The DNC Officially Refused to Put a Palestinian Speaker Onstage

CHICAGO — In one of the most moving moments of the Democratic National Convention, on Wednesday night, the parents of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, a 23-year-old American who was kidnapped by Hamas on October 7, took the stage at the United Center and spoke of the anguish they’ve experienced over the 320 days since their son was taken hostage. 

They called for the release of the other hostages, including 8 American citizens, and for a cease-fire deal that “ends the suffering of the innocent civilians in Gaza.”

But the DNC’s invitation to the family created an uncomfortable contrast with the party’s refusal to provide space on the main stage for a Palestinian-American or doctors who have worked in Gaza. On Wednesday night, following that speech, the DNC informed the leaders of the Uncommitted Movement that they would not be given the opportunity to put a Palestinian speaker on the main stage of the convention, to discuss the Israeli military has inflicted in Gaza, with the backing of the United States. 

The Uncommitted Movement — representing the over 700,000 pro-Palestine voters who cast “uncommitted” votes during the Democratic presidential primary — had requested speaking time at the convention and a meeting with Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign. 

The DNC gave the movement space to speak at several untelevised forums. On Monday, a doctor shared harrowing stories from Gaza, where the Israeli military has led an unprecedented siege for 10 months, starting after Hamas’ October 7 attacks. The party refused to meet the Uncommitted Movement’s larger requests. 

“I was working on it every day for the past week or more,” said James Zogby, who has held leadership positions in the Democratic Party for decades. “The campaign made a mistake — an unforced error. This didn’t have to happen the way it did and now needs to be fixed.”

The decision by the Harris campaign and the DNC threatens to torch the goodwill the campaign has enjoyed since Harris ascended to the top of the ticket. No significant protests have broken out inside the arena yet this week, and demonstrations outside have been smaller than expected. But already on Wednesday night that was starting to change. As delegates and convention attendees filtered out of the United Center, protesters with signs and bullhorns were reading the names of children killed in Gaza and encouraging passersby to turn back and join a 24-hour sit-in the leaders of the Uncommitted delegates had begun earlier that evening outside the arena.

“We are waiting for a phone call from Vice President Harris and the DNC to allow a single Palestinian-American speaker from the convention stage,” those delegates — Abbas Alawieh, June Rose, Sabrene Odeh — said in a statement. “Our party’s platform states that every life is valuable: whether American, Palestinian, or Israeli. We will conduct a moral act of sitting in at the convention to push our party to better align our actions, instead of just our words, with the notion that every life is valuable by simply allowing a Palestinian American to speak from the stage.”

Progressive Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), one of two Muslim women serving in Congress, joined the Uncommitted sit-in Wednesday evening.

One Democratic lawmaker on Capitol Hill who’s been in Chicago this week tells Rolling Stone bluntly: “If we lose Michigan by a hair… it will be hard not to conclude that a reason why is because we did not treat these people with respect they deserve and instead just wished they’d go away and stop complaining.” 

Two representatives for the DNC did not respond to requests for comment. A spokesperson for the Harris campaign declined to comment about the decision.

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) said late Wednesday, “The Palestinian right to self determination was erased by the British with the Balfour declaration in 1917 which only mentioned civil and religious rights but not political rights for the Palestinian people. The Democratic Party, which aspires to be the party of human rights, must not in 2024 perpetuate this erasure of the Palestinian story.”

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), who declared onstage at the United Center on Monday that Harris is “working tirelessly to secure a cease-fire in Gaza,” responded to the DNC’s decision to exclude Palestinian voices on Wednesday.

“Just as we must honor the humanity of hostages, so too must we center the humanity of the 40,000 Palestinians killed under Israeli bombardment,” she wrote on X. “To deny that story is to participate in the dehumanization of Palestinians. The @DNC must change course and affirm our shared humanity.”