The Black Mark on the Democrats’ Big Party

As the Democratic National Convention closed with balloons blanketing the Chicago’s United Center, the mood was triumphant, with a newly minted presidential nominee and her running mate alongside their families, smiling and waving to the crowd of party delegates. But the celebratory atmosphere wasn’t universal: Those who had hoped that the party would offer the smallest bit of acknowledgement about the suffering and genocide Palestinians have endured since Israel began its brutal war on Gaza more than 10 months ago has been left alienated thanks to the remarkable cowardice of the party. Long before Harris took the stage, it became clear that they’d be left on the outside, looking in. Where these constituents go from here is anyone’s guess, but their trajectory seems to be anything but enthusiastically backing Kamala Harris.

“There are balloons raining down on the Democrats in our party, and there are bombs raining down on children and families and people I love,” said Uncommitted delegate Asma Mohammed to Al Jazeera Thursday night, with tears streaming down her cheeks. “That’s what I was thinking.”

That seemed to be the theme for much of the week: positive vibes and celebration, with anything threatening to dampen the mood kept out of sight and mind. Around the city of Chicago, protestors chanted and marched to call attention to Palestinians and the war in Gaza, but they were safely kept blocks away from the convention. When the two sides did intersect, some of the Harris delegates made it clear they weren’t interested in listening, in one eye-catching instance attendees leaving the third night of the love fest were spotted covering their ears as protesters read from the names of Gazans killed by Israel.  

DNC attendees cover their ears as the names of dead Palestinian children are read as they leave the convention pic.twitter.com/9bueCbFeEr— BreakThrough News (@BTnewsroom) August 22, 2024

It didn’t have to be this way. In fact, the four-day affair kicked off with some optimism, as Democrats devoted time and space on Monday for an unprecedented panel on Palestinian human rights with Dr. Tanya Haj-Hassan, who worked in Gaza during the war; James Zogby, an Arab-American and former DNC committee member; and Layla Elabed, co-chair of the Uncommitted National Movement. The optimism would be short-lived. That night, the party would send a different message. 

During Joe Biden’s speech, three delegates tried to unfurl a “Stop Arming Israel” banner. Delegates snatched the banner away, and covered the banner with Joe Biden signs. One of them, a visible Muslim woman in a headscarf named Nadia Ahmad, was hit on the head with those signs. There’s been no word from party officials about that incident, although Ahmad has filed a complaint with Chicago police. 

“They’re up there talking about fascism and like hitting me on the head with ‘I love Joe’ signs. That’s not a good look,” Ahmad told The Miami Herald. 

Biden did give a nod to the pro-Palestine protests, saying “they have a point. A lot of innocent people are being killed on both sides.”

“We’re working around the clock, my Secretary of State and I, to prevent a wider war, reunite hostages with their families, and surge humanitarian aid, health services, and food assistance into Gaza now. To end the civilian suffering of the Palestinian people, and finally, finally, finally deliver a ceasefire in this war,” Biden said in one of his louder applause lines Monday night. 

But, each day of the convention went by with mostly passing mentions of the war in Gaza, with greater emphasis given to the hostages held by Hamas. Meanwhile, far from the convention, at a rally in Milwaukee Tuesday, a mere t-shirt with the words “Free Gaza” on it was a bridge too far for Democrats. Leah Fessler, a Yale law school graduate who came out to show her support for the nominee and her running mate, Tim Walz, at an event at which they would be speaking.* She also wanted to show her support for Palestine, not by protesting, but with her t-shirt. She’d end up being forcibly removed for the anodyne statement her clothing was making.

“I just don’t understand how they’re publicly saying that they want people who support Palestine to be part of their movement,” Fessler told me over the phone Friday morning. She didn’t shout or interrupt the rally, and even at one point covered up her shirt with a Wisconsin Dems sweatshirt she brought with her.

One of the few Muslim speakers in Chicago, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, told the crowd Wednesday night, “They’re listening friends, They agree with us” regarding the need for a ceasefire, an end to the loss of innocent lives in Gaza, and to bring hostages home.

It stood out that the greatest acknowledgement of the toll on Palestinian lives would come from the parents of a captive in Gaza, Jon Polin and his wife Rachel Goldberg-Polin. Polin told the delegates that “In an inflamed Middle East, we know the one thing that can most immediately release pressure and bring hope to the entire region, a deal that brings this diverse group of 109 hostages home and ends the suffering of the innocent civilians in Gaza. The time is now.”

That night, the delegates from the Uncommitted Movement, who had been asking for months for a speaker to represent them during one of the convention nights, heard that their request had been denied. They had put forth the names of many speakers, including doctors who had been to Gaza and Palestinian Americans who had fully endorsed Harris. One speaker, Palestinian-American Georgia legislator Ruwa Romman, even had a vetted speech that was ready to go—which included a non-controversial call for party unity and commitment to keep Trump from the White House in November. 

The group would hold a sit-in overnight outside of the United Center, hoping in vain that organizers would make room for just a few minutes for a Palestinian-American speaker to give a voice to the conflict. Support would come from the Squad, the progressives in Congress who have been the most vocal in their pro-Palestine advocacy. Other elected Democrats emerged, calling on the party to add a Palestinian speaker—these included Ellison, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, and even Senator Elizabeth Warren, who personally made a call herself.

They would be ignored. A Harris campaign advisor, Ian Sams, offered CNN some doublespeak: “Well, I think we’ve given them a lot of opportunities to engage in this process at the convention.” Romman would deliver her short, two-minute speech on the street. 

Rep. Ruwa Romman reads the speech she would have given at the DNC had she and other Palestinian Americans not been denied a speaking slot. pic.twitter.com/FCoJTMEF7u— Noah Lanard (@nlanard) August 23, 2024

In the end, between the Republican and Democratic National Conventions, only one would have an Arab-American speaker: the GOP, which featured Trump’s lawyer Alina Habba, an Iraqi-American, who made no mention of the Palestinians. 

All that the Uncommitted movement’s members—as well as a wider constellation of Muslims, Arab Americans, and other people of conscience—were asking of Democrats was a small recognition of Palestinian humanity and suffering, from the party that doesn’t use Palestinian as an epithet, by putting one on stage at their supposed “big tent” event. It would hardly have been as alien to the party’s rank and file as the appearance made by the Teamsters’ Sean O’Brien at the Republican National Convention. Support for Palestine actually exists in the Democratic Party’s rank and file, said Fessler. 

“My respect is with Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, and others who say it’s possible to support our country and oppose a genocide, I feel like Democrats are about to lose a ton of votes, and I’m not happy about that,” she told me. 

In the end, Harris’s speech called for an end to “this war, such that Israel is secure, the hostages are released, the suffering in Gaza ends and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, security, freedom and self-determination.” While this stance might sound revolutionary, the rhetoric is stale: President Barack Obama made stronger remarks, in Israel, more than a decade ago. 

Decades ago, Democrats used to ignore the Palestinian cause. This very publication, once the standard-bearer of Democratic orthodoxy, had a staunch, pro-Israel and anti-Palestinian stance under its longtime owner Martin Peretz. But those days are long gone, with Palestinian voices such as Yusuf Munayyer, Laila El-Haddad, and Omar Shaban being given space to advocate for their homeland. This magazine even published a rare editorial calling for an end to arms shipments to Israel in April. In the U.S., public opinion has shifted in the same direction—rather rapidly, in fact. 

The New Republic has come to a new conclusion about Palestine after many years. But the Democratic Party, despite the fact that many of its elected officials have followed suit, the Democratic Party as an institution remains adrift from public sentiment and moral authority—and with Kamala Harris as its presidential nominee, hopes that this might change are substantially diminished. Ultimately, this was a call she should have been capable of making: It would have only taken a few minutes of acknowledgement to shore up support and bring everyone at the convention into the fold, faith renewed, looking ahead to November.  

A big theme of this year’s convention was a phrase repeated by many of the speakers: “We’re not going back.” Arab-Americans, Muslims, and other supporters of the Palestinians want the Democratic Party to assert that it won’t go back on Palestine, either. It’s not a good sign that they could not clear this lowest of bars.

* This post originally misidentified the Harris/Walz speech as Fessler’s first political event.