Sen. Cory Booker (D-Jersey) asserted on Sunday that Vice President Harris “urgently” wants to reach a ceasefire and hostage release agreement in the Israel-Hamas war. Booker and the Democratic National Convention have faced criticism for not inviting a Palestinian speaker to the event.
“I know politics are extremely important, but I know Vice President Kamala Harris personally, and she has been anguished about this conflict since the first reports of attacks by Hamas,” Booker said on CNN’s “State of the Union” when asked if it was a “mistake” to not include any Palestinian-American speakers at the convention.
“She feels compelled to achieve a ceasefire, to return the hostages and to end the enormous ongoing suffering of the Palestinian people,” he said.
“I think the convention did a good job of raising this conflict multiple times, from Vice President Harris herself to her friends. [Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.)]”All previous presidents have stressed the urgency of ending this conflict, achieving a ceasefire, ending the suffering of the Palestinian people and releasing the hostages, including the American hostages,” Booker added.
As Democrats continue to debate the Israel-Hamas war, many congressional Democrats, independent representatives and pro-Palestinian activists criticized Harris and the convention for refusing to allow a Palestinian-American to speak at the event.
Some were especially outraged by the refusal to speak because the parents of American hostages held by Hamas were given time to speak at the convention.
Booker said he was “encouraged” to have Harris as part of the Biden administration, which he argued is doing an “extraordinary job” trying to end the war and prevent it from spreading elsewhere in the Middle East.
In her speech, Harris vowed to always protect Israel from terrorist attacks and condemned Hamas for its October 7 attacks in southern Israel that left some 1,200 people dead and took about 250 hostages. She also expressed concern about the death toll in the Gaza Strip, where more than 40,000 people have died.
“What has happened in Gaza over the past 10 months has been devastating,” she said to applause. “The scale of suffering is heartbreaking. President Biden and I are working to end this war so that Israel is safe, the hostages are free, the suffering in Gaza ends, and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, security, and freedom of self-determination.”
Some war opponents are calling for Harris to offer a more direct condemnation of the conflict and a more nuanced view than Biden has offered.
Negotiations on a ceasefire and hostage release agreement appeared to collapse last week as Israel and Hamas split over key issues. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited the Middle East last week to try to finalize the talks but returned home without reaching any major agreement.
