by EMAN ABDELHADI
Chicago, we all know why we are here.
We are drowning, and our hearts are broken.
We are drowning in debt. In medical bills. In rising rents. In inflation.
We are under attack in this country. The Right has declared war on people of color, on trans people, on women. They are trying to dismantle our systems of education, trying to criminalize teaching Black history and the realities of racism, oppression and exploitation in this country.
They openly call for mass deportations and want to strip Black people of voter rights.
Every year, the climate crisis kills more people of heat, of floods, of fires. Every year, the number of climate refugees at home and abroad climbs and climbs.
And in this moment of absolute disaster, of absolute crisis.
The American ruling class —the people descending on this city for the Democratic National Convention?—?have seen fit to spend our money on killing children in Gaza.
They have provided an infinite supply of bombs to destroy Gaza’s homes, its schools, its hospitals, its playgrounds, its mosques, its churches, its croplands, its infrastructure.
As the most powerful country on earth, they have bullied the rest of
the world in the name of protecting a far-right government openly
committing a genocide.
And now …
Now they want our votes.
They say they have earned them by showing a little more empathy towards those poor Palestinians they happened to kill.
Vice President Harris, we hear your shift in tone.
But …
Your tone will not resurrect the dead.
Your tone will not shelter the living.
Your tone will not pull bombs out of the sky.
Your tone is not enough.
Genocide Joe would still be on the ticket if it were not for this
movement, for all of us. Our movement is one of the main reasons that
you are now the Democratic candidate for President in the most powerful
country on the planet.
You, Vice President Harris, get to run for office because we ousted your predecessor right here in these streets. But it was never just about him. It was about the 40,000 Palestinians he helped kill.
And now we are telling you that ?“Not the other guy” is not a platform.
We are telling you that you actually have to earn our votes.
And we are telling you exactly how to earn them.
We are telling you we want a weapons embargo.
We are telling you we want a permanent ceasefire.
And we are telling you that we want them NOW.
You keep telling us that democracy itself is on the line.
You keep telling us that fascism is knocking at the door.
You keep telling us that Trump would be worse.
But the majority of Americans, in poll after poll, say they
disapprove of Israel’s actions in Gaza. Study after study shows that
a weapons embargo would earn you more votes, would secure you
this election.
Vice President Harris, why are you risking the end of democracy, the rise of fascism, the return of Trump to protect Netenyahu’s war on children?
You are not the protector of democracy.
Weare the protectors of democracy.
If you want to see democracy, look to Chicago’s streets this week. We are democracy speaking back to power, saying we will not be ignored.
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