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August’s Democratic National Convention in Chicago saw Kamala Harris officially confirmed as the party’s presidential nominee for November’s election, alongside her chosen running mate Tim Walz. There was a real sense of energy and optimism palpable even from television footage of the speeches, and relief that the party now has a candidate who can finish sentences and ‘remain upright’ for extended periods of time.
This optimism was compounded by Kamala Harris’ excellent choice of running mate in Tim Walz, the political equivalent of Mister Rogers, who is not only admired across all wings of the Democratic Party, but who has a wonderful record of policy achievements as governor of Minnesota. Moreover, Harris’ policy agenda so far – on domestic issues like taxation and the economy – is pleasantly surprising.
However, a conspicuous stain on the current Democratic administration, of which Harris is a part as the Vice President, was exposed when speakers at the convention tried to address the ongoing war in Gaza whilst simultaneously maintaining a united front of smiley faces in praise of Harris and current President Joe Biden. When a reasonable request by uncommitted delegates to give a speaking slot at the convention to a Palestinian American was subsequently denied, it only confirmed that the image of unity behind Harris was being prioritised over the possibility of any uncomfortable truths slipping through the filter.
The hypocrisy over this issue was most glaring in the speech by progressive congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who debased herself and drew condemnation from the Left after she lauded Harris for ‘working tirelessly’ to secure a ceasefire in Gaza – the first mention of the issue at the convention. This was a barefaced lie.
Since the 7th of October last year, Israel has reduced Gaza to rubble, displacing over two million people within a blockaded strip of land a little bigger than Birmingham. It has committed war crimes throughout this period, more or less undisguised. So far, official figures put the death toll from Israel’s onslaught at over 40,000 people, mostly Palestinian civilians. A Lancet study published in July estimated that even with an immediate ceasefire the famine, disease and total collapse of public infrastructure precipitated by Israel, along with the people as yet unaccounted for beneath the rubble, could bring the true death toll to over 180,000.
The gruesome war is currently under investigation by the International Criminal Court as a plausible genocide, and ICC prosecutors have requested international arrest warrants for leading Israeli politicians, as well as Hamas leaders responsible for the terrorist attacks of October 7th.
However, the attacks have only been made possible because of the acquiescence of the Biden administration in the US. As a leading ally of Israel and the main supplier of its weapons, Netanyahu and his cabinet could not have continued their campaign for so long without the blessing of Washington.
At no point since last October has President Biden threatened to halt the $3.8 billion a year in military aid that the US has been routinely doling out to Israel since 2016 – though his administration did briefly pause some shipments of ‘high-payload munitions’ when Israel launched its offensive into Rafah in May. But only a week before Democratic Party politicians lined up to pay lip service to the idea of a ceasefire at their convention, Biden approved a new $20 billion weapons package to Israel. This alone proves that he isn’t remotely interested in achieving a ceasefire; if he was, he could’ve done so with a single phone call.
While continuing to give Netanyahu blank cheques to push on with his war efforts, Biden and his State Department were quick to wag their fingers the ICC prosecutors seeking to hold Israeli leaders accountable.
Kamala Harris, far from ‘working tirelessly’ to secure a ceasefire, seems thus far not to have departed an inch from Biden’s position. One could argue that as his Vice President, she can hardly be expected to call her boss a war criminal or brief against him to the press. She must also account for the political reality that the Israel lobby is an incredibly powerful force in US politics. But one might have hoped that as the new Democratic nominee for president, and having watched support for Biden collapse among Arab Americans over recent months, she would have set out a different approach.
To the contrary, beyond a few minor differences in rhetorical emphasis, she has remained in lockstep with the incumbent president. Since Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential race in July, she has repeatedly rejected calls to suspend arms sales to Israel. Forget ‘working tirelessly,’ how about doing the barest minimum? Without such a change in course, Harris is unlikely to win back many of those alienated by Biden’s Gaza policy, and as recent polling has shown, would risk throwing away winnable votes in key swing states like Pennsylvania, Georgia and Arizona.
Perhaps I’m just an obstinate and uncompromising lefty, but I consider supporting Israel’s war efforts in Gaza – tacitly or explicitly – to be a red line. I don’t care how lovable Tim Walz is, or about Harris’ plan to raise corporation tax, or her housing policy offering financial support to first-time buyers, if she’s going to maintain US complicity in what I believe to be one of the worst crimes against humanity in living memory.
I was as relieved as anybody else when Joe Biden withdrew from the 2024 race, because I don’t want to see Donald Trump re-elected. But unless Kamala Harris commits to ending the war, ending the illegal occupation of Gaza and the West Bank and recognising the state of Palestine, all of which she will have the leverage to achieve as the US President, then she cannot command the support of anybody with a conscience.
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