On Palestine-Israel, Cory Booker and Kamala Harris miss the progressive wave they seek to ride

Benjamin Netanyahu meets with American Senator Camela Harris from California, at the PM’s Office in Jerusalem, on November 20, 2017.

Rebecca  Pierce writes in +972, “On April 13, Democratic primary candidate Cory Booker launched his campaign at a kickoff event in Newark, New Jersey with a slogan of “Justice for All.” Booker’s slogan quickly came under fire from student protesters who responded to his vocal support for pro-Israeli government policies with cries of “Justice for Palestine!”

” The protest was just the latest example of increasing left-wing skepticism of Democratic candidates like Booker and former prosecutor Kamala Harris, who have sought to rebrand themselves as progressives despite long held centrist positions upholding the status quo of U.S. foreign and domestic policy. Senators Cory Booker and Kamala Harris’ hawkish records on Israel have come with serious consequences for Palestinians and their supporters.”

“Cory Booker has long been one of the most stridently pro-Israel voices in the Democratic Party, traveling to Israel and participating in AIPAC’s policy conference on multiple occasions, and even praising Israel on the Senate floor during the deadly 2014 invasion of Gaza. He was the lone democratic co-sponsor of the Israel Anti-Boycott Act, which, in its original form, sought to criminalize support for BDS in certain contexts and was condemned by free speech advocates.”

IfNotNow activists form a human chain to protest the annual AIPAC Policy Conference, Washington D.C., March 26, 2017

“Kamala Harris also has a long record of support for Israel, including previous AIPAC appearances and photo-ops with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. In 2017, she co-sponsored a Trump-backed Senate bill condemning Obama’s refusal to veto a UN Security Council resolution pushing back on Israeli settlement growth.” (more…)