Gaza Protests Must Proceed at DNC

UPDATE; This article in SLATE gives a detailed summary of what has happened at the Gaza Protests so far (Wed. Aug. 21). It has been mostly uneventful and peaceful.

Thousands of activists will gather to protest the War in Gaza at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago this week. They will be protesting the Biden Administration’s military and financial support for Israel. The Biden Administration has supplied Israel with weapons in the midst of its war with Palestinians in Gaza. This military and financial support amounts to aiding and abetting the displacement, bombing and genocide of Palestinians. The death toll of Palestinians has risen to over 40,000, more than 13,000 of them children. The Gaza protests at the DNC could push Vice President Harris to reverse the policies of the Biden Administration toward Israel and protect the Palestinians.

Vice President Harris has already signaled that she is formulating a different policy toward Israel than her predecessor. Harris refused to attend Netanyahu’s speech to Congress in July, even though as Vice President she is President of the Senate, the most senior Senate position. Her deliberate absence spoke volumes.

Harris has not publicly criticized Biden’s policy on Gaza, but she has been more explicit about “the scale of human suffering” among Palestinians, saying she “will not be silent” and that a two-state solution must ensure Palestinians “can exercise their right to freedom, dignity, and self determination.” Harris called for a ceasefire of the attack on Gaza in March, three months before the Biden Administration did(Opendemocracy.net)

As Abbas Alawieh, a co-founder of the uncommitted movement, said at a recent news conference, “There are early indications that there is an openness to engaging with our movement that feels like a shift from how our requests were being treated previously.” Layla Elabed, another co-founder, counted it a positive sign that Harris’ comments after meeting with Netanyahu in July included mention of the horrific suffering of Palestinians in Gaza. Harris pointed to “the images of dead children and desperate, hungry people fleeing for safety, sometimes displaced for the second, third, or fourth time … We cannot allow ourselves to become numb to the suffering,” adding:  said there can be “no excuses” for not allowing food, water and other supplies into Gaza. (MSNBC).

As a Buddhist, I fully support the Gaza protest at the DNC, and subsequent protests that may erupt on college campuses this fall. We must do what we can to call attention to and put an end to the suffering and genocide of the Palestinians in Gaza, advocate for their human rights and their right to a sovereign Palestinian state. 

Some Democrats fear that the Gaza protests at the DNC will hurt Vice President Harris’ chances of winning the election in November, throwing the election to Trump, MAGA and Project 2025. A Trump victory would be devastating to millions of Americans, especially to millions of migrants that Trump has sworn to arrest, detain in prison camps, and deport on Day 1 of his administration. Trump’s stance on Gaza is “Israel must finish the job”, that is, eradicate the Palestinian state. A Trump administration, run by White Christian Nationalists, would all but ensure the complete annihilation of the Palestinians in Gaza.

But I don’t share this fear. In this election season of surprises, I actually think the Gaza Protests at the DNC will help Kamala Harris and the Democrats. While the Democratic Convention is going on in Chicago, Trump and Vance will be touring the country to stage a mockery tour of the Convention and attack Kamala Harris. But with the protests at the DNC in Chicago erupting at the same time, all the attention of the Press will be on the Gaza Protest, not on the mockery tour. Most of the Press’ attention will be inside the convention center, focused on Harris; or it will be outside the convention center, focused on the Gaza Protests. Trump will be left with at best a 30-second sound clip. This will be enough to push Trump’s malignant narcissism over the edge into complete insanity. The one thing that Trump hates more than anything is that Kamala, an accomplished and powerful Black South Asian woman, gets more press coverage than he does.

Likewise, I also don’t believe that the Gaza protests, on the whole, will move the needle against Kamala Harris’ campaign for President. As the Presidential election continues in the fall, and protests erupt on college campuses, most of the Press attention will be on the Harris campaign and the protests that target her, not on Donald Trump. When he loses the Press, he loses his mind, and then he loses the race.

Many people compare the planned protests at the DNC in Chicago to the mass protest of the Viet Nam War in 1968, also at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. But here’s where history does not repeat itself. In 1968, Americans had much more at stake in the Viet Nam War. In response to the protests of Chicago ’68, approximately two-thirds of Americans supported the repression of the DNC protests, one-third of Americans supported the DNC protests. (Roper Center). Nonetheless, the American public had some sympathy for the protest against the Viet Nam War in 1968 because it was American soldiers who were drafted to fight that war, against their will. American sons, husbands and brothers were sent to fight and die in a war that many Americans did not support.

In many ways, the war in Gaza is quite different. Although US arms and money have been sent to Israel, no American soldiers or civilians have been forced to fight and die in that war against their will. Americans have supported providing humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians, while 64% disapprove of sending any more weapons to Israel during the war. (Gallup Poll, March 2024). However, public objection to military support to Israel does not amount to mass disapproval of the US Administration’s role in the war (Pew Research March 2024). Although Palestinian Americans have grieved the suffering and loss of their relatives and comrades in Gaza, most Americans have been spared the grief of personal losses in the war. Thus, it’s unlikely that there will be broad public support for the protests at the DNC this time around.

Keep in mind that the Gaza Protest will not be the only one at the DNC; there are planned protests by groups representing the homeless, migrants, LGBT rights, reproductive rights, and others. This will diversify the crowd that assembles at the DNC, which will help to ensure a peaceful demonstration.

I support the protests of the Palestinian Genocide at the Democratic National Convention this week, and all the other groups and issues that will be represented. Though I do not believe the Gaza protests will seriously affect Kamala Harris’ chance of winning the election, and in fact might actually help her, we will know the upshot of this protest movement very shortly in the weeks ahead.