It was moving to see enthusiastic crowds waving “We (Love) Joe” signs as Biden passed the torch to Kamala Harris on the DNC’s electrifying first night. But it was completely insane to see them then use those same signs to desperately and surreally block a “Stop Arming Israel” banner unfurled by the ceasefire delegates, a handful of the country’s 740,000-plus undecided voters who argue that Harris must heed them morally and electorally because “Never Again” means “Never Again, for no one, anywhere, ever.”
More than 20,000 delegates packed the Democratic National Convention at the United Center in Chicago, where Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, the Obamas and other big names in the Democratic Party delivered pep talks to cheering crowds on Monday night. Jamie Raskin recalled the carnage of January 6 and the malevolent force behind it, criticizing “the sore loser who cannot take no for an answer from American voters, American courts or American women” and also “his favorite chameleon.” Pastor and Senator Raphael Warnock, whose speech Fox News (sic) along with other speakers of color, amazingly blocked, claimed, “One vote is a kind of prayer for the world we want for ourselves and our children, and our prayers are stronger when we pray together.” Hillary Clinton praised Harris for coming “so close” to “breaking the highest, hardest glass ceiling… once and for all.” Michigan State Senator Mallory McMorrow dragged a copy of the massive, evil Project 2025 onto the stage and declared, “Whatever you think, it’s so much worse.”
Abortion rights were a major focus of the issue. A Texas woman who was unable to have an abortion despite life-threatening pregnancy complications stressed that Americans must “vote like lives depend on it, because they do.” The ongoing genocide in Gaza, which has produced so much death and despair, received little mention. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez praised Harris for “working tirelessly to achieve a ceasefire (and) bring hostages home.” That was not enough for many, including 30 pro-ceedings delegates elected by voters in several states, including Wisconsin, Washington, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oregon and Pennsylvania. While they are far outnumbered by the more than 4,000 delegates who voted for Harris, they represent an estimated 740,000 undecided voters, including more than 100,000 in Michigan and thousands protesting outside. They are part of a national grassroots movement that insists Harris must “draw a line under” Israel and impose a ceasefire and arms embargo before anyone can vote for her in good conscience.
Months ago, the Uncommitted National Movement made several demands to Democratic leaders, one of which bore fruit on Monday when a first-ever panel discussion on Palestinian human rights was held, featuring James Zogby, founder of the Arab American Institute, Dr. Tanya Haj-Hassan, a pediatric intensive care physician with Doctors Without Borders who has treated patients in Gaza; and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress, a longtime Palestine activist and a vocal supporter of Tim Walz, with whom he has worked on high-profile criminal cases, including the murder of George Floyd. Undecided organizers, however, still want two Palestinian-American speakers on the convention’s main stage and have floated the names of several candidates; they have yet to hear back. Some are “cautiously optimistic” that Harris will ultimately change Gaza policy, and those who have met her call her “incredibly empathetic.” Still, they repeat, “That’s not enough… Palestinian children can’t eat words.”
At the convention, uncommitted delegates, many of them Jews, took part in a “ceasefire delegate training” and thoughtfully tried to explain their dilemma. “Nobody wants to see Trump win—we are an anti-fascist movement,” said one. “We are doing what we can to save the Democratic Party.” And, “Unity is great, but it cannot be achieved at the cost of Palestinian lives.” Several said they support Harris/Walz, “but we must vote according to our conscience.” Uncommitted’s Abbas Alawieh pointed to the need for concrete action, noting that even if Harris “feels differently in her heart, that will not win back voters. We need a plan, we need to know how the killing will stop.” He clarified that families of Hamas hostages would have time to speak, saying, “We certainly don’t want to take away their time to talk about their pain.” They simply wanted to force Democrats to swear, “Israelis and Palestinians are equally valued by this party.” Alawieh said, “We hope that as we ease the pain of one community, we will not silence another.”
The convention was stirring in many ways—its exuberance, its joyful signs of hope for a population emerging from an orange national nightmare, the renewed strength and clarity of Joe Biden as he told the crowd, “I love my job, but I love my country more.” He and others drew so much applause—his arrival was accompanied by a four-minute ovation—that the event was delayed more than an hour and James Taylor had to be canceled. Biden enjoyed the affection of the crowd, which chanted “Thank you, Joe” and “We love you,” he readily railed against Trump—“He promised infrastructure every week for four years and never built a damn thing”—he again denounced white supremacy in Charlottesville—“Hate has no safe harbor here”—and boasted, “We’ve had four years of some of the most extraordinary progress, and when I say ‘we,’ I mean Kamala and me.” But not everyone was so enthusiastic; Muslim delegates reported being stopped by DNC security who rudely took Palestinian flags from their pockets or denied them entry until they left them behind.
It was a hint of the ugliness to come. While Biden declared, “You can’t say you love your country unless you win,” some ceasefire delegates who had “infiltrated Hollywood’s tightly controlled, hermetically sealed coronation show” unfurled a banner in the colors of the Palestinian flag that read, “Stop Arming Israel.” Cue instant Zionist madness if anyone, Jewish or not, tries to challenge Israel. In a surreal spectacle, Democrats who supposedly support diversity, equality, and free speech rose up with guns and signs to freak out. Urged by frantic DNC staffers, “Guys!! Signs up!!” people rushed to hold up once-harmless “We Love Joe” signs to cover up the unsightly sight of a righteous demand that the US stop funding the murder of thousands of children in Gaza. One patriot started hitting hijab-wearing Nadia Ahmad on the head with his “Joe” sign; one stubbornly held a “USA” sign upside down in front of a camera filming the action. Two guys in suits eventually ripped the banner down. People around them cheered. Just WTF.
The frenetic denial of the blood-soaked reality of a party-sanctioned genocide stood in sharp, shameful contrast to Liano Sharon, an outspoken delegate from Michigan who was escorted from the hall for holding a banner condemning the genocide. (Sharon appears here in a longer version of the action.) As a Jew, he noted that the Democratic platform “calls for a quote-unquote ‘Jewish state,’ meaning an ethnic-nationalist state.” He added that the essence of such a state, of Zionism itself, boils down to “who can kill whom with impunity.” Like many of his comrades, he hopes to vote for Harris/Walz. But with over 700,000 undecided Democratic voters, ignoring the need for an arms embargo against the mass murder of children “could be electoral decisive.” Above all, he appeals to the Jewish commandment to “act wisely” and to remain true to the principles of his faith: “This is so important to me because I am Jewish and have always been raised to believe that ‘never again’ means ‘never again for anyone, anywhere, ever, period.'”
“Gam to l’tova.“ – Hebrew for “This too is for good.”
