When Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate, announced her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, on August 6, there were probably more than a few sighs of relief. At least she hadn’t chosen Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, a virulent Zionist who boasts of having once served in the Israeli occupation forces.
Pro-Palestinian protesters during Kamala Harris’ campaign visit to Detroit, August 8, 2024.
Any distancing from President Joe Biden’s full agreement with Israel by Vice President One could see Harris and Walz as conciliatory toward the mass movement in support of Palestine. Or toward public opinion, since polls show that a majority of people in the United States disapprove of Biden’s support of the Israeli massacres in the Gaza Strip.
But neither Harris nor Walz represent a significant departure from the anti-Palestinian position of “Genocide Joe.” The Democratic Party platform, released in July, reaffirms Washington’s “ironclad” support for Israel. As Middle East Eye points out, “The platform lists examples of Biden’s unwavering support for Israel’s war on Gaza, including sending arms shipments and providing a diplomatic shield for Israel at the United Nations during ceasefire votes and on concerns about human rights abuses.” (July 18)
And when it comes to supporting the Zionist state, as the saying goes, Democrats walk the talk. On August 10, the U.S. State Department notified Congress that the Biden administration had approved the release. $3.5 billion of the funds approved by Congress in April to arm Israel.
Al Jazeera reported: “Part of the new financial aid will go to an Israeli military unit accused of committing human rights abuses against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. The State Department said it had decided against sanctions against the unit – which would have been the first-ever blocking of aid to the Israeli military – and said it was satisfied with Israeli efforts to address ‘violations by that unit’, which had been ‘effectively remedied.'” (August 10)
When Harris rebuked pro-Palestinian protesters who disrupted her speech in Detroit, she was not speaking just for herself or her campaign. Phil Gordon, an adviser to the vice president, said on social media that “she does not support an arms embargo on Israel.” (motherjones.com, August 9) Harris’ position is the position of the Democratic Party. It is the position of the Republican Party. She has the general support of the US ruling class and its strategists.
Whatever other issues Democrats and Republicans may tactically disagree on, there has been unwavering bipartisan support for Israel since the establishment of the apartheid state in 1948. Even the few “progressive” Democrats in Congress have largely failed to go beyond calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. And they are a small minority that will become even smaller with the defeats of current Congressmen Jamaal Bowman and Cori Bush in the Democratic primaries – orchestrated and funded by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
Efforts to persuade the Harris/Walz team to adopt a pro-Palestinian stance or similar attempts to influence the Democratic Party platform have little to no chance of success unless they are accompanied by massive struggles.
This is because both the Democratic and Republican parties are capitalist political parties and are loyal to US imperialism and its most important ally in West AsiaIsrael.
Of course, there are reasons why millions of people want pro-fascist former President Donald Trump to lose in November. But right now, the most important commitment for the global working class, especially in the US, is to stop the genocide in Palestine. That means breaking with the so-called “two-party system,” strengthening the pro-Palestinian movement, and building international class solidarity.
