The de facto presidential candidate attracts consideration to the plight of Palestinians as she walks the high quality line of a divisive battle.
US Vice President Kamala Harris has pledged to not stay “silent” within the face of human struggling in Gaza, focusing consideration on the plight of Palestinians because the de facto presidential candidate walks a high quality line on one of the crucial divisive points inside her Democratic Social gathering.
Chatting with reporters after a gathering with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington on Thursday, Harris mentioned her dedication to Israel’s existence and safety was “unwavering” however that “too many” harmless civilians had been killed within the warfare.
“What has occurred in Gaza over the previous 9 months is devastating. The pictures of lifeless youngsters and determined, hungry individuals fleeing seeking security, typically displaced for the second, third or fourth time,” Harris mentioned.
“We can not look the opposite method within the face of those tragedies. We can not enable ourselves to grow to be insensitive to struggling. And I can’t stay silent.”
Harris, the possible Democratic nominee following President Joe Biden’s choice to finish his re-election marketing campaign, mentioned she had urged Netanyahu to just accept a US-backed ceasefire proposal.
“It’s time for this warfare to finish and finish in a method the place Israel is protected, all hostages are freed, the struggling of Palestinians in Gaza ends, and the Palestinian individuals can train their proper to freedom, dignity and self-determination,” Harris mentioned.
Harris additionally reiterated her help for Israel’s proper to defend itself, condemned Hamas as a “brutal terrorist group” and listed the names of American captives believed to be held by Hamas in Gaza.
“I’ve had an unwavering dedication to the existence of the State of Israel, to its safety and to the individuals of Israel.”
US Vice President Kamala Harris says she expressed her “severe considerations” to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu in regards to the “magnitude of human struggling in Gaza.” picture.twitter.com/1U0KErqiDL
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) July 26, 2024
In a nod to divisions over Israel and Gaza, Harris additionally known as on Individuals to acknowledge the “complexity” and “nuances” of the battle.
“Too usually, the dialog is binary, when the fact is sort of the alternative,” Harris mentioned.
Whereas Harris’s feedback didn’t level to substantive coverage variations with Biden, her forceful invocation of Palestinian struggling marked a distinction to her boss’s extra reasonable, principally secretive efforts to comprise Israel.
Biden’s Gaza coverage has alienated progressive factions of the Democratic Social gathering in addition to many American Muslims, lots of whom dwell in Michigan, a swing state seen as essential to the result of the November election.
Al Jazeera’s Patty Culhane, reporting from Washington, mentioned Harris spent extra time speaking in regards to the struggling of Palestinians than Biden, at the same time as she sought to bolster her credentials as a pro-Israel determine.
“He talked in regards to the variety of people who find themselves hungry, the variety of people who find themselves meals insecure, the quantity of people that have needed to transfer a number of instances and seeing footage of lifeless youngsters,” Culhane mentioned.
“You don’t see that within the American media. You don’t see it on the entrance pages of newspapers. It’s hardly talked about. There’s little or no speak in regards to the plight of the individuals in Gaza.”
Whereas Harris positioned herself to the left of Biden throughout his failed 2020 presidential marketing campaign, she has an extended historical past of sturdy help for Israel.
After becoming a member of the US Senate in 2017, his first journey overseas was to Israel and one among his first acts in workplace was to introduce a decision opposing a United Nations Safety Council decision condemning the nation.
Harris additionally spoke on the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) annual conference that 12 months, telling the viewers that the ties between the USA and Israel have been “unbreakable” and “we will by no means enable anybody to drive a wedge between us.”
In an interview with Israeli information website Ynet printed Tuesday, Israel’s ambassador to the USA, Michael Herzog, mentioned Harris’ total report was “optimistic” however that she had made “fairly a couple of problematic statements” in regards to the warfare in Gaza.