Harris takes on Gaza war, tyranny in Democratic convention finale

CHICAGO, Aug 23 (Agencies): Vice President Kamala Harris sealed the Democratic presidential nomination with a muscular speech, laying down broad foreign policy principles and sharp contrasts with Republican rival Donald Trump with 11 weeks left in the race for the White House.
On the final night of the four-day Democratic National Convention, Harris, 59, promised to be a "realistic," "practical" president for all Americans, as she battles Trump, 78, in a razor-close campaign.
"In the enduring struggle between democracy and tyranny, I know where I stand and I know where the United States belongs," she said on Thursday, accusing Trump of bowing down to dictators. She promised to back NATO, Ukraine and "stand up to Putin's aggression," a reference to Russia's president.
Harris emerged as the Democratic candidate little more than a month ago when allies of President Joe Biden, 81, forced him to quit the race.
It was a forceful speech for a candidate who, during her brief campaign, had yet to articulate much of her vision for the country. Harris has faced a stream of personal attacks from Trump, who called her weak on the foreign stage.
After days of protests from Palestinian supporters who were disappointed at not getting a speaking spot at the convention, Harris delivered a pledge to secure Israel, bring the hostages home from Gaza and end the war in the Palestinian enclave.
"Now is the time to get a hostage deal and a ceasefire deal done," she said to cheers. "And let me be clear, I will always stand up for Israel's right to defend itself and I will always ensure Israel has the ability to defend itself."
She said she wanted to end the war in a way that provides for Israel security and allows the Palestinian people to realize their right to self-determination.
Harris said she would take whatever action was necessary to defend US interests against Iran and said tyrants and dictators including North Korea's Kim Jong Un, "are rooting for Trump."
If successful, Harris stands to make history as the first woman elected US president on Nov. 5.
Harris drew a series of contrasts with Trump, accusing him of not fighting for the middle class, planning to enact a tax hike through his tariff proposals, and having set in motion the end of a constitutional right to abortion with his picks for the US Supreme Court.
Harris noted the Supreme Court's recent ruling about presidential immunity and the risks that would pose if Trump gained power again.
"Just imagine Donald Trump with no guard rails," she said.
Earlier, disappointed Pro-Palestinian activists said Kamala Harris' speech to close the Democratic convention in Chicago failed to demonstrate any break from the status quo, after a week in which the most divisive issue facing the party was mostly ignored.
Under pressure to respond to critics of US support for Israel's war in Gaza, the vice president used her Thursday night speech to repeat earlier calls for a ceasefire and a hostages deal. She said she supported Israel's right to defend itself while also favoring the Palestinian right to self-determination.
Abbas Alawieh, co-founder of the Uncommitted National Movement that mobilized more than 750,000 voters to protest US policy on Israel, said Harris missed an opportunity to win over those people, many of whom live in battleground states such as Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Arizona.
"What's needed in this moment is courageous leadership that breaks from the current approach," Alawieh told Reuters shortly after Harris formally accepted the party's nomination.
Uncommitted delegates and their allies had pushed unsuccessfully for a prime-time speaking slot at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) to address the latest bloodshed in the decades old Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which began on Oct. 7 when Hamas attacked Israel, killing about 1,200, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel's assault on Hamas-governed Gaza, with the aid of US support, has since killed 40,000 Palestinians, Gaza health officials say, along with displacing nearly its entire 2.3 million population, causing a hunger crisis and flattening almost the entire enclave.
Trump lashes out as DNC attacks throw him off message
Donald Trump isn't in Chicago but his presence hangs over everything and he is clearly following events here.
Ahead of Kamala Harris's speech on Thursday, a couple of Trump aides told me, a little implausibly, that the former president is not tuning into the Democratic National Convention because he has no interest in watching a Democratic Party "infomercial".
But one senior campaign official confirms, anonymously, that Trump is watching and is irritated by the attacks against him.
In the view of one ally who speaks to the former president every week, Trump wins in November if he sticks to talking about the economy, the border and crime.
At the start of this week, that looked possible. Trump scheduled a string of rallies, in Pennsylvania, Michigan, North Carolina and Arizona - each was themed to focus on exactly those political and economic topics.
But with night after night of anti-Trump speeches here in Chicago, staying on message has gone out the window. And it's not what his supporters tell him they want anyway.
The North Carolina event on Wednesday was vintage Trump - and it became a referendum on his own team's strategy. "They always say, 'Sir, please stick to policy, don't get personal'... and yet [the Democrats are] getting personal all night long, these people. Do I still have to stick to policy?" Trump asked.