Vice President Kamala Harris has attracted controversy for calling for an immediate ceasefire in the Middle East during a visit to Alabama. The Vice President made the remarks during a visit to Selma to mark the 59th anniversary of the Bloody Sunday attacks on civil rights activists, where she told attendees that the right to vote is under attack in America.
Speaking at the foot of the Edmund Pettus Bridge, where civil rights activists were beaten by police in 1965, Harris said, “We know our fight for freedom is not over.” Citing apparent attempts to restrict voting, such as demands for absentee voter limits, Ms. Harris said the nation is at a crossroads, and its voters must choose between an America of freedom and justice or one of injustice, hate, and fear.
Harris furthermore noted what she called restrictions on a woman’s right to determine her own future, which was compromised when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade.
During her remarks on the Middle East conflict, which has been raging since the Hamas attack on Israel last October, the Vice President said a ceasefire would allow more humanitarian aid to reach the Gaza Strip and “allow us to build something more enduring.” She called for a secure Israel that respects “the right of the Palestinian people to dignity, freedom and self-determination.”
The Vice President went on to say that the people of Gaza are “starving” and urged Israel to respond to the “humanitarian catastrophe” unfolding in the region. “Let’s get a ceasefire. Let’s reunite the hostages with their families. And let’s provide immediate relief to the people of Gaza,” she said.
Her remarks are the strongest yet from a senior member of the Biden administration and signal a definitive US government position.
The government has recently increased pressure on Israel to call a halt to its military campaign and has airdropped aid to Palestinian civilians while holding talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s political rival, Benny Gantz.
