demonstrations in Gaza threaten to overshadow Vice President Kamala Harris’s
As the demonstrations in Gaza threaten to overshadow Vice President Kamala Harris’s planned unity announcement as the party’s presidential contender, the Democratic National Convention is scheduled to begin on Monday.
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The Harris team is hoping that, in the wake of President Joe Biden’s shocking withdrawal from the race in July, the Chicago convention will be a joyous celebration.
However, some are concerned that a dispute inside the party about the Gaza War may jeopardize Democratic unity both during the convention and in the run-up to the November election, which is less than 80 days away.
On Thursday, the convention will come to an end when Ms. Harris accepts the party’s nomination in a traditional primetime speech.
This week, at the United Center in Chicago, President Joe Biden, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former President Barack Obama, other party heavyweights, and a star-studded cast of actors and entertainers will take the stage to applaud the vice president and intensify their criticism of her Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump.
However, it is still uncertain how the Democratic Party and the Harris campaign would address the delicate subject of Israel policy and the Gaza crisis.
A request for comments was not answered by the Harris campaign.
After Hamas launched an offensive on southern Israel on October 7,
Israel began a military campaign in Gaza with the goal of destroying the organization. In the historic attack, around 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage.
Israel has been under fire from throughout the world for the number of civilians it has killed during this war. Over 40,000 Palestinians have died since October, according to Gaza’s health ministry, which is controlled by Hamas.
Prior to her flight to Chicago on Sunday, Ms. Harris embarked on a bus tour of Western Pennsylvania. She hasn’t yet made her stance on Gaza and Israel known. Her fledgling campaign is under pressure to provide more information about her policy program, as it has only offered a few economic proposals thus far.
Nonetheless, she has demanded a halt to hostilities and the civil treatment of demonstrators at her events. She also recently claimed that “far too many” people had died, but she did not support the request made by some progressives for an arms embargo on Israel.
The “uncommitted” vote will be represented by just thirty-six delegates at the Democratic convention, but these delegates represent hundreds of thousands of disgruntled voters.
The more over 4,500 delegates who have pledged to support Ms. Harris will vastly outnumber these delegates, many of whom are veteran Democratic organizers.
Nevertheless, they declared that they planned to use the convention week to put pressure on their party and the Harris campaign to take action on Gaza.
“We are aware that this is a significant undertaking. “We are fighting against a forty-year-old US policy paradigm, and it won’t change overnight,” stated Samuel Doten, a Democratic organizer and “uncommitted” delegate.
A few “uncommitted” delegates stated that their goal was to persuade other attendees of the convention to endorse their letter.
The “uncommitted” vote will be represented by just thirty-six delegates at the Democratic convention, but these delegates represent hundreds of thousands of disgruntled voters.
The more over 4,500 delegates who have pledged to support Ms. Harris will vastly outnumber these delegates, many of whom are veteran Democratic organizers.
Nevertheless, they declared that they planned to use the convention week to put pressure on their party and the Harris campaign to take action on Gaza.
“We are aware that this is a significant undertaking. “We are fighting against a forty-year-old US policy paradigm, and it won’t change overnight,” stated Samuel Doten, a Democratic organizer and “uncommitted” delegate.
A few “uncommitted” delegates stated that their goal was to persuade other attendees of the convention to endorse their letter.
They earlier suggested that there could be 100,000 protesters in the streets, but they have since reduced that number to “many, many thousands” participating in a Gaza demonstration on Monday and “tens of thousands” in total by week’s end.
The “uncommitted” vote will be represented by just thirty-six delegates at the Democratic convention, but these delegates represent hundreds of thousands of disgruntled voters.
The more over 4,500 delegates who have pledged to support Ms. Harris will vastly outnumber these delegates, many of whom are veteran Democratic organizers.
Nevertheless, they declared that they planned to use the convention week to put pressure on their party and the Harris campaign to take action on Gaza.
“We are aware that this is a significant undertaking. “We are fighting against a forty-year-old US policy paradigm, and it won’t change overnight,” stated Samuel Doten, a Democratic organizer and “uncommitted” delegate.
A few “uncommitted” delegates stated that their goal was to persuade other attendees of the convention to endorse their letter.
The “uncommitted” vote will be represented by just thirty-six delegates at the Democratic convention, but these delegates represent hundreds of thousands of disgruntled voters.
The more over 4,500 delegates who have pledged to support Ms. Harris will vastly outnumber these delegates, many of whom are veteran Democratic organizers.
Nevertheless, they declared that they planned to use the convention week to put pressure on their party and the Harris campaign to take action on Gaza.
“We are aware that this is a significant undertaking. “We are fighting against a forty-year-old US policy paradigm, and it won’t change overnight,” stated Samuel Doten, a Democratic organizer and “uncommitted” delegate.
A few “uncommitted” delegates stated that their goal was to persuade other attendees of the convention to endorse their letter.
The DNC will also coincide with a consequential week for the US-mediated ceasefire talks – a key initiative in the Biden administration’s final months.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Israel on Sunday, and he will continue on to Cairo where it is expected that the talks will result in a decision on the effort.
The Biden White House has described the ceasefire talks as in their “final” stages, and this diplomatic reality could put Ms Harris and her campaign in a tenuous position.
As a current member of the US administration, it is difficult for her to stray from President Biden’s position on Gaza under normal circumstances. It is even more difficult with negotations potentially coming to a close.
Some close to her have said that, either way, a significant policy shift will not be forthcoming.
Halie Soifer, who was Ms Harris’s national security adviser in the Senate, said there was “no daylight between” Ms Harris’s views and Mr Biden’s.
“Her policy, which is the policy of this White House, is not changing,” said Ms Soifer, who now leads the Jewish Democratic Council of America.
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