Joe Biden hasn’t exactly been much of an ally to Israel, but Kamala Harris has nevertheless tried to put as much daylight as possible between her position on the Jewish state and his—which means being even more pro-Hamas while paying the bare minimum lip-service to being committed to helping Israel. But, is her effort going to work?
We've heard her rhetoric in recent weeks, and it's been almost indistinguishable from that of pro-Palestinian protesters demanding a ceasefire.
“The images of dead children and desperate hungry people fleeing for safety, sometimes displaced for the second, third or fourth time," Harris said a couple of weeks ago. "We cannot look away in the face of these tragedies. We cannot allow ourselves to become numb to the suffering and I will not be silent."
Harris is also reportedly open to discussing an arms embargo with Israel, though a top advisor disputed that report.
Harris is clearly struggling to appease the antisemitic wing of her party. Last week, pro-Palestinian protesters interrupted her rally, despite the fact that she called for an immediate ceasefire. “And the president and I are working around the clock every day to get the cease-fire deal done and bring hostages. So, I respect your voices but we are here to talk about this race in 2024.” The media gushed over how she handled the incident, but if they thought that was the end of it, they were wrong.
According to a report from the Washington Times, "a coalition of Muslim and Arab-American community leaders, along with young progressives, have blasted Vice President Kamala Harris’ call for a cease-fire between Israel and Gaza, with one group saying 'it meant nothing.'"
One group called “Abandon Biden,” which started while Biden was still in the race, blasted Kamala's reaction to a heckler who interrupted her during a campaign rally in Phoenix over the weekend.
“This statement brought nothing; it meant nothing," the group said in statement. "Harris’ stated and repeated position on a ceasefire and Israeli hostage deal is the same line the Biden-Harris administration has parroted across every department for eleven months. Additionally, Harris has offered nothing more than this tired platitude.”
The groups are planning mass protests at the Democratic National Convention next week. According to USA Today, 50,000 to 100,000 pro-Palestinian protesters will be descending upon Chicago, Ill., "ready to raise hell and possibly crash the gates. Chicago is also home to the large concentration of Palestinian immigrants in the U.S."
DNC protests are likely to disrupt the smooth ride Kamala Harris has enjoyed so far. At the moment she is cocooned by an army of handlers and a swooning national media.
More than 150 groups nationally will be in Chicago to protest as part of the “Coalition to March on the DNC,” the Chicago Sun-Times reports.
Kamala Harris can write the script inside the United Center in Chicago. That will be a coronation.
She can’t write the script outside.
That could be something quite different. And if it is, Easy Street is over for the Democratic candidate for president.
Harris has been trying desperately to win back the antisemitic vote to ensure that she can carry Michigan, and it's obviously not working. Things are about to get really ugly at the convention next week.
