Elected Officials, celebrities, and community leaders speak out against the DNC’s decision to silence Palestinians

PREM THAKKER, ZETEO, AUG 23, 2024

CHICAGO – The Democratic National Convention is facing a backlash over organizers’ decision late Wednesday not to welcome a single Palestinian voice to the convention stage. In less than 24 hours since the decision was made public, more than a dozen elected officials, at least one family member of Israeli hostages, and even Mark Ruffalo expressed disappointment and called on the party to reconsider. 

“I have no idea how this process came, but what I do know is that…this is an unforced error…It was stupid. Undo it,” Arab American Institute president James Zogby said at a press conference on Thursday morning. “You will win votes & lose none.”

The Uncommitted delegation, which represents the hundreds of thousands of Americans who voted “uncommitted” during the presidential primaries in protest of US support for Israel’s war on Gaza, learned of the decision just as Wednesday’s primetime speakers, including Oprah Winfrey, former President Bill Clinton, and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, took to the DNC stage. 

DNC organizers didn’t publicly explain their decision. They did not respond to a request for comment. 

Some within the delegation told Zeteo they felt the party strung Americans and party members concerned with Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza along, perhaps delaying the decision until the last moment, counting on a muted response. 

If that was the case, the response has been anything but. To protest the decision, Uncommitted delegates and their supporters began an impromptu sit-in outside the United Center, where Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz prepared to accept the Democratic vice presidential nomination. 

“Our governor is about to say folksy things as the vice presidential candidate, calling people weird,” Dan Englelhart, an Uncommitted delegate from Minnesota, told the crowd on Wednesday. “And It’s weird to say ceasefire, and keep sending the fire.”

“I’m embarrassed. How am I gonna go knock on doors and say, ‘vote for this ticket,’?” he asked.  “When we talk about saving democracy. What the hell democracy do we have when it’s funding genocide and arming genocide, and everybody wants to feel good and have a damn party when we’re killing people?”

Reps. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Summer Lee of Pennsylvania physically joined the protest for some time late Wednesday, while Pramila Jayapal of Washington dropped by Thursday. Rep. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts sent a text message to the demonstrators, sharing “love, strength, and solidarity” and assuring them that she would be pushing on the inside. 

Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Cori Bush of Missouri, and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan joined at different moments via FaceTime. 

“Every corner of my district, you will find a family that has been impacted by the genocide that is happening, by the fact that our country continues to fund and send bombs to kill their family members, their loved ones,” Tlaib said on Thursday morning. She invoked the mother of Emmett Till – an African-American boy who was abducted and lynched in 1955 – who insisted her son’s casket be open as she “wanted the world to see what they did to my baby.” Tlaib said that, with not even the ability for a Palestinian to speak, let alone for actual policy change, Kamala Harris is “looking away.”

Meanwhile, Reps. Ro Khanna of California, Maxwell Frost of Florida, Greg Casar of Texas, and Jesús García of Illinois all also issued statements of support, while Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnsonechoed the same. 

Hope Turns to Disappointment

Uncommitted leaders had spent nearly two months communicating with the DNC to try to lock down a Palestinian speaker for the convention. They said they went to great lengths to accommodate the convention’s organizers, including making assurances that speakers would stick to vetted speeches that came from a position of support, unity, and determination for a better future.