Democrats in Wisconsin pass pro-Palestinian resolution, ignoring Hamas attack hours after Israeli hostages were freed

politics

Swing States 2024

From Amy Sikma

MILWAUKEE – Wisconsin Democrats overwhelmingly passed a pro-Palestinian resolution at their convention – the same weekend that four Israeli hostages were rescued in a daring raid on Gaza.

And the Israelis killed or taken hostage in the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7 were not even mentioned in the resolution.

Sunday’s vote revealed the dark side of a party that had spent the entire weekend hosting a “unity mass.”

By a vote of 136 to 91, the convention delegates passed a resolution calling for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and describing the Jewish state’s response to the massacre as “genocide” and “an egregious violation of international humanitarian law.”

It did not acknowledge the October 7 attack or the hostages that Hamas is still holding, including Americans.

While delegates passed a resolution condemning anti-Semitism, they noted that “the number of anti-Semitic incidents has increased by nearly 400% since the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023, according to the Anti-Defamation League.”

An anti-Semitism analysis conducted by the Milwaukee Jewish Federation and the Jewish Community Relations Council found a 570% increase in such incidents in Wisconsin from 2015 to 2022, with an estimated 13% increase expected for 2023.

Heba Mohammed, a Palestinian American who co-led the ceasefire resolution initiative, was also involved in efforts to send a message to President Biden during the presidential primaries in April. In the primary, 48,000 Democrats cast an “untaught” vote to protest Biden’s handling of the Gaza war.

While that was only 8% of the Democratic vote in the primaries, former President Donald Trump lost the swing state in 2020 by just 20,000 votes.

“So if Joe Biden has any common sense, he will listen to what happened in April and what happened today,” Mohammed, who does not plan to vote for Biden, said after the vote.

The Milwaukee Jewish Federation strongly condemned the Democrats’ resolutions: “On the same weekend that four hostages were rescued from two apartments in Nuseirat, the convention resolution falsely accuses Israel of genocide while completely ignoring the fact that Hamas is violating international humanitarian law by hiding hostages among civilians in order to use civilians as human shields.”

Delegates rejected a motion to remove the word “genocide” from the resolution.

A state party committee urged convention delegates to vote against Palestinian ceasefire resolutions that do not condemn the October 7 Hamas attack, WisPolitics reported.

Attendees at the convention reflected the party’s division over Biden’s handling of the conflict.

Susan Molls, a 6th Congressional District delegate from Cedarburg who cares for her grandchildren, told The Washington Post on Saturday that she was not even aware of the controversial Palestinian resolutions that will be voted on Sunday.

Molls said she agreed with Biden’s stance on the war: “Yes, Israel has the right to defend itself, but civilians are suffering and something has to change.”

Stefani Butts, 32, who attends the Monroe Conference, works with abused children and is vice chair of the Green County Democratic Party, believes the conflict is the most important election issue this year.

When asked how she thinks Biden is handling it, she replied bluntly: “He’s not doing a good job.”

She would prefer it if the President would consistently condemn Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“It is genocide, not war,” Butts said on Saturday that she supported the Palestinian resolutions “1,000 percent.”

What should Biden have done after the October 7 attacks? Butts said he should have brought people “together to have a conversation about what happened.”

“Killing private citizens is inexcusable,” she added – confirming that the “private citizens” she was referring to were Palestinians, not Israelis.

Most speakers at the convention on Saturday night avoided the issue, but pro-Palestinian protesters tried to disrupt Senator Tammy Baldwin’s speech with chants of “Free Palestine!”

“It’s OK,” Baldwin whispered, paused briefly, and continued her speech. Those present tried to drown out the noise of the protesters with shouts of “Tammy, Tammy!” and force them to sit down before they were escorted out of the hall by security personnel.

The senator, who has been plagued by pro-Palestinian protests in Wisconsin since December, supports a ceasefire.

However, their pro-Gaza stance was not enough to appease the protesters.

An April poll of registered voters in Wisconsin found that 46% of respondents thought Trump would handle the war between Israel and Hamas better, while only 26% said so for Biden.