CHICAGO – President Biden broached the elephant in the room – or rather, several blocks away from the stage during his speech at the Democratic National Convention.
“We’ll keep working to bring hostages home and end the war in Gaza and bring peace and security to the Middle East,” Biden declared.
“Those folks down the street have a point: a lot of innocent people are being killed on both sides,” he added.
Biden further underscored that he was working around the clock to put an end to the “civilian suffering” in the Gaza Strip.
Anti-Israel protesters have stormed the streets outside the convention, railing against Biden for supporting the Jewish state.
Some of them breached the security perimeter outside the United Center where the speakers delivered their addresses tonight, prompting law enforcement to push them back.
Chants of “Biden, Biden you can’t hide — we charge you with genocide” and “Harris, Harris, you can’t hide — we charge you with genocide” were commonplace in the nearby streets.
Democrats had been keen on avoiding a repeat of the 1968 Democratic National Convention in which unrest over the Vietnam War spilled into riots and spates of violence in Chicago.
During his since-scrapped reelection bid, Biden had also been vexed by anti-Israel sentiment within the Democratic Party with tens of thousands of voters writing some iteration of “uncommitted” in protest against him.
Some of those protesters reportedly unfurled signs of protest against him during the convention ceremony in the United Center Monday evening.
Recently, Biden claimed that a breakthrough on a cease-fire is “closer than we’ve ever been.” On Monday, Hamas claimed that it was amenable to the initial terms of Biden’s proposed deal, but opposed other provisions favored by the Israelis.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned Monday the proposal is “probably the best, maybe the last, opportunity” for a breakthrough.
“In a very constructive meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu today, he confirmed to me that Israel accepts the bridging proposal — that he supports it,” Blinken further explained to reporters, per the New York Times. “It’s now incumbent on Hamas to do the same.”
