Apr 14, 2024 07:29 PM
(This post was last modified: Apr 14, 2024 07:38 PM by C C.)
This was published a day or so before the Iranian attack on Israel. I doubt that the latter has changed anything with respect to the Leftangelical movement, apart from Biden being relieved that he can now switch to railing about Iran for a while, rather than buckling to criticizing the handling of Gaza, and issuing more comments of outrage aimed at pleasing activists.
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How the war in Gaza mobilized the American Left
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/12/us/po...crats.html
EXCERPTS: Support for Palestinians, a cause once largely championed on college campuses and in communities with ties to the region, has transformed into a defining issue of the Democratic left, galvanizing a broad swath of groups into the most significant protest movement of the Biden era.
Through daily organizing sessions on Zoom and grass-roots campaigning in battleground states, a sprawling new iteration of the pro-Palestinian movement is now propelled both by longtime — and sometimes hard-line — activists and by mainstream pillars of the Democratic coalition.
Organizations that are usually focused on climate, housing or immigration are regularly protesting Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, which followed the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attack and has killed more than 33,000 people, according to local officials.
Labor activists are calling for a cease-fire. Black clergy leaders have appealed directly to the White House. Young Americans are using online tools to mobilize voters and send millions of missives to Congress. And an emerging coalition of advocacy groups is discussing how to press its case at the Democratic National Convention this summer.
“Maybe there was an idea that over time, the movement would lose steam, or it was just like a campus thing or it was like a far-left sort of protest movement,” said Maurice Mitchell, the national director of the Working Families Party, a progressive group that has often been more focused on domestic issues. “The opposite is happening as the humanitarian toll becomes so clear.”
[...] They do not all work together, and their tactics also vary widely: While labor and faith leaders have issued calibrated statements, more strident groups and activists often stage demonstrations that snarl traffic or drown out politicians at events, and some have encouraged supporters to take their own “autonomous actions.”
On campuses especially, some protests have turned ugly or violent. Jewish students and leaders have described being harassed and threatened by people angered by the war in Gaza, in the face of a broader surge in antisemitic incidents, according to law enforcement officials and advocacy groups. They have also tracked a rise in anti-Muslim and anti-Arab acts, including the killing of a Palestinian American 6-year-old boy and the shooting of three students of Palestinian descent in Vermont.
[...] Mr. Biden is under intense pressure to take a tougher stand against Israel, a longtime ally, from powerful parts of a divided party. In a Pew Research Center poll released last month, a slim majority of Democrats said the way Israel was conducting the war was unacceptable, even as the same share said its reasons for fighting were either completely or somewhat valid.
After seven aid workers were killed by Israeli strikes last week, Mr. Biden threatened to condition future support for Israel on how it addresses civilian casualties and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Other Democrats are going much further in their condemnations.... (MORE - details)
- - - - - - - -
How the war in Gaza mobilized the American Left
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/12/us/po...crats.html
EXCERPTS: Support for Palestinians, a cause once largely championed on college campuses and in communities with ties to the region, has transformed into a defining issue of the Democratic left, galvanizing a broad swath of groups into the most significant protest movement of the Biden era.
Through daily organizing sessions on Zoom and grass-roots campaigning in battleground states, a sprawling new iteration of the pro-Palestinian movement is now propelled both by longtime — and sometimes hard-line — activists and by mainstream pillars of the Democratic coalition.
Organizations that are usually focused on climate, housing or immigration are regularly protesting Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, which followed the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attack and has killed more than 33,000 people, according to local officials.
Labor activists are calling for a cease-fire. Black clergy leaders have appealed directly to the White House. Young Americans are using online tools to mobilize voters and send millions of missives to Congress. And an emerging coalition of advocacy groups is discussing how to press its case at the Democratic National Convention this summer.
“Maybe there was an idea that over time, the movement would lose steam, or it was just like a campus thing or it was like a far-left sort of protest movement,” said Maurice Mitchell, the national director of the Working Families Party, a progressive group that has often been more focused on domestic issues. “The opposite is happening as the humanitarian toll becomes so clear.”
[...] They do not all work together, and their tactics also vary widely: While labor and faith leaders have issued calibrated statements, more strident groups and activists often stage demonstrations that snarl traffic or drown out politicians at events, and some have encouraged supporters to take their own “autonomous actions.”
On campuses especially, some protests have turned ugly or violent. Jewish students and leaders have described being harassed and threatened by people angered by the war in Gaza, in the face of a broader surge in antisemitic incidents, according to law enforcement officials and advocacy groups. They have also tracked a rise in anti-Muslim and anti-Arab acts, including the killing of a Palestinian American 6-year-old boy and the shooting of three students of Palestinian descent in Vermont.
[...] Mr. Biden is under intense pressure to take a tougher stand against Israel, a longtime ally, from powerful parts of a divided party. In a Pew Research Center poll released last month, a slim majority of Democrats said the way Israel was conducting the war was unacceptable, even as the same share said its reasons for fighting were either completely or somewhat valid.
After seven aid workers were killed by Israeli strikes last week, Mr. Biden threatened to condition future support for Israel on how it addresses civilian casualties and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Other Democrats are going much further in their condemnations.... (MORE - details)
