CHICAGO \u2014 Organizers of the Democratic National Convention have decided not to award a speaking slot to a speaker who would talk about the impact of Israel\u2019s military operation in Gaza, according to a person familiar with the convention planning who spoke on the condition of anonymity to disclose a decision that was not yet public.<\/p>\n
Representatives of \u201cuncommitted\u201d delegates to the convention \u2014 who have been withholding their support for Vice President Kamala Harris to protest the Biden administration\u2019s staunch support of Israel amid the war in Gaza \u2014 had been pressing for one of several speakers to be allowed to address the delegates about the devastation in Gaza.<\/p>\n
Those making the request were not given a reason for the denial. But many Democratic leaders were concerned that such a speech from the podium would threaten the unity that has been on vivid display at the convention.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s unacceptable to us. This is not over,\u201d said Abbas Alawieh, co-founder of the Uncommitted National Movement.<\/p>\n
The decision, which was finalized after the program on the third night of the convention had already begun, was a stinging blow to leaders of the \u201cuncommitted\u201d movement, who had been asking for a speaking slot for someone who would recount the impact of the war in Gaza.<\/p>\n
Representatives of the roughly three dozen uncommitted delegates had been in negotiations with the Harris campaign for a number of weeks on several issues. They asked for policy positions and in-person meetings that they said would reassure Arab and Muslim Americans that the campaign was sensitive to their concerns.<\/p>\n
A number of convention speakers have mentioned the war on the main stage. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison \u2014 who was the first Muslim American in Congress and whose son, Minneapolis City council member Jeremiah Ellison, is one of the 10 uncommitted delegates from Minnesota \u2014 spoke Wednesday night.<\/p>\n
As the convention approached, the campaign had been working to lower the temperature and avoid a public fight, and Harris had sent signals to pro-Palestinian activists that she was open to hearing their concerns.<\/p>\n
The uncommitted delegates had been hopeful of getting a speaking slot because of this open channel of communication with the Harris campaign, which they consider a significant improvement from their relations with the Biden campaign.<\/p>\n
Ahead of the convention, campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez and senior staffers of the Democratic National Committee met with members of the Uncommitted National Movement. The campaign gave uncommitted delegates extra passes for staff and friends to attend the convention and provided space to hold a news conference.<\/p>\n
They provided Palestinians with space to hold a panel Monday, something that had not occurred in previous conventions. At the panel, Tanya Haj-Hassan, a pediatric surgeon who has worked in Gaza during the war, spoke of treating children who lost their families. Hala Hijazi, a Democratic Party organizer, said she has lost dozens of family members in Gaza, including two killed last week.<\/p>\n
The uncommitted movement had suggested that Haj-Hassan, Illinois state Rep. Abdelnasser Rashid and Georgia state Rep. Ruwa Romman be considered as speakers.<\/p>\n
Despite the conciliatory moves made by convention organizers and the Harris campaign, not having a speaker on the main stage was a major disappointment for the uncommitted movement.<\/p>\n
Among the speakers who have mentioned the conflict in Gaza on the main stage, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) went the furthest, saying, \u201cWe must end this horrific war in Gaza, bring home the hostages and demand an immediate cease-fire.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) defended Harris, saying the vice president was \u201cworking tirelessly to secure a cease-fire in Gaza and bring the hostages home.\u201d Sen. Raphael G. Warnock (D-Ga.) declared, \u201cI need the poor children of Israel and the poor children of Gaza, I need the Israelis and Palestinians \u2026 to be okay.\u201d<\/p>\n
And President Joe Biden, who has been the largest target of pro-Palestinian demonstrators, said the protesters outside the convention hall \u201chave a point.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
CHICAGO \u2014 Organizers of the Democratic National Convention have decided not to award a speaking slot to a speaker who would talk about the impact of Israel\u2019s military operation in Gaza, according to a person familiar with the convention planning who spoke on the condition of anonymity to disclose a decision that was not yet […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":8307,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8306","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8306"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8306\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8307"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}