Some California Democrats want an arms embargo on Israel. How far will they push Kamala Harris?

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CHICAGO — What will Kamala Harris do about the Gaza war if she’s elected president? To some Californians watching, the best indicator might be what she’s doing now.

The vice president seemed to take a stronger stance against Israel’s military response since Hamas’ attack on Oct. 7 — calling for a ceasefire before President Joe Biden did and skipped Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech before Congress in July. After meeting him, she said she pressed him for a ceasefire and pledged not to stay silent about the humanitarian crisis.

But then came her shutdown of Pro-Palestinian protesters at a campaign rally this month in Michigan. And, perhaps most importantly, she declined to support an arms embargo on weapons sold to Israel.

The mixed messaging has had mixed reactions from those who oppose the war at this week’s Democratic National Convention in Chicago, where the issue has sprung up in various ways — a panel on Palestinian human rights, some delegates wearing black and white keffiyehs in solidarity, and an arms embargo banner unfurled during Biden’s speech Monday night. 

Some delegates want the party platform to call for the arms embargo, though the one adopted on a voice vote Monday does not include it. 

Joseph Salas, a delegate from California, said he wants a stronger stand from Harris and wants to see the party acknowledge Palestinians’ loss of land in its platform. “We need to hold our elected officials accountable to the platform we write,” he said. 

Meanwhile, on the streets outside the United Center, hundreds of protestors are marching this week to send a message to Democratic leaders.

The demonstrators included Wassim Hage, a community leader with the San Francisco-based Arab Resource and Organizing Center, who traveled to Chicago not for the convention, but for the March on DNC, arranged by a coalition that included labor, gender justice and other groups. 

Hage said he sees an opportunity in activism from within the party and those on the outside: “We are watching the cracks in the Democratic Party establishment emerge, and I think our goal is to pressure those cracks, to make sure that support for Israel, support for Zionism in the short-term and the long-term is not, is not tenable for American politicians.” 

While ceasefire talks continue, as of this week, Israel’s military has killed 40,000 people, a quarter of them reported to be children, the Associated Press reports. 

According to the Council on Foreign Relations, since October, the United States has allocated at least $12.5 billion in military aid to Israel, and has provisionally agreed to provide Israel with $3.8 billion per year through 2028. As of June, the U.S. had pledged $674 million in humanitarian aid to Palestinians since October. 

For many attending the convention, the choice between Harris and former president Donald Trump is an obvious one — and one they’re excited about, donning Harris-emblazoned shirts and other fashion accessories. 

But for others for whom the conflict is central, the path forward weighs heavy. 

Sabrene Odeh, an uncommitted delegate from Washington state, said for her to vote for Harris, she wants to see tangible movement on the Gaza issue.

“A lot of folks have been talking about sympathetic words, feelings, vibes,” said Odeh, who is Palestinian. “That, unfortunately, doesn’t save lives, and we need lives saved now.” 

Even though the convention adopted the party platform, Liano Sharon, a delegate from Michigan, said some still plan to push for language that would include a ceasefire plus an arms embargo, which was a main point of contention during the public drafting phase, the Washington Post reports. 

The platform currently states that Democrats “commitment to Israel’s security, its qualitative military edge, its right to defend itself, and the 2016 Memorandum of Understanding is ironclad.”

The platform also states the party recognizes the worth of every innocent life, “whether Israeli or Palestinian.”

Separate from the platform push, delegates from around the U.S. are collecting signatures on a letter asking Harris to “turn the page on President Biden’s policy on Gaza.” One delegate who signed the letter Sunday said there were about 150 signatures at that point. 

In his convention speech Monday night, Biden said he’s “working around the clock” to end civilian suffering, “finally deliver a ceasefire and end this war.” He also said that protestors on the streets “have a point. A lot of innocent people are being killed, on both sides.”   

But delegates aren’t the only ones in action this week. 

Kitzia Esteva, an organizer with the Grassroots Global Justice Alliance from San Francisco, said that they flew to Chicago because the plight of Palestinians intersects with a lot of important movements. 

“The funding that goes to those things is in direct correlation to the funding we don’t receive for our communities, from things like healthcare, like access to reproductive care, like access to childcare,” they said.

“Yet we’re seeing billions upon billions of dollars going to killing and to literally breaking down the infrastructures of care that Palestinians have,” they said.

Esteva said Harris has a history of being pushed to support more progressive policies, including on climate issues: “I think all of those things didn’t happen because of the goodness of her heart or even her political leanings, but because we were a steady drum intervening and really pushing her to right side of history.” 

Fatima Iqbal-Zubair, chairperson of the California Democratic Party’s Progressive Caucus, told CalMatters last week that she had endorsed Harris and Vice President Tim Walz early on, despite her concerns about their stances on Gaza. 

Under Harris and Walz, she said, “a lot of vulnerable communities will keep their rights or have more rights.”