Uncommitted Movement Protests Democrats’ Refusal To Platform Palestinian-American Speaker at Convention

‘Muslim Women For Harris-Walz’ announced it would be disbanding in protest.

AP/Paul Sancya
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators march during a visit by President Biden to Warren, Michigan. AP/Paul Sancya

“Muslim Women for Harris-Walz” is calling it quits after the Uncommitted Nation Movement was told that the Democratic National Convention would not host a Palestinian-American speaker.

Wednesday night, uncommitted delegates to the DNC began a sit-in outside the United Center in Chicago. The protest began after a leader of the movement, Abbas Alawieh, announced that the DNC had declined to let a Palestinian-American or representative of the uncommitted movement speak.

In the party primaries, the uncommitted movement received 30 delegates, a small fraction of the total number of pledged delegates, 3,979, but more than any challengers to President Biden won.

The movement began to protest Mr. Biden’s support of Israel’s war in Gaza and has pressured Democratic officials to support a permanent ceasefire, conditioning aid to Israel, and an arms embargo.

Muslim Women for Harris was one of a number of groups that sprung up in support of Vice President Harris when Mr. Biden dropped out of the race.

In a statement Wednesday, the group announced that it would be disbanding, saying that refusing to give a Palestinian-American a speaking slot “is a terrible message to send to Democrats. Palestinians have the right to speak about Palestine.”

“We cannot in good conscience continue Muslim Women for Harris-Walz, in light of this new information from the Uncommitted movement, that VP Harris’ team declined their request to have a Palestinian American speaker take the stage at the DNC,” the group said in a statement on Instagram.

The group also noted that the DNC gave the family of an Israeli hostage held by Hamas a speaking slot at the convention Wednesday night. They said that the speaker “has shown more empathy towards Palestinian Americans and Palestinians than our candidate or the DNC has.”

Prominent members of Congress, including Congresswomen Ilhan Omar and Summer Lee joined members of the Uncommitted movement at the sit-in protest.


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