Kamala Harris is walking a fine line on the Gaza conflict

Pro-Palestinian organizers have vowed to flood the streets of Chicago with thousands of protesters during the Democratic National Convention, which [began Monday]. If successful, they will make headlines, but they also will almost certainly alienate allies as they attempt to box in Vice President Kamala Harris on Gaza.

Harris has already taken a firmer stand than President Joe Biden in demanding Israel focus its attacks on Hamas rather than the Palestinian people. 

She made a point of skipping Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s July address to a joint session of Congress. Later, after she met with him privately at the White House, she used tougher language than Biden had ever used when talking about the Israeli leader.

“We cannot allow ourselves to be numb to the suffering, and I will not be silent,” Harris said. While Israel has a right to defend itself, “how it does so matters.”

Also read: Harris Taps Ex-Mideast Negotiator as Liaison to Jewish Voters

Elianne Farhat, a senior adviser to the Uncommitted National Movement, told me she was encouraged by Harris’ words. “I’m hearing a real shift in tone, a renewed commitment to a cease-fire in Gaza since she took over,” Farhat said.

The uncommitted movement has evolved rapidly since I travelled to Detroit in February, where its forerunner, Listen to Michigan, was just starting to organize. Now active in nine states, Uncommitted will send 30 delegates to the convention. 

While that’s a fraction of the nearly 5,000 convention delegates who will be in Chicago, it represents more than 650,000 voters nationwide. About half of those primary votes came from key swing states. In 2020, Biden beat Trump by just over 20,000 votes.

Since those heady days, little has happened to alter Biden administration policy or the trajectory of the war.

On 10 August, Israeli forces bombed a school being used as a shelter, killing more than 100 Palestinians, including children. The Israeli military said it was targeting Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants it claimed were operating in the school. 

[Last week], the Biden administration—of which Harris remains part—approved $20 billion in arms sales to Israel that include fighter jets and advanced missiles.

Harris faces the same pincer that trapped Biden and split his base. On one side is a decades-long allyship with a nation that provides a strategic toehold in an often hostile region. 

On the other is a mounting humanitarian crisis in which that ally has slaughtered tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians in its rush to destroy Hamas and seek vengeance for the brutal 7 October Hamas-led attack on Israel.

Yet Harris must somehow forge her own path. She has maintained ties with pro-Israel groups, but she also hired Nasrina Bargzie, an Afghan American lawyer and refugee, to lead Muslim and Arab voter outreach for her campaign.

Also read: Harris’s support for Gaza cease-fire hints at foreign-policy shift

Harris has taken a tougher line with Netanyahu, but she has also shown that she won’t be pushed around by protesters. When protesters disrupted a campaign rally in Detroit, Harris at first listened, noting that everyone’s voice matters. But when they continued to disrupt her speech, Harris fired back, “If you want Donald Trump to win, then say that. Otherwise, I’m speaking.”

The crowd erupted in cheers, which was the first serious indication that the protesters may have crossed the line with those whose sympathy they had hoped to earn.

Democrats who are excited about a Black woman potentially becoming president, who eagerly await a new political chapter, and who fear a second Trump administration may be unwilling to risk it all by forcing Harris into an untenable position on Gaza.

Farhat and other organizers need that broader coalition to amplify their own voices. Polls have shown that most Americans are revulsed by the carnage and growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza. They favour a cease-fire and a return of the hostages. Are they willing to make a complete break with Israel over it? Unlikely.

Imam Mika’il Stewart Saadiq, who leads the Muslim Center mosque in Detroit, told me in February that he was “a big Biden guy” in 2020 and was proud to use his influence to turn out the vote. But he became disillusioned over Gaza. Now Saadiq tells me he is “truly excited about Kamala Harris becoming president.”

Also read: Harris Doesn’t Support Halting Arms Flow to Israel, Aide Says

Harris appears prepared to take a tougher stand with Netanyahu. Making weapons and other US support conditional on clear passage of humanitarian aid to the region would be a good start. But Palestinian supporters must recognize that to do anything at all, Harris must first win. ©bloomberg