Dems using Palestine to draw in supporters but do they really support Palestinian liberation?
by Anam Raja, Arab Muslim American Caucus of the Green Party of NJ
The Democrats had several opportunities to prove to the American people that they were truly combating Trump and his fascist and authoritarian rise to power but have failed at every level. Are they really putting up a fight or are they speaking words Americans want to hear but not following through with concrete actions? The past two years we’ve witnessed a true awakening of what the party has become or what it truly was all along. From the Palestine issue to the protection of free speech to the protection of women’s rights, civil rights, environmental protections, immigrants rights, civil discourse, and the very foundation of our democratic order. The Democratic Party has failed us at every turn from not codifying Roe vs. Wade to refusing to allow Palestinian voices at their 2024 convention. The issues with the Democratic Party just continue to pile up. They have become a party of zero action. They have become a party that will speak about workers rights but won’t vote to increase the minimum wage; they speak about the tragic conditions inflicted on the people of Gaza like man made starvation, genocide (not all have even called it a genocide), brutality of the Israeli government, the apartheid, the occupation but then still vote to send billions of our tax dollars to Israel for weapons and aid. Are they all Republicans and Democrats beholden to these powerful Israeli lobbies (AIPAC, J-Street)?
Does either party even represent the American people anymore? The answer is no and waiting for the Democrats to reach an epiphany on their complicity and reverse course seems like a pipe dream. Should we continue to pressure them into listening to us or is it time to finally accept they aren’t listening to anyone except AIPAC and the people need to look to a third party? A party that will not and has never taken any corporate money. How long can the American people afford to wait on the Democrats to save us? Vote blue no matter who is a condescending slogan pressuring Americans to just deal with the fact that both Democrats and Republicans are bad but pick the one who is less bad. An extremely dangerous ideology given that Democrats are not on our side either.
Most recently there was a “People’s Conference for Palestine” which ran Augusts 29 – 31 in Detroit, Michigan. In the past two years, Gaza has divided the world in two. It has forever divided the world between the forces who support genocide and fascism and the forces who oppose it, it’s that simple. It has divided us into those who organize to fight and win against genocide.
The slogan of this conference is “Gaza is the compass” because Gaza has become a litmus test for humanity itself. However, the conference looked more like a Democratic Party retreat. The only elected officials and operatives invited were Democrats. The whole setup is meant to convince our community, and anyone who cares about Palestine, that the Democratic Party is the only option. If the Democrats were actually genuine, they would have at least invited Thomas Massie, (representative Republican from Kentucky) just to prove they know bipartisanship isn’t a myth. They did not include Dr. Jill Stein who has been a leading voice against the genocide in Gaza. Prominent members of the Green Party tried to get Dr. Jill Stein included, but they ignored her like she was an unread email in their spam folder. Is this action a sincere attempt to stop the genocide or just another PR stunt to gain back those votes the Democrats lost in 2024?
More examples of the Democrats losing support is here in New Jersey there is a blatant attack on freedom of speech. NJ is an overwhelmingly blue state but is currently considering legislation, particularly Assembly Bill A3558 and Senate Bill S1292, that would adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism as a state definition. The proposed legislation would adopt the IHRA working definition of antisemitism. This definition includes contemporary examples of antisemitism, some of which relate to criticism of Israel. The state would use this definition when addressing alleged acts potentially motivated by antisemitic intent. So if this bill passes it would be illegal to criticize the brutal genocidal regime of Israel.
It would also allow defunding in NJ of entire public school districts, state colleges, state aid to private and community colleges, libraries, municipalities and non-profits if they end up falsely accused of tolerating some pro-Palestinian sentiment among students, staff, clients, the public by pro-Israel groups or individuals – who are lined up making the similar complaints every day all across NJ. The test of the illegal infringement upon our civil rights and speech rights will come but meanwhile 1000s will be harmed.
We can criticize America (for now) all we want but criticism of a foreign government will become a crime. Opponents worry (rightly so) that the legislation might restrict speech, particularly criticism of Israeli policies and advocacy for Palestinian rights. They argue it could negatively impact academic freedom and public debate. It is very clearly a violation of our First Amendment rights. So why is our blue Democratic state allowing this? Why aren’t we fighting this? Again it really boils down to the real issue with the Democrats right now—- they serve special interests, in particular AIPAC, and not the American people. The current status is that the legislation, such as S1292, has advanced through some stages, despite it being tabled on June 23, 2025 due to pushback from NJ constituents. Over 150 people spoke in opposition to the bill but it hasn’t been squashed. It was advanced again on July 24, 2025 despite over 250 testimonies against it. Democrats are the ones passing the IHRA hand in hand with the same bought and paid for Republicans. In fact the overwhelming majority of the NJ state senate are Democrats who sponsored this bill. How many more examples do the American people need to show them that neither party is working for us?
To conclude, Democrats need a radical overhaul of their party in order to have a chance of surviving as a party or they will fade into obscurity and become like the Whig party in our history. They must take a clear stand against special interests (namely AIPAC) and make bold stands against repression of freedom of speech otherwise they will continue to lose again and again. The party needs to rally behind those like Zohran Mamdani (who most Democrats have still failed to endorse despite winning the primary) and Omar Fatteh (who won the Democratic primary for Minneapolis mayor and they pulled their endorsement of him) and support the Israel arms embargo initiatives of Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, even AOC and Bernie Sanders — basically the “progressives” who are more in touch with the American public and most importantly DON’T TAKE AIPAC $$$. Why are the Democrats finding this so hard to do? At the end of the day “it’s all about the money”.
For the rest of us, we need to recognize when it is time to leave. After two years of genocide there was an effort to pressure the DNC to support an embargo on Israel over forced starvation and of course DNC rejected the proposal. The effort of those who believe the Democratic Party can help solve the genocide is noble and should continue but once we are rebuffed – and we have been 1000s of times – we need to figure out that “begging harder” against genocide with the Democratic Party is maybe not going to work. We are like the proverbial New Orleans roof top folks after Katrina waiting for the Democrats to save us and stop the genocide. Once we try with all good faith – and we are told that they are going to continue to arm and fund genocide and ignore our demands – we must realize that our work to stop the genocide must continue and we need to discover other ways forward. We need to admit that maybe the Democrats are NOT coming to save us and the Palestinian people!
