The Muslim Women for Harris-Walz group, who was actively backing the vice president's bid for the presidency in 2024, has announced it will be disbanding and withdrawing its support for her after her campaign refused to let a Palestinian speaker take the stage at the Democratic National Convention.
In a statement, the group asserted: “We cannot in good conscience, continue Muslim Women for Harris-Walz, in light of this new information from the Uncommitted movement, that VP Harris’ team declined their request to have a Palestinian American speaker take the stage at the DNC.”
They went on to claim that the parents of an Israeli hostage being held by Hamas in Gaza, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, displayed greater empathy for the Palestinian people and Palestinian Americans in their emotional address to the convention on Wednesday night than Harris and the DNC have. The couple called for a ceasefire that “ends the suffering of the innocent people in Gaza.”
The group added: “This is a terrible message to send to Democrats. Palestinians have the right to speak about Palestine.”
The Uncommitted movement, which currently has 30 delegates in Chicago for the convention, staged a sit-in protest outside of its main venue on Wednesday night. The delegates were gained when voters in states such as Minnesota and Michigan voted “uncommitted” in the Democratic primary this year as they refused to vote for Biden over his support for Israel’s war against Hamas.
The group, which has called on Harris and the Democratic Party to commit to enacting an arms embargo, had been trying to get a Palestinian on the list of speakers at the convention. They reportedly provided the Harris campaign with a list of potential Palestinian speakers who were available to speak at the conference. After negotiating throughout the week, they ultimately found out early on Thursday that no Palestinians would be permitted to talk at the event.
Not surprisingly, Representative Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-New York) was one of those backing the Uncommitted call, tweeting: “Just as we must honor the humanity of hostages, so too must we center the humanity of the 40,000 Palestinians killed under Israeli bombardment.”
“To deny that story is to participate in the dehumanization of Palestinians. The DNC must change course and affirm our shared humanity,” she added.
Ocasio-Cortez, along with Representatives Cori Bush (D-Missouri) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Michigan), FaceTimed with those participating in the sit-in to share their support, while Representative Ilhan Omar (D-Minnesota) joined the sit-in.
Democrats facing internal friction over war in Gaza
The disagreements between the Uncommitted movement and the Democratic National Committee are drawing attention to the growing lack of unity within the Democratic Party over Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. Anti-Israel protesters have been regularly heckling both Biden and Harris, and there have been clashes between pro-Palestinian protesters and the police at the convention.
Although the demonstrations held this week have been peaceful overall, an unsanctioned protest held outside of the Israeli consulate resulted in 56 arrests.
In addition to exposing just how far away Dems are from achieving the message of unity and hope they espouse at their conventions, these disagreements could also give Harris a preview of what could be in store if she fails to appease this sector of her party.
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