Pro-Palestinian protests about to start back up

The Harris campaign, if it wants to keep the reconstituted Obama coalition together, has very little time to announce a policy change in regards to Israel. Either she does something measurable, or she'll quickly lose young voters. It starts next week at the DNC in Chicago, but it doesn't end there.

The City of Chicago informed organizers of the pro-Palestinian rights group the Coalition while they are permitted to assemble and march with the tens of thousands expected to protest next week, the city has limited their ability to communicate their message about ending U.S. aid for Israel.

The Coalition is a pro-Palestinian group that highlights several issues within the Democratic Party, including financing the conflict in Palestine and wars in other countries, contributing to the mass incarceration of Black and brown individuals and deporting millions of immigrants

Protest organizers expect 100,000 participants. While that might an exaggeration, tens of thousands is not out of question.

But that's only the start. College protests largely ended with the end of the spring semester, but now the fall semester is about to start, and protesters are about to restart too.

“We're not going to just be copying encampment, encampment, encampment,” Grosso says. “We will be doing whatever actions we choose, escalations if that's necessary. We will do what is necessary.”
In Cambridge, Mass., for example, students who are home for the summer or living on now-quiet campuses nearby have been joining weekly demonstrations run by BDS Boston, a group promoting boycotts, divestment and sanctions against Israel — and companies doing business with Israel. A few dozen people protest outside the local offices of Elbit Systems, a defense technology company supplying products to the Israeli military. They circle a busy intersection chanting, “Free Palestine” and “Elbit out of Cambridge now!” One of the organizers takes to the bullhorn, imploring the group to “Continue disrupting, that is our fight!” as Cambridge police detour traffic and respond to frustrated motorists.

Students here say they’re learning from their “elders” — many of whom are veterans of Vietnam-era protests, and eager to share lessons on tactics and how and when to escalate them.

Just today Columbia's awful president has been forced to resign.

Dr Shafik's resignation comes only a year after she took the position at the private Ivy League university in New York City, and just a few weeks before the autumn semester is due to begin.

That makes four Ivy League presidents to resign this year.

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Cassiodorus's picture

at the Kerry coronation in Boston in 2004.

Or for that matter the police riot in 1968 in Chicago.

I keep thinking of Antonio Gramsci's distinction between domination -- brute force -- and hegemony, all of the means by which the regimes obtain your consent to their rule. Nominating conventions seem to have plenty of both.

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“When there's no fight over programme, the election becomes a casting exercise. Trump's win is the unstoppable consequence of this situation.” - Jean-Luc Melanchon

Whatever happens in Chicago will have nothing to do with policy issues or democracy. It will be a violent psyop intended to increase support for Israel. Grow up.

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Cassiodorus's picture

"Israel's right to exist." What this really means is that the Man Behind the Curtain has the right to maintain a global order based on fear of the United States and its proxies, as with Ukraine. Genocide is the most recent manifestation of this maintenance aspect, as is AIPAC control over American elections.

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“When there's no fight over programme, the election becomes a casting exercise. Trump's win is the unstoppable consequence of this situation.” - Jean-Luc Melanchon

Harris would strengthen her base by taking a stand against genocide.

From July 25 through August 9, pollsters asked voters if and how the Democratic nominee pledging "to withhold more weapons to Israel for committing human rights abuses against Palestinian civilians" would impact their vote. In Arizona, 35% said they would be more likely to vote for her, versus 5% who said they would be less likely. The figures were similar in Georgia (39% versus 5%) and Pennsylvania (34% versus 7%).

Even bigger shares of voters said they would be more likely to support her in November if President Joe Biden—who dropped out of the race and passed the torch to Harris last month—secured a permanent cease-fire in Gaza. In Arizona, 41% said they would be more likely to vote for her, versus 2% who said they would be less likely. In both Georgia and Pennsylvania, it was 44% versus 2%.

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