Less than three weeks from the election, Kamala Harris is campaigning in Michigan. Will she lose votes over the Biden administration’s support for Israel’s war on Gaza and expanding war on Lebanon? Meanwhile, Republican candidate Donald Trump has opened a new campaign office in the swing state.
“It feels like Vice President Harris is not doing what it takes to be both humane and compassionate and sensitive to the political realities in Michigan that are necessary to engage with in order to beat Donald Trump,” says Abbas Alawieh, co-founder of the “uncommitted” movement to change U.S. policy toward Israel and Gaza. “What are we even talking about as Democrats if we speak so much to the value of human life, of the dignity of workers, when our party’s official policy is to send more and more weapons to a fascist government that is on a killing spree?”
It sure seems like Biden is slighting her campaign by giving a 30 day window for Israel to commit more violations of International Humanitarian Law before any possibility of repercussions like a withdrawal for aid. Having a window means acknowledging that Israel is violating IHL, so making it 30 days is an insane thing to do. It could just as easily been 1 day, and still can.
If I’m being an optimist, I hope Harris breaks from Biden and somehow strong-arms the Biden camp to shrink the window to before the end of the election and initiate conditional millitary aid or an arms embargo. Showing a clear divergence between Harris and Biden on the issue of Israel. That has the potential to swing the election.
Same thoughts here. I don’t have much faith in a dramatic change at the 11th hour, since I feel like Harris is really a lot more establishment than she wants people to believe while she’s out campaigning, but I am holding out some shred of hope that she might see reason and change course with enough pressure, which is more than I can say for the alternative.