Why are Democratic leaders still ignoring voters on Israel? | Norman Solomon

Decisions at the latest Democratic National Committee meeting emphasized the disconnect between the party’s leadership and its base

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hen the Democratic party’s governing body adjourned its meeting on Saturday in New Orleans, supporters of Palestine and an end of the genocide in Gaza had few reasons to celebrate. The Democratic National Committee had refused to give any ground to the large majority of the party’s voters with distinctly negative views of Israel.

Last summer, a Quinnipiac Poll found that 77% of Democrats agreed that “Israel is committing genocide.” Last month, an NBC poll found that registered Democrats – by a margin of 67-17% – were more sympathetic toward Palestinians than Israelis.

But the DNC continues to operate as if fully sealed off from the party’s voters on such matters. When the national meeting got under way on Thursday, the party’s resolutions committee proceeded to quickly discard a pair of resolutions critical of Israel.