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Trump, Harris Spotlight Antisemitism, Gaza War in Closing Rallies Heading Into Election Day
Republican presidential nominee and former US President Donald Trump looks on during a rally at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, in Uniondale, New York, US, Sept. 18, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
Amid a surge of antisemitism across the United States and frustration over the ongoing war in Gaza, presidential hopefuls Donald Trump and Kamala Harris sought to win over skeptical Jewish and Arab American voters in their final campaign rallies on Sunday and Monday.
On the eve of the election, both campaigns have scrambled to convince Jewish voters of their commitment to both protecting Israel and combating antisemitic violence on American soil. In their closing pitch to US voters, Harris and Trump presented contrasting visions on how to bolster Jewish security and end the Israel-Hamas war.
During a rally on Monday night in Raleigh, North Carolina, Trump reflected on the fatal shooting of a Jewish man in Chicago by an illegal immigrant from North Africa, casting blame on the Biden-Harris administration’s immigration policies for allowing the assailant in the country.
“An illegal alien from North Africa, who Kamala let into our country with her horrendous, open border — just a dangerous, horrendous situation — traveled to a Jewish neighborhood in Chicago and tried to execute a Jewish man on the street, shooting him in the back as he walked to synagogue,” said Trump, a Republican. “He then opened fire on police and paramedics, shooting an ambulance before police returned fire and ended his rampage fairly quickly.”
Sidi Mohamed Abdallahi, a 22 year-old migrant from Mauritania, allegedly shot a Jewish man who was walking to a synagogue on Oct. 26. Prosecutors issued terrorism and hate crime charges against Abdallahi after police unveiled evidence which, they said, showed he purposefully sought to violently target Jews.
Meanwhile, Harris, a Democrat, promised to do “everything in her power” to end the Israel-Hamas war if she wins the White House while speaking to voters at Michigan State University on Sunday. The presidential hopeful also revealed that she had a private conversation with “leaders of the Arab-American community.”
“This year has been difficult, given the scale of death and destruction in Gaza and given the civilian casualties and displacement in Lebanon,” Harris said in her remarks to the crowd. “It is devastating.”
“As president, I will do everything in my power to end the war in Gaza,” Harris said, “to bring home the hostages, end the suffering in Gaza, ensure Israel is secure, and ensure the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, freedom, securit,y and self-determination.”
Harris’s statements on the war in Gaza echoed previous sentiments she made during a campaign stop in Detroit on Sunday.
“I am honored to have the support of many Arab American leaders who represent the interests and the concerns also of the Arab American community,” Harris said in Detroit. “But I also know well enough to know it is not a monolith.”
“The level of death of innocent Palestinians is unconscionable,” she added. “We need to end the war, and we need to get the hostages out.”
Over the course of her campaign, Harris has repeatedly vowed to secure an elusive ceasefire deal between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, which rules Gaza. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said on Monday that Hamas rejected the latest temporary ceasefire agreement presented by Egypt. The 12-day proposal would have reportedly started with a 48-hour ceasefire followed by Hamas releasing four hostages who the terrorist group kidnapped last year from Israel over the next 10 days.
In exchange, Jerusalem would release around 100 Palestinian terrorists from Israeli jails, and over the 12-day period, Israel and Hamas were to hold indirect talks on extending the truce.
Since replacing President Joe Biden at the top of the Democratic ticket in July, Harris has attempted to strike a balance between demonstrating support for Israel and calling for more restrictions on their defensive military campaign while expressing sympathy for the Palestinian civilians of Gaza. Recent polling indicates that Harris’s strategy has not panned out as she hoped. Anti-Israel Green Party nominee Jill Stein edged out Harris among US Muslim voters by a 42-41 percent margin, according to a poll conducted by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).
The post Trump, Harris Spotlight Antisemitism, Gaza War in Closing Rallies Heading Into Election Day first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.