Gazans are hoping Kamala Harris becomes the next president of the United States due to fears of what another 4 years with Donald Trump in the position could mean for Palestinian statehood and humanitarian aid to the enclave, according to interviews published on Saturday by Al-Monitor.
Harris’s notable absence from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s congressional address last week was interpreted by some in both Gaza and the West as a political statement.
When meeting with Netanyahu, Harris had strongly advocated for an end to the war - declaring in a televised statement “We cannot allow ourselves to become numb to the suffering, and I will not be silent.”
Mohammed Abu Sharkh, a displaced Palestinian from northern Gaza, said that “Palestinians felt helpless about the way members of the US Congress treated Netanyahu during his recent speech and lost hope for a radical change in the United States' pro-Israel policy.”
Netanyahu’s speech was met with applause, despite protests raging outside where American flags were burnt and property vandalized.
Abu Sharkh claimed “For us, the applause sounded like bombs falling on the heads of Palestinian children.”
“I think Harris will have a better vision for the Palestinians, especially with regard to human rights, such as increasing aid and Gaza’s reconstruction,” he said.
Complaints over pro-Israel US leadership
Abdul Rahim al-Hayek from Gaza City told the source that he was pessimistic about a change to US foreign policy.
“I have lived through 14 US presidents, all of whom were blatantly pro-Israel, with the exception of President Bill Clinton, who visited Gaza in 1998 to push the peace process forward,” he said.
Despite his self-reported pessimism, he said “I prefer anyone over Trump, who recognized our future capital, Jerusalem, as the capital of Israel.”
Shireen Zaiter, a reported employee of the Hamas terrorist government, told Al-Monitor Harris seems to sympathize more with us Palestinians, and I believe that once in the White House, she will exert pressure to end the Israeli war on us.”
Zaiter went on to accuse Netanyahu of not wanting to end the war and claimed he sought a new military occupation of Gaza. Al-Monitor did not report on if she advocated for the release of hostages or condemned Hamas, her employer, for starting the war with its October 7 attacks on southern Israel.
Diverting her attention to Trump, she said “This man hates the Palestinians and perceives Arabs as animals.”
Rabab Abu Rahma, a high school principal from Gaza City, complained to the source, “Honestly, we don’t have electricity to watch the US election [campaign] on television, and there is no internet. We have been cut off from the world for nearly 10 months now because of the Israeli war.”
He stated, “I don’t know much about Harris, but I know a lot about Trump. He is a big villain to the Palestinians.”