Uncommitted delegates, ‘Squad’ members sit-in at DNC to demand a Palestinian American get a speaking slot

On the second-to-last day of the Democratic National Convention, uncommitted delegates continued Wednesday to call for a Palestinian American to be given a speaking slot at the event.

Hours after a rally outside the security zone around the United Center where the DNC was being held, three dozen uncommitted pro-Palestinian delegates held a sit-in inside the security perimeter, just feet from the United Center doors.

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.

At the sit-in hours later, Alawieh read the names of Democratic politicians who had shared messages of support.

“We are going to keep going,” he said as thousands of spectators poured from the arena after the acceptance speech by Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic Party’s vice presidential nominee.

Earlier at the rally, health care workers, Chicago Teachers Union representatives and two congresswomen who are part of “The Squad,” the informal group of progressive House members, joined the uncommitted delegates.

“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, a Squad member. “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, another “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.

“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,” said Alawieh. 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.

Uncommitted delegates sit on the ground Asma Nizami, left, and Abbas Alawieh, right, participate an interview on their phone with national media while during a sit-in in front of the United Center on Aug. 22. 2024, in Chicago. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)

Many speakers at the 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. 

U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, right, comforts Asma Nizami, an uncommitted delegate from Minnesota, as they listen to Dr. Tammy Abughnaim speak about the atrocities she’s witnessed while working in Gaza, at Park 578 on Aug. 21. 2024, in Chicago. Dr. Abughnaim and others gathered to ask Democratic leaders to stop supplying weapons to Israel. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)

Chicago Teachers Union Vice President Jackson Potter also joined the call 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.”

At the nighttime sit-in, the uncommitted delegates reiterated their call.

One speaker at the sit-in argued the DNC would miss out on the chance to win over voters who will under no circumstance vote for Republicans, but who are not convinced they should vote for Democrats either because of the war in Gaza.

“Make the tent bigger, not smaller,” she said. “The time is now.”