Blow: The war that will haunt Democrats through the campaign
Demonstrators against war in Gaza have confronted Democratic politicians nationwide, and the protests could continue.
When Adam Schiff took the stage at his election victory party at the Avalon, a historic nightclub in Hollywood, protesters interrupted his speech, chanting, “Cease-fire now.”
When he tried to talk over them, they continued chanting, switching to “Let Gaza live.” At one point, Schiff’s supporters attempted to drown out the protesters by chanting “Adam, Adam,” but the whole thing devolved into a cacophony of noise.
Schiff, who is now likely to be the next senator from California, quickly wrapped up his remarks, but as attendees left the event, they were greeted by more protesters chanting, “Not another penny, not another dime, no more money for Israel’s crime.”
The protesters had won the evening. They had focused attention on their issue and signaled to Democrats, who many believe should be opposing the war in the Gaza Strip, that they will not simply allow events to continue as usual while a genocide is unfolding.
Some of the protesters held signs that read, “No more money for genocide.” Another read, “Adam Schiff supports genocide.”
This comes after demonstrators against the war publicly confronted Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., and two prominent representatives, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Nancy Pelosi of California, and clashed with police outside the Democratic Party headquarters in Washington.
Rep. Adam Smith of Washington state said his home was vandalized by people who spray-painted “Free Gaza,” “Baby killer” and “Cease-fire!” on his garage door.
It all reminded me of Black Lives Matter activists drawing attention to their cause by interrupting Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders during campaign events in 2015.
But I would argue that these war protesters feel even more urgency and are possessed of even more moral conviction because tens of thousands of people have died in a war that many of its opponents insist is being condoned and financed by the United States under a Democratic president.
And last week UNICEF warned that an “explosion” in child deaths in Gaza was imminent if a burgeoning nutrition crisis there wasn’t resolved.
I predict that the targeting of high-profile Democrats will continue and will eventually create a spectacle for the president and vice president. This could produce some ugly scenes at the party convention this summer in Chicago if the war hasn’t come to some resolution by then.
That would create quite the historical echo. It was protesters against the Vietnam War who fought furiously with police outside the Democratic convention in 1968, also in Chicago.
Charles M. Blow is a New York Times columnist.