CHICAGO: Disappointed Pro-Palestinian activists said Kamala Harris’ speech to close the Democratic convention in Chicago failed to demonstrate any break from the status quo, after a week in which the most divisive issue facing the party was mostly ignored.
Under pressure to respond to critics of US support for Israel’s war in Gaza, the vice president used her Thursday night speech to repeat earlier calls for a ceasefire and a hostages deal. She said she supported Israel’s right to defend itself while also favoring the Palestinian right to self-determination.
Democrats convention: Biggest rift, Gaza, mostly ignored
Abbas Alawieh, co-founder of the Uncommitted National Movement that mobilized more than 750,000 voters to protest US policy on Israel, said Harris missed an opportunity to win over those people, many of whom live in battleground states such as Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Arizona.
“What’s needed in this moment is courageous leadership that breaks from the current approach,” Alawieh told Reuters shortly after Harris formally accepted the party’s nomination.
Uncommitted delegates and their allies had pushed unsuccessfully for a prime-time speaking slot at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) to address the latest bloodshed in the decades old Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Israel’s assault on Hamas-governed Gaza, with the aid of US support, has since killed 40,000 Palestinians, Gaza health officials say, along with displacing nearly its entire 2.3 million population, causing a hunger crisis and flattening almost the entire enclave.
Rima Mohammad, an Uncommitted delegate from Michigan, said the speech added to disappointment over the DNC’s refusal to let a Palestinian speak, and offered nothing to assuage the concerns of her progressive, diverse community in Ann Arbor.
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“I’m actually more concerned now,” Mohammad said. “This is just a bad look. You’re going to lose Michigan.”
A campaign spokesperson declined to explain the decision not to schedule a speech by a Palestinian speaker at the DNC. The decision was made by DNC organisers in close consultation with the Harris campaign, sources familiar with the discussions said.
Party insiders fear the Gaza war could cost Harris needed votes in battleground states such as Michigan, which is home to large Muslim and Arab American populations and college campuses that have been the site of Gaza protests.
The convention was held in Chicago, home to the United States’ largest Palestinian community, according to the Arab American Institute.
The DNC faced pro-Palestinian protests each day in Chicago, including thousands of demonstrators on Thursday night ahead of Harris’ speech. Dozens of arrests were made during the week.
Protesters carried banners that read “No Embargo No Vote” and “No Ceasefire No Vote,” while thousands chanted “ceasefire now,” and “long live Palestine.”
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Prior to Harris’ remarks, only a handful of speakers even addressed the war, including Biden, Senators Bernie Sanders and Raphael Warnock, and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
One major Harris campaign donor, who requested anonymity to be candid about their private conversations with the campaign, said they worried that without a near-term ceasefire deal and clear statements from Harris about ending the war and protecting civilians, campus protests could flare again when universities resume classes in coming days.
“We need every vote,” the donor said.