Kamala Harris denies Palestinian genocide: 'Your perspective, your experience'

On National Voter Registration Day, United States Vice President Kamala Harris traveled to George Mason University in order to meet with students and commemorate the occasion. While she spoke​ with one class, one student asked why the US Government continued to fund the ethnic genocide of Palestinians by Israel through its military budgets. In response, Harris chose to evade the question entirely and focused instead on how the student's "version" of the truth must be heard. The exchange has been shared widely on Twitter, where the Vice President was criticized for her reaction. Many believed she was shirking off her responsibility as a representative of the Government.

"A lot of taxpayer money is allocated for funding the military, whether it is in backing Saudi Arabia or in [Israeli military attacks in] Palestine," the student began when called on by the Vice President. "I bring this up because you brought up how the power of the people and demonstrations and organizing are very valuable in America. But I see that over the summer, there have been protests in astronomical numbers [defending] Palestine... But even just a few days ago there were funds allocated to continue backing Israel which hurts my heart because it is an ethnic genocide."

She continued, "I bring this up also because [of] the issue of how Americans are struggling because of a lack of public healthcare, a lack of affordable housing... All this money ends up going to funding Israel and backing Saudi Arabia and whatnot. I think that the people have spoken very often in what they do need." The student reiterated that it seems to her as if the US Government is not listening to the voices of Americans. She shared in conclusion, "This affects my life and the lives of the people I care about."

While Harris expressed that she was glad that the student addressed the issue, her meaningful engagement with her argument ended there. "This is about the fact that your voice, your perspective, your experience, your truth should not be suppressed," the Vice President responded. "It must be heard. One of the things that we are fighting for in a democracy... A democracy is its strongest when everyone participates. It is its weakest when anyone is left out. Our goal is unity, not uniformity. We should bring people together and understand our commonalities... The point you are making about Palestine, we still have healthy debates about what is the right path in this country."

On Twitter, everyone recognized Harris's evasion of the question at hand. One user posted, "[Her answer is] really f*cking bad... "No one should suppress your voice... Now let me completely and utterly ignore your point and just talk about my inane ‘unity’ drivel." Another added, "And they wonder why they have to put in soo much work to get young people engaged in politics. They falsely assume that the younger generations don’t pay attention to anything but their social lives. Not realizing these kids are very aware of what they’ve been born into." Harris evidently needs to step up her game.