A couple dozen delegates began a sit-in protest outside the Democratic national convention after the ceasefire movement was told a Palestinian American could not speak on the convention main stage.
Uncommitted, a national movement that began in Michigan, won 30 delegates to the convention and has tried to use the party process to pressure Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to broker an end to the war in Gaza. The sit-in is the latest attempt to get the Democratic party to allow greater prominence for the anti-war movement at this week’s convention in Chicago.
Abbas Alawieh, a leader of the uncommitted national movement and a Michigan delegate, began the impromptu sit-in after the DNC told the group it would not get a speaker.
“We didn’t come here to do a sit-in, we’re just sitting here waiting for a call,” Alawieh said. The participants planned to remain in place after Wednesday evening’s convention program ended close to midnight.
Some elected officials have spoken in support of their demand, tweeting that after the family of Israeli hostages got time to share their story that evening, so too should a Palestinian.
Congresswoman Ilhan Omar joined the group on the pavement for a time. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called in via FaceTime to say the request was reasonable and no should not be the final answer. Jewish supporters of the movement have also joined.
The uncommitted delegates, who represent hundreds of thousands of anti-war protest votes from the primary season, have worked this week to convince Harris delegates to join their cause and sign a petition calling for a ceasefire, dubbing their broader group as ceasefire delegates.
They initially asked for Dr Tanya Haj-Hassan, a doctor who worked in Gaza, to speak from the main stage and have now pushed for a Palestinian American to give a speech there. The DNC offered them a panel on the sidelines of the convention, but not a spot on the main stage.
The family of Israeli American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who was kidnapped by Hamas on 7 October, spoke on the stage on Wednesday, which the uncommitted movement supported.
“Uncommitted delegates urge the Democratic Party to reject a hierarchy of human value by ensuring Palestinian voices are heard on the main stage. We are learning that Israeli hostages’ families will be speaking from the main stage,” they said in an earlier statement.
“We strongly support that decision and also strongly hope that we will also be hearing from Palestinians who’ve endured the largest civilian death toll since 1948.”
As the broader party faithful streamed out of the arena cheering and smiling, they encountered the sit-in outside the United Center. Some in the movement held banners saying “not another bomb” and “arms embargo now” facing the arena exits.
