Denied a speaker, pro-Palestinian Democratic delegates make new demand on Kamala Harris

CHICAGO ? Stymied in their demand that a Palestinian-American be allowed to speak to the Democratic National Convention about the war in Gaza, a group of uncommitted delegates ended a protest outside the United Center on Thursday with a new demand: that Vice President Kamala Harris meet Arab-American and Muslims in Michigan and elsewhere.

They also set a deadline for such a meeting or meetings to take place of Sept. 15.

While not saying what they would or would not do if a meeting did not take place to discuss their insistence that the U.S. stop shipping weapons to Israel and demand a cease-fire in Gaza, the organizers suggested there would be ramifications. Those could potentially involve holding back in terms of organizing on Harris' behalf in the fall campaign or arguing her case to voters.

In some swing states, like Michigan, with its large Arab-American and Muslim communities based in and around Dearborn, the effect could damage Harris' chances of beating Republican former President Donald Trump, even though the organizers made it clear that they don't want Trump to win.

"I think that would be disastrous to her campaign," said Layla Elabed, who lives in Dearborn and was one of the founders of the movement to get primary voters in Michigan and across the country to vote uncommitted rather than for President Joe Biden as a way to protest Biden's support of Israel in its counterattack in Gaza against Hamas.

The organizers held a news conference Thursday evening, just a couple of hours before Harris was set to give her speech accepting the Democratic Party's presidential nomination, making her the first Black woman and first woman of South Asian descent to become a major party's nominee in the U.S.

Harris secured enough delegates to become the nominee late last month after Biden stepped aside and endorsed her.

For months, the organizers of the uncommitted movement, which originated in Michigan, and the 30 uncommitted delegates elected nationwide, had been agitating for a pro-Palestinian speaker to be part of the main stage programming at the convention and that effort intensified after it began in Chicago this week.

But on Wednesday evening, the organizers said Democratic officials had finally told them no.

The blow was especially crushing as the convention on Wednesday included speeches by Jonathan Dekel-Chen, whose son Sagui is a hostage in Gaza, and the parents of the Israeli American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, even though, in their speech, Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg said they agreed there should be a cease-fire and an end to “the suffering of the innocent people in Gaza.”

It was cold comfort for the uncommitted movement organizers, however, who said it was only right that a Palestinian or someone on their behalf be allowed to speak to the carnage and deaths in Gaza caused by Israel as it has lashed out at Hamas following that group's attacks on Israel on Oct. 7.

The U.S. and other nations have so far been unable to broker a cease-fire between the parties that involves the release of Hamas prisoners in Israel and hostages held in Gaza.

Waleed Shahid, one of the founders, said earlier Thursday that the Democratic Party had made several offers to the group, including meetings with senior campaign officials, but not a speaking slot. He told reporters that the Harris campaign had said the group could not "define the biggest moment of the vice president's political life." The Harris campaign has not returned requests for comment about the decision.

The rejection led several delegates to hold a sit-in outside the United Center beginning at about 8:30 Wednesday night and lasting until about 6:30 p.m. Thursday, when they broke and announced the new demand. Delegates were planning to reenter the convention hall ahead of Harris' speech but did not plan any disruption, organizers said.

The organizers said they did not consider the result a loss to their movement, given that they did have some successes, including a panel discussion at another site, held earlier in the week and recognized as an official party function albeit at a different site, about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where tens of thousands have died. And following news that they had been denied a speaker, other groups chimed in.

The group, Muslim Women for Harris-Walz announced it was disbanding, saying it could not "continue in good conscience" with the denial of such a demand. The powerful United Auto Workers union, which has endorsed Harris, said it was a mistake not to allow a Palestinian speaker, as did other politicians.

"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 in a statement.

What's unclear politically at this moment is whether Harris, whose poll numbers are far better versus Trump's were compared to Biden's, has seen a surge in support from other voters, including Black voters and younger voters, that can mitigate any reluctance in Arab-American and Muslim communities to support her. She has also already made moves to open discussions with organizers, having met briefly with Elabed and another of the movement's founders, Abbas Alawieh, also of Dearborn, before a rally a few weeks ago in metro Detroit. Harris has also sent campaign officials to metro Detroit to talk to leaders in the communities as well as Jewish leaders.

At the time of their earlier meeting, Elabed said Harris promised future discussions, though a policy adviser of the vice president's later said an arms embargo on Israel was out of the question.

Elabed, who is the sister of U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Detroit, who is the only Palestinian-American woman in Congress, said the movement to draw attention to Palestinian rights isn't going anywhere, calling this week "just four days of what our movement has planned for the next four years and beyond" and adding, "We're not going anywhere."

Tlaib was among those who contacted organizers of the movement on Thursday, expressing her support, as other speakers at a news conference earlier in the day, and again in the evening, spoke of Harris being out of step with public opinion in the Democratic Party, saying most of its members want a cease-fire.

Jim Zogby, founder of the Arab American Institute in Washington, said every main stage speaker so far who has mentioned Gaza this week ? including Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont ? got an ovation.

"It was an unforced error," he said of the decision not to have a Palestinian speaker. "It was stupid."

Abbas Alawieh, of Dearborn, who is one of the movement's founders along with Elabed and a delegate who slept outside the United Center Wednesday night as part of the sit-in, said he was proud of his companions and the hundreds of Harris delegates who also signed a letter supporting a cease-fire.

"Our movement is popular," he said. "Our movement is winning."

Contact Todd Spangler: [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter@tsspangler.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Denied a speaker, pro-Palestinian Democrats make new demand on Harris