Nothing Has Succeeded in Quelling Let Alone Silencing
the Resistance to Zionist Genocide

U.S. Working Class and People Show Their Mettle at Democratic National Convention

Section of 17,000 plus march in solidarity with Palestine on the opening day of the Democratic National Convention, August 19, 2024

The Democratic National Convention (DNC) was held in Chicago from August 19-22 as a huge pep rally staged to present Kamala Harris as universally loved and chosen by the American people to be the next president of the United States. This attempt by the Democratic Party machine to claim legitimacy was no doubt meant to outdo the similar displays of wealth and power put on by presidential rival Donald Trump. But, in the end, the gawdy parade of glitz and glitter, money, celebrities, influencers and hollow odes to joy all boiled down to crass U.S. chauvinism, jingoism and more of the same.

Thanks to the courageous and principled presence of the more than 150 groups from across the U.S. which were part of organizing and mobilizing for the protests at the DNC, the striving of the U.S. working class and people took centre stage there. Their cause prevailed against all kinds of attempts to block their demands, marginalize the actions and silence the voice of the people. Far from the Democratic Party machine succeeding in covering up the dire crisis in which the U.S. democracy is mired, the protestors showed what democracy looks like. Besides raising the demands of all sectors of the people in the U.S. against injustice and the rule of the rich, the protests at the DNC in Chicago made a statement seen by the entire world that nothing will quell the opposition of the U.S. working class and people, comprised of peoples of all national origins, religious and political beliefs, to U.S. support for Zionist Israel's brutal genocide against the Palestinian people.

A joint statement of the March on the DNC Coalition stated in part:

"We recognize the Democratic Party as a tool of billionaires and corporations.

"Their actions, such as financing genocide in Palestine and war in multiple countries; continuing the mass incarceration of Black and brown people; deporting millions of immigrants; and neglecting campaign promises made to the oppressed communities who represent their voting base, show that the Democratic Party only serves the agenda of the rich and powerful. Recent gains in the rights of oppressed people have been made by grassroots organizations in spite of a lack of support and often outright opposition from Democratic Party leaders."

"History has proven what Frederick Douglass once said: 'power concedes nothing without a demand.'

"We are calling on other grassroots organizations that are fighting for exploited and oppressed people to unite with us as we take the demands of the people to the Democratic Party in August 2024. [...]

"The March on the DNC will be a march for Palestine. Our main demand will be: Stand with Palestine! End U.S. Aid to Israel.

"We will also be bringing together the demands of the people's movements to the door of the Democratic party:

- Money for Jobs, School, Healthcare, Housing, and Environment, Not for War!

- Immigrant Rights and Legalization for All Undocumented Workers!

- Defend LGBTQIA+ & Reproductive Rights!

- Defend the right to unionize and strike!

- Stop police crimes! Community control of the police now!

- Justice, Peace, and Equality!"

Inside the DNC, Kamala Harris called for a "ceasefire now," "a free Palestine," and "self-determination" for Palestine. However, a number of significant voices in the movement have already responded with "we want more than words!" and "abandon Killer Kamala!" The emptiness of Harris' words is evident even just by looking at the stands taken by the current Biden-Harris administration to fully back Israel's genocide. Going back to 2017, Harris addressed the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) as a senator from California, firmly pledging her allegiance to "Israel's security and right to self-defence." She made clear that "I stand with Israel because of our shared values, which are so fundamental to the founding of both our nations. I believe the bonds between the United States and Israel are unbreakable."

Speakers in the protests at the DNC and at the ongoing actions against the genocide in Palestine do not have illusions about Harris and the role of the U.S. and are speaking about what is taking place in Gaza and now the West bank as a U.S. war. The attempts to present the Democratic Party and the U.S. as bastions of democracy while abetting Israel's genocide in Gaza simply will not fly.

Despite attempts by the ruling circles to present the DNC as the Democratic Party righting the ship by replacing Biden with Harris, the U.S. working class and people, in action to stand as one with Palestine since October 2023 and before that since the Nakba, have made clear that their resistance, like the resistance of the Palestinian people, will not be quelled by the U.S. ruling circles and the Zionists.