What Harris needs to say about Gaza at the DNC to separate herself from Biden

When it comes to the suffering in Gaza, Vice President Kamala Harris is not President Joe Biden. The people Biden angered with his words, his policies and his “bear hug” of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu already get that. In fact, the leaders of Michigan’s “uncommitted” movement, who in February convinced more than 100,000 voters to not support Biden in the state’s presidential primary election, have made that very point. In 2020, nearly an estimated 69% of Arab or Muslim voters supported Biden.

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.”

Then, she added powerfully, “And I will not be silent.”

But the leaders of this movement, which also includes large numbers in other swing states, note that for Harris to truly inspire people, she needs to do more than change tone. She must articulate a new way forward. And the perfect place to do that is at this week’s Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

On the upside, the movement is already seeing results with the Democratic National Committee, on Day One of the convention, holding the first official panel to discuss Palestinian human rights. Panelists included Elabed, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and former Rep. Andy Levin, D-Mich. In advance, the uncommitted movement called the panel “an important step toward recognizing the rightful place of human rights advocates for Palestinian rights within the Democratic Party.”

And to Harris’ credit, she broke from Biden on his Gaza policy in early March, long before she became her party’s presidential nominee. At the annual commemoration of “Bloody Sunday” in Selma, Alabama, she became the most senior member of the Biden administration to publicly call for a cease-fire in the Gaza war. She spoke then of the “humanitarian catastrophe” in Gaza and said, “What we are seeing every day in Gaza is devastating. We have seen reports of families eating leaves or animal feed, women giving birth to malnourished babies with little or no medical care, and children dying from malnutrition and dehydration.” She poignantly added, “Too many innocent Palestinians have been killed.”

While Harris reiterated the Biden administration’s “unwavering” commitment to Israel’s security, at the same time, she criticized Netanyahu for imposing restrictions on humanitarian relief and said there can be “no excuses” for not allowing food, water and other supplies into Gaza.

Harris’ remarks were a far cry from Biden’s comments weeks after Hamas’ horrific Oct. 7 terrorist attack and Netanyahu’s brutal response that has killed thousands of civilians and collectively punished the more than 2 million people of Gaza. When he was asked then to respond to reports that nearly 2,700 Palestinian children had been killed by Israeli military action, Biden said coldly, “I have no notion that the Palestinians are telling the truth about how many people are killed.” Then he added, “I’m sure innocents have been killed, and it’s the price of waging a war.”

Since then, Biden has expressed far more compassion for Palestinian suffering, most notably at the State of the Union address where he spoke of the “heartbreaking” killing of “thousands and thousands” of “innocent women and children” and he has worked for a cease-fire. However, to many, Biden’s pivot comes across as less of an organic shift and more like a response to the political pressure. Not only was the uncommitted movement exerting such pressure, but polling from around that time showed that only 36 percent of Democrats approved of Netanyahu’s military actions in Gaza. Add to that, Biden was being vocally pressed to change course in Gaza by Black leaders who represented a core part of his base.

But Harris represents something unique for the 80 percent of Democrats who have long supported a cease-fire in Gaza. She is a person of color. For many in the Arab and Muslim community, she looks like family.

Both of her parents, as she notes in her book, “The Truths We Hold,” grew up under British colonial rule: her father in Jamaica and her mother in India. And it was her parents’ activism, especially her mother’s participation in the U.S. civil rights movement, that inspired her to become active in politics. Harris’ family history enables her — in a way that Biden cannot — to viscerally understand the pain of a people, in this case the Palestinians, seeking self-determination and equal rights. 

I have heard an openness to voting for Harris from many in the Arab and Muslim community — some of whom had vocally opposed Biden because of his Gaza policy. They applaud her words, but policy matters far more. Mayor Abdullah Hammoud of Dearborn, Michigan, made that point on NPR after praising Harris’ criticism of Netanyahu. “What we want is more than just someone who is tough on rhetoric,” he said. “We want somebody who is tough on policy.”

The Democratic convention is the perfect platform for Harris to address this.

She needs to use this moment to share a policy-based vision for going forward. She needs to expound upon the comments she made after meeting Netanyahu last month, when she spoke of ensuring that “the Palestinian people can exercise their right to freedom, dignity and self-determination.” Consistent with that, she could condition aid to Israel based on committing to a two-state solution.

Harris could also vow to enforce the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, which requires that any security assistance or military equipment provided to another country by the United States be used in accordance with internationally recognized human rights. This is the very law that Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and other Democrats want enforced against Netanyahu’s administration.

And the list goes on of possible policy prescriptions Harris could announce to show a commitment beyond words, including a potential arms embargo if Netanyahu refuses to use U.S.-supplied weapons in accordance with international law, or she could promise to no longer protect Netanyahu and his administration before the U.N. Security Council by vetoing resolutions that target his government. She could also vow to impose additional U.S. sanctions on extreme settlers engaged in violence directed at Palestinians in the West Bank — where my relatives live.

We all get that former President Donald Trump would be far worse for the Palestinian people and for our communities here in the United States. As president, Trump delivered all the right-wing wishes of Netanyahu, including moving the U.S.embassy to Jerusalem, no longer viewing Israeli settlements in the West Bank as illegal — despite international law to the contrary — and cutting hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to agencies that provide vitally needed assistance to Palestinian refugees. And during his 2024 campaign, Trump has not only cheered on Netanyahu’s war in Gaza but has used the term “Palestinian” as a slur to describe Biden and even Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

Few in the uncommitted camp — if any — will vote for Trump. But inspiring the hundreds of thousands of Arabs and Muslims and our allies in swing states from Michigan to Georgia to Wisconsin to Pennsylvania will take more than good vibes from Harris. It will take a well-articulated policy.