Palestinian Rights Advocates Hold Sit-In After DNC Refuses Speaking Slot

Delegates from the "uncommitted" movement led a sit-in outside of the Democratic National Convention and refused to accept no for an answer late Wednesday after the party declined their request to provide a mere five minutes of onstage time for a Palestinian American to speak to the horrors unfolding in the Gaza Strip, which Israel has been bombing relentlessly with U.S. support for more than 10 months.

DNC organizers did not say publicly why they are refusing to allow a Palestinian American to speak at the event at Chicago's United Center, which is located in the county with the largest Palestinian American population in the U.S.

The Uncommitted National Movement secured dozens of delegates to the DNC after hundreds of thousands of Democratic primary voters cast ballots earlier this year protesting the Biden administration's support for Israel's assault on Gaza.

In a joint statement late Wednesday, Abbas Alawieh, June Rose, Sabrene Odeh, and other uncommitted delegates said that "we are waiting for a phone call from Vice President [Kamala] Harris and the DNC to allow a single Palestinian American speaker from the convention stage."

"Our party's platform states that every life is valuable: whether American, Palestinian, or Israeli," the delegates said. "We will conduct a moral act of sitting in at the convention to push our party to better align our actions, instead of just our words, with the notion that every life is valuable by simply allowing a Palestinian American to speak from the stage."

The DNC's speaker lineup thus far has included Republicans, the former CEO of American Express, and the parents of an Israeli American held hostage in Gaza.

"The Democratic Party has ignored Palestinian voices—canceling meetings, belittling protestors, and now blocking a Palestinian speaker from appearing at the DNC," the Uncommitted National Movement wrote on social media. "We won't let that happen. Palestinian Americans have watched for 10+ months as Democrats have spent their own tax dollars supplying Israel with weapons to kill their loved ones in Palestine."

"All we asked for was five minutes," the movement added. "DNC, we will stay here until we get the call from Democratic leadership. We will not stop until we win an arms embargo. We will not stop until the Democratic Party becomes the party of Palestinian rights."

The window for a reversal from DNC organizers is rapidly closing: Thursday is the final day of the convention, which will feature remarks from Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee.

The Washington Post reported Wednesday that "many Democratic leaders were concerned" that providing even a brief speaking slot to a Palestinian American "would threaten the unity that has been on vivid display at the convention," given the likelihood that the speaker would criticize U.S. support for Israel's assault.

Waleed Shahid, a progressive organizer and Democratic strategist, said that "several names" of Palestinian Americans were submitted to the DNC for consideration and uncommitted delegates were "well aware that every speech would be vetted and edited by the campaign and have agreed to that process."

"There are tens of thousands of Palestinian Americans," Shahid added. "The DNC can find one person to speak."

In response to the DNC's decision, the group "Muslim Women for Harriz-Walz" announced that it "cannot in good conscience" keep its organization going "in light of this new information."

"The family of the Israeli hostage that was on stage tonight has shown more empathy towards Palestinian Americans and Palestinians than our candidate or the DNC has," the group said in a statement. "This is a terrible message to send to Democrats. Palestinians have the right to speak about Palestine. We pray that the DNC and VP Harris' team makes the right decision before this convention is over. For the sake of each of us."

Ongoing Israeli atrocities in the Gaza Strip—enabled by tens of billions of dollars of American weaponry transferred by the current Democratic administration—and the enclave's appalling humanitarian crisis have received scant attention from DNC speakers thus far. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), the two most prominent progressive lawmakers to speak at the convention, each mentioned Gaza just once, with the latter offering praise for the Biden administration's diplomatic efforts that critics said was entirely unwarranted.

Zeteo's Mehdi Hasan wrote Wednesday that "there are plenty of Dem delegates at this convention here in Chicago who I am sure support an arms embargo and are against what's happening in Gaza."

"But," he added, "they don't want it to get in the way of pro-Kamala party atmosphere. It's an inconvenient genocide."

Reps. Summer Lee (D-Pa.) and Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) joined the sit-in late Wednesday, expressing solidarity with the demand for a Palestinian American speaker on the convention stage.

"To still speak up in your grief in the face of people who would essentially spit in your face, and to do it anyway, is a love that some people will never understand," Lee told the demonstrators.

This story has been updated to include a statement from the group "Muslim Women for Harriz-Walz."