Democrats Want the Uncommitted Delegates to Go Away. They Won’t.

It is worth emphasizing how hard delegates tried to be conciliatory toward the DNC, not to pit inside and outside protesters against each other but because it illuminates the dynamics of the party overseeing lockstep, material support for Israel’s military operations. Many of the delegates have worked for the party for years. They didn’t disrupt convention proceedings. They didn’t object as Democrats welcomed a string of former Trump administration officials and plutocrats to the stage. They supported the decision to highlight the families of Israeli hostages. They promised that the DNC would be free to vet any speech that an uncommitted delegate might give. All they asked for was a brief chance for Palestinians to affirm their humanity in front of the United Center crowd. And this demand is a far cry from their ultimate aim: not another bomb to Israel. And the Democrats said no.

In announcing the sit-in, Alawieh seemed to be at a breaking point. He is the former chief of staff for Representative Cori Bush, and has also previously worked for Representatives Rashida Tlaib and Andy Levin. “I am an insider,” he said. “I’m playing an inside game.”

Alawieh has been open about his own experience, as an immigrant from Lebanon, of surviving Israel’s devastating bombing of southern Lebanon in 2006 while he was visiting family there at the age of 15. Those weapons, including cluster munitions, were provided by the United States, as they are in Gaza today. When he spoke about the more than 16,000 children who have been killed in Gaza in the past 10 months, he said over and over, “I could have been one of those children.”

And he is not just representing himself. The 29 uncommitted delegates who traveled to the DNC represent the roughly 740,000 people who voted “uncommitted” during the Democratic primary, in protest against US support for Israel’s operations in Gaza. They are bringing their demand for an arms embargo at a time when it has undeniable mass support. Seven major unions representing half of all unionized workers in the US have endorsed it, and polling shows that Israel’s actions are unpopular in the base of the Democratic Party. Every fleeting mention of Gaza on the convention floor has been met with huge cheers from the Democrats in the audience.

For Mohammed from Minnesota, what is so frustrating about the DNC’s refusal is that the ask for a speaker is “the lowest bar. We are saying at the bare minimum, can we have a Palestinian-American speak at the DNC? How much lower could that bar go?”

Mohammed has multiple sclerosis and told The Nation that “sitting out here is extremely painful. I’m in excruciating pain, and I can’t access my medicine right now either. But it’s worth it if being out here means that we are heard.”

We spoke over the phone the next morning, Thursday. Around half a dozen people had stayed the night, continuing their sit-in. She told me she was still in pain, still had not taken her medicine, but she’s not going anywhere.

“The ground was cold and hard, and we waited and waited for a response from the DNC,” she said. “They gave us a ‘no’ to a Palestinian-American speaker, and then they called again and asked if we would be willing to meet with them instead. We asked if the meeting would be about a speaker, and they said no, so we said no.”

“We are tired, but we have gotten such a beautiful outpouring of support from throughout the nation,” she added. “We’ve gotten so many texts and calls. I had someone from Australia call me this morning and say, ‘I’m so proud of you.’”

Mohammed is still in severe pain, she said, but has not budged on her intentions. “We are staying.”

Sarah Lazare reported from Chicago. Jack Mirkinson contributed reporting from New York.