Democrats navigate divide on Gaza conflict

CHICAGO — Beneath Democrats’ celebration of broad party unity and enthusiasm this week lie intraparty divisions over Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza that Republicans are already trying to exploit.

Party leaders insist that most Democrats support the Biden administration’s handling of the Israeli offensive against Hamas and that the opposition represents too small a faction to significantly cut into support for Vice President Kamala Harris, their new presidential candidate.

But as Democrats began their national party convention Monday, thousands of pro-Palestinian and leftist protesters marched near the United Center, a day after about a thousand marchers filed down Michigan Avenue along Chicago’s downtown on Sunday.

The party also faces attempts by former President Donald Trump, the GOP presidential nominee, and Republicans to erode Democrats' typically high support among Jewish voters by questioning whether antisemitism led Harris to bypass Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, an observant Jew, as her vice presidential candidate.

Democrats are trying to address both sides by giving speaking slots to both Jewish and Muslim Democrats — including Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff, who is Jewish, and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, who is Muslim.

They scheduled for the first time a Democratic National Convention panel on Palestinian human rights on Monday that drew praise from Abbas Alawieh, a co-founder of the uncommitted movement and an uncommitted delegate from Dearborn, Michigan.

Shapiro spoke to reporters at the convention Monday and denied that antisemitism kept him off of the ticket.

“Let me also be very clear here, antisemitism played absolutely no role in my dialogue with the vice president. Absolutely not,” he said. “It is also true that antisemitism is present in our commonwealth, in our country and in some areas within our party. And we have to stand up and speak out against that.”

Not all Democrats think the anti-Israel movement will be a potent force in the November election, including some members of the New York delegation who gathered for a breakfast program Monday morning.

“I don't know what exactly they want. Harris has said she’s actively for a cease-fire, and she's expressed sympathy and doing what she can for Palestinians in Gaza,” said Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-Manhattan), a long-serving member of the House.

But state Assemb. Michaelle Solages (D-Elmont), a convention delegate, acknowledged that it is a “tough decision” for Democrats to decide what to do about the Israel-Hamas war that Gaza health authorities say has taken some 40,000 lives in response to the Oct. 7 attacks that killed 1,200 Israelis.

“It’s important that we listen to both paradigms,” Solages told Newsday. “It's important that we bring home those who were abducted and are captive still. And then we have to ensure that we're stopping Hamas and having a pathway towards peace and a cease-fire.”

She added, “But at the end of the day, I feel like this administration is at least listening to a concern.”

Lawrence Levy, a political analyst and executive dean of Hofstra University’s National Center for Suburban Studies, said it is a “very complicated issue.”

“In what is shaping up to be a close election, perceptions over the Israel-Hamas war have the potential to affect the outcome in at least several swing states, particularly those with significant populations of Jews and Muslims,” he said.

“And there is really no way for the Democrats to please everyone — those, for instance, who feel the Biden administration has been too supportive of Israel and those who feel he has not been supportive enough — and completely neutralize the impact,” Levy told Newsday.

“The convention,” he said, “presents the most public and collectively watched opportunity to succeed or fail at walking the line.”