Committing and endorsing anti-Jewish Arab violence, rape and murder; threatening and endangering fellow students; supporting the destruction of a key ally Israel and the genocide of millions of Jews; promoting outright lies to incite Jew-hatred: These were the Jew-hating, Israel bashing actions of students and others on hundreds of university campuses during the past two semesters – and these were the actions that Vice President Kamala Harris endorsed in recent remarks to a reporter, according to an article published earlier this month.
“They are showing exactly what the human emotion should be, as a response to Gaza. There are things some of the protesters are saying that I absolutely reject, so I don’t mean to wholesale endorse their points. But we have to navigate it. I understand the emotion behind it,” Harris is quoted by The Nation staff writer Joan Walsh after being asked by Walsh about Gaza in an article with several false anti-Israel invectives.
“It is unconscionable that anyone – and especially the vice president of the United States – would endorse any of the Arab Islamist criminality; violence; intimidation; attacks against police; attacks against students and faculty; and the disruption of learning,” said Zionist Organization of America National President Morton A. Klein, in response to the quotation attributed to Harris. “Notice: Harris does not say that she rejects any of their actions – she only disagrees with some of what the anti-Jewish extremists have said – and she does not specify which of their canards and attacks she agrees with. This is extremely dangerous coming from the second-most influential person in America’s government and someone who is just ‘one heartbeat from the presidency.’”
“Given speculation about President Biden’s health and reports that Harris will replace Biden at the top of the Democrat Party’s presidential ticket,” Klein continued, “this makes the ‘one heartbeat away’ notion an even greater reality, and Harris’ attitude in supporting or condoning violent anti-Jewish extremists even more alarming. Harris must publicly condemn the violence, the hatred-incitement and hostile environment these anti-Jewish extremists have brought to America’s campuses.”
Klein said that “furthermore, Vice President Harris must state clearly that it was the Palestinian Arab Muslims who attacked, slaughtered, raped and kidnapped Israelis on Oct. 7, and that it was they who provoked Israel to defend her people and territory. Harris must condemn the misinformation that has confused many young Americans, as well as those responsible for the propaganda and lies that are pervasive on the campuses and in the media.”
Klein said, “People of good conscience must raise their voices to condemn Harris for her dangerous words which can lead to more violence against Jews.”
(The Zionist Organization of America is a non-profit and non-partisan organization. We do not endorse support for nor opposition to candidates for elected office.)
This past March, Harris joined the loud chorus of those calling for Israel to agree to a ceasefire in Gaza – which would spare Hamas and give them a victory, and Harris sought to pressure Israel with regard to aid to Gaza even though Israel – which was attacked – is not responsible for the well-being of those who participated in or endorsed the attack. Polls repeatedly show that 90% of Gazan Arabs support the Oct. 7 massacre, and it is known that “civilians” participated in the attack. Harris said that “the Israeli government must do more to significantly increase the flow of aid into the Gaza Strip.”
Harris claimed in an address: “What we are seeing every day in Gaza is devastating. We have seen reports of families eating leaves or animal feed, women giving birth to malnourished babies with little or no medical care, and children dying from malnutrition and dehydration.”
Though Harris noted at the time that “Israel has a right to defend itself, … and the threat Hamas poses to the people of Israel must be eliminated. Hamas is a brutal terrorist organization that has vowed to repeat October 7th again and again until Israel is annihilated.”
“Hamas,” Harris continued, “has shown no regard for innocent life, including for the people of Gaza, who have suffered under its rule for almost two decades. And Hamas still holds dozens of hostages, for nearly 150 days now — innocent men and women, including American citizens, who were brutally taken from their homes and from a concert.”
Nevertheless, Harris stated: “… given the immense scale of suffering in Gaza, there must be an immediate ceasefire for at least the next six weeks…”
Harris’ more recent comment to The Nation’s Joan Walsh, dates from a June interview scheduled to be published in August. The Nation excerpted the interview this month. See: https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/kamala-harris-interview-profile-excerpt/
Walsh, The Nation’s national affairs correspondent, gives a biased, one-sided anti-Israel account of the Gaza Strip that is the only foreign policy issue in the report amid an article that concentrates on domestic matters.
Walsh then weaves in quotes from Harris in response to her questions. “Listen, I strongly believe that our ability to evaluate a situation is connected to understanding the details of that situation. Not speaking of myself versus the president, not at all. From the beginning, I asked questions. OK, the trucks are taking flour into Gaza. But here’s the thing, Joan: I like to cook. So I said to my team: You can’t make shit with flour if you don’t have clean water. So what’s going on with that? I ask questions like, ‘What are people actually eating right now?’ I’m hearing stories about their eating animal feed, grass… so that’s how I think about it.”
Clearly Harris’ remarks indicate that she is woefully misinformed by advisers, or she lacks the curiosity to learn whether the anti-Israel propaganda that saturates much of the news media and social media is accurate or just another anti-Jewish lie.
Harris continues: “Similarly, I was asking early on, what are women in Gaza doing about sanitary hygiene. Do they have pads?’ And these are the issues that made people feel uncomfortable, especially sanitary pads.”
Walsh interjects with another demonstrably false and context-omitted mischaracterization: “The young people who have mobilized against the destruction of Gaza are unlikely to be mollified by these answers. What does she say to them?”
If Walsh’s article is chronologically accurate, this prompts Harris to state:
“They are showing exactly what the human emotion should be, as a response to Gaza. There are things some of the protesters are saying that I absolutely reject, so I don’t mean to wholesale endorse their points. But we have to navigate it. I understand the emotion behind it.”
ZOA’s Klein reiterated: “Harris’ observation is completely unacceptable. The vice president must stick to the facts and she must inform young Americans what the facts are: Among these are that the Gazans attacked Israel in the most deadly and devastating one-day attack against Jews since the Holocaust: Israel must defend itself and eliminate the threat; it is the Palestinian Arabs who use civilians as human shields to increase the number of its own casualties as a tactic of their war; that Hamas has been repeatedly caught lying about casualty figures; that much of the media repeats these lies – with many failing to state that the source of these statistics is Hamas. The vice president should not be understanding why the lies are believed and thus triggering dangerous responses – rather it is her obligation to help in eliminating the threat from anti-Jewish extremists by setting the record state and making sure that the facts reach young Americans.”