Inside Night 4 of the DNC Was a Dance Party. Outside Was a Protest After the DNC Denied a Palestinian Woman a Speaking Spot.

Hours before Democrats officially nominated Kamala Harris, the DNC and her campaign said they wouldn't give Palestinian-American woman, Georgia Rep. Ruwa Romman, a speaking spot. 

By Kylie Cheung  |  August 26, 2024 | 6:15pm
Photo: Getty Images Politics Democratic National Convention
Inside Night 4 of the DNC Was a Dance Party. Outside Was a Protest After the DNC Denied a Palestinian Woman a Speaking Spot.

On Thursday night, Democrats celebrated Vice President Kamala Harris officially accepting the Democratic presidential nomination on Day 4 of the DNC in Chicago. Following rousing speeches from Sens. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts earlier in the evening, Chicago’s DJ Metro played anthems like “I Gotta Feeling” and “Celebration.” The jumbotron in the center of the United Center showed delegates and attendees smiling, wearing white to honor women’s suffrage, and dancing their hearts out.

The scene was celebratory and joyful, and in stark contrast to what was taking place right outside the entrance to the United Center, where pro-Palestine protesters and uncommitted delegates continued to stage a sit-in, which began Wednesday night after the DNC told the delegates they wouldn’t allow a Palestinian American to speak on stage. The final night of the convention only built upon this offense, which, among its long list of speakers, included former Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, another sheriff, and a Ronald Reagan admirer.

Specifically, uncommitted delegates advocated for Georgia state Rep. Ruwa Romman, a Palestinian American and committed Democrat, to give a speech on party unity and peace. On Wednesday night, after learning the DNC rejected their request, Romman said, “I do not understand how there’s room for an anti-choice Republican but not me in our party.”

Uncommitted delegates are now asking Harris to meet with them and Palestinian-American families who have lost loved ones to the genocide by September 15. “We invite Vice President Harris to meet with Uncommitted leaders and directly impacted Palestinian families by September 15th to discuss the need to stop sending weapons that the Israeli government is using to kill and harm civilians and destroy Palestinian society,” Abbas Alawieh, co-founder of the Uncommitted National Movement and a Michigan delegate, said in a statement shared with Jezebel. “The Vice President’s team must not miss this opportunity to engage with Palestinian Americans, who represent a critical voice in our democracy and party.”

In addition to Romman, the DNC also reportedly rejected the uncommitted delegates’ earlier bid to have Dr. Tanya Haj-Hassan, an American doctor who recently returned from treating patients in Gaza, speak. “I personally have held the hands of children taking their last final gasps with no family alive, all their family killed in the same attack, unable to comfort them during their final agonizing breaths,” Dr. Tanya Haj-Hassan told reporters on Tuesday.

By refusing to platform the voices of Palestinians, the DNC’s narratives and rhetoric felt like a separate, alternate reality from what doctors have recounted in Gaza. As uncommitted delegate June Rose, who identifies as a proud anti-Zionist Jew, put it while speaking to reporters on Tuesday: “I think about how lost our politics has become, when on one side they’re talking about Kamala Harris’ laugh, and on the other side they’re talking about Donald Trump’s spray tan—all while this is happening in Gaza with our weapons.”

When Harris delivered her acceptance speech at the end of the night, it was clear she knew her audience: She propped up her record of prosecuting sexual assailants and spoke sharply and thoughtfully about the horrors of abortion bans and the importance of restoring reproductive rights. Later, she expressed support for honoring Palestinians’ human rights and dignity—but without mention of an arms embargo. As numerous Palestinian voices have pointed out, “Palestinians cannot eat words. Our communities are in deep pain. The bombs must end.” There were a few, scattered yells of “Free Palestine!” as Harris cited Israel’s “right to self-defense” against the starving population of Gaza. 

Harris ultimately pledged to secure a ceasefire, perhaps a symbolic step up from Biden’s rhetoric—but without action, it’s just rhetoric. It’s personally difficult for me to embrace a presidential candidate who claims to be a champion for survivors but has nothing to say for Palestinian rape victims—and, for that matter, who denied a Palestinian woman a platform.

Uncommitted delegate Asma Mohammed put it best, speaking to Al Jazeera outside the United Center Thursday night: “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.”

 
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