Some pro-Palestinian protesters will not vote without a ceasefire
Demonstrators protested against the Biden administration and called for a ceasefire in Gaza, some saying they would not vote otherwise.
The group Muslim Women for Harris-Walz announced its dissolution after the campaign rejected the unaffiliated movement’s request to give a Palestinian American a speaking slot at the Democratic National Convention.
“Given this new information from the undecided movement that Vice President Harris’ team has rejected her request to bring a Palestinian-American speaker to the DNC stage, we cannot in good conscience move forward with Muslim Women for Harris-Walz,” the group said in a statement following the convention program Wednesday evening.
The Undecided movement has been urging Democratic politicians for months to impose an arms embargo on Israel and work toward a permanent ceasefire in Gaza. The group formed during the Democratic primaries earlier this year and urged progressives to vote “undecided” to deny their support to then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden.
The mounting pressure from protesters and renewed tensions among party officials come as the Democratic Party has spent days trying to convey a message of unity and hope at its conventions. And they could serve as a warning to Harris’ campaign of what lies ahead if it fails to appease the party’s left wing.
Delegates from the movement staged a sit-in outside the convention in Chicago on Wednesday night, saying they would stay until Harris’ campaign allowed a Palestinian speaker to take the stage. About 30 unaffiliated delegates are attending the convention this week. The protest was one of many pro-Palestinian gatherings organized this week on the streets of Chicago, where the convention is being held, to demand an end to the war.
Waleed Shahid, one of the movement’s founders, said during a news conference Thursday that the Democratic Party had made several offers to the group, including meetings with senior campaign officials but no speaking engagements. He told reporters that the Harris campaign had said the group “could not define the biggest moment in the vice president’s political life.”
“What happened last night at the DNC (when the Harris campaign rejected a speaker) was one of the most humiliating experiences of my life,” Shahid said.
At the congress on Wednesday evening, Jonathan Dekel-Chen, whose son Sagui is being held hostage in Gaza, and the parents of Israeli-American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin gave speeches. In their speech, Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg expressed the mood of the protesters outside the walls of the arena and called for a ceasefire and an end to the “suffering of the innocent people of Gaza.”
“The family of the Israeli hostage who was on stage tonight showed more empathy toward Palestinian Americans and Palestinians than our candidate or the DNC,” the group Muslim Women for Harris-Walz said in its statement.
“We pray that the DNC and Vice President Harris’ team make the right decision before this convention is over. For the good of each and every one of us.”
Democrats divided over support for Palestinian spokesman
Democratic leaders appeared to be divided Thursday over whether a Palestinian speaker should be allowed to take the podium at the convention.
Supporters include the United Auto Workers Union and members of a progressive group of House Democrats known as “The Squad.”
“If we want the war in Gaza to end, we cannot bury our heads in the sand or ignore the voices of Palestinian Americans in the Democratic Party,” the UAW said in a statement. “If we want to win this election, the Democratic Party must allow a Palestinian American speaker to speak on the DNC stage tonight.”
US representatives Ayanna Pressley (Democrat, Massachusetts) and Rashida Tlaib (Democrat, Michigan), who have long supported the independent movement, also opposed the decision of Harris’ campaign team.
“We shouldn’t have to beg our own party to be heard,” Tlaib told reporters as she attended the press conference Thursday from a sit-in outside the convention.
Other Democrats urged the Harris campaign not to give members of the unaffiliated movement an opportunity to speak at the convention. Brianna Wu, executive director of the progressive political action committee Rebellion, which works to eliminate wealth inequality, argued that the group wanted to “disrupt this event.”
“Not giving them a platform to hijack our convention is clearly the right move,” Wu said in a post on X, formerly Twitter. “Welcome to politics. We do what we have to do to win.”
The Harris-Walz campaign team did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Contributors: Tamia Fowlkes
