‘This is just a bad look’: Democrat divisions over Israel’s Gaza war as Harris accepts nomination

Balloons drop onto the stage after US Vice President and 2024 Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris spoke at the conclusion of the fourth and last day of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. (Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP)

• US support for Israel’s Gaza war was sidelined at the Democratic convention.
• Muslim delegates asked for a pro-Palestinian speaker slot.
• Party insiders fear the Gaza war could cost Kamala Harris needed votes in battleground states.

The most divisive issue facing the Democratic Party, US support for Israel’s war in Gaza, has gone mostly unaddressed during the four-day convention which ended on Thursday, leaving pro-Palestinian delegates upset with presidential candidate Kamala Harris.

Muslim delegates and their allies had pushed for a prime-time speaking slot to address the latest bloodshed in the decades old Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which began on 7 October when Hamas attacked Israel, killing about 1 200, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel’s assault on Hamas-governed Gaza, with the aid of US support, has since killed 40 000 Palestinians, Gaza health officials say, along with displacing nearly its entire 2.3 million population, causing a hunger crisis and flattening almost the entire enclave.

A campaign spokesperson declined to explain the decision not to schedule a speech by a Palestinian speaker at the DNC. 

READ | Netanyahu, Hamas dig in their heels as Biden presses ‘urgency’ of ceasefire and hostage deal

Pro-Palestinian advocates on Thursday vowed to keep pressuring Harris to change course on arms sales to Israel. 

Party insiders fear the Gaza war could cost Harris needed votes in battleground states such as Michigan, which is home to cities with significant Muslim and Arab American populations and college campuses that have been the site of Gaza protests.

Palestinians find their way amid the dust and smoke after Israeli troops targeted a building in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, as the conflict between Israel and the Hamas militant group continues. (Eyad Baba/AFP)

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The convention is being held in Chicago, home to the United States’ largest Palestinian community, according to the Arab American Institute. 

US Representative Dan Kildee of Michigan said he had been urging the campaign to have Harris address the issue in a separate speech in his state.

The DNC has been faced by pro-Palestinian protests each day in Chicago, including from thousands of demonstrators on Thursday night ahead of Harris’ speech. 

Dozens of arrests were made during the week.

Some protesters said on Thursday their decision on whether to vote for Harris will depend on how quickly a ceasefire is reached in Gaza and whether she supports an arms embargo on Israel. 

They carried banners that read “No Embargo No Vote” and “No Ceasefire No Vote”.

Thousands chanted “ceasefire now” and “long live Palestine” on Thursday evening while carrying Palestinian flags and banners that read “End US aid to Israel” and “DNC silences Palestinian voices”, surrounded by a heavy police presence.

About a dozen delegates from the Uncommitted National Movement, which mobilised nearly 750 000 voters to withhold their support for US President Joe Biden during the primaries, spent the previous night on the sidewalk outside the convention to protest the DNC’s rejection of their request for a Palestinian speaker.

A boy pushes a wheelchair carrying water containers past the rubble of destroyed buildings along a street in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing conflict in the Palestinian territory between Israel and Hamas. (Bashar Taleb/AFP)

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They welcomed a call for a ceasefire and the return of hostages by the parents of one US hostage held in Gaza – Rachel Goldberg and Jon Polin – on Wednesday night, but said they should also have been given a chance to speak.

The United Auto Workers union and the Movement for Black Lives are among several groups and individuals who have issued statements of support for the demonstrators. 

Muslim Women for Harris-Walz said on X it would cease operations after the DNC decision.

“Last night, the DNC made clear that it values Palestinian lives and voices less than others. It is unconscionable to silence Palestinian voices as they face US-funded massacre, starvation and ethnic cleansing,” said the Movement for Black Lives, a network of over 150 leaders and organisations.

Ruwa Romman, a Georgia state legislator and delegate who spent the night outside the DNC, said Uncommitted organisers had negotiated with the Harris campaign for weeks and provided a list of possible speakers, only to be rejected.

She said:

Rima Mohammad, a Michigan delegate who also took part in the overnight protest, said delegates would keep pressure on Harris in coming weeks.

“This is just a bad look. You’re going to lose Michigan,” said Mohammad, who teaches at the University of Michigan’s College of Pharmacy in Ann Arbor.

The Uncommitted delegates re-entered the convention centre with locked arms on Thursday evening, shortly before Harris was due to speak.

Only a handful of references to the war have been made from the DNC stage. 

Biden, Senators Bernie Sanders and Raphael Warnock and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez were among those who addressed Gaza.

An Israeli army vehicle moves along Israel’s southern border with the Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. (Jack Guez/AFP)

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One major Harris campaign donor, who requested anonymity to be candid about their private conversations with the campaign, said they worried that without a near-term ceasefire deal and clear statements from Harris about ending the war and protecting civilians, campus protests could flare again when universities resume classes in coming days.

“We need every vote,” the donor said.

Tariq Habash, who in January quit his senior job at the Department of Education in protest at the US role in the war, said keeping the issue off the agenda would not help Democrats.

“The indignity and the erasure of Palestinians in our country and in this party throughout this entire week will not be forgotten,” he said.