Vice President Kamala Harris addresses the Democratic National Convention on Thursday night. There are Israeli-Palestinian war protesters outside. Because their numbers are far smaller than what was expected and the war is a delicate subject, the vice president’s campaign advisers may think it best to ignore them. Others disagree.
If she chooses to address this difficult subject, she will be speaking to the Uncommitted Movement, whose votes she needs in Michigan and other battleground states. Here’s what she might say at some point in her convention speech:
I’d like to take a moment to speak to the protesters outside.
First, this party, unlike our opponents, respects your right to speak, to assemble, and to petition this future government, led by Gov. Tim Walz and me . . . the one that America’s voters will elect in November! The First Amendment protects those rights, and unlike our opponents, we believe in Americans rights as we believe in all of our freedoms.
When we fight for what we believe in, we win. You see, this party supports the pillars of freedom. Our opponent wants to be a dictator on Day One.
Second, we hear your pleas for peace. Our president, Joe Biden, is working every hour of every day around the clock to secure a ceasefire. We cannot say when it will come. But it will come. And it will be kept when this future government is elected in November.
You and I agree about many things. We agree on a two-state solution. That is the only way to end this otherwise endless war. Our futures cannot tolerate endless Middle East war. Our children cannot tolerate endless Middle East war. The world cannot tolerate endless Middle East war.
The hearts of compassionate Americans grieve with the people of Gaza over the horrific displacement and bombing of hospitals and schools, of women and children.
Yes, those who are monstrous war criminals in Hamas, they who use those hospitals and schools and children and doctors and patients as shields for their arms, their missiles, and their soldiers. But there comes a time when war and the bombing of schools and hospitals, even though hiding military men and means, must stop. That time has arrived.
We are with you and the people of Israel, whose antiwar protests have included as many as 150,000 protesters, wanting to give peace a chance. We agree with the IDF, which acknowledges there is no military way to destroy all Hamas fighters, and no way to avoid creating more, through the flattening of Gaza.
Lest you think that not voting for Democrats in protest this November will help the people of Gaza, a non-vote is a vote for Donald Trump, and a vote for Trump is a vote for giving the farthest right wing forces in Israel a greenlight to do whatever they may to their neighbors. We know that means death for innocent people. We know that means no two-state solution, because that is not what Trump and his right wing allies in Israel want.
We need your votes. We need everyone’s votes. This is Chicago 2024, with Democrats united, not Chicago 1968, with Democrats divided. We won’t go back.
I know we agree on this. There is no place for violence in protest. It will not be tolerated under this future administration, as it is not tolerated under this one. And there is no place for disrupting speakers. I will not tolerate that, as you saw me not tolerate it two weeks ago.
One last thing I hope we don’t disagree about. This party believes in the right of Israel to exist and thrive as a peaceful state. This party stands for justice and accountability for all in Hamas who violate women’s bodies, for those who kill parents in front of their children, for those who steal hostages that Hamas took from Israel on Oct. 7.
This administration is doing everything it can to bring all hostages home. Palestinians and Israelis deserve to live in peace, free from the harm done by extremists, two nations living side-by-side with the rest of the world.
We respect your right to protest peaceably. We may not always agree, but your voice and your vote always matters.
Aftergut, a former federal prosecutor, is of counsel to Lawyers Defending American Democracy.