Biden is expected to hand over the baton to his vice president today while Harris is expected to deliver her keynote address on Thursday – Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton among the 50,000 attendees
US Vice President and Democratic Presidential Candidate, Kamala Harris (Kamala Harris)is expected to formally receive the anointing for the November 5 presidential election at the party’s convention that begins today in Chicago and will last until Thursday.
President Joe Biden is expected to speak today to hand over the baton to his vice president, while Harris is expected to deliver her keynote speech on Thursday.
The former prosecutor not only appears to be closing in on Trump, but appears to be turning the tide entirely, as one more poll has her maintaining a steady lead over her Republican opponent nationally.
At least 50,000 people are expected to attend the Democratic convention.
Among the 50,000 participants will be 4,000 representatives from the whole country, while Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton will also be present.
Conference in the shadow of the war in Israel
Dozens of Muslim congressmen and their allies – among them many American Jews who mobilize for the Palestinians and do not hide their anger at the Joe Biden administration’s unwavering support for Israel – are calling for changes to the Democratic platform, pushing for a pro-declaration position arms embargo, at the convention that begins today, with the party apparatus on alert for the possibility of protests at major speeches in Chicago.
Last night, a crowd of about 1,000 protesters marched through downtown Chicago chanting slogans such as “stop the Democratic convention.”
A group calling itself the “Congressors Against Genocide” says it will exercise its right to free speech during events at the four-day conference. Organizers of the group are encouraging those opposed to the war to wear Palestinian headscarves and carry Palestinian flags, promising how they will seek changes in the party’s program and invited delegates to speak from the platform on the Palestinian issue.
Delegates who support the Palestinians emphasize that they are entitled to a say in the writing of the party’s platform. For example, they want to include language to comply with US law, which prohibits, at least in theory, the transfer of military equipment to armies that commit gross human rights abuses.
“We will make sure our voices are heard,” said Liano Sharon, a Jewish businessman and congressman who signed an alternative program along with 34 other congressmen. “Freedom of expression absolutely includes being able to stand up and express yourself even if the powers that be tell you to shut it up.”
“They want the conference to go smoothly. They don’t want any kind of disruption or protest or anything like that,” he added to the Reuters news agency during an event organized by the greater Palestinian community in Chicago. “I’m sorry,” he continued, but every party convention “is a vehicle for political engagement, yes? If it’s not that, then it’s just a beauty contest.”
Ms. Harris’s campaign declined to comment.
What angered the protesters?
The party’s platform plan released in mid-July calls for an “immediate and permanent ceasefire” in the Gaza Strip and the return home of the remaining hostages taken during the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas’ attack on southern Israel on the 7th. October, when according to official Israeli figures nearly 1,200 people were killed. The text makes no mention of the at least 40,000 dead in the Palestinian enclave in the large-scale Israeli military retaliatory operations that followed. Nor does it mention any plan to reduce US arms and ammunition sales and donations to Israel.
Last Tuesday, the Biden administration approved the sale of $20 billion worth of equipment to the Israeli armed forces, including dozens of multi-role fighter jets.
The Israel-Hamas war, now in its eleventh month, has angered Democrats who are Muslim or of Arab descent, and hold critical votes in swing states such as Arizona, Michigan and Pennsylvania.
Although activists are a small portion of the conference, protests inside the hall and demonstrations outside may derail the effort of the party apparatus to project an image of factional unity around Ms. Harris’s candidacy, after outgoing President Biden’s decision to abandon his July 21 re-election campaign under increasing pressure from Democratic figures.
Although activists acknowledge that Kamala Harris appears to be more sympathetic to the Palestinians than Mr. Biden, her national security adviser made clear this month that the vice president does not favor an arms embargo on Israel.
About 40,000 protesters are expected to gather outside the convention site to protest the policies of the Biden administration. The organizers estimate that they may even exceed 100,000.
Nadia Ahmad, a law professor at Barry University in Florida and a delegate, noted that Muslim delegates are about 60, a very small percentage of the total (5,000), but their concerns are shared by many others, especially young people, who have drifted away from the party because of policy of the Biden administration, as he pointed out.
Source :Skai
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