Democrat seeking clarity on Harris’s Gaza policy told to ‘shut up’
The Michigan Democratic Party has held an online call to ask delegates to support Kamala Harris for president, and an uncommitted delegate says some seeking clarity on Harris’s Gaza policy were told to fall in line.
Delegate Abbas Alawieh, an organiser with the Uncommitted Movement, told Mother Jones magazine he was told to “shut up” by another delegate after he tried to explain why some within the Democratic Party want explanations on Gaza policy before committing to Harris.
“That felt like a slap in the face to me – to be on the receiving end of explicitly anti-Palestinian vitriol and to have the leaders of our party be silent about it. I guess it’s symptomatic of the larger problem of devaluing Palestinians and Palestinian life,” Alawieh said.
Del. Abbas Alawieh, while pushing for a meeting with Vice President Kamala Harris to discuss her plans for the war in Gaza, was told to “shut up, asshole” during Democratic Party Zoom call. https://t.co/7IR9m8mQWn
— Mother Jones (@MotherJones) July 24, 2024
CNN wrote a big piece about Harris' stance on Gaza
Harris navigates Biden and Netanyahu as she considers her stance on Israel
https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/25/politics/kamala-harris-israel-policy/index.html
Not much conclusive in there, a lot of speculation. But there are signs change is coming.
The uncertainty about where she stands is high enough that second gentleman Doug Emhoff made a surprise appearance on a quickly organized Zoom call Wednesday afternoon hosted by the Jewish Democratic Council of America and Jewish Women for Kamala.
“Let me just make this clear: The vice president has been and will be a strong supporter of Israel as a secure democratic and Jewish state, and she will always ensure that Israel can defend itself, period. Because that’s who Kamala Harris is,” Emhoff said.
But change is coming, predicted Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy, a member of the Foreign Relations Committee who has been critical of Israel in this period and observed Harris’ foreign policy thinking when they served on the Senate Intelligence Committee together.
Emhoff is key
Harris’ connection to these issues is more than policy. It touches Emhoff’s daughter, who has been noticeably active on pro-Palestinian causes since October 7. It has come up at Seder dinners at the Naval Observatory. And more than anything, it is rooted in the second gentleman.
Emhoff has talked at length about feeling a sense of duty, not just when he became the first Jewish spouse of a vice president or president, and channeling that into helping develop the administration’s strategy to combat antisemitism. He’s also talked about how much pain he felt personally after October 7.
Ted Cruz slams Harris for not attending Netanyahu’s speech to US Congress
The US senator from Texas calls Kamala Harris, who is likely to be the Democratic candidate in November’s presidential election, “an extreme leftist”.
“She boycotted Prime Minister Netanyahu’s message to Congress because she represents the anti-Israel, pro-Hamas extremists who hate what our country stands for,” Cruz wrote on X after the vice president did not show up to watch Netanyahu’s speech on Wednesday because she was campaigning.
“It is a disgrace that she abdicated her duty and refused to attend,” he added.
Trump: Israel needs to end Gaza war ‘fast’ as bad ‘publicity’ mounts
Ex-President Donald Trump – one day before meeting Benjamin Netanyahu – called for a quick end to Israel’s war on Gaza and a return of its captives saying the US ally is “getting decimated” by bad publicity.
“I want him to finish up and get it done quickly, he’s got to get it done quickly,” Trump told Fox News.
“For whatever reason you have Jewish people out there wearing Yarmulkes and they’re, you know, pro-Palestine. You’ve never seen anything like this… They got to get this done fast because the world is not taking lightly to it, it’s really incredible.”
