Washington, DC – Vice President Kamala Harris says she 'wouldn't make a difference' Palestinian sufferingAs for the Israeli war in Gaza, it continues.
But Palestinian rights advocates want to know exactly what this means for U.S. foreign policy.
The vice president — and pro-democracy presidential candidate — emphasized the plight of Palestinians in Gaza after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, at the fifth exhibition. However, she promised continued support for Israel.
Activists say expressing sympathy for the Palestinians without seeking a major shift in the U.S. policy of unconditional military and diplomatic support will not help Harris win back voters alienated by President Joe Biden’s approach to the war.
“Without a real commitment to stop the killing of Gaza’s children, I don’t care if I sympathize with them,” said Iman Abdulhadi, a sociologist at the University of Chicago, who stressed that the United States was “responsible” for the atrocities committed against the Palestinians.
“Sympathizing with someone because of what you say pulls your head in the wrong direction is not entirely right. We don’t need sympathy from people. We need them to stop providing the weapons and money that kill the people they are supposed to be.” Sympathy with“
However, Harris' comments were described as an integral part of Biden's speech, and critics highlighted that the vice president did not clarify his new policy positions.
Or what did Harris say?
After holding talks with Netanyahu at the Fifth Avenue, Harris made a televised statement on the conflict, reaffirming his “unwavering commitment” to Israel and promising to always ensure the country is able to “defend itself.”
The vice president went on to reveal the horrific conditions in Gaza without naming Israel as the party responsible for the country's humanitarian crisis.
“I also expressed to the Prime Minister a very small amount of concern about the scale of human suffering in Gaza, including the deaths of so many innocent civilians,” Harris said, describing the war as “devastating.”
“As images emerge of dead children, desperate people, and families fleeing for safety – sometimes being displaced for a second, third or fourth time – we cannot dismiss or ignore these tragedies. We cannot allow ourselves to be insensitive to the suffering and to live in silence.”
He also expressed support for Biden's multi-phase plan. Cesar Fogo's suggestion To finally go to war and free the Israeli prisoners in Gaza. Israel and Hamas have been holding indirect negotiations for months to finalize the agreement, but the solution remains illusory so far.
Less superficially, Tom Harris seemed to depart from Biden’s pro-Israel statements. “Harris distanced himself from Biden on Gaza to emphasize Palestinian suffering,” the Washington Post wrote after the vice president’s remarks.
Not so, says Hazami Barmada, an Arab-American activist who was Organizing protests In the US capital to raise awareness of the situation in Gaza, he said the vice president's public expression of sympathy “makes no difference.”
Barmada noted that Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he saw the faces of his children in Gaza. Yet the Blinken administration continued to approve billions of dollars in weapons to Israel.
“So, nothing, nothing of compassion is enough,” Barmada told Al Jazeera. “We have seen our television stories of genocide, ethnic cleansing, apartheid, illegal occupation, violence, all kinds of atrocities that have been committed against the Palestinians for 76 years. We need to move from compassion to what it is today before it is too late.”
Harris promotion
Harris appears ready to follow Biden's lead, Sayo burn The presidential race is held on Sunday, and instead, the Disso, apoiou or Vice President is chosen.
Without serious opposition, Biden has a two-vote majority in the Democratic primary. Hundreds of thousands of people across the country are seeking the “noncommittal” option in the Democratic primary to express their opposition to the president’s Gaza policy.
also Non-committal movement Article 3 Main political demands: Achieving a permanent ceasefire, imposing an arms embargo on Israel, and lifting the siege on Gaza.
Former Biden administration nominee Tarek Habash acknowledges the change in Tom Harris as “refreshing.” In January, the Education Department announced a public demonstration of opposition to U.S. support for the war.
But Habash also said Harris should be prepared to follow up her speech in that way.
“What we really need, nine months and more, is a change in policy, a change in approach, so that we can put an end to the random, unnecessary violence that continues every day under President Biden,” Habash told Al Jazeera.
“However, that is why we do not know exactly what her plan or approach is, but based on what has been said, I do not believe that we have had a substantive change or any real deviation from what the president has said or done.”
Ultimately, Harris is a key member of the Biden administration, which has been a steadfast supporter of Israel.
In the fifth exhibition, Casa Branca spokeswoman John Kirby He said the vice president was a “full partner” in overseeing U.S. policy in the war.
Or remember Harris
Harris, a former senator, has a history of pro-Israelism.
Days into her Senate term in 2017, Harris co-sponsored a measure to condemn a U.N. Security Council resolution. What did you condemn? Illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
She also spoke to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) at the end of that year, at a time when many left-wing politicians were distancing themselves from the pro-Israel lobby.
“I grew up in the Bay Area (in San Francisco), and I loved the Jewish National Fund funds that we used to collect things to plant trees for Israel,” Harris said at the AIPAC conference in 2017.
For years, Palestinian historians and activists have accused the Jewish National Fund of using tree planting to cover ethnically clean Palestinian villages outside Israel.
However, Harris was one of the first American responders to use the word “Victory-Fogue” to call for a truce in Gaza, in May.
As war broke out last year, there was no apparent solidarity with Palestinians killed by Israel.
“It is a very tragic thing to happen anywhere in terms of the loss of innocent lives, innocent citizens, innocent children,” he said in November.
But when asked specifically about an Israeli attack, Matto Designs “We are not telling Israel how to manage this war,” Jabalia residents said. “After that, they will not talk about it.”
“I am ready to be conquered.”
Bombs manufactured and supplied by the United States will continue to fall on people in Gaza ever since, amid a suffocating Israeli blockade that is deepening the country's humanitarian crisis.
At the fifth exhibition, dozens of US Professional Doctors The Gaza-based diplomat wrote a letter to Harris, Biden and his wife, Jill Biden, revealing the deteriorating situation in the Strip.
“With only marginal exceptions, everyone in Gaza is sick, injured, or both,” he said.
Doctors and nurses speak in harrowing detail about the impact of the Israeli war, including widespread malnutrition, children being shot in the head, and no one getting regular treatment.
For many Palestinian rights advocates, ending this tragedy takes precedence over other endeavors. They say they are prepared to vote “no.” vice president It is suggested that the United States reconsider or support Israel unconditionally.
“Beautiful words do not swallow our dead, because now we can save the living,” Y.L. Sheikh, a Palestinian-American writer and organizer active with the Democratic Socialists of America, told Al Jazeera.
“That’s why it’s not too late to save the rest of Gaza, it’s not too late to turn the sea towards Palestine, because we’re not going to the wrong side. They have to understand that. So there will definitely be a certainty that we will accept change and that we have to demand it.”
Abdul Hadi, the sociologist, also expressed his willingness to vote for Harris as he moves to address the United States regarding Israel.
“I am ready to be subdued,” Abdel Hadi told Al Jazeera. “No, it has not defeated me yet, and hardly any physical change can subdue me.”
In turn, Habash asked Harris to hurry up and solve the problem.
“There are a lot of people who want to find a way to support the Democratic nominee eventually, but it is up to the vice president to win those votes at this time,” he told Al Jazeera.
Condemning the demonstrators
Hours before meeting Netanyahu, Harris issued a statement condemning protesters who will gather in Washington, D.C., to protest the Israeli prime minister's decision. Speech to Congress.
Some protesters tore down the American flag at Union Station, near the Capitol building, and stormed the area. More than just two protesters We were peaceful.
Harris denounced what she called “the protesters’ unpatriotic misrepresentation and dangerous hate-fueled rhetoric” at the anti-Netanyahu demonstration.
“I support the right to peaceful protest, but let us be clear: There is no place for anti-Semitism or hatred of violence of any kind in our nation,” the vice president said in a statement.
Activists will accuse Harris' statement of lacking accuracy and failing to reiterate that protesters had gathered to protest: False deception Speech by a leader accused of war crimes.
Promoters of the International Criminal Court are currently seeking to issue a prison sentence for Netanyahu for what they describe as “crimes against humanity.”
also @VP Be *clear* about pro-Hamas protesters:
“I condemn anyone associated with the brutal terrorist organization Hamas, which promises to annihilate the State of Israel and murder Jews.”
“…anti-Semitism or hatred of violence of any kind has no place in our nation.” pic.twitter.com/wl2Ph1ZXjS
– Shelley Greenspan (@ShelleyGspan) July 25, 2024
In this context, the Washington-based Bermuda organization classified Harris' statement regarding the protesters as “disturbing.”
He said Harris used the actions of some individuals “to discredit legitimate protesters who have legitimate concerns like our taxes being used for things that violate U.S. constitutional law, like funding genocide.”
Before condemning the protesters and the “pro-Hamas” group, Harris made another familiar pro-Israel note.
And just this week, her husband, Doug Emhoff, told Jewish Democratic groups: “Vice President Harris will be a strong advocate for Israel as a secure, democratic, Jewish state, and will always ensure that Israel can defend itself — final point.” “That’s Kamala Harris.”
Samra Luqman, an Arab-American activist in the swing state of Michigan, told Al Jazeera that Harris represents the status quo.
“He will actually continue to arm Israel, even when he does so with impunity, as long as he talks about trying to defeat the elections,” Luqman said.
