By Andrea Shalal and Kanishka Singh
CHICAGO (Reuters) -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 U.S. 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 U.S. 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 U.S. 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.
Rima Mohammad, an Uncommitted delegate from Michigan, said the speech added to disappointment over the DNC's refusal to let a Palestinian speak, and offered nothing to assuage the concerns of her progressive, diverse community in Ann Arbor.
"I'm actually more concerned now," Mohammad said. "This is just a bad look. You're going to lose Michigan."
A campaign spokesperson declined to explain the decision not to schedule a speech by a Palestinian speaker at the DNC. The decision was made by DNC organizers in close consultation with the Harris campaign, sources familiar with the discussions said.
Party insiders fear the Gaza war could cost Harris needed votes in battleground states such as Michigan, which is home to large Muslim and Arab American populations and college campuses that have been the site of Gaza protests.
The convention was held in Chicago, home to the United States' largest Palestinian community, according to the Arab American Institute.
The DNC faced pro-Palestinian protests each day in Chicago, including thousands of demonstrators on Thursday night ahead of Harris' speech. Dozens of arrests were made during the week.
Protesters carried banners that read "No Embargo No Vote" and "No Ceasefire No Vote," while thousands chanted "ceasefire now," and "long live Palestine."
"Leading with Israel's right to defend itself in the wake of 40,000 massacred Palestinians is absolutely tone deaf," said Hatem Abudayyeh, spokesperson for the Coalition to March on the DNC and National Chair of the U.S. Palestinian Community Network, who said Harris simply repeated President Joe Biden's positions.
"Harris said nothing new," he said. "We continue to demand that the U.S. and Harris implement an arms embargo and stop sending weapons and all other aid to Israel."
Mohammad, Alawieh and other Uncommitted delegates spent the previous night on the sidewalk outside the convention to protest the DNC's rejection of their request for a Palestinian speaker.
They welcomed a call for a ceasefire and the return of hostages by the parents of one U.S. hostage held in Gaza - Rachel Goldberg and Jon Polin - on Wednesday night, but said they should also have been given a chance to speak.
Pro-Palestinian protesters and delegates said they were heartened by messages of solidarity from the United Auto Workers union and the Movement for Black Lives, a network of over 150 leaders and organizations. Muslim Women for Harris-Walz said on X it would cease operations after the DNC decision.
Ruwa Romman, a Georgia state legislator and delegate who spent the night outside the DNC, said Uncommitted organizers had negotiated with the Harris campaign for weeks and provided a list of possible speakers, only to be rejected.
Prior to Harris' remarks, only a handful of speakers even addressed the war, including Biden, Senators Bernie Sanders and Raphael Warnock, and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
One major Harris campaign donor, who requested anonymity to be candid about their private conversations with the campaign, said they worried that without a near-term ceasefire deal and clear statements from Harris about ending the war and protecting civilians, campus protests could flare again when universities resume classes in coming days.
"We need every vote," the donor said.