Washington, DC – Vice President Kamala Harris says she will “not be silent” in the face of Palestinian suffering, as Israel’s war in Gaza rages on.
But Palestinian rights advocates want to know exactly what that means for United States foreign policy.
The vice president — and the Democrats’ likely nominee for the presidency — emphasised the plight of Palestinians in Gaza after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday. Nevertheless, she pledged ongoing support for Israel.
Activists say expressing sympathy for Palestinians without pursuing a meaningful shift away from the US’s policy of unconditional military and diplomatic support will not help Harris win back voters alienated by President Joe Biden’s approach to the war.
“Without an actual commitment to stop killing the children of Gaza, I don’t care about her empathy for them,” said Eman Abdelhadi, a sociologist at the University of Chicago. She stressed that the US bears “responsibility” for the atrocities committed against Palestinians.
“To be empathetic to someone that you’re shooting in the head is not exactly laudable. We don’t need empathy from these people. We need them to stop providing the weapons and the money that is actively killing the people that they’re supposedly empathising with.”
From a political perspective it’s amazing how much of a lose-lose this situation has been for Biden and now Harris. Half the country is calling him “Genocide Joe” for supporting Israel while the other is calling him antisemitic for supposedly abandoning Israel. To be fair I think one side is arguing in bad faith and these aren’t equally valid positions, but regardless not a soul in this country seems to be content with our current approach - even if it’s intended as some sort of compromise.
It’s not a lose-lose situation. Supporting israel is a loss because as we see they turn on Biden anyways by calling him antisemitic for wagging his finger a little bit while sending 2000 pound bombs for israel to drop on schools. Not supporting israel would have been a win.
Biden and the Democrats have not compromised. He is full on with israel on the Genocide side. There are no conditions to weapons, and the Biden admin lies daily that israel is not committing war crimes so they can violate Leahy law.
Withholding support to Israel would embolden the opposition here at home and have huge geopolitical implications abroad. I won’t argue over whether or not it’s the right thing to do, but I definitely wouldn’t characterize it as a “win” for any US administration.
If we don’t give Israel 2000 pound bombs to throw on hospitals it has huge implications abroad?
Yes.