CHICAGO — Undecided delegates vowed to continue a sit-in outside the United Center on Thursday to demand a Palestinian-American speak at the Democratic National Convention as Vice President Kamala Harris prepares to deliver the keynote address on the convention’s final night.
As Harris looks to rally Democrats behind her meteoric rise to the top of the ticket, the Palestinian-American’s failure to address the crowd plays into broader concerns about the massive death toll among Palestinians in the Gaza Strip as a result of Israel’s war with Hamas.
That first galvanized the Uncommitted National Movement, which has about 30 delegates to the DNC. Minnesota has 11 of them, the most of any state and the home state of vice presidential candidate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
It’s a turning point that has divided Muslims, Arab Americans and anti-war Democrats within the party, much as it did when Harris’ predecessor, President Joe Biden, dropped out of the race last month.
Several progressive Democratic lawmakers speaking at the convention called for a ceasefire, including Vermont Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders and New York U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, both of whom were greeted with thunderous applause at the United Center.
On Wednesday, the National Non-Aligned Movement said Harris’ campaign had rejected its request to allow Dr. Tanya Haj-Hassan, an American pediatric intensive care surgeon, to speak about her treatment of patients in the Gaza Strip during Israel’s war with Hamas.
“We asked (her) to be given time on stage so she could speak from her perspective as a healthcare worker who was in Gaza treating children whose lives were destroyed and whose bodies were destroyed by American weapons,” Abbas Alawieh, co-founder of the Uncommitted movement and an unaffiliated delegate from Michigan, said Wednesday.
Alawieh said the organization had been trying to confirm a speaker for two months before the Democratic National Convention (DNC), and was negotiating with DNC officials and the Harris campaign until 2:30 a.m. Central Time on Wednesday night.
Frustration grew after DNC organizers included former Trump administration officials and Republicans who pledged to vote for Harris among their speakers.
“I’ve had a really tough few days, but honestly, today topped it all,” the Georgia state representative said. Roman water he said on social media Wednesday. “I don’t understand how there’s a place for an anti-choice Republican and not me in our party. I need someone to explain to me what I’m supposed to do now.”
Roman is the only Palestinian serving in the Georgia state legislature.
Florida U.S. Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost, who will speak Thursday night, took to social media to appeal for Romman to also be given a seat.
“Representative Ruwa is a Democratic leader who worked to keep Georgia blue and elect Vice President Harris” he said. “She would be a speaker who unites people for peace.”
On Wednesday, the DNC scheduled a speech by the parents of an American taken hostage by Hamas — their son — following the Oct. 7 attack that took hundreds of people hostage and killed 1,200. On Tuesday, Israeli officials announced The bodies of six hostages taken by Hamas on October 7 were recovered.
The decision by DNC officials not to include a Palestinian American speaker also resulted in the suspension of the campaign by the coalition supporting Harris and Walz (Muslim Women for Harris-Walz).
“The family of the Israeli hostage who was on stage tonight showed more empathy for Palestinian Americans and Palestinians than our candidate or the DNC” the group wrote. “This is a terrible message to send to Democrats. Palestinians have the right to talk about Palestine.”
The Uncommitted movement also received support from other organizations at the DNC, such as the United Auto Workers.
“If we want to end the war in Gaza, we cannot bury our heads in the sand or ignore the voices of Palestinian Americans in the Democratic Party” The UAW said in a statement:“If we want peace, if we want real democracy, and if we want to win this election, the Democratic Party must allow a Palestinian-American to speak from the DNC stage tonight.”
Those undecided delegates won their spot at the DNC after more than 740,000 voters in the United States voted “undecided” in the primary to protest then-presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Biden’s support for Israel in a war that has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians in the past 10 months, according to health authorities there.
Although the movement started in Michigan, it soon became nationwide and undecided delegates were sent from Hawaii, Washington, Rhode Island, and Minnesota.
Now that Harris is the novel Democratic presidential candidate, those undecided delegates said they hope Harris will listen to them, asking for a ceasefire and an arms embargo on Israel. But right now they just want a Palestinian American to be able to address the party.
“The Democratic Party platform includes specific language that emphasizes that the lives of Israelis and Palestinians are equal in the eyes of the party,” Alawieh said. “We believe, as our party platform says, that the life of every Israeli and the life of every Palestinian is equal. There should also be a Palestinian-American who speaks from this stage. This is urgent.”
Ross Williams contributed to this article.
