Over the course of the week. There are at least six major protests planned. The demonstrations kicked off on Sunday, on the eve of the convention, with a march for Bodies Outside Unjust Laws, which was organized by a coalition of several different activist groups [00:00:16] to demand action on reproductive rights, LGBTQ rights and on the an end to the War on Gaza. Free Palestine. Palestine. Free. Free Palestine. Now there's clearly increased excitement toward Kamala Harris now that Joe Biden [00:00:34] has dropped out of the race and Harris is the Democratic nominee. However, not every Democratic voter is fully on board with the Harris Wallace ticket, and pro-Palestinian demonstrators have decided to move ahead with the demonstrations surrounding the Democratic National Convention. [00:00:51] Now, just a little bit about the protests. Large scale protests are planned at the Israeli consulate in downtown Chicago and in the streets and parks near the convention on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. There are some protests taking place today as well, but there is, you know, [00:01:08] an entire like schedule of protests and demonstrations that will take place throughout the entirety of the Democratic National Convention. Now, what is the Harris camp doing to reach out to these demonstrators? Because keep in mind, like the strategy, and I think it's a smart strategy [00:01:26] by Harris, is to respond to some of the negativity in the Trump campaign with joy, with positivity, with a positive message. But it's kind of difficult to do that when Biden and Harris are being protested right now by pro-Palestinian protesters. [00:01:41] So she has tried to reach out to them. On Thursday, for instance, Julie Chavez Rodriguez, who's Harris's campaign manager, flew to Detroit to meet privately with Abbas Allawi, who's a Michigan delegate to the convention representing [00:01:57] uncommitted primary voters. She also met with Arab, American and Jewish leaders. Then you also have senior officials from the DNC holding meetings on Thursday with other uncommitted delegates in Chicago, and they're also planning to hold daytime panel discussions during the convention with Palestinian Americans, including uncommitted delegates [00:02:15] and with Jewish Americans. But there is a lot of disagreement about this when it comes to some Jewish Democrats. In fact, they want Harris and Tim Walz, her running mate, to essentially show voters that they will not concede to the demands of these demonstrators, [00:02:35] that they will not be cowed by the left flank of the Democratic Party. In fact, they were pretty irritated by Harris reaching out to the organizers of these demonstrations. So they're the founders of the protest group, the Uncommitted National Movement. [00:02:53] And so they had suggested that after meeting with Harris or representatives for Harris, that she was open to an arms embargo. That is what they're demanding, right? That the U.S. Government stop sending military aid to Israel as they are committing [00:03:08] these atrocities in the Gaza Strip, and also, by the way, in the West Bank. Let's not forget about that. But the vice president's National Security advisor, Phil Gordon, rushed in to say, no, no, she's not open to an arms embargo. And by the way, Phil Gordon, I think, is telling the truth. [00:03:24] I think that's absolutely right. I don't think she's open to an arms embargo. Now, Palestinian rights organizations say that the request of uncommitted delegates for prime time speaking spots at the DNC were just rejected. - Rebuffed, of course. - Hey, don't scroll away. [00:03:40] Come back, come back. Because before the video continues, we just want to urge you to lend your support to tight U power. Our honest reporting. You do it at tyt.com/team and we love you for it. I want to get into what the polling indicates because unfortunately in this like really, really breaks my heart and pains me. [00:04:00] But based on what the polls say, Kamala Harris seems to be able to do this without much political ramifications. I think those. Polls are totally skewed, and I'll tell you why in a second, okay? But but they're not useless. They do show some things, but not exactly how they're framed. [00:04:17] So first though, look, let's talk strategy, okay? Because I'm a person who gives no ground on rhetoric and I'm not going to accept things that aren't true at all. Okay. And when it's thick with what is reality, we're not going [00:04:33] to give into Israeli propaganda or US propaganda at the same time. I'm practical. What is our goal? Eyes on the prize and the war and the occupation. Okay. And that's what we got to get to. So as I'm reading these stories and they're taking quotes from Arab [00:04:49] American leaders, Muslim leaders, peace leaders, etc., but also pro-Israeli leaders within the Democratic Party. And the pro-Israeli leaders say, well, look, there's no you might as well come to our side 100% because you're never going to get these protesters to agree with you. - So they're never going to be satisfied. - They're never going to be satisfied. [00:05:06] They're unmovable and unreasonable. So you're never. Even if you give them a concession, it's not going to be enough. So you might as well just get our votes. And when you look at it, you go, well, just from a not from a policy or a moral perspective, but from a political perspective that that could be compelling to the Democratic Party. [00:05:21] Right. But then when you look at the next sentence, though, it gives away the game because that person says to in that case, Politico, they go, well, that's because, of course, the Democratic Party would never cut funding to Israel and would never do a weapons embargo and would never not agree with everything Israel says. [00:05:37] So that's why the Palestinian side is unreasonable. No, no, no, brother, that's why you're unreasonable. Okay, so the Israeli side demands 100% of what they want. And then they say, look at the Palestinian side and the peace side. They're demanding one thing like a weapons embargo, not cutting off all funding, [00:05:57] not, you know, all the different things that we could do to check the Israeli government. Just a weapons embargo, right? They're like, can you believe they had the nerve to ask for one thing? You see how unreasonable they are? No, I see how unreasonable you are. Yeah. The entitlement is infuriating, to say the least. [00:06:15] And, you know, if there was a recent attack on Tel Aviv. Okay. And obviously horrific. Not in favor of any of that stuff. Civilians should be safe. They shouldn't live in fear. I don't care if we're talking about Palestinian civilians [00:06:31] or Israeli civilians. Period. End of story. Okay, but it is amazing to me that a single Israeli civilian dying. Oh, I mean, you'll see the Israeli officials come out, give statements about it, talk about humanize them, about how many kids they had, [00:06:47] what kind of music they liked it because they see their fellow Israelis as human beings, but they do not see Palestinian civilians, including literal children, as human beings. They have so effectively dehumanized them. And I'm not just talking about far right Israeli government officials. [00:07:04] I'm also talking about, you know, people in this country, within our own government who have gone so far to dehumanize Palestinians that they don't care. They they look at the numbers, they see the rising death toll. They read the stories about a woman and six of her children being wiped out [00:07:23] in a single Israeli airstrike. It's Hamas's fault. It's Hamas's fault. - Yeah, that's what. - They always say. They're constant. Honestly, I'm sorry, but stupid refrain is Hamas made us murder all the Palestinian civilians. No they didn't. You have agency. [00:07:40] You didn't have to drop A2000 bomb pound bomb on families. You didn't have to drop 100,000 bombs in civilian areas and to pretend that somebody made you murder all those people? No. You chose to do that. If you're Netanyahu and this grotesque right wing Israeli government. [00:07:57] So, guys, back to strategy and practical side. So the Palestinian side and the peace side here in America, what did they want? Okay. So they want a weapons embargo. And that's pretty much the only thing they're asking for in terms of the ceasefire deal. Now Israel is asking for further occupation of Gaza. [00:08:15] They want to put two corridors in and keep that land. And so but the and I went and talked to protesters today. I talked to Jill Stein. I talked to the people organizing the events and the protests today out in the streets. And so they're not even saying, hey, no occupation of Gaza, [00:08:33] which they definitely should say, right? They're not asking to end the occupation of the West Bank. Those are all things we want, and those are great. But that is not part of the ceasefire deal, and that is not what is being asked of Kamala Harris right now. The ask right now is very it's I don't even think it goes far enough. [00:08:49] I would cut funding to Israel in order to put pressure on. But the thing that I care most about, and what the organizers care most about is get to the results. Either way, get to a cease, a real cease fire. And however you do it, you know what? You don't want to do it with a weapons embargo or cutting funding. You find a different ingenious way to do it. [00:09:05] Great. Who cares? Get to the cease fire. Save those lives. That's what we want. You can't be more reasonable than that. Now, look, a lot of times the protesters have terrible optics, and they'll come in with, like, weirdo masks and do graffiti and stuff and things. That are dehumanizing toward Israeli civilians. [00:09:21] Right. And remember, that's not anywhere near the majority of the protesters. But there will be some people that do things like that, whoever they are. Okay. So then the press will come out and say, oh yeah, they're all pro Hamas. They're all terrorists. Everybody who wants peace are terrorists. They'll say insane things like that, right. [00:09:37] So I get that the protesters sometimes are not the best on optics, but what they're but their core. - Ask is super. - Reasonable. And is Kamala Harris or Tim Walz or anyone in the Democratic Party going to give it to them? Absolutely not. So that pro-Israel person that talked to Politico, in a sense they're not wrong. [00:09:55] They're saying Israel wants 100% and the Democratic Party is going to give us 100%. So stop pretending to the peace protesters that you're in favor of peace, or you're in favor of Palestinians or treating them like human beings, because we all know you're not, because we already paid you. [00:10:11] We already paid you to be indecent and immoral to Palestinians and to continue this war. So, guys, look, there's a lot to be excited about here at the DNC. Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are doing a great job on other things like an populist economic positions, etc. [00:10:28] But the world is not black and white. It is not binary. Their position on Israel is awful and is enormously unlikely to ever change. And they think, oh, it's okay. Every once in a while we'll say, oh, we think Palestinians are also human? Good enough? No, not good enough. [00:10:44] That's. I mean, like, thank you for acknowledging that they exist and that they're human beings, but Jesus Christ, that bar is so low. And until we stop financing the slaughter of those human beings, your words are empty. [00:11:00] I'm going to say something that might upset some people, but I just have to get it off my chest. Democratic voters have shockingly low standards. And so the second that Biden dropped out and it became clear that Harris was the presumptive nominee, [00:11:15] I can't emphasize enough how disappointed I am in progressive and leftist Democratic voters who immediately decided to fall in line and, like, become like obsessive promoters of Kamala Harris without using [00:11:33] any of their leverage whatsoever. Because, look, why would Kamala Harris do anything for you if you're already supporting her preemptively. No matter what. Yeah. I'm sorry. - I mean, that's just the truth. - No, no, I know, I know, so. Look, guys, the. But those same, like, leftists are then going to turn around and be heartbroken [00:11:51] when she doesn't give you an inch on Gaza. She's not going. - To give you an inch. - She's not going to give it to you guys. Why would she? So look what I'm saying. And what we're both saying is, can we please be realistic in both directions? So if she's terrible on Gaza, as almost every American politician is, that doesn't [00:12:08] mean she's terrible on everything else. That doesn't mean that you should hate her forever. Okay? But if you're telling everybody, oh, it's a beautiful new day, Kamala Harris is going to agree to everything progressives want, including on Gaza. You're just setting up your audience for disappointment, and then they're going to be more mad at her because they're going to think that she somehow [00:12:26] betrayed her own values or turned around. No, she was never anything but 100% pro-Israel, right wing Israel, Netanyahu, Israel. So stop lying to your audiences. It's just that she's some sort of godsend who's going to give you every miracle in the world. [00:12:41] She's not going to do that. Okay? And then don't turn on her and be like, oh my God, I was heartbroken because I'm an idiot and I don't know, politics. And I didn't know that she was an establishment Democrat. And I can't believe she's agreeing with Israel. Of course she's going to agree with Israel. You apply pressure so that she does not. We save human lives. [00:13:00] But in order to do that, you don't give away your cookies. In the beginning, like Anna said, don't go in and go, oh my God, it's not Biden. - She's going to give us everything. - No, no, no. Okay. You have to fight for those positions. They're still Democrats. So finally, you know, earlier we talked a little bit about how [00:13:17] Kamala might just be able to give these demonstrators the middle finger and it won't necessarily hurt her politically. And what am I referring to? So there was new polling data by the University of Chicago and Gen Forward, and they found some mixed results when it comes to Democratic voters [00:13:34] under the age of 40. So here's what they found. 36% of them disapproved of military aid to Israel, while while 33% approved and 29% really had no opinion. The poll showed that the Gaza war ranks near the bottom of young voters concerns, [00:13:52] well below immigration, economic growth and income inequality. Yeah. So there's two notes of caution there. But at the same time, just like we always tell you, not binary. So when you look at that poll, if you thought that 100% of the American people were on the side of cutting off aid to Israel, wakey, wakey, that's not the case. [00:14:11] So there are plenty of people who disagree with us. Okay. But at the same time, look at the framing of the question because they didn't ask, hey, are you in favor of a ceasefire? Because that would have gotten about 70, 80, 90% of young people, people under 40, saying they're in favor of it. [00:14:26] If you said end of occupation, again, it would have been a giant number in favor of ending the occupation. - And that's. - Not theoretical. There are polls that have those numbers. So yeah. So this poll is do you want to cut off military aid, which again, if you only watch mainstream media is considered like sacrilege, [00:14:44] like it's almost against Jesus and God to cut off military aid to Israel because all mainstream media has ever said is Israel is the most holy, immoral, greatest ally democracy that we have ever had. And we must give them all of our money. ET cetera. [00:14:59] ET cetera. So now, when you ask, should we cut off military aid, which in Washington is super extreme? Yeah. The plurality of under 40 voters say. Yeah. What you think is extreme. We agree with. Right. And so the framing of the question is enormously important. [00:15:16] And then they ask, hey, where do you prioritize this? And I get it. Like if you're a young person, like I would have told you that ahead of time, of course they're going to prioritize the economy, health care, things like that. Jobs first because it affects them more, right? The fact that Gaza doesn't affect their real lives at all, [00:15:35] and they still have it high on the list. And they care is amazing and it's wonderful. And it's very moral of younger Americans to care about someone that isn't even in this country. Right. And so and then the last thing, guys, is, even if an issue comes in number seven, [00:15:52] number 13, number four, whatever the number is, some issues have outsized impact because of the moral clarity involved. Right? So it could be a tiny issue. But if it looks like, hey, you know what, the people on that side are the ones that [00:16:09] are clearly immoral and it gives you pause about them as human beings, then that issue can have an outsized impact. And the reason why you're seeing so many protests and so many young people that are animated about this issue is because to them, it's it provides moral clarity [00:16:26] on the character of our politicians. So if they take it for granted. Oh, don't worry, it's a little bit lower priority for younger voters. Don't worry, only a plurality of them want us to cut off military aid to Israel. I think that they're going to make a mistake because a lot of those younger [00:16:42] voters, which, by the way, they now have back they regained 20 points just like we told you, okay, among younger voters. But some of those voters will go back when they realize, no, she's not going to give them anything. And she's still. And guys, the most important part is, unfortunately, this is the one issue [00:16:59] that everybody pays attention to. And I say unfortunately, because I wish they paid more attention to the drug companies, the oil companies, etc. That are robbing us blind. But on this issue, it's super clear that any politician that's saying that's okay, we're going to keep sending money to kill more Palestinians. They're only doing it for the donor money and everybody knows that. [00:17:16] So when you say, hey, I'm doing it for the donor money implicitly, that's going to hurt you. You could believe me now, or you could believe me later. I mean, I've been through this movie 200 times where they'll say, oh, no, no, we don't believe you. I saw that one. - Poll. - That was framed. Right. And I think we could ignore this issue now. [00:17:32] And you'll ignore it at your peril. And then after she's hurt in the polling and now there isn't that much time left, maybe they could, you know, try to adjust, but they won't because there's I again. Look, maybe it's a different time. She picked walls. She did it economically. Populist proposals. Maybe she'll do the right thing in the third miracle here. [00:17:50] But if you're expecting a third miracle, don't hold your breath. I would be shocked if any establishment Democrat ever veered an inch from giving Israel every amount of money they have ever asked for. Thanks for watching The Young Turks really appreciate it. 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