At the Democratic National Convention this week in Chicago, Israel’s war on Gaza was the elephant in the room. On this Intercept podcast special, we’re talking about the Democratic Party’s simmering debate about Gaza inside and outside the United Center — culminating in Kamala Harris’s acceptance speech Thursday night. Intercept senior politics reporter Akela Lacy, who is in Chicago reporting on the convention, joins senior editor Ali Gharib to discuss Democrats’ approach to the war and Harris’s speech.
Ahead of the convention, Harris’s ascension raised the possibility of a changed approach to Gaza, and activists organized among delegates in the streets to try to make it happen. Protests raged. The “Uncommitted” movement pushed for Palestinian speaker on the main stage. And Harris’s role in the war got a controversial shoutout from New york Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — sparking some indirect swipes from a fellow member of the progressive Squad.
By Thursday night, the war on Gaza made its way into Harris’s speech. But did her words signal the change in policy that Palestine solidarity advocates were hoping for?
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