Uncommitted delegates wearing keffiyeh scarves that read “Democrats for Palestinian Rights” called for a Palestinian American to be given a speaking slot at the Democratic National Convention.
Speaking at a rally Wednesday outside the United Center where the DNC is being held, the group included health care workers, Chicago Teachers Union representatives and two congresswomen who are part of “The Squad,” the informal group of progressive House members.
“The Democratic Party prides itself on being the party of human rights, the party of justice, the party for democracy,” said U.S. Rep. Cori Bush of Missouri. “When it comes to defending Palestinian lives and ending the ongoing genocide in Gaza, the Democratic Party needs to uphold those same values.”
Bush lost her Democratic primary earlier this month after a pro-Israel super PAC funneled millions in ads against her due to her pro-Palestinian position. Bush on Wednesday called the group that opposed her seat “the pro-Genocide lobby.”
U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, the other “Squad” member, joined about 40 people at the rally. Many, wearing red and white pins saying “Democratic Majority for Palestine” and “Ceasefire Delegate,” called on the White House to institute an arms embargo on Israel.
Abbas Alawieh, an uncommitted delegate from Michigan, said a coalition of uncommitted delegates presented the DNC with a “whole long list of names” of potential Palestinian Americans to speak at the DNC. He said he had not heard back from DNC organizers.
An uncommitted delegate movement developed in Michigan earlier this year in a push back against President Joe Biden and his administration providing military support to Israel for the war in Gaza.
“Let me just make clear, if the issue is that there isn’t room for Palestinian-Americans in the Democratic Party, then we’ve got a problem,” Alawieh said.
Many speakers questioned how the U.S. government could say they wanted a cease-fire while continuing to provide weapons to Israel.
“Now ask yourselves, how does our secretary of state travel 11 times, begging for an end to a situation (when) we truly have continued to provide the bombs and the weapons that are creating that situation?” Omar asked the crowd. “Where is our patriotism?”
Yet Omar also emphasized that she and the people standing with her were Democrats, and that she wanted to prepare the party to defeat Donald Trump in November.
Chicago Teachers Union Vice President Jackson Potter also joined the calls for a cease-fire and an end to weapons support for Israel.
“In this moment, public education is going to take a hit and cuts are on the horizon as the historic COVID relief funds come to an end, and we’re here in Chicago asking for the 80% plus schools that don’t have a librarian, to ensure that we have libraries and librarians,” he said, listing a litany of other CTU requests for schools. “We cannot do that if simultaneously we are sending billions of dollars to bomb children and families indiscriminately in Gaza.”
