By Bruce S. Ticker
PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania — “What we do believe is that they heard us,” Gaza protest organizer Hatem Abudayyeh told a New York Times reporter.
Sure, “they” – Democratic leaders – “heard” self-appointed activists for the Palestinians during the four-day Democratic National Convention. They heard Abudayyeh’s peers urge that a pro-Arab speaker address the convention, that the government impose an arms embargo on Israel and that a cease-fire go into effect to end the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
On the third day of the convention, Democratic leaders refused any speaking slot for a pro-Arab representative despite months of negotiations, protest leaders said. Nor have there been any of the policy changes that they demanded.
“There have been no changes made, there have been no statements made that are in line with what we want to happen,” complained Ashley Taylor-Gouge, a member of the Minnesota Anti-War Committee, as quoted in the Times.
The pro-Arab network has spent the past 5 ½ years pressuring Democrats to undermine Israel, forcing them to walk a tightrope between Israel-bashers and the Jewish community. Not now. A week ago, I was ready to suggest that their influence could be waning. No longer “could be.” It is waning. They have lost much of their credibility, and both protesters and high-level Democrats agree with that assessment, in so many words.
A relatively low turnout materialized for their demonstrations in Chicago last week. It was still a substantial amount of people, but far lighter than they expected.
“A small handful of people does not represent close to even a sliver of where the Democratic Party is right now,” declared Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Thursday, the last night of the convention, according to the Associated Press.
Protest organizer Taher Herzallah affirmed the national Democrats’ attitude, saying, “People are trying to employ different tactics because we recognize that after 10 months of being on the streets, we have to deploy different tactics to make sure we are being heard,” according to the Times.
They are being heard. None of us can avoid hearing it. Their problem is that much fewer Americans are buying it. Not “Free Palestine.” Not “globalize Intifada.”
First, they exposed their mobster-like operation during last spring’s campus harassment of Jewish students, installation of illegal encampments, seizure of buildings and resistance to police. Not to mention blocking already congested bridges, highways and airport entrances. Many threatened to ignore both Biden and former President Donald J. Trump at the polls, which could tip elections in swing states to Trump.
Then on July 21, President Biden endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee for president after dropping out of the race. Liberals, especially women, flooded a movement to elect Harris as president. Even those who sympathized with the Palestinians probably placed the Gaza war issue on the backburner. They have made it obvious that electing the first woman as president – one who will fight to enact liberal policies – is among their top priorities.
It would not surprise me if many Arab-American women vote for Harris rather than cast a protest vote for an independent candidate or not vote at all in standing up for the Palestinians. In Arab countries, subjugation of women is the rule, and that system has been exported here to some extent. This election will be a golden opportunity to rebel – if they are allowed to vote.
Biden and Harris both tossed verbal bones to protesters during their speeches at the DNC.
“Those protesters out in the streets, they have a point,” said Biden. “A lot of innocent people are being killed on both sides.”
What point do they have? Yes, many “innocent people” are being killed. We learned that once tragic events unfolded since Oct. 7, the day when Hamas murdered 1,200 Israelis in southern Israel and took 240 others hostage. That was followed by Israel’s response that killed thousands of Gazans. What did Biden say that should satisfy the pro-Arab activists?
Harris’ words did little to appease them: “I will always stand up for Israel’s right to defend itself and I will always ensure Israel has the ability to defend itself…the people of Israel must never again face the horror that a terrorist organization called Hamas caused on October 7.”
She then referred to Gazan deaths as “devastating” and described the “scale of suffering” as “heartbreaking.” She also said she hopes that “the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, security, freedom and self-determination.” Is that what they want? Hamas seeks to destroy Israel and at least some Palestinians feel that way. The Palestinian leadership has rejected proposals for a two-state solution in the past.
As evidence that activists recognize that their cause has weakened, two organizers cited the need to release Israeli hostages during a television interview. That is unusual. For almost 11 months, advocates for Gazans have typically ignored the plight of hostages and other examples of Israeli suffering.
That would be an attempt at respectability. Too late for most of us.
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Bruce S. Ticker is a Philadelphia-based columnist.
Hope you are right that the politics of domestic terror supporting Palestinianism is waning. The Campuses are reopening for the fall and the terrorists are still doing their thing at Schools across the country.
It would have been much more accurate if Harris had said the reason so many innocent Gazans have been killed in the fighting is because Hamas started a war against Israel. If Hamas had not been preparing and then carried out a war against Israel, none of the destruction and death in Gaza would have occurred.
Put the blame clearly where it belongs.
Harris did not.