Leaders of the Uncommitted National Movement on Thursday morning lambasted the Democratic Party for reportedly denying their request to include a Palestinian American speaker to take the stage at the Democratic National Convention, being held in Chicago, IL this week. Chicago is home to the country’s largest population of Palestinian Americans.
“Today we find ourselves grappling with the reality that the party that’s supposed to be championing equity is the same party that chose suppression and exclusion last night by denying a Palestinian speaker,” said Lexis Zeidan, with the Uncommitted National Movement.
Zeidan was one of the speakers at a press conference Thursday, held just hours after uncommitted delegates and their allies staged a sit-in outside the convention hall Wednesday night to protest the party’s decision not to feature a Palestinian or Palestinian American speaker. The Uncommitted campaign has also been calling for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and an arms embargo on Israel.
Zeidan said they were grateful that a panel on Palestinian human rights was held at the Democratic national convention, which organizers hailed as a first. But, she said, they deserve more than being on the sidelines.
“We deserve a place at the forefront of our national conversation,” Zeidan said. “Our request to let a Palestinian American speaker is necessary and it is also coming in good faith to save the soul of our party.”
On Wednesday, the parents of an American taken hostage by Hamas on Oct. 7 delivered remarks at the DNC, in which they pleaded for all hostages to be returned home and called for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Leaders said they’ve presented a list of potential speakers. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez has voiced support for the Uncommitted’s request, as has Rep. Ilhan Omar who visited the sit-in. Rep. Rashida Tlaib tuned in to the Thursday press conference via Facetime, saying, “Keep it up. You are on the right side of history. I promise. I don’t want to wait 10 years for them to apologize to us.”
Tariq Habash, a Biden appointee who resigned from his post over the president’s handling of Israel’s war in Gaza, also spoke at the press conference on Thursday.
“We have to be here to hold Democrats accountable because we believe that this party which many of us have found a political home in for generations, has the capacity to do better, must do better,” said Habash, who is Palestinian American.
Among those standing with the Uncommitted are the United Auto Workers who on Thursday, called on the Democratic Party to not “ignore the voices of the Palestinian Americans in the Democratic Party.”
“If we want peace, if we want real democracy, and if we want to win this election, the Democratic Party must allow a Palestinian American speaker to be heard from the DNC stage tonight,” the United Auto Workers wrote on X.
The Jewish-led group IfNotNow also released a statement in support of the Uncommitted.
“The absolute least the Democratic Party could do is to recognize the dignity and humanity of Palestinians and give a spot on the DNC stage to a Palestinian American speaker. We are with the ceasefire delegates who are sitting-in until their demands are met,” the statement read.
