WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris condemned antisemitic and anti-American displays during protests against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to Congress, joining a growing number of politicians from both parties.
“I condemn any individuals associating with the brutal terrorist organization Hamas, which has vowed to annihilate the State of Israel and kill Jews,” Harris said in a statement, her first on antisemitism since she launched her bid for the presidency this week.
“Pro-Hamas graffiti and rhetoric is abhorrent and we must not tolerate it in our nation,” she said. “I support the right to peacefully protest, but let’s be clear: Antisemitism, hate and violence of any kind have no place in our nation.”
Harris also condemned the burning of the American flag. She has been under intense scrutiny for differences in tone she may have with President Joe Biden, including on Israel. Republicans have criticized her for skipping Netanyahu’s speech, over which she would have co-presided, for a campaign event.
President Joe Biden, whom Harris is replacing on the Democratic ticket, made combating antisemitism a focus of his 2020 campaign and of his presidency. In 2022 he named Harris’ Jewish husband, Doug Emhoff, to chair a team that presented a national strategy to combat antisemitism.
The thousands of protesters turning out in Washington on Wednesday mostly waved Palestinian flags and wore keffiyehs, and many accused Netanyahu of genocide in Israel’s war in Gaza, which began Oct. 7 when Hamas terrorists invaded Israel.
Photos appearing on social media showed monuments defaced with slogans praising Hamas. A number of protesters waved Hamas flags, and wore the inverted red triangle Hamas uses to identify targets for its violence. One man waved a placard, “Allah is gathering all the Zionists for the ‘Final Solution,’” a reference to the Holocaust.
The protests have drawn condemnation from a number of top lawmakers and figures from both parties, including Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana; Steven Cheung, a spokesman for former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee; Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, who is Jewish; and Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York.
They have condemned the appearance of Hamas symbols and the burning of American flags at the protests. So did Andrew Bates, a spokesman for the White House.
“Identifying with evil terrorist organizations like Hamas, burning the American flag, or forcibly removing the American flag and replacing it with another, is disgraceful,” Bates said in an email. Some protesters ran up the Palestinian flag in place of the American flag.
“Antisemitism and violence are never acceptable. Period,” he added. “Every American has the right to peaceful protest. But shamefully, not everyone demonstrated peacefulness today.””
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