Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump visited the National Constitution Center near Center City on Tuesday night for the first debate of their presidential matchup. While they debated an array of topics including the economy, immigration, and abortion, anti-Israel protestors gathered outside demanding answers on the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Protestors began to gather a few hours before the 9 PM debate start time outside of City Hall, about a mile from the Constitution Center. “Kamala, you can’t hide/we charge you with genocide” chanted a large gathering of Palestine supporters.
at City Hall there’s a pro-Palestine protest: “Kamala, you can’t hide/we charge you with genocide”
surrounded by easily 100 cops. there’s hundreds stationed elsewhere in a ~10 block radius around the debate location pic.twitter.com/6i3yMKJ9LN
— Lex McMenamin (they/them) (@leximcmenamin) September 10, 2024
The protestors marched towards the debate site, surrounded by bike cops, reaching within a block. There they ended up intersecting with other groups including pro-Kamala supporters stationed outside the Constitution Center.
the folks gathered for Kamala and the protest are starting to intersect about a block from the Constitution Center’s lawn pic.twitter.com/Flp1hW6Cs2
— Lex McMenamin (they/them) (@leximcmenamin) September 10, 2024
While online supporters seemed to coin these demonstrations as ‘peace protests’, many of the chants, signs, and flags that were flown by the protestors seemed to indicate a different idea. Protestors could be seen flying the flags of Hezbollah and Hamas – the terror group responsible for murdering 1,200 innocent Israelis on October 7th – and chanting ‘If we don’t get no justice, you don’t get no peace’. A homemade flag calling for the death of America could also be seen held by members of the crowd.
BREAKING: 🚨PROTESTS OUTSIDE DEBATE HALL pic.twitter.com/Rn8pbEJERS
— Rumsfeld (@Haldeman1969) September 11, 2024
🚩Some images of "peace protestors" outside the Presidential debate in Philadelphia last night you might not have seen.
A man leading the protest waves a huge Hamas flag from the back of a pick-up truck.
A woman drapes herself in a body-length Hamas flag.
Meanwhile a man waves… pic.twitter.com/TujQca9IfS
— Combat Antisemitism Movement (@CombatASemitism) September 11, 2024
Inside the debate, Trump and Kamala sparred over their support for Israel and how they would support America’s greatest ally in the Middle East.
Vice President Harris tried to walk a fine line between supporting Israel while also calling for a two-state solution that would provide for Palestinian security.
“I will always give Israel the ability to defend itself, in particular as it relates to Iran and any threat that Iran and its proxies pose to Israel. But we must have a two-state solution, where we can rebuild Gaza, where the Palestinians have security, self-determination, and the dignity they so rightly deserve,” said the Vice President.
While on the debate stage, Vice President Harris tried to emphasize her support for Israel, but her recent actions showed a different policy. Shortly after she became the Democratic nominee for President, she skipped Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s joint address to Congress, something the Vice President typically presides over as part of their responsibilities, and something Trump was quick to point out.
“She wouldn’t even meet with Netanyahu when he went to Congress to make a very important speech. She refused to be there because she was at a sorority party of hers… She hates Israel. If she is president, I believe Israel will not exist within two years from now,” said the former President, calling her out on the subject.
