‘They want to erase us:’ How DNC rejected demand for Palestinian speaker

Chicago, Illinois – Abbas Alawieh sat cross-legged on the ground outside the Democratic National Convention in an almost meditative posture.

Stretched out on the concrete in front of him were signs that read “Not another bomb” and “Arms embargo now”, their four corners pinned down by water bottles.

The searing August sun glared against his forehead. But Alawieh did not move, even as the concrete around him grew hot.

He and other delegates from the Uncommitted National Movement are staging a sit-in to protest the Democrats’ refusal to allow a Palestinian American speaker on the convention’s main stage at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois.

“This Palestinian speaker situation is a mistake on the party’s end, and I think that’s why we’re seeing an outpouring of support for the idea,” he told media on Thursday.

The Democratic National Committee confirmed its decision on Wednesday evening, sparking outrage from many progressives and Democratic-allied groups.

For many activists, turning down the request signalled an effort to silence Palestinians and exclude them from the “big tent” coalition that the Democratic Party claims to be building.

The move also highlighted the uphill political battle that Palestinian rights advocates say they are facing in their push to challenge the US’s unconditional support for Israel, as it wages a devastating war in Gaza.

That conflict has been looming over the Democratic convention, where the party has been celebrating and promoting Vice President Kamala Harris’s candidacy since Monday.