Activist
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August 22, 2024
Delegates say they will stay and fight after their request to invite a Palestinian speaker to the Democratic National Convention was rejected.
Representatives from the Uncommitted National Movement sat one by one on the concrete in front of Chicago’s United Center, with a giant electric display behind them advertising the Democratic National Convention being held in the arena.
On the third night of the convention, Democrats were in a frenzy at the United Center. Stevie Wonder Executed. Mindy Kaling They were telling jokes. Bill Clinton was holding court.
The undecided delegates were just a few steps away from the celebration, but they felt like they were on another planet. And that seemed to be the party’s hope: They had just told the delegates that their surprisingly modest request to invite a Palestinian-American speaker to the main stage had been rejected by the Democratic National Convention. Given a slotThe message was clear: Israeli lives are important enough to be respected and acknowledged. Palestinian lives are not.
With reporters surrounding them, the neutral representatives declared they would stage a sit-in until their demands were met.
“I’m going to do whatever it takes to make sure that as Palestinians, our voices are heard,” Sabrine Odeh, an independent representative from Washington state, said in explaining why she was taking her seat. “We are Palestinian-Americans, and we have the same right to a seat at the table as anyone else.”
A growing number of politicians joined the sit-ins or called in remotely, both at the federal level (Representatives Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, Cori Bush, Pramila Jayapal, Ayanna Pressley, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Summer Lee) and at the state and local levels (including Luwa Roman, the first Palestinian elected to the Georgia State Legislature).
Minnesota Representative Dan Engelhardt exclaimed, “It’s weird to say ‘cease fire’ and then keep firing. That’s weird, Waltz!”
June Rose, an independent representative from Rhode Island, sat down and declared, “We don’t want another bomb!”
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The refusal comes amid an intense effort by the Uncommitted Movement to rally Democratic National Convention attendees and delegates to call for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and an arms embargo on Israel. So far, they say they have persuaded nearly 300 delegates to spread their message through panels, events and rallies. At these rallies, the emotional tone has been running high. This is not surprising, given the context: Israel has killed at least 40,000 people in Gaza, more than 16,000 of them children, and countless others killed by U.S. weapons. The total number of people killed directly and indirectly is almost certainly 100,000. Much higherexperts and scholars Have said Israel’s actions in Gaza are genocidal.
Delegates and organizers at all events this week were openly in tears, a stark contrast to the celebratory mood on the main stage at the Democratic National Convention. But these events were not aired in prime time. And now it seems that not a single Palestinian has the opportunity to bring their story, their life, to the center of the convention. At the DNC, independent delegates mobilized, thousands marched outside, and the March on the Democratic National Convention coalition demanded an end to the genocide and a total halt to US aid to Israel. Various organizations took to the streets this week, facing a “repressive police response.” According to The National Lawyers Guild said a total of at least 74 people had been arrested since Sunday.
While Uncommit is trying to blow the whistle, Michigan Representative Abbas Alawiyeh said at Sunday’s event that he has “a lot of respect” for the protesters’ actions.
“What we’re doing inside is a protest, and what the protesters are doing outside is a separate, respectable protest,” said Asma Mohammed, a Minnesota representative for No Detention. The No Detention movement is the brainchild of Fannie Lou Hamer. speech At the 1964 Democratic National Convention, she asked, “Is This America?”, which sparked their own action.
It is worth emphasizing how conciliatory the delegates tried to be toward the Democratic National Convention, not to antagonize protesters inside and outside the party, but to expose the dynamics of the party’s consistent oversight of material support for Israel’s military operations. Many of the delegates had worked for the party for years. They did not disrupt the convention’s proceedings. They did not object when the Democratic Party welcomed a series of anti-Israel demonstrations. Former Trump administration official and Business conglomerate They took to the stage to support the decision to focus on the families of the Israeli hostages. Promised The Democratic National Committee said it was free to vet speeches given by independent delegates. All they wanted was a brief opportunity for Palestinians to assert their humanity in front of the United Center crowd. And that demand was a long way from their ultimate goal of not dropping more bombs on Israel. And the Democrats said no.
The announcement of the sit-in appeared to have reached a breaking point for Mr. Alawiye, a former chief of staff to Rep. Cori Bush, who previously worked for Reps. Rashida Tlaib and Andy Levin. “I’m an insider,” he said. “I’m playing the inside game.”
Alawie has spoken publicly about his experience as an immigrant from Lebanon who survived the Israeli bombings that devastated southern Lebanon in 2006 while he was visiting relatives at age 15. Those weapons, including cluster bombs, were provided by the U.S., just like those in Gaza today. “I could have been one of those children,” he said many times when speaking about the more than 16,000 children killed in Gaza over the past 10 months.
And he’s not just representing himself. The 29 independent delegates who went to the Democratic National Convention represent the roughly 740,000 people who voted “independent” in the Democratic primaries to protest U.S. support for Israel’s Gaza operations. They are bringing their demand for an arms embargo at a time when it has undeniable popular support. Seven major labor unions, representing half of America’s union members, are I approved it.Polls have shown that Israel’s actions are unpopular among Democrats, and any mention of Gaza at the convention drew loud cheers from Democrats in the audience.
For Mohammed, the Minnesota native, what’s frustrating about the DNC’s rejection is that asking for a speaker is the “lowest bar.” “At the very least, we’re asking for a Palestinian-American to speak at the DNC. How low can that bar be?”
Mohammed has multiple sclerosis. The Nation “It’s very difficult to sit here. I’m in excruciating pain and I have no access to medicine right now. But if being here means our voices can be heard, then it’s worth it.”
We spoke by phone the following Thursday morning – about six people had stayed overnight while the sit-in continued – and she said she was still in pain, not taking any medicine, but wasn’t going anywhere.
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“The situation was cold and stiff, and we continued to wait for a response from the DNC,” she said. “They said ‘no’ to the Palestinian-American speakers, then they called again and asked if they could meet with them instead. We asked if the meeting was about the speakers, and they said no, so we said no.”
“We’re exhausted but we’ve had amazing support from all over the country,” she added. “We’ve had loads of texts and calls. Someone called us this morning from Australia and said, ‘We’re so proud of you.'”
She said Mohammed is still in severe pain but has not changed his mind: “We are staying here.”
Sarah Lazar reported from Chicago. Jack Markinson reported from New York.
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