ARAB AND WORLD

Tue 20 Aug 2024 3:07 pm - Jerusalem Time

Biden: "It's time for the war on Gaza to end"

In his speech at the Democratic Party convention in Chicago, outgoing US President Joe Biden said it was time to end the war in Gaza and end the suffering.


US President Joe Biden said on Monday that protesters against Israel's war on Gaza who demonstrated outside the Democratic National Convention headquarters in Chicago were "right," the first time Biden has mentioned the protesters against Israel's barbaric war on Gaza in a positive way.


"Those protesters in the street are right. There are too many innocent people being killed on both sides," Biden said in his farewell address to the conference, adding that it was time to "end this war."


President Biden said there is no place in the United States for political violence, stressing that democracy has triumphed and must be preserved now, while his Vice President Kamala Harris pledged to defeat her Republican rival Donald Trump.


"We are in a battle to preserve the soul of the United States, and our best days are not behind us, but ahead of us," Biden added in a speech at the opening of the Democratic Party convention.


He stressed that he ran for the elections (in 2020) after seeing extremists demonstrating and carrying Nazi slogans, and he considered that the far-right saw former President Donald Trump as their ally.


He pointed out that 81 million Americans voted for him in the previous elections in order to save democracy, and he stressed that he was determined to rebuild the middle class and was a president for all Americans, whether they voted for him or not.


He pointed out that he and his Vice President Kamala Harris had achieved the greatest progress ever and that the US economy was the strongest in the world after the Corona pandemic crisis.


He stressed that "there is still a lot of work to do," adding, "We have updated the infrastructure, including roads, airports, ports, and others, and Trump has not built any infrastructure despite his promises."


In turn, former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressed her happiness at the nomination of US Vice President Kamala Harris for the presidency, in her first Democratic Party conference in person since running for the presidency 8 years ago, on Monday, expressing her hope that the latter will be able to achieve the accomplishment that she was unable to reach.


"The future is here! I hope my mom and Kamala's mom can see it," Clinton said during her speech, amid continuous applause from the audience, indicating that if Harris wins the election, she will become the first female president in the history of the United States.


“The story of my life and the history of our country show that progress is possible, but it is not guaranteed,” said Clinton, who was the first woman to win the Democratic nomination for president in 2016. “We must fight for it and never give up.”


During her speech, Clinton spoke about her and Vice President Harris's role in supporting women's rights, and several women could be seen wiping away tears - including Gwen Walz, the wife of Harris' running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz - and approvingly supporting Clinton's comments about Donald Trump mocking her and Harris' laughter.


Biden’s speech late Monday capped a remarkable two months in American politics, with a dismal debate performance that led many Democrats to question the president’s ability to defeat Republican nominee Donald Trump and culminating in his stunning decision a month ago to drop out of the race. Instead of accepting his party’s nomination this week, Biden instead headlined the opening night of a historic convention that will see the Democratic Party nominate its first woman of color to lead the party.

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Biden: "It's time for the war on Gaza to end"