'Genocide is my red line': Gaza looms large on last night of Democratic National Convention in Chicago

On the last night of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, during Kamala Harris's acceptance speech for the party's nomination for US president, the current vice president turned to Israel's genocidal war on Gaza, and drew thunderous applause after saying that the Palestinian people should live in dignity.

"Now is the time to get a hostage deal and a ceasefire deal done," Harris said, emphasising that she will always support Israel's "right to defend itself", as a man in the audience repeatedly yelled, "Free Palestine!".

"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.

"President Biden and I are working to end this war such that Israel is secure, the hostages are released, the suffering in Gaza ends, and the Palestinian people can realise their right to dignity," she said, as the audience's applause drowned out her subsequent words.

Her statement was met with some of the loudest applause of the evening, a sign of strong US public support for Palestinian human rights, if the DNC's audience is any indication.

Activists wanted to have a platform of their own on the DNC stage, to give a voice to Gaza. However, the roaring applause showed that there was an appetite to acknowledging the situation in Gaza and calling for an end to the war.

Indeed, multiple polls since the start of the war in Gaza in October show that the majority of Americans and the vast majority of Democrats support a ceasefire in Gaza. The public sentiment is in contrast to US President Joe Biden's support for Israel's war through the administration's surge in weapons transfers over the last 10 months.

For months, demonstrators have been trying to get the US government to change course in its support for the war. The convention gave activists the opportunity to amplify their anti-war message as well as concerns that if the Democratic Party didn't shift their policies in its support for Israel, they could lose votes in key swing states, particularly Michigan, with its high concentration of Arabs and Muslims.

On Wednesday evening, pro-Palestinian uncommitted delegates were informed that they had been denied a speaking slot at the convention, despite Israelis going on stage to highlight their loved ones being held by Palestinian armed groups.

In response to the denial, the pro-Palestinian activists staged a sit-in near the entrance to the arena, chanting as attendees entered and exited. Several progressive elected officials, including Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, supported the move. On social media, Rashida Tlaib, described the description of "joy" at the convention as "a false narrative".

Meanwhile, a group called Muslim Women for Harris announced that they had disbanded and had withdrawn their support for the vice president.

At the close of the final night of the DNC, following Harris's keynote address, police in full riot gear lined the street facing the protesters, creating a barrier between the protesters and the attendees.

Some DNC attendees expressed their support as they walked past, while a few showed hostility. One reached across the police line and raised his middle finger to the protesters while shouting obscenities.

The human police barrier extended for a five to 10-minute walk, as police prevented anyone from crossing to the other side, including journalists who wanted to interview protesters.

To interview a protester, The New Arab reached over the shoulder of a police officer with a phone to record while the protester yelled to the phone from behind the police line.

Jinan, a pro-Palestinian activist from Maryland using only her first name, said that she doesn't want Trump to get elected, and she would want to vote for Harris if she shifted her policies on Gaza to supporting an arms embargo and a ceasefire.

"I'm out here because Kamala has not given me a reason yet to vote for her. I don't want Trump to win, but I wish Kamala gave me a reason to vote for her. As of now, I have not yet seen it," she told TNA.

"Genocide is my red line," she said. "We continue to use our tax dollars to fund the genocide when we can't even get help with healthcare, student loans, and helping the communities here."