Uncommitted delegates launch sit-in to protest Palestinian exclusion from DNC lineup

Uncommitted delegates begin their sit-in protest outside the Democratic National Convention Wednesday night. Rima Mohammed, interviewed by People's World, is seat at the far left. | Photo via Uncommitted Movement

CHICAGO—On the evening of Wednesday, Aug. 22, a handful of delegates to the Democratic National Convention launched a sit-in just steps away from the entrance to the United Center, where Vice President Kamala Harris is scheduled to give her acceptance speech Thursday evening.

The sit-in was sparked by the DNC’s refusal to include a Palestinian speaker on the stage line-up at any point during the four-day meeting. The Uncommitted Movement released a statement that read, in part:

“Uncommitted delegates urge the Democratic Party to reject a hierarchy of human values by ensuring Palestinian voices are heard on the main stage. We are learning that Israeli hostages’ families will be speaking from the main stage. We strongly support that decision and also strongly hope that we will also be hearing from Palestinians.”

The United Auto Workers (UAW) released a statement Thursday morning strongly backing the delegates were are sitting in and supporting their demand.

“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 UAW said.

Abbas Alawieh, an uncommitted delegate from Dearborn, Mich., said that the Uncommitted campaign offered a list of possible Palestinian-Americans who would take the stage to endorse the Harris-Walz ticket and also offered to allow DNC leadership to vet their remarks beforehand. Late last night, their request was denied.

Earlier in the day Wednesday, People’s World interviewed Rina Mohammad, Uncommitted Delegate from Michigan’s 9th District. She is one of 30 delegates at the convention who are representing the nearly 750,000 voters who chose to vote “Uncommitted” during the 2024 Democratic Primary to protest the Biden administration’s continued financial and military support for Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza.

Mohammad herself joined the sit-in with other Uncommitted delegates outside the convention just hours after speaking with People’s World.

The group was briefly joined by Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., received supportive telephone calls from Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Cori Bush, D-Mo., as well as other delegates who recently signed on to a petition the Uncommitted campaign is circulating at the convention that calls for Harris to “pledge to enact an arms embargo and support a permanent ceasefire” in Gaza.

The petition also called for a meeting “between the elected leadership of the Uncommitted delegation, [Harris], senior campaign staff, and administration staff who determine U.S. foreign policy vis-a-vis Gaza, Palestine, and the Middle East to discuss these demands.”

As referenced in the petition, 83% of Democrats support a permanent ceasefire and 62% of Biden voters agree that the United States should stop selling weapons to Israel. As of 5 p.m. on the third day of the convention, Mohammad told People’s World there were 270 delegate names on the petition.

VIDEO: Rina Mohammad talks with People’s World about the Uncommitted Movement’s strategy at the Democratic National Convention.

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CONTRIBUTOR

Taryn Fivek

Taryn Fivek is a reporter for People's World in New York.