No vote for genocide

The Workers World Party delegation marched in the protest outside the Democratic National Convention carrying a banner that read in part, “We won’t vote for genocide!”

If the only two candidates who can win the presidency both support an obvious, ongoing genocide by Israel in Gaza, there is no possible way that a revolutionary, anti-imperialist party can suggest voting for either of them and still claim to be fighting for humanity.

So, we urge our readers to vote for neither the Republican nor the Democratic candidates. 

Not only are the Republicans super-capitalist enemies of the working class worldwide, they are also white supremacists and misogynists. And that’s the short list. They threaten the few remaining democratic rights workers still have. This newspaper made it clear in July why everyone had to oppose the Republican candidates. (workers.org/2024/07/79895/ and workers.org/2024/07/79838/)

Workers World has always evaluated and described the Democratic Party as the other wing of U.S. capitalism and imperialism. On the one hand, the DP’s membership and even its leading speakers reflect more closely the diverse U.S. population. On the other hand, the Democratic Party has defended capitalism with the same vigor as the Republicans, and its foreign policy has been as militaristic and expansionist as the GOP’s. Both parties promote the exploitation of workers and peoples worldwide.

This year the reason to refuse a vote to the Democrats goes beyond that Marxist analysis. The Biden administration and the Democratic Party are identified with aiding and abetting the genocide in Gaza, a genocide that can be followed on social media. There is no way revolutionaries can compromise with that genocide.

 How the DNC unfolded did nothing to challenge WW’s opposition to this pro-imperialist party. Unlike the usual dissent and near chaos seen at many DP conventions in the past, the Democrats choreographed this event, presenting their candidates exactly as they wanted. No word was out of place, no placard homemade, no hand gesture unpracticed.

 When Vice President Kamala Harris made her acceptance speech, we can safely assume that she said exactly what she and the rest of the Democratic Party leadership had agreed on. Not just WW but The New York Times — which in general favored Harris — on Aug. 23 described her talk this way: “It was a patriotic speech that was hawkish on foreign policy and border security.” (WW’s emphasis)

 It was clear that Harris directed the foreign policy part of her talk to the Pentagon, the CIA and anyone in the imperialist ruling class who might doubt that her administration would be any less militaristic than Biden’s or Trump’s. Here’s what she said: “As commander in chief, I will ensure America always has the strongest, most lethal fighting force in the world.” …

 “I will make sure that … America, not China, wins the competition for the 21st century and that we strengthen, not abdicate, our global leadership. … And as president, I will stand strong with Ukraine and our NATO allies.

 “And let me be clear. I will always stand up for Israel’s right to defend itself, and I will always ensure Israel has the ability to defend itself.” And she repeated the lies charging Hamas with sexual violence on Oct. 7, 2023, that the Israeli propaganda machine broadcast and that Biden endorsed. (PBS news, Aug. 23)

 In other words, just as the Biden administration did, Harris would threaten China, arm Ukraine’s proxy war against Russia and arm Israel to the teeth to carry out genocide.

Then, to add insult to already severe injury, Harris and the DNC organizers made sure that no Palestinian could speak at a plenary session. And that’s even though Georgia state Representative Ruwa Romman — the first Muslim woman elected to the Georgia House and who was among those the “Uncommitted Movement” chose to speak at the DNC — wanted the Democrats to defeat Trump.

Some 300 delegates joined a protest of 30 “uncommitted” delegates just outside the hall, demanding the right to speak. When Romman gave her talk outside the convention center, she called attention to the large number of DP delegates wearing Palestinian pins and keffiyehs. 

Were Harris and her advisers afraid that any appeal for Palestine would awaken a struggle within the convention?

As a result of the censorship, “Muslim Women for Harris” withdrew their support for Harris and disbanded. And that’s even though the group knew all too clearly that Trump is their enemy and said so. 

Thus, Harris and the DP themselves risked losing the election to Trump rather than giving even the tiniest appearance of stopping support for Israeli genocide in Gaza. This indication of the Democratic Party’s own priorities is another proof of the need for the workers’ movement to organize independently of both big capitalist parties and why Workers World urges its readers to vote for neither Trump nor Harris.