Kamala Harris and Doug Emhoff plant a pomegranate tree for Oct. 7 victims

“What happened on Oct. 7 is seared into our souls,” said Emhoff

Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff and Vice President Kamala Harris plant a pomegranate tree at the vice president’s residence on Oct. 7, 2024 in Washington, D.C. Photo by Kent Nishimura/Getty Images

By Lauren Markoe October 7, 2024

WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff planted a pomegranate tree, a Jewish symbol of peace, outside their Washington, D.C., residence Monday to honor the 1,200 people Hamas killed in Israel a year ago.

“For years to come, this pomegranate tree will stand here, spreading its roots and growing stronger” Harris said, to remind “not only of the horror of October 7, but the strength and the endurance of the Jewish people.”

She fingered its leaves, and remarked to Emhoff that the tree already had a pomegranate growing on it.

Emhoff, the first Jewish spouse of a president or vice president, said it was the first tree he and his wife had planted on the grounds, and the first fruit tree a vice presidential family ever planted on the property, 72 acres in a leafy section of the city.

“What happened on Oct. 7 is seared into our souls,” said Emhoff. “I can’t stop thinking about the hostages from their families and all of those we’ve lost over the past year.”

As the 12-minute ceremony began, what sounds like dozens of protesters could be heard outside the gates of the compound. They turned out to be three women, one in a keffiyeh, who pointed a blaring siren toward the vice president’s house. One shouted through a megaphone that “Kamala” bore responsibility for the deaths of Palestinians. Another banged a drum.

Harris during the ceremony pledged to “relieve the immense suffering of Palestinians in Gaza.”

As the Democratic presidential nominee, she is trying to court Jewish and Arab voters, two usually reliable Democratic constituencies. But a proportion of each group is hesitant to vote for her over her support for Israel.

Some conservative Jewish voters feel her commitment to Israel is not ironclad, despite her pro-Israel voting record and promises to the contrary. Some Arab and Muslim voters fault her for failing to curb Israeli attacks on Gaza, despite a year of negotiations during which the Biden administration has tried to restrain Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Two miles away at the Israeli Embassy — where hundreds had protested for weeks this spring — all was quiet, with more than the usual number of law enforcement officers around its perimeter.

Lauren Markoe is news editor of the Forward. A Bronx native, she reported for The Patriot Ledger, several McClatchy newspapers in the South, and Religion News Service, where she was also managing editor. She also produced live radio shows at WAMU in Washington, D.C., where she lives.