Uncommitted delegates upset by lack of a Palestinian-American speaker on DNC convention stage
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A group of convention delegates who voted “present” rather than for Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee are leaving Chicago upset that no Palestinian-American spoke from the stage.
Ninety-three uncommitted delegates represented Democratic voters who cast their ballots against President Joe Biden in primary elections because of his position on the Israel-Hamas war. Delegate leaders had been in talks with the DNC about having a Palestinian-American speaker.
Minnesota sent the most uncommitted delegates to the national convention. Almost 19 percent of Democratic primary voters in Minnesota voted “uncommitted” instead of for Biden in the state’s March 5 primary. It gave them 11 delegate spots, although only 10 voted “present” in the convention roll call.
Some in the contingent staged a sit-in this week outside the convention and others formed a human chain as they walked through the halls of the United Center on Thursday night.
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Standing outside the convention arena Thursday, Georgia state Rep. Ruwa Romman read the speech she would have delivered from the stage.
“Let's commit to each other to electing Vice President Harris and defeating Donald Trump, who uses my identity as a Palestinian as a slur,” she said. “Let's fight for the policies long overdue, from restoring access to abortions to ensuring a living wage to demanding an end to reckless war and a ceasefire in Gaza.”
James Zogby, the founder of the Arab American Institute who spoke at the DNC convention in 1988, called the decision by the DNC a “boneheaded” move.
“Not a single vote would have been lost [by] having a Palestinian voice speak,” Zogby said. “What will happen instead is they're going to lose some votes… votes they didn't have to lose.”
The Harris campaign has mostly kept its distance from the topic this week, and party officials have noted that there were forums during the convention’s run focused on the fallout from the Israel-Hamas war.
The conflict began Oct. 7 when a Hamas attack inside Israel killed 1,200 people and took 250 hostages. Israel’s response in Gaza has killed 40,000 people, according to the Gaza health ministry.
In her nomination acceptance speech Thursday night, Harris pledged to keep working for a deal to release hostages and pause the military campaign.
“The people of Israel must never again face the horror that a terrorist organization called Hamas caused on Oct. 7, including unspeakable sexual violence and the massacre of young people at a music festival,” Harris said. “At the same time, what has happened in Gaza over the past 10 months is devastating. So many innocent lives lost, desperate, hungry people fleeing for safety, over and over again, the scale of suffering is heartbreaking.”
She said she and Biden “are working to end this war such that Israel is secure. The hostages are released. The suffering in Gaza ends. And the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, security, freedom and self-determination.”
Uncommitted delegate and organizer Asma Mohammed said Friday she still has to work hard to convince her contingent of voters because Harris’ words weren’t enough.
“[Harris] did not ask for a permanent, immediate ceasefire. She did not present a plan for an arms embargo. And what I want to see is a clear policy that will end the bombs that are currently killing Palestinian children, women, men, using our tax dollars,” Mohammed told Morning Edition host Cathy Wurzer. “I think that this is really a missed opportunity to engage with voters on this issue.”
Uncommitted leaders say they are calling for Harris or senior members of her team to meet with the uncommitted movement before Sept. 15 to discuss a ceasefire and possible U.S. arms embargo on Israel. Mohammed said Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic nominee for vice president, has expressed openness to meeting with members of their movement.
“What I think will actually defeat Trump in November is our candidate for president stepping up and presenting a policy that will save lives, and that means actually getting us a ceasefire,” she asserted.
In his speech to the convention, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, who is Muslim, urged the delegates focused on the issue to give Harris and Walz a chance.
“When they say, ‘We need a ceasefire and an end to the loss of innocent lives in Gaza and to bring hostages home,’ they're listening, friends,” Ellison said Wednesday. “They agree with us.”
Ellison’s son, Minneapolis City Council member Jeremiah Ellison, was an uncommitted delegate in Minnesota’s delegation.
Host Cathy Wurzer and producer Gracie Stockton contributed reporting for this story.