Lawrence Hamm Missed His Usual High Notes In Urging Voting Support for Genocidal Harris
Lawrence Hamm recently made this appeal to vote for Kamala Harris for President with a full admission that Kamala Harris and Joe BIden are responsible for genocide. As I write this response I first will state that I consider Lawrence Hamm a friend and colleague in struggle – for example he recently drove me to my car after a pro – Palestine protest in Red Bank NJ. I have known and worked with Lawrence for at least 35 years, since the early 90s. He has done great work uniting 10,000s of people around many causes over the years.
One thing Lawrence is well known for is the almost musical delivery of great oratory presentations. He typically will fully assess the suffering and the damages of a particular oppression and he expresses great empathy for the victims. Lawrence is well versed in the history of his topics and will layer example after example in support of his arguments. His oratory presentations are unifying, engaging the power of our empathy and our other emotions to motivate us to march against injustice.
Lawrence has also directly dealt with the ultimate injustices in the USA in support of family members, usually mothers, of men and women unarmed civilians who were killed by police in NJ. His dedication to these families and the role that the organization he leads, People’s Organization for Progress in advocating for justice for these families shows clearly that Lawrence possesses deep empathy and effectively accesses that empathy in his support for the families of those victimized by injustice.
I am suggesting that his piece supporting Kamala Harris who was directly involved as Vice President in the most horrendous slaughter against the Palestinian People in Gaza since October 7, 2023 – a full year of massive and wholesale indiscriminate slaughter against an entire population – fell short in offering empathy to the victims of the slaughter that is his trademark.
Lawrence’s premise is that Trump was a failed presidency. No argument here. He then cites adequately the slaughter of Palestinians and he admits the role of the Biden Harris administration in that slaughter. However apparently he does NOT see the US attachment and responsibility for the slaughter and the role of candidate Harris in the slaughter as being that of a failed administration,
This FightBackBetter editor does indeed believe that the role the US has played in this genocide is ultimate failure of an administration. Biden himself in a rare moment of truth has admitted that
“No Administration Has Helped Israel More than I Have . . . None, None, None”
Like Lawrence – back in the 80s this editor was engaged in the anti-apartheid struggle in solidarity with the Azanian (South African) People. Today South Africa has successfully charged Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders with the crime of genocide. Certainly the Biden-Harris providing the weapons used is culpability for that genocide. Not only is Biden-Harris culpability for genocide an example of failure of their administration – they should be brought before courts and charged with genocide accordingly. Lawrence Hamm instead wants Harris to be elected president after her role in the genocide and the failed – if you count coordinating a genocide as failure as this editor does – administration.
While Lawrence cited the statistics of the genocide, he did not express empathy for the NJ voters directly impacted that he is urging to vote for Kamala Harris #KillaKamala. He did not speak directly to the NJ communities horribly impacted in his usual style. Thousands of Palestinian American voters in NJ are personally directly connected to the impact of the genocide as they have relatives in Gaza, to the slaughter. Some have lost multiples, dozens, over 100 relatives – slaughtered by Kamala Harris, Joe Biden and Israel. They deserve the greatest empathy.
The kin of those slaughtered by Kamala Harris, Joe Biden and Israel are part of the pool of NJ voters that Lawrence urged to vote for genociding Kamala. Lawrence did NOT address them specifically about the difficulty it would be for them to vote for the murderers of their family members. He did not explain to them how Harris winning is more important than their own dignity which they have to give up to vote for Harris. Arabs of other nations, Persians and others in the region, now including Lebanese as Kamala and BIden continue to arm Israel as it expands the slaughter into Lebanon also might find Lawrence’s piece less than convincing. Lawrence could not find the words to directly address those whose families have been victimized to try to convince their vote for #KillaKamala.
The following is an example of a presentation that offers such empathy to the Palestinian victims:
Did Lawrence assess how his words would fall upon NJ Muslim American voters? It should be noted that studies are showing that Muslim voters are shifting away from the Democratic Party significantly and supporting Jlll Stein and Green Party candidates this year because of the genocide. For many Muslims support for the Palestinian cause and against any injustices/oppression and inhumanity is a matter of being faithful to God (Allah). Many Muslims are motivated to do EVERYTHING in their power for the Palestinians and for many that includes not voting for their slaughter and see Islamic faith as being for peace and justice for all. It is likely that Lawrence is aware – he did not eloquently hit on this point in his piece though. He did not acknowledge NJ’s Muslim American voters at all.
While Lawrence accurately proclaims the actions he has taken to oppose the genocide under his candidate’s (Harris) administration, he does not acknowledge the 10s of 1000s of NJ voters who have also been out there persevering in struggle to end the genocide immediately. He does not openly admit though he is likely aware that many of NJ’s opponents of genocide will NO WAY VOTE FOR THE MURDERERS of the children, women and men of Gaza. He might be convincing to those not overly concerned about Palestine but those of us who can not fathom voting for the murderers – many of us likely are not going to be moved by his essay.
When Lawrence sums up his argument against Trump he mentions Trump’s dictatorial tendencies. Lawrence is fully aware that the Democrats are leading the way with dictatorial actions to outlaw opposition to genocide, opposition to Israel, opposition to US support for Israel, calling for Palestinian freedom in the language of the Palestinian struggle as “anti-Semitic”. Lawrence spoke out against these dictatorial moves by NJ’s Democratic Party leadership in the NJ Statehouse together with other Palestine supporters. He is fully aware but somehow neglected to mention these fascist moves by his party against opponents of genocide he has joined in protest. That was apparently a tactical omission and makes his condemnations of Trump fascist tendencies – which are real – disingenuous. We in this struggle already feel the dictatorial clamp down under Biden and Harris and Harris has already taken measures to increase that fascism. Trump or Harris – we in the movement against genocide face fascism and Lawrence Hamm is aware yet omits that fact.
Indeed Lawrence did not only endorse Harris in his essay – he called for support for all of the Democratic Party candidates in the House and Senate – many of whom would consider Lawrence Hamm a Hamas supporter and would support his (and many of ours) arrests for anti-Semitism. Their argument is that if you are not loyal to Israel and all of its actions and you do not support unending arming of Israel you are anti-Semitic . Lawrence Hamm just told us to vote for the people in the lead role trying to pass laws to remove our protected speech rights when it comes to Palestine – he told us to vote for US Congress and US Senate candidates who are promoting fascism against the Pro-Palestine movement!
I respectfully disagree with Lawrence on this matter. I still consider him a friend and hope to again do a Christmas Eve run with him (December 24 is Lawrence’s Birthday and he runs that day and I one time joined him – the old man beat me by half a mile in a 6 mile run,) I still respect Lawrence’s legacy to NJ struggle but on this matter I am diametrically opposed to what he is stating.
A vote for #KillaKamala is a vote for genocide. Lawrence in his piece suggests that Harris can gain votes by cutting off arms to Israel now but he fully knows that Kamala has already ruled that out, has stated that she will not do that and that she maintains “Ironclad support” for Israel – those are her words. I believe it is disingenuous for Lawrence to make that suggestion.
Kamala Harris is also a part of the era of AIPAC financing of US political campaigns – which began in 2021, as Biden and Harris, the number one and number 2 largest recipients of AIPAC campaign funding, took the White House – a pertinent fact to the Palestine issue.
Harris did not condemn Israel blowing eyeballs out of 1000s and killing dozens in Lebanon by turning electronic devices to bombs, she has supported the murder of Nasrallah in Lebanon and the expansion of genocidal war operations of Israel into Lebanon and she stands by as Israel bombs schools, attacks hospitals and blows up refugee camps – expanding its slaughter of starving Palestinians who have been dodging bombs for a full year. The weapons keep a rolling to Israel – all genocide long.
No Lawrence, this FightBackEditor will not join your call to support the hip deep in blood Kamala Harris for president.
December 2018 Lawrence Hamm laps Bob WItanek twice for a total of 1/2 mile on a 6 mile track run, part of Lawrence’s birthday tradition to run a set length of distance on his Christmas Eve birthday.
