After the Democratic National Committee delayed action on two resolutions in August that underscored the party’s significant divide concerning Israel, DNC Chair Ken Martin formed a task force to foster dialogue and provide solutions for the party.
Seven months on, the Middle East working group, set to meet in person for the second time today, still has much to address.
Comprising eight DNC members with backgrounds in Jewish and Palestinian advocacy, the group has faced challenges in meeting consistently and finding common objectives. These difficulties stem from coordinating schedules and time zones, with at least one member campaigning for office, and addressing the party’s contentious debates where sharp ideological differences exist.
“People aren’t comfortable with being uncomfortable,” noted Steph Newton, a DNC member from Oregon in the working group, to POLITICO. “These uncomfortable discussions are how we’re going to be able to move the party forward and find a solution.”
The group first met in December at the DNC’s winter meeting in Los Angeles and held two virtual meetings on March 1 and March 18. These meetings largely focused on defining the group’s objectives. “Most of the time, what we’ve talked about is, ‘What are we supposed to be doing?’” remarked James Zogby, a member from D.C.
The group operates amid ongoing divisions over support for Israel, which remain a consistent challenge for Democrats. Additionally, AIPAC’s role in midterm primaries poses a new test for candidates’ purity. “No one gets anywhere by trying to shout the other side of the room — as a matter of fact, I think that would be harmful politics,” commented Andrew Lachman, a working group member from California.
A DNC spokesperson highlighted the group’s aim to communicate effectively with voters about the Middle East to help build coalitions and win elections.
The group’s lack of progress became more evident at the DNC’s spring meeting in New Orleans, where the resolutions committee reviewed a proposal by Joe Salas, another member from California, advocating for Palestinian statehood recognition.
“It is necessary for the Democratic National Committee to address the ongoing heinous and illegal acts against the Palestinian people. Some here may say that there is a working group. To that, I say that we are in a midterm year and they are yet to produce any results in a moment where anger has only grown amongst the American people,” stated Cameron Landon, VP of the College Democrats of America, representing Salas.
Salas, who was absent from the meeting, submitted the resolution without consulting other working group members, as indicated by Zogby and Newton, who expressed surprise at its inclusion in the resolutions packet.
“I would assume that if we’re on a work group together discussing these issues, you say, ‘Hey, work group members, teammates, I want to submit a resolution on X, Y and Z. I know we’re working toward something like this together. Is this something that we can discuss?’” Newton commented.
Deborah Cunningham-Skurnik, another member from California, told the resolutions panel that she wanted to discuss parts of the resolution with Salas in detail.
In an interview before the vote, Salas explained his absence at the New Orleans meeting by saying, “I’m just gonna let them have those words and reject them, accept them, modify them, whatever they want to do.” He did not respond to further requests for comment on why he did not inform the working group about submitting the resolution.
The panel eventually referred the resolutions back to the working group with a caution. “As a body, we recommend this going back to the task force,” said Ron Harris, co-chair of the resolutions committee. “But then we can put some — I don’t want to say ‘constraints,’ but expectations that we hear back.”
John Verdejo, a DNC member from North Carolina, was more forthright. “It can’t just be we have a task force and then the next time we have a DNC meeting, it just comes up again. No, we want to see your progress. You want to have a task force? You want to make the hard changes, have the hard discussions? Then do it,” he asserted.
Allison Minnerly, another member from Florida, noted after the incident, “so long as the party does not prioritize this conversation, you will see what happened today, which is that DNC resolutions committee members have many questions on the inaction and the results of the working group. It’s really clear that this issue will keep coming up at every subsequent DNC meeting until there’s a clear direction, solution, talking points.”
Now that the resolutions have been referred to the working group, it finally has a defined, short-term goal for its meeting today.
“I actually am pleased that we will now have a very specific charge that we must accomplish in a defined period of time,” Zogby noted. “We have not had a defined agenda, and it’s been difficult to get people together. Now we have to get this done, and there’s just no way we can duck it at this point.”
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