Evergreen Democratic convention votes for ceasefire, urges halt to U.S. weapons for Israel

Tamara Erickson, a young Jewish woman, answering a speaker who attempted to clock the ceasefire resolution with warnings that the resolution might trigger 'hate crimes' against people of the 'Jewish faith.' Erickson said that the 'hate crimes in Gaza have killed 40,000 Palestinians.' | Tim Wheeler / People's World

BELLEVUE, Wash.—More than 1,000 Democratic Party convention delegates voted overwhelmingly, Sunday, for three resolutions demanding an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza war. The delegates demanded immediate delivery of humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people and the termination of U.S. arms to Israel.

The strong feelings of solidarity with the Palestinian people were obvious, especially among the youth and women delegates, who wore keffiyeh or T-shirts emblazoned with the image of a peace dove and the words, “Ceasefire in Gaza.”

Outside the Meydenbauer Center convention hall, anti-war protesters held Palestinian banners and a large sign urging the termination of U.S. military assistance to the Netanyahu government.

Sharon Abreu, a delegate from Orcas Island, and Ellen Menshew, a delegate from Port Angeles, were present. Members of the Washington State Democratic Central Committee, in January the two women pushed through a resolution calling for an immediate Gaza ceasefire and resumption of humanitarian aid.

Those resolutions were in a package of a dozen measures considered late Sunday afternoon by the convention. A delegate from Spokane took the floor to plead that the convention adjourn at 4 p.m. because his delegation had a five-hour drive across the Cascade Mountains to get home. But another delegate told the convention that the resolutions to end the genocide in Gaza must be voted on, not tabled or brushed aside.

Shasti Conrad, chair of the Washington State Democratic Party, then announced a one-hour extension until 5 p.m. so all the resolutions, including calls for an end of the war on Gaza, could be acted on. Her action was greeted with an ovation, and no one left.

Karol Brown, a delegate from Bellevue, told the crowd, “Resolutions like this…can lead to hate crimes against Washingtonians of the Jewish faith while doing little to actually end the conflict 1,000 miles away….”

But Yaz Kader, an Uncommitted delegate from Seattle wearing a keffiyeh scarf around his shoulders, urged a yes vote on all three anti-war resolutions. “Show the world and the country that Washington State Democrats stand on the side of human rights and freedom,” he said to strong applause.

Tamara Erickson, a young woman delegate from the First Congressional District, said, “As a Jewish Democrat, I’m told I must toe the line and support unlimited resources going to the state of Israel. But my values—my Jewish values—affirm the intrinsic worth and quality of all human life, and compel me to stand in solidarity with my Palestinian brothers and sisters as they continue to watch their families and communities suffer and die under American bombs. Palestinian freedom and Jewish safety are intertwined.”

As these speakers urged a yes vote, young delegates stood behind them holding signs denouncing the genocide.

When the votes were tallied, all three resolutions were approved by wide margins.

Kader, a registered nurse in Seattle and a Palestinian, told People’s World that 90,000 Washington State Democrats have registered as “uncommitted” in protest against the Biden administration’s support for Netanyahu’s genocidal war on the Palestinian people.

“I will be going to the Democratic National Convention in Chicago as an uncommitted delegate,” he said. “President Biden should be taking a stronger stand for a ceasefire in Gaza. Sending $13 billion to a government that is committing genocide is rewarding them. It is not a move for a ceasefire.”

The aim of the powerful, nationwide grassroots movement he added, “is to put more pressure on President Biden.”

Kader also spoke during a combined meeting of the Labor Caucus and the Progressive Caucus that packed a large meeting room with a standing-room crowd. The woman leader of the Building Trades Department of the Washington State Labor Council drew strong applause when she urged them to work for the defeat of three Republican ballot initiatives that would repeal Washington State’s new capital gains tax on millionaires and billionaires, repeal the Climate Commitment Act, and Washington’s first-in-the-nation Long Term Care Act.

Then, Kader was introduced. He told the crowd he is a lifelong Democrat, a Palestinian who has traveled often to Amman, Jordan, and to occupied Palestine in the West Bank and Gaza, where he has seen with his own eyes Israel’s oppression of the Palestinian people. He mentioned that he is a registered nurse (formerly a member of the Service Employees International Union) The crowd, mostly union members, burst into applause.

The resolutions buttress Kader’s words. The first reaffirms the Washington State Democratic Party’s call for “an immediate and sustained ceasefire, the provision of lifesaving humanitarian aid in Gaza, and the release of all hostages.” It calls on Washington State’s Congressional delegation, both U.S. Senators, and the president “to do the same.” It calls for the termination of “all military aid to the State of Israel until a ceasefire is declared and humanitarian aid can be established.”

The second resolution cites “Responsibility to Protect,” a doctrine embraced by the UN in response to genocide and ethnic cleansing in Rwanda and the Balkans in 2005. The United States is in flagrant violation of this doctrine, despite proof of genocide on a colossal scale by Israel in its war on Gaza that has killed 40,000 people.

The resolution condemns Hamas’ “unconscionable attack” on Israel on Oct. 7, 2021, but condemns Israeli officials for repeatedly using “language that mirrors the dehumanizing language used in Rwanda to fuel genocidal acts…for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza.” As for the U.S. government, it is slammed for continuing “to supply Israel with arms, including 1,800 2,000 pound bombs” dropped on Gaza “resulting in massive death of civilians, a majority women and children.”

The “Be-It-Resolved” section calls on the U.S. “not to interfere in the ICC (International Criminal Court) warrants issued against Israeli officials,” including Netanyahu, who faces an arrest warrant on charges of committing “war crimes.”

The resolution calls on the U.S. government to “recognize the State of Palestine at the United Nations” and to stop being the “only nation” to oppose recognition of Palestine.

The resolution also calls on the U.S. to “combat anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, and anti-Palestine, Anti-Arab bigotry….” It expresses “our support for the people of both Israel and Palestine to live in peace and security.”

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CONTRIBUTOR

Tim Wheeler

Tim Wheeler has written over 10,000 news reports, exposés, op-eds, and commentaries in his half-century as a journalist for the Worker, Daily World, and People’s World. Tim also served as editor of the People’s Weekly World newspaper.  His book News for the 99% is a selection of his writings over the last 50 years representing a history of the nation and the world from a working-class point of view. After residing in Baltimore for many years, Tim now lives in Sequim, Wash.