Pro-Palestinian activists surround the White House. [Getty]
After relentlessly protesting US President Joe Biden’s support for Israel’s war on Gaza over the last nine months, some Palestinian community leaders and other activists are expressing pride in their movement and their warnings about the now-outgoing chief executive.
“First and foremost, our movement set the stage for this result. I know there’s been a lot of talk about him being old, but I believe the Biden administration has been under attack for its support for the Israeli genocide. The political pressure we’ve mounted from the outside has been effective,” Muhammad Sankari, a member of the US Palestinian Community Network based in Chicago, told The New Arab.
Biden, who at 81 is the oldest president in US history, announced his withdrawal as the Democratic nominee Sunday afternoon, less than a month after a shockingly poor debate performance against former president and Republican nominee Donald Trump. Biden’s incoherent sentences and frail body language raised concerns across the Democratic Party of the president’s ability to successfully run against Trump or even to serve out a second term.
However, for many activists, particularly Palestinians, the writing has been on the wall since October, with the outbreak of Israel’s war on Gaza. And for some, doubts over Biden’s viability as president go back four years when he lost his initial state primaries, but was then supported by the Democratic establishment when Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders was on the verge of winning.
“The donors were trying to force Biden down our throats in [in the 2020 election]. I think the final nail in the coffin was what everyone saw—his inability to form coherent sentences in the debate,” said Sankari.
“I believe our movement was what started this domino effect and ended up with him being removed. Otherwise, of course, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t happy to see this result,” he said.
“The strategy of the Democratic Party of ‘at least he’s not Trump’ has finally imploded on them. Our movement is responsible. We were the first out of the gate saying Biden shouldn’t be the nominee,” he said.
As the news sinks in and activists start thinking about their next steps, some hope to see the Democrats take on a more progressive platform, given the base’s popular policy positions, including universal healthcare, ending wars, and campaign finance reform.
“Republicans are trying to woo working class people from the manufacturing industrial
Midwest, and they’re lying to them. That’s what I’d like to see the Democrats do, move towards a more progressive agenda, and make a clearer distinction between the Democrats and Republicans,” Joel Albers, a Minneapolis-based activist who has been demonstrating at Democratic conventions since the 1990s, told TNA.
“On foreign policy, unfortunately, they’re not too far apart, and it’s just really sad, Biden not stopping sending arms going towards the slaughter in Gaza.”
For now, as Biden’s second in command and with access to his campaign funding, it looks like Vice President Kamala Harris will most likely be the Democratic nominee.
“Almost all delegates will be loyal Biden people. I expect them to be deferential to Harris. I’d be surprised if Harris doesn’t get the nomination,” J. Miles Coleman, associate editor of Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics, told TNA.
Though many progressives would like to see a nominee from outside the Biden administration, some of his critics have already expressed hope that she would be more receptive to expert input on Middle East policy, according to a report in Politico. Moreover, it could be difficult to switch to a new candidate from Biden’s heir apparent.
“Looking to the DNC, probably the big focus will be reintroducing Harris to voters.” said Coleman. “Unfortunately for her, one of the most important jobs for the VP is taking flak and criticism for the president. If they can reintroduce Harris on her own terms, this could be beneficial.”
