CHICAGO — In One of the most moving moments of the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday night came when the parents of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, a 23-year-old American who was kidnapped by Hamas on October 7, took the stage at the United Center and spoke of the torment they have experienced in the 320 days since their son was taken hostage.
They called for the release of the other hostages, including eight US citizens, and a ceasefire that would “end the suffering of innocent civilians in the Gaza Strip.”
But the DNC’s invitation to the family contrasted uncomfortably with the party’s refusal to accommodate a Palestinian American or doctors who have worked in Gaza on the main stage. On Wednesday night, following that speech, the DNC informed Uncommitted Movement leaders that they would not be given the opportunity to bring a Palestinian speaker to the convention’s main stage to speak about Israeli military operations in Gaza, which were carried out with the support of the United States.
The Uncommitted Movement – which represents over 700,000 pro-Palestinian voters who cast their “undecided” ballots in the Democratic presidential primaries – had asked for speaking time at the party convention and a meeting with Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign team.
The DNC gave the movement a chance to speak in several non-televised forums. On Monday, a doctor told harrowing stories from Gaza, where the Israeli military has been imposing an unprecedented 10-month siege that began after Hamas attacks on Oct. 7. The party refused to meet the Uncommitted Movement’s more far-reaching demands.
“I’ve been working on this every day for the past week or more,” said James Zogby, who has held leadership positions in the Democratic Party for decades. “The campaign made a mistake – an unnecessary mistake. It didn’t have to happen that way and it needs to be corrected now.”
The decision by the Harris campaign and DNC threatens to destroy the good reputation the campaign has enjoyed since Harris rose to the top of the ballot. There have been no significant protests inside the arena this week, and demonstrations outside have been smaller than expected. But that began to change by Wednesday evening. As delegates and convention attendees left the United Center, protesters with signs and bullhorns read the names of children killed in Gaza and urged passersby to turn around and join a 24-hour sit-in that the leaders of the uncommitted delegates had started outside the arena earlier that evening.
“We await a call from Vice President Harris and the DNC to allow a single Palestinian-American speaker to speak from the convention stage,” those delegates — Abbas Alawieh, June Rose and Sabrene Odeh — said in a statement. “Our party’s platform says that every life is precious: American, Palestinian or Israeli. We will be performing a moral act by being at the convention to urge our party to better align our actions, not just our words, with the idea that every life is precious, simply by allowing a Palestinian-American speaker to speak from the stage.”
Progressive Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), one of two Muslim women in Congress, joined the Uncommitted movement’s sit-in on Wednesday evening.
A Democratic congressman on Capitol Hill who was in Chicago this week tells Rolling Stone bluntly: “If we lose Michigan by a whisker … it will be hard not to conclude that part of the reason is that we did not treat these people with the respect they deserve and instead just wished they would go away and stop complaining.”
Two DNC officials did not respond to requests for comment. A Harris campaign spokesman declined to comment on the decision.
Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California said late Wednesday: “The Palestinian right to self-determination was erased by the British with the Balfour Declaration of 1917, which mentioned only civil and religious rights, but not political rights for the Palestinian people. The Democratic Party, which claims to be the party of human rights, must not continue this erasure of Palestinian history in 2024.”
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (DN.Y.), who said on Monday on stage at the United Center that Harris is “working tirelessly to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza,” was responding on Wednesday to the DNC’s decision to exclude Palestinian voices.
“Just as we must honor the humanity of the hostages, we must also center the humanity of the 40,000 Palestinians killed under Israeli bombardment,” she wrote on X. “To deny this history is to participate in the dehumanization of Palestinians. The @DNC must change course and affirm our shared humanity.”
