On the final, and most anticipated, night of the four-day Chicago convention, Harris, 59, promised to chart a “New Way Forward” as she and Trump, 78, enter the final 11 weeks of the razor-close campaign.

After days of protests from Palestinian supporters who were disappointed at not getting a speaking spot at the convention, Harris delivered a pledge to secure Israel, bring the hostages home from Gaza and end the war in the Palestinian enclave.

“Now is the time to get a hostage deal and a ceasefire deal done,” she said to cheers. “And let me be clear, I will always stand up for Israel’s right to defend itself and I will always ensure Israel has the ability to defend itself.”

“What has happened in Gaza over the past 10 months is devastating. So many innocent lives lost, desperate hungry people fleeing for safety over and over again. The scale of suffering is heartbreaking,” she said.

  • PennomiEnglish
    47•21 days ago

    She did say that, and also that there are horrors being inflicted in Gaza. Only her whole statement gives any idea what she’s talking about.

    Her speech was right on both accounts though. Hamas did unspeakably terrible things in Israel. But that in no way excuses them from the suffering they are causing to civilians in Palestine.

    To be honest, I expect her to back Israel, and that these words are just a way to temporarily placate the ones calling for an end to genocide. But at least she tried to broach the complexity of the situation.

    • @Stovetop
      39•21 days ago

      She could do more. But I’ll take this approach for now, knowing we can keep pushing in the direction of liberating the Palestinian people, over “finish the job” Trump.

    • @Thrashy
      29•21 days ago

      It was a pretty milquetoast acknowledgement of Israeli war crimes, without even mentioning them by name as the perpetrators. I would have hoped for at least something along the lines of:

      The children of Gaza deserve better than to be trapped between a terrorist regime and an Israeli military, that, by their actions, shows that they do not value Palestinian lives as worthy of protection.

      But I guess even that would have been too spicy for the pro-Israel lobby within the Democratic party. That said, I’ll take any public acknowledgement and push for a ceasefire over the current status quo. Much as I wish it were possible, I don’t think we’re ever gonna get a major figure in any political party to come out and say, for example “Israel is an deeply unjust nation that must reckon with the status of Palestinians if it wishes to become a true, legitimate democratic state.”