The Proof is in the Platform: Ironclad Support for Israel
The on-going Democratic National Convention, which will end on Thursday night, August 22nd, was billed by some as an opportunity to see what the Democrats would do about the on-going genocide in Palestine. Thousands of protesters were outside the convention marching in the streets. Others, the Uncommitted movement in particular, created their own convention, sitting in to impress upon the Democrats that they deserved a chance to speak inside. Others carried in banners, one read, “Stop Arming Israel.” And the Abandon Biden movement that had contributed to Biden stepping out of the race, morphed into the Abandon Harris movement and held their own press conference during convention week.
But when all was done, there were more concerns raised than questions answered and a platform document that could have been written by AIPAC or by Netanyahu, leaving no doubt that the Democrats would not be “moving to the left” on the genocide in Gaza. The Democrats put on a show, featuring their “star-power”, instead of talking about actual policy, especially policy on the Middle East and other issues of concern to the protesters outside such as reproductive rights, climate catastrophe, union strength and labor issues, and more.
Since the announcement made a few weeks ago that Kamala Harris would replace President Biden the Democrats have only partially succeeded in knocking the genocide in Gaza off the front pages. But the Abandon Harris coalition and others, including Green Party candidate Jill Stein and her running mate, Butch Ware, not taken in by all the hype, have continued their efforts to center the genocide, to keep it on the minds of those expected to vote in November 2024. The Democratic Party platform of 2024 shows why many still have tremendous concerns about voting for Harris and the Democrats, despite their efforts to obscure the issues and replace them with “Love and Joy!” How can they run on “Love and Joy!” when the genocide in Gaza continues with dozens massacred this past week alone.
Here are the unhappy highlights (or lowlights) if you will for those still seeking a permanent ceasefire, withdrawal of the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) from the Gaza Strip, a deal with Hamas that includes an exchange of Palestinian prisoners in administrative detention (including hundreds held without charges indefinitely and without representation) for the hostages held by Hamas and an end to the growing hostilities in the region.
The Final Democratic Party Platform does not:
- Call the ongoing massacres in Gaza a genocide.
- Call for a permanent ceasefire, but mentions the need for a “durable ceasefire” — whatever that means.
- Call what’s going on a violation of international law on any level — whether it’s collective punishment, weaponizing hunger and starvation against the Palestinians or bombing hospitals, schools, mosques, and universities or denying humanitarian aid and medical supplies to enter the Gaza Strip to treat injuries and hunger.
- Call for an arms embargo, but once again expresses concern for civilian deaths in Gaza. Of course, it’s easy to complain about what’s going on, but without calling for an arms embargo or sanctions against Israel or an immediate and permanent ceasefire, or compliance with international law, it means virtually nothing.
- Name Israel and its occupation as the principal source of violence in the region. Instead it names Iran. They are proud to say that President Biden authorized “precision strikes” against Iran in order to prevent the conflict from expanding. This is convoluted logic and simply untrue. In addition, there is no mention of the occupation and no mention of the apartheid state and the apartheid walls.
The Final Democratic Party Platform does:
- Consider the Houthis in Yemen as agents of Iran and their actions blocking ships entering Israel as unprovoked “terrorist” actions and brags about the 20 nation coalition behind bombing Yemen in retaliation, an action that (thankfully) was abandoned because it did not work to deter the Houthis from acting upon their obligation as a signator to the 1948 Convention on Genocide to take actions to prevent the genocide from continuing.
- Call weakly for a “two-state” solution (which of course the U.S. under Biden has vetoed) but blames Hamas for seeking to destroy the “promise of that vision on October 7, 2023.” The Democrats still claim to support a two-state solution, but both the U.S. and Israel have been called out by the world for not being serious about that.
- Call to “ease humanitarian suffering” in Gaza, without saying how. But why not call to END the suffering instead?
- Criticize former president Trump for being “feckless” in the face of Iran’s “aggression.” It criticizes Trump for never offering a military response and for withdrawing from the Iran agreement. And yet, the platform doesn’t call for any effort on the part of the U.S. to reactivate that deal. It also criticizes Trump for not respecting Palestinian rights to a state, but clearly, the Democrats only give this lip-service and never put any weight behind it.
- Mention that there should be no unilateral action on part of either Hamas or Israel, referring mainly to the Israeli’s continued expansion of the illegal settlements on the West Bank. Sanctions threatened by Biden against those who would violate that provision were rarely enforced and certainly now, since October 7th, about 600 Palestinians on the West Bank have been killed, as the IOF and the illegal settlers demolish homes, destroy farmland, and do whatever possible to threaten, antagonize and harm the Palestinians who have lived in the West Bank for generations.
- State unequivocally that they oppose the Boycott, Divest and Sanction movement “for singling out Israel.”
- Propose to negotiate with Hezbollah, Lebanon and Israel without putting any concrete suggestions on the table.
Finally, of course, the document restates that the U.S.-Israel alliance is “iron-clad.” It continues to promote the idea, repeatedly debunked, that Hamas used sexual violence against the hostages. Lastly, the platform indicates that the U.S. “wants to see Hamas defeated,” and that Israel has a right to defend itself. It calls the genocide the “Israel-Hamas” War and claims that the U.S. has been working so hard to get more humanitarian aid into Gaza. But the world knows that there has been nothing more than a trickle of aid into Gaza despite the rhetoric of this platform document.
At the same time, the Democrats’ behavior at the convention also speaks volumes.
Family members of Israeli hostages addressed the DNC on Wednesday night, but to this point, convention organizers (Democrats, of course) refuse to let a Palestinian American or a member of the group “Uncommitted” speak — even if their speech is vetted beforehand. A banner saying “Stop Arming Israel” is wrested out of people’s hands and a “We Love Joe” sign falls on a Muslim women’s head. Convention attendees covered their ears when they left the convention so they did not have to listen to demonstrators outside reading some of the names of the more than 15,000 children killed by US-supported and funded genocide committed by Israel.
It’s not that the Democrats don’t know what’s going on. They do, but refuse to call it what it is and instead attempt to dazzle the world with their so-called “star power” to take people’s eyes off the horrific massacres in Gaza. While the Abandon Harris movement is trying to leverage a promise from Kamala Harris and the Democrats to implement an arms embargo against Israel now, it looks less and less like that’s possible. Thursday night is the last night of the convention and maybe we’ll see a glimmer of democracy from those in charge. Is there any democracy left to protect? Is this is being done in and to Gaza, that doesn’t mean it can’t and won’t happen elsewhere.
There is another choice. That choice is Jill Stein and Butch Ware of the Green Party — and local Green Party efforts to keep this issue front and center.
