MILWAUKEE — Wisconsin Democrats overwhelmingly passed a pro-Palestinian resolution at their state party convention the same weekend four Israeli hostages were rescued in a daring Gaza raid.
And the resolution didn’t even mention the Israelis killed or taken hostage in Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attack.
The Sunday vote revealed a dark underbelly of a party that hosted a “Unity Fair” all weekend long.
Convention delegates approved by 136-91 a resolution demanding a cease-fire in Gaza and calling the Jewish state’s response to the massacre “genocide” and “an egregious violation of humanitarian law.”
It didn’t acknowledge the Oct. 7 attack or the hostages, including Americans, Hamas still holds.
Delegates did approve a floor resolution condemning antisemitism but struck the line noting that “antisemitic incidents have skyrocketed nearly 400% since the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel, according to Anti-Defamation League data.”
A Milwaukee Jewish Federation/Jewish Community Relations Council Antisemitism Audit found a 570% increase in such incidents in Wisconsin from 2015 to 2022, with an estimated 13% increase in 2023.
Heba Mohammed, a Palestinian American who co-led the push on the cease-fire resolution, also worked on the effort intended to send President Biden a message during the state’s April presidential-preference primary, in which 48,000 Democrats cast an “uninstructed” vote to protest his handling of the war in Gaza.
That was only 8% of the primary’s Democratic vote, but former President Donald Trump lost the battleground state by just 20,000 votes in 2020.
“So, if Joe Biden has any common sense, he’ll listen to what happened in April and to what happened today,” Mohammed, who doesn’t plan to vote for Biden, said after the vote.
The Milwaukee Jewish Federation roundly condemned the Democrats’ resolutions: “On the same weekend that four hostages were rescued from two residential apartments in Nuseirat, the Convention resolution falsely accuses Israel of genocide while entirely ignoring that Hamas is in violation of humanitarian law by embedding hostages amongst civilian populations in order to use civilians as shields.”
Delegates defeated a motion calling to drop the word “genocide” from the resolution.
A state party committee urged convention delegates to vote against Palestinian cease-fire resolutions that did not condemn Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, WisPolitics reported.
Convention attendees reflected the party split on Biden’s handling of the conflict.
Susan Molls, a 6th Congressional District delegate from Cedarburg who nannies her grandchildren, told The Post Saturday she wasn’t even aware of the controversial Palestinian resolutions up for vote Sunday.
Molls said she agrees with Biden’s position on the war: “Yes, Israel has a right to defend itself, but civilians are suffering and something needs to change.”
Monroe attendee Stefani Butts, 32, who works with abused children, is the Democratic Party of Green County’s vice chair and believes the conflict is the most important issue in the election this year.
Asked how she thinks Biden is handling it, she bluntly responded, “Not doing a great job.”
She’d prefer the president consistently condemn Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu.
“It’s a genocide, not a war,” Butts declared, saying Saturday she “1,000% supports” the Palestinian resolutions.
What should Biden have done after the Oct. 7 attacks? Butts said he should have brought people “together to have a conversation about what happened.”
“Killing of private citizens is inexcusable,” she added — confirming the “private citizens” she referred to are Palestinians, not Israelis.
Most Saturday night convention speakers skirted the issue, but pro-Palestinian protesters attempted to disrupt Sen. Tammy Baldwin’s speech with cries of “Free Palestine!”
Baldwin whispered, “It’s OK,” as she paused briefly before restarting her speech while attendees attempted to drown out the demonstrators’ noise with chants of “Tammy, Tammy!” and force them to sit down before security escorted them out of the room.
The senator, who’s been plagued by pro-Palestinian protests in Wisconsin since December, supports a cease-fire.
Her pro-Gaza positions have not been enough to appease the protesters, however.
An April poll of Wisconsin registered voters found 46% said Trump would do a better job handling the Israel-Hamas war, with just 26% saying Biden would.