You Can’t Be Both a Zionist and a Kamala Harris Supporter
The anniversary of Oct. 7, the date upon which Hamas brutally murdered 1,200 people and took over 250 hostages, was just upon us. The only thing that should have been discussed by our so-called leaders on that anniversary was the absolute tragedy that befell the Jewish people on Simchat Torah. It should have been solely a day to memorialize the innocent people who lost their lives. It should have been solely a day to spark a renewed effort to get back our hostages. It should not have been a day for politics or mentioning “both sides” of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Kamala Harris apparently disagrees with this very basic notion. On the anniversary of Oct. 7, after planting a pomegranate tree in an alleged show of support for the Jewish people, Harris issued an extremely tone-deaf statement. After doing the bare minimum by talking about the atrocities of the day and asserting that Israel has the obvious right to defend itself from Hamas, she brought up politics:
I am heartbroken over the scale of death and destruction in Gaza over the past year — tens of thousands of lives lost, children fleeing for safety over and over again, mothers and fathers struggling to obtain food, water, and medicine. It is far past time for a hostage and ceasefire deal to end the suffering of innocent people. And I will always fight for the Palestinian people to be able to realize their right to dignity, freedom, security, and self-determination.
Of course, it is tragic that civilian lives were lost on the Palestinian side during this war. War is always tragic, and unfortunately, civilians die on both sides. However, Oct. 7 is far from the time and place to mention that.
Kamala’s shaky foreign policy regarding Israel has been apparent throughout her discourse on this war. Although Israel already does everything possible to avoid civilian casualties, Kamala continuously contends that they need to do more. At a conference in Dubai just two months after Oct. 7, Harris claimed that Israel must do “more” to protect civilian life in Gaza, and even almost accused Israel of war crimes, saying that “as Israel defends itself, it matters how. The United States is unequivocal: international humanitarian law must be respected. Too many innocent Palestinians have been killed.” Furthermore, in March, Harris gave a speech in Selma, Alabama and called for a six-week temporary ceasefire due to “the immense scale of suffering in Gaza.” She again said that “the Israeli government must do more to significantly increase the flow of aid. No excuses.”
The notion that Israel does not do enough to protect Palestinian civilians is absurd. A major reason that Palestinians have suffered so many casualties is because Hamas hides behind their own civilians. IDF Lt. Col. Amnon Shefler told reporters at the Israeli embassy, “I can show you endless amounts of pictures and videos of how rockets are being manufactured in schools, hosted in schools, shot from schools, mosques and homes. We’ve found rockets and ammunition underneath baby girls’ beds and also in hospitals, sadly.” Despite all this, Israel launched a texting system to let Gazan civilians know which areas they were planning on bombing and when so civilians could safely evacuate. Furthermore, the IDF risks the lives of its soldiers by manually clearing schools and hospitals instead of bombing them in order to avoid unnecessary casualties.
Clearly, Kamala knows little to nothing about the situation in the Middle East. Her hypocrisy in calling for Israel to do more is mindblowing, considering that the Biden-Harris administration has done virtually nothing to recover the 250+ hostages who were kidnapped by Hamas. The current administration has proven how little they care for any Israeli life by failing to recover our hostages, thereby empowering terrorists who have faced no consequences for their actions.
Aside from inanely calling for Israel to do more, Harris has also expressed sympathy for pro-Palestinian protesters on college campuses, despite the fact that many of these “protests” are fronts for violent antisemitic behavior. This was demonstrated in an interview with The Nation, when Kamala said, “There are things some of the protesters are saying that I absolutely reject, so I don’t mean to wholesale endorse their points. But we have to navigate it. I understand the emotion behind it.” Lending even some plausibility to college protests that devolve into terrible antisemitic behavior is extremely inappropriate.
Recently, Kamala has upped her anti-Israel rhetoric even more. On Oct. 17, while addressing students at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, a student in a keffiyeh interrupted her speech to heckle her about the “genocide” in Gaza. After security escorted the protester out of the room, Kamala responded by saying “Listen, what he’s talking about, it’s real. It’s real.” Many have interpreted this to mean that she was agreeing with the protester who called what was happening in Gaza a genocide. Not only is this absurdly anti-Israel, but it is antisemitic as well. As former U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman said, “Her view is as ignorant as it is malign … To give credence publicly to this disgusting blood libel disqualifies Harris from holding any public office, let alone the presidency.”
Aside from Harris’s rhetoric, there have been whispers of her translating her anti-Israel sentiment into action. In September, Rep. Ro Khanna hinted at this by saying that although Kamala had not directly articulated her views to him, the Harris team has “expressed openness to a new direction” regarding conditioning U.S. aid to Israel. The Washington Post also reported that “those familiar with conversations between Harris and Gordon say she could be open to imposing conditions on some aid to Israel.” For Jews who support Israel, this statement is very frightening. The Biden-Harris administration has already halted a weapon shipment to Israel. That same Washington Post article says that “despite her public support for Biden’s position, her private comments and concerns as the war has unfolded suggest she would be open to challenging Israel more directly.” Given that Harris seems to be far more critical of Israel than Biden, it is terrifying to think about even larger restrictions that could potentially be placed on U.S. aid to Israel if Harris is elected president.
Aside from Kamala’s views on Israel, it would be impossible to analyze a possible Harris administration’s stance without delving into the stance of her vice presidential pick, Tim Walz. Walz has issued rhetoric similar to Kamala’s about Israel. In a statement regarding the war, although Walz mentioned the Oct. 7 tragedy and paid lip service to Israel’s right to defend itself, he then denounced Israel’s actions and said, “... but we can’t allow what’s happened in Gaza to happen.” He called the situation a “humanitarian crisis,” thereby implying that Israel was responsible for it. Furthermore, he neglected to mention Hamas, the very perpetrator of the war, even once in this statement. He only corrected himself in a statement later. Furthermore, CNN reported that Walz repeatedly hosted an antisemitic Muslim extremist, Imam Asad Zaman, who announced his unwavering support for Palestinians in the immediate aftermath of Oct. 7, and posted a neo-Nazi film that praised Hitler in 2015. In 2016, Zaman also spread a link to a Hamas press release that mourned the death of a man who was convicted of genocide, rape, and torture. Despite this, the Walz gubernatorial administration awarded $100,000 in grants to the Muslim American Society of Minnesota, which is led by this same Muslim extremist, Imam Asad Zaman.
To vote for a Harris-Walz administration would be to vote for an administration that is inherently anti-Israel, and consequently, antisemitic. Harris has proven time and time again through her speech and non-action in the Biden administration that no matter how much she claims otherwise, she does not actually have unwavering support for Israel. She has denounced Israel, done nothing for our hostages, expressed sympathy for pro-Palestininan protests, hinted at conditioning aid to Israel and selected an anti-Israel vice presidential pick. For these reasons, it is oxymoronic for someone to call themselves a supporter of Israel and a supporter of Harris. If you are someone who wants what is best for Israel, I urge you to vote against Harris in the upcoming election cycle.
Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore / Wikimedia Commons
Photo Caption: Kamala Harris and Tim Walz campaigning in Arizona
