Uncommitted delegates demand Democratic National Convention organizers give Palestinian speakers stage time

Anti-war delegates and supporters are urging Democrats to open a speaking slot for Palestinian elected official

Dozens of Democratic officials are demanding Kamala Harris’s campaign and Democratic National Convention organizers let a Palestinian American speak on the stage on the final night of the event.

Roughly three dozen “uncommitted” delegates — sent to the DNC by voters in primaries who selected “uncommitted” in protest of the Biden administration’s support for Israel’s war in Gaza — have successfully recruited more than 200 Harris delegates to support calls for an immediate ceasefire and stop the flow of US-supplied bombs into Israel.

But Uncommitted National Movement leaders announced on Wednesday that the DNC rejected their request for a speaking slot. A petition urging the DNC to reverse course has collected more than 90 signatures from Democratic elected officials and party chairs.

Including a Palestinian speaker would “not only honor our commitment to inclusivity but also provide an opportunity for these deeply personal and painful narratives to be heard,” the petition reads.

“Just as we have collectively mourned and stood in solidarity with hostage families who have endured unimaginable grief, we must also offer compassion and understanding to Palestinians who have suffered under indiscriminate bombing.”

After vice presidential candidate Tim Walz’s keynote speech on Wednesday night, uncommitted delegates and supporters staged a sit-in demonstration outside Chicago’s United Center.

Demonstrators included Georgia state representative Ruwa Romman, the first Palestinian elected to public office in the state, criticizing the fact that the convention included Republican speakers opposed to abortion.

I know for a fact that the @DNC did not act in good faith and continue to lie about the negotiations. They are exposing themselves. https://t.co/wtPL8mcBD7

— Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) August 22, 2024

“Clearly they have room for anti-choice Republicans, but sadly, it doesn't seem like they have room for Palestinians” Romman said, during the demonstration,” she told The Independent.

Uncommitted delegates and supporters have been urging the DNC and the Harris campaign to give Romman a two-minute speaking slot, or calling on other elected officials to give up their spot to let her or another Palestinian American speak instead.

Rashida Tlaib, a Palestinian-American congresswoman representing Michigan, went further on X: “I know for a fact that the [DNC] did not act in good faith and continue to lie about the negotiations. They are exposing themselves.”

A Harris campaign adviser, Ian Sams, was asked about the issue on CNN but deflected, saying that Palestinian-American supporters had been given other opportunitites to “engage” with the party at the DNC. He then pivoted to arguing that the vice president was focused on efforts to protect civilians while stressing that Israel had a right to self-defense.

Wolf Blitzer: "Why was a Palestinian-American denied a speaking slot tonight?"

Harris campaign senior advisor Ian Sams: "Well, I think we've given them a lot of opportunities to engage in this process at the convention." pic.twitter.com/mans8e4hN5

— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) August 22, 2024

In her remarks, Romman planned to discuss her family’s roots in the villages of Suba in Jerusalem and Al Khalil in the West Bank. Her parents, who were born in Jordan, moved to Georgia when she was eight years old.

After her grandfather passed away a few years ago, and “as we’ve been moral witnesses to the massacres in Gaza, I’ve thought of him, wondering if this was the pain he knew too well,” she planned to say. “When we watched Palestinians displaced from one end of the Gaza Strip to the other I wanted to ask him how he found the strength to walk all those miles decades ago and leave everything behind.”

She also planned to celebrate the “beautiful, multifaith, multiracial, and multigenerational coalition” within the Democratic Party that is calling for a “ceasefire, end the killing of Palestinians, free all the Israeli and Palestinian hostages, and to begin the difficult work of building a path to collective peace and safety.”

Pro-Palestinian ‘uncommitted’ delegates continued to protest outside the venue ahead of the fourth day of the Democratic National Convention, which had rejected their pleas for a Palestinian American speaker at the conference. (REUTERS)

Biden has refused calls from within his own party to withhold weapons sales to Israel to pressure a ceasefire in Gaza, even as the death toll from the conflict has reached more than 40,000 and famine has spread across the territory.

The DNC heard from Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg-Polin, the parents of a 23-year-old American taken hostage by Hamas. The couple also made an emotional plea for a ceasefire and the release of hostages.

In his message from the stage of the conference on Wednesday, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said Harris and Walz are “listening.”

“They agree with us,” said Ellison, a former DNC deputy chair. “If you wanna know where they stand on some of the most urgent issues … let me assure you, Kamala and Tim hear you. They listen, they care, and everyone is included in their circle of compassion.”

On Thursday, he wrote that “a Palestinian-American sharing his or her story, calling for cease fire and release of all hostages, and calling everyone to support the ticket against facism would be powerful.”

Campaign communications director Michael Tyler did not directly answer reporters on Thursday when pressed why the campaign is not allowing a Palestinian speaker on the stage.

A group of ‘uncommitted’ delegates held a sit-in just outside the United Center to protest the lack of a Palestinian American speaker at the Democratic National Convention on August 21. The protests continued into the following day, ahead of Kamala Harris’s closing remarks. (EPA)

Harris is “committed to ending the violence, ending the conflict, making sure that we resolve this conflict with a permanent ceasefire that allows Israel to fully secure itself … and make sure that we have full humanitarian aid, and also make sure that Gazans are able to peacefully live and prosper in Gaza,” according to Tyler.

In a letter to Democratic National Committee chair Jaime Harrison, Michigan state Representative Alabas Farhat -- whose district includes Dearborn, where the “uncommitted” movement was born -- said the DNC’s “failure” to address the movement “cannot be understated.”

“Leaders of the [DNC] cannot claim to want peace in Gaza but actively thwart the ability for Palestinians to speak their truth at the DNC,” said Michigan House leader Abraham Aiyash.

“The plight of the Palestinians isn’t just an inconvenience you can ignore because it’ll ruin ‘vibes’ — children and families are being blown to pieces by US funded bombs, and to silence folks who want to lift their stories is another sad attempt to dehumanize Palestinians,” he added. “It is shameful that this is even a conversation that needs to be had.”

Still, Abbas Alawieh, one of the leaders of the Uncommitted Movement and former chief of staff to Representative Cori Bush, said that the movement made strides.

“Our movement is strong and our movement is growing, I’m very hopeful,” he told The Independent.

John Bowden and Eric Garcia contributed reporting