerned voters need new policies and concrete action, not just better rhetoric.”
“Israel’s words have gone too far,” Zogby, who helped found the Palestinian Human Rights Movement in the 1970s, said in his speech.
“Given the situation on the ground, I thought, ‘Oh, I wish she hadn’t said that,'” he said. “But Gaza’s words moved me because no one had ever said them like that, with such passion, before.”
Zogby added that the “real battle” would be getting Harris to agree to policy changes, “and that will only happen if she wins and becomes president and is able to change policy.”
