Democrats Must Stop Insulting Palestinian Voters If They Want to Win

Despite what many might say, genocide is not a “single issue” or an isolated phenomenon. It is a devastating sequence of events that fundamentally changes the way you see the world. If the Democrats lose the next presidential election, it will not be the fault of the Palestinians and Palestinian Americans who have begged and pleaded with our elected officials for months to stop killing our families.

The opposition of ordinary Americans to this genocide has been used to justify an authoritarian assault on our civil rights and freedoms, especially freedom of speech and assembly. Democrats warn of the 2025 Project and wax poetic about impending “fascism,” but the truth is that a fascist crackdown is already underway against the Palestinian movement, especially if you are a person of color. In recent months, I have watched my friends on college campuses across the country be arrested, evicted, and suspended for advocating for Palestinian liberation. Across the country, Palestinians are being forced to fundraise tens of thousands of dollars through social media and grassroots campaigns so that their relatives can be safely evacuated through the Rafah crossing on the Egyptian border, all to avoid the violence that is being funded by American tax dollars.

As hate crimes against Arabs, Muslims, and Palestinians have risen across the country, Democrats have remained largely silent. There is endless outrage over the chants of protest, but when it comes to Columbia students being attacked with dangerous chemicals, or a Muslim Stanford student being hit by a car, there is little, if any, resistance from Democrats. Democrats were among those who cheered and applauded Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his address to Congress last month, as if they were at a Taylor Swift concert rather than a speech by an internationally convicted war criminal.

To suggest that we should simply expect Kamala Harris to do better on Palestine, or that we should simply expect Democrats to do the right thing, is ludicrous, given Biden and Harris’s record on Palestine.

Harris cannot expect to win over Arab, Muslim, and Palestinian voters if her approach to Palestine remains the same as Biden’s or if her supporters treat Gaza as an expendable issue, alien to their lives.

Kamala Harris supporters are reporting Palestinian Americans to the FBI, simply for opposing the Biden-Harris administration’s approach to Palestine. Tim Walz, Harris’s vice presidential pick, is being hailed as the Palestinians’ personal savior despite refusing to meet with his Palestinian constituents. To this day, Harris’s campaign has no detailed policy position on Palestine and no plan for an arms embargo on Israel. All we get is a donation link, Charli XCX memes, and the candidate talking down to Palestinians who dare to protest her.

Many people have responded to the Harris and Gaza controversy by saying that foreign policy is not their priority and that they are focused on domestic issues. But whether most Americans want to accept it or not, foreign policy AND domestic politics. Aside from the fact that presidents have far more power over foreign affairs than domestic affairs, every single taxpayer dollar spent on bombs and weapons aimed at Gaza is money that could have been spent on the American people, on health care, on education, on investing in our communities. And the mass arrests that we are seeing across the country, thousands of college students and graduates across the country, in response to the Gaza solidarity encampments on university lawns, have occurred under a Democratic president.

Harris made some seemingly empathetic statements about Palestine. But the people of Gaza don’t need empathy. They need the bombs to stop falling and the Rafah crossing to be opened. Palestinians need aid to arrive quickly and critical infrastructure, water treatment centers, and hospitals to be repaired immediately. Palestinians no longer need to be forced to pay exorbitant fees from the Egyptian government just so their loved ones can get to safety. They need a massive influx of medical professionals and supplies into Gaza to address a healthcare system that is in ruins.

Ignoring these urgent needs will prolong Palestinian suffering in Gaza while alienating Arab, Muslim, and Palestinian voters in the United States. Continuing to disrespect these voting groups will alienate some of the most loyal and consistent Democratic voters, who will likely vote for a third party or stay home altogether. Bullying and patronizing Palestinians is not a winning campaign strategy.

To consider voting for Kamala Harris, I would need to see a substantial shift in her administration’s approach to Palestine. There is an urgent need for continued and sustained voter pressure on the Democratic Party. Mere platitudes and performative gestures will not suffice. To those who say I am too harsh or should just go along with it, no candidate, elected official, or government is above criticism or criticism. If Kamala Harris truly wants to win the presidential election, she will realize that the death and destruction we are witnessing in Gaza must stop.